Articles
One of the things that makes AYE a different kind of conference is the way we gather before and after the conference to discuss your kinds of problems, in your software and IT development, testing, and management communities. We all struggle with how to create an environment in which people can best work.To participate in our community, please visit our Wiki. The hosts, guest presenters, and attendees from this year and previous years have written numerous articles, exploring both the technical and the human sides of software and IT development.
By Category | By Author
All Articles(160)
- A Different Kind of Conference - Sherry Heinze
- A Different Kind of Family: Reconstruction Lessons for the Participants and the Guide - Eileen Strider
- A Guide to Fine Whines - Mark Manduke
- Advice for Software Development Managers - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Always Be Second - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Amplifying a Book’s Effectiveness - Naomi Karten
- Amy the Architect - Bob King
- An Appreciative Retrospective - Diana Larsen
- An e-mail to Jerry Weinberg, Paul Coyle and others who may contemplate systems from time to time - Dwayne Phillips
- An Exercise in Ambiguity - Naomi Karten
- Approaching a Conflict in Style - Esther Derby
- Are We Solving the Real Problems - Nynke Fokma
- At What Cost? - Esther Derby
- AYE: There Be Magic [1] - Dreamas Gentilharte Cheynelokk
- Becoming a Better Estimator - Dave W. Smith
- Beware of the Quick Fix - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Beyond Belief - Esther Derby
- Beyond Blaming - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Bi-Quinary Search - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Building a Requirements Foundation Through Customer Interviews - Esther Derby
- Change is a Disease - James Bach
- Change That Fits - Esther Derby
- Charting a Course for Requirements - Becky Winant
- Chinese Contracts - Jim Bullock
- Choosing Facilitation - Johanna Rothman
- Client 101 - Sherry Heinze
- Climbing Out of Technical Debt - Johanna Rothman
- Collaborating With Other Consultants - Johanna Rothman
- Communicate Early and Often - Naomi Karten
- Communicating Up - Esther Derby
- Communication Disconnects - Don
- Communication Gaps - Don
- Confessions of a Confused User - Naomi Karten
- Consulting Lessons From My Shiatsu Therapist - Becky Winant
- Convincing Management That Context Switching Is a Bad Idea - Johanna Rothman
- Creativity in Accounts Receivable - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Danger: Couple at Work - Sharon Marsh Roberts
- Decide As a Team - Steven M. Smith
- Decisions, Decisions - Sue Peterson
- Delivering Effective Feedback - Esther Derby
- Designing Useful Metrics: Using Observation, Modeling, and Measurement to Make Decisions - Esther Derby
- Disposable Programs - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Do We Have to Choose Between Management and Leadership? - Esther Derby
- Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There! - Don
- Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite - Fiona Charles
- Don’t Tell Doreen - Steven M. Smith
- Driving from the Back Seat - Sharon Marsh Roberts
- Emerging - David Irvine
- Entomology - Laurent Bossavit
- Estimates: Precision vs. Accuracy - Johanna Rothman
- Extreme Testing - Todd Berbert
- Facing Up to the Truth - Esther Derby
- Five Frequent Feedback Flaws - Naomi Karten
- Focus Your Project - Johanna Rothman
- Getting Ahead - Johanna Rothman
- Getting Some Good Out Of Bad Interviewing - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Getting To Know You: Using A Roundtable To Start An Event - Adrian Segar
- Going the Distance: Five Tactics to Compensate for Distance on Distributed Teams - Esther Derby
- Hang Loose - Naomi Karten
- Hear Ye! Hear Ye! - Naomi Karten
- Hiring Testers - Johanna Rothman
- How 2 Buddy - Johanna Rothman
- How did This Happen - Don
- How Much Building Is Too Much? - Johanna Rothman
- How Much Work Can You Do? - Johanna Rothman
- How to Improve Meetings When You’re Not in Charge - Esther Derby
- How to Kill a Software Company - Don
- Humor and General Systems - Michael Bolton
- Humor and Stress, or How the Universe Gave Me an Opportunity to Practice - Diane L. Gibson
- I Want It, I Have It, I Hate It - Naomi Karten
- Implement by Feature - Johanna Rothman
- Improving Productivity - Dwayne Phillips
- Incorporating Part-time Team Members - Esther Derby
- Keep Your Eye on the Prize - Pat OToole
- Learning What You Don’t Know - Don
- Lullaby Language - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Lunches, Looks, and Loops - Don
- Managing a Struggling Employee - Esther Derby
- Managing in Mayberry: An examination of three distinct leadership styles - Don
- Managing the Group Meeting - Johanna Rothman
- Managing the Interview - Johanna Rothman
- Measuring Up - Esther Derby
- Meeting Customer Requirements, First Time, Every Time - James A. Ward
- Mistakes and Insights Found at a Sale - Becky Winant
- Move Past Distractions: Give Yourself an Ice Cream Cone - Dwayne Phillips
- Multiprojecting: The Illusion of Progress - Johanna Rothman
- Multiuse Model - Don
- My Company Won’t Pay! How To Get Approval To Attend Conferences or Training - John Suzuki
- My Days As a Barber - Jim Batterson
- Not an Estimating Problem - Dale Emery
- On Second Thought - Dwayne Phillips
- Our Management Process Can’t Tell us How to Get From "Repeatable" to "Defined" - Nynke Fokma
- Overcoming Resistance - George Dinwiddie
- Peer-to-Peer Feedback - Esther Derby
- Pennywise - Esther Derby
- Performance Without Appraisal - Esther Derby
- Plan to Re-plan - Johanna Rothman
- Planning for Delays - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Planning for Technical Management Time - Johanna Rothman
- Playing Hooky - Robert Mike Melendez
- Predictions - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Project Pitfalls - James A. Ward
- Purrfectly Obvious - Naomi Karten
- Put Confer Back in Conference - Pat OToole
- Quality Interactions - Esther Derby
- Real-Time Feedback - Esther Derby
- Reasons - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings - Steven M. Smith
- Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings, Part 2 - Steven M. Smith
- Rewriting the Story of Resistance - Dale Emery
- Safety Check - Steven M. Smith
- Safety Margin - Steven M. Smith
- Schedule Chicken - Johanna Rothman
- Seeing the Other Person’s Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Seeing Your Own Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Shifting the Burden - Whose Monkey Is It? - Don
- Should a ScrumMaster Give Performance Appraisals? - Esther Derby
- So, Sue Me - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Software and Society: What it Means to Be Professional - Don
- Some Barriers to Team Coordination and Collaboration - John Suzuki
- Spending As If There’s No Tomorrow - Sherry Heinze
- Starting With Rolling Wave Planning - Johanna Rothman
- Staying Sharp - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Tao of Communication and the Constancy of Change - Jean McLendon
- Tell Him? - Steven M. Smith
- Test Trimming: A Fable about Testing - Gerald M. Weinberg
- ThankYouLess Thank You’s - Naomi Karten
- The Appreciation Gap - Esther Derby
- The Big Picture: Four Different Ways of Participating - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Black Hole - Naomi Karten
- The Dismal Theorems of Contract Negotiation - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Exception is the Rule - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Identified Patient Pattern - Don
- The Liar’s Contest - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Risk of Embellishment - Naomi Karten
- The ROTI Method of Gauging Meeting Effectiveness - Esther Derby
- The Secret Ingredients of High Morale - Esther Derby
- The Secret of Agile Development - Keith Ray
- This Title May Change at Any Time. How Do You Feel About That? - Don
- Trailblazer Programs: A Path for Successful Change - Marie Benesh
- Treaties to Deal with Communication and Conflict - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Twenty Years Ago - Steven M. Smith
- Two Left Feet - Naomi Karten
- Two Rights Make a Wrong - Naomi Karten
- Use All Four Parts of Project Estimation - Johanna Rothman
- Using Appreciations, Personalized Thank-You’s - Johanna Rothman
- Waiting For People Who Arrive Late - Steven M. Smith
- Watch for Falling Rocks: Unpredictable Risks - Johanna Rothman
- Welcoming New Hires - Johanna Rothman
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong? - Esther Derby
- What Is It You Want from Management? - Eileen Strider
- What to Do When Your Project Slips - Johanna Rothman
- What’s On Your Not-to-do List - Johanna Rothman
- What’s on Your Not-To-Do List? - Johanna Rothman
- What’s So Special About Software? - Dan Starr
- What’s Wrong With Wednesday? - Johanna Rothman
- What’s Your IQ? - Esther Derby
- Where Does Your Time Go? - Esther Derby
- Yielding to Pressure - Gerald M. Weinberg
- You Can’t Test the Wings Back on an Airplane - Elisabeth Hendrickson
Communication(24)
- Beyond Blaming - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Bi-Quinary Search - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Communicate Early and Often - Naomi Karten
- Communicating Up - Esther Derby
- Communication Disconnects - Don
- Communication Gaps - Don
- Decide As a Team - Steven M. Smith
- Don’t Tell Doreen - Steven M. Smith
- Getting Some Good Out Of Bad Interviewing - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Lullaby Language - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Reasons - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings - Steven M. Smith
- Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings, Part 2 - Steven M. Smith
- Safety Check - Steven M. Smith
- Safety Margin - Steven M. Smith
- Seeing the Other Person’s Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Seeing Your Own Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Tell Him? - Steven M. Smith
- The Big Picture: Four Different Ways of Participating - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Dismal Theorems of Contract Negotiation - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Liar’s Contest - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Treaties to Deal with Communication and Conflict - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Waiting For People Who Arrive Late - Steven M. Smith
- Yielding to Pressure - Gerald M. Weinberg
Requirements(7)
- Always Be Second - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Building a Requirements Foundation Through Customer Interviews - Esther Derby
- Charting a Course for Requirements - Becky Winant
- Disposable Programs - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Getting Some Good Out Of Bad Interviewing - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Exception is the Rule - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Treaties to Deal with Communication and Conflict - Gerald M. Weinberg
Consulting(3)
- Creativity in Accounts Receivable - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Big Picture: Four Different Ways of Participating - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Dismal Theorems of Contract Negotiation - Gerald M. Weinberg
project management(24)
- Advice for Software Development Managers - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Charting a Course for Requirements - Becky Winant
- Climbing Out of Technical Debt - Johanna Rothman
- Convincing Management That Context Switching Is a Bad Idea - Johanna Rothman
- Disposable Programs - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Estimates: Precision vs. Accuracy - Johanna Rothman
- Focus Your Project - Johanna Rothman
- How Much Building Is Too Much? - Johanna Rothman
- Implement by Feature - Johanna Rothman
- Learning What You Don’t Know - Don
- Lunches, Looks, and Loops - Don
- Plan to Re-plan - Johanna Rothman
- Planning for Delays - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Predictions - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Project Pitfalls - James A. Ward
- Schedule Chicken - Johanna Rothman
- Starting With Rolling Wave Planning - Johanna Rothman
- Test Trimming: A Fable about Testing - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Liar’s Contest - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Use All Four Parts of Project Estimation - Johanna Rothman
- Watch for Falling Rocks: Unpredictable Risks - Johanna Rothman
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong? - Esther Derby
- What to Do When Your Project Slips - Johanna Rothman
- What’s Wrong With Wednesday? - Johanna Rothman
Individual(21)
- Approaching a Conflict in Style - Esther Derby
- Communication Disconnects - Don
- Delivering Effective Feedback - Esther Derby
- Estimates: Precision vs. Accuracy - Johanna Rothman
- Facing Up to the Truth - Esther Derby
- Getting Ahead - Johanna Rothman
- Managing in Mayberry: An examination of three distinct leadership styles - Don
- Managing the Group Meeting - Johanna Rothman
- Managing the Interview - Johanna Rothman
- Multiuse Model - Don
- Planning for Technical Management Time - Johanna Rothman
- Quality Interactions - Esther Derby
- Seeing Your Own Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Software and Society: What it Means to Be Professional - Don
- Staying Sharp - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Big Picture: Four Different Ways of Participating - Gerald M. Weinberg
- This Title May Change at Any Time. How Do You Feel About That? - Don
- Using Appreciations, Personalized Thank-You’s - Johanna Rothman
- Welcoming New Hires - Johanna Rothman
- What’s On Your Not-to-do List - Johanna Rothman
- What’s on Your Not-To-Do List? - Johanna Rothman
Problem Solving(12)
- Beware of the Quick Fix - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Bi-Quinary Search - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Creativity in Accounts Receivable - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There! - Don
- How did This Happen - Don
- Safety Check - Steven M. Smith
- Safety Margin - Steven M. Smith
- Shifting the Burden - Whose Monkey Is It? - Don
- So, Sue Me - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Staying Sharp - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Exception is the Rule - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Treaties to Deal with Communication and Conflict - Gerald M. Weinberg
Organization(18)
- Beyond Blaming - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Choosing Facilitation - Johanna Rothman
- Climbing Out of Technical Debt - Johanna Rothman
- Designing Useful Metrics: Using Observation, Modeling, and Measurement to Make Decisions - Esther Derby
- Focus Your Project - Johanna Rothman
- Hiring Testers - Johanna Rothman
- How 2 Buddy - Johanna Rothman
- How Much Work Can You Do? - Johanna Rothman
- How to Improve Meetings When You’re Not in Charge - Esther Derby
- Multiprojecting: The Illusion of Progress - Johanna Rothman
- Planning for Technical Management Time - Johanna Rothman
- Should a ScrumMaster Give Performance Appraisals? - Esther Derby
- The Identified Patient Pattern - Don
- The ROTI Method of Gauging Meeting Effectiveness - Esther Derby
- The Secret Ingredients of High Morale - Esther Derby
- Watch for Falling Rocks: Unpredictable Risks - Johanna Rothman
- What’s On Your Not-to-do List - Johanna Rothman
- What’s Wrong With Wednesday? - Johanna Rothman
Systems Thinking(10)
- Bi-Quinary Search - Gerald M. Weinberg
- How did This Happen - Don
- Humor and General Systems - Michael Bolton
- Multiuse Model - Don
- Planning for Delays - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Seeing the Other Person’s Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Seeing Your Own Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Shifting the Burden - Whose Monkey Is It? - Don
- The Identified Patient Pattern - Don
- The Liar’s Contest - Gerald M. Weinberg
team(14)
- An Appreciative Retrospective - Diana Larsen
- Approaching a Conflict in Style - Esther Derby
- Decide As a Team - Steven M. Smith
- Delivering Effective Feedback - Esther Derby
- Going the Distance: Five Tactics to Compensate for Distance on Distributed Teams - Esther Derby
- How Much Building Is Too Much? - Johanna Rothman
- How to Improve Meetings When You’re Not in Charge - Esther Derby
- Implement by Feature - Johanna Rothman
- Incorporating Part-time Team Members - Esther Derby
- Plan to Re-plan - Johanna Rothman
- Schedule Chicken - Johanna Rothman
- Starting With Rolling Wave Planning - Johanna Rothman
- Use All Four Parts of Project Estimation - Johanna Rothman
- What to Do When Your Project Slips - Johanna Rothman
management(23)
- Advice for Software Development Managers - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Decide As a Team - Steven M. Smith
- Designing Useful Metrics: Using Observation, Modeling, and Measurement to Make Decisions - Esther Derby
- Do We Have to Choose Between Management and Leadership? - Esther Derby
- Don’t Tell Doreen - Steven M. Smith
- Hiring Testers - Johanna Rothman
- How 2 Buddy - Johanna Rothman
- How Much Work Can You Do? - Johanna Rothman
- How to Kill a Software Company - Don
- Managing a Struggling Employee - Esther Derby
- Managing in Mayberry: An examination of three distinct leadership styles - Don
- Managing the Group Meeting - Johanna Rothman
- Pennywise - Esther Derby
- Performance Without Appraisal - Esther Derby
- Planning for Delays - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Planning for Technical Management Time - Johanna Rothman
- Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings - Steven M. Smith
- Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings, Part 2 - Steven M. Smith
- Safety Margin - Steven M. Smith
- The Appreciation Gap - Esther Derby
- The Liar’s Contest - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Secret Ingredients of High Morale - Esther Derby
- What’s on Your Not-To-Do List? - Johanna Rothman
hiring(6)
- Getting Some Good Out Of Bad Interviewing - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Hiring Testers - Johanna Rothman
- How 2 Buddy - Johanna Rothman
- Managing the Interview - Johanna Rothman
- The Dismal Theorems of Contract Negotiation - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Welcoming New Hires - Johanna Rothman
Dealing effectively with conflict(11)
- Approaching a Conflict in Style - Esther Derby
- Beyond Blaming - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Creativity in Accounts Receivable - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Reasons - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Seeing the Other Person’s Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- So, Sue Me - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Tell Him? - Steven M. Smith
- Test Trimming: A Fable about Testing - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Liar’s Contest - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Treaties to Deal with Communication and Conflict - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Yielding to Pressure - Gerald M. Weinberg
Change(10)
- Always Be Second - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Change is a Disease - James Bach
- Change That Fits - Esther Derby
- Decide As a Team - Steven M. Smith
- Disposable Programs - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Planning for Delays - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Predictions - Gerald M. Weinberg
- This Title May Change at Any Time. How Do You Feel About That? - Don
- Twenty Years Ago - Steven M. Smith
- Waiting For People Who Arrive Late - Steven M. Smith
Feedback(16)
- Beyond Blaming - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Decide As a Team - Steven M. Smith
- Delivering Effective Feedback - Esther Derby
- Getting Some Good Out Of Bad Interviewing - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Lullaby Language - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Multiuse Model - Don
- Peer-to-Peer Feedback - Esther Derby
- Real-Time Feedback - Esther Derby
- Reasons - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Safety Check - Steven M. Smith
- Seeing the Other Person’s Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Seeing Your Own Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Should a ScrumMaster Give Performance Appraisals? - Esther Derby
- The Big Picture: Four Different Ways of Participating - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Liar’s Contest - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Using Appreciations, Personalized Thank-You’s - Johanna Rothman
Leadership(14)
- Advice for Software Development Managers - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Choosing Facilitation - Johanna Rothman
- Convincing Management That Context Switching Is a Bad Idea - Johanna Rothman
- Do We Have to Choose Between Management and Leadership? - Esther Derby
- How 2 Buddy - Johanna Rothman
- How Much Work Can You Do? - Johanna Rothman
- Managing in Mayberry: An examination of three distinct leadership styles - Don
- Managing the Group Meeting - Johanna Rothman
- Multiprojecting: The Illusion of Progress - Johanna Rothman
- Planning for Technical Management Time - Johanna Rothman
- Safety Check - Steven M. Smith
- The Appreciation Gap - Esther Derby
- The Exception is the Rule - Gerald M. Weinberg
- What’s Your IQ? - Esther Derby
Planning(9)
- Collaborating With Other Consultants - Johanna Rothman
- Creativity in Accounts Receivable - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Seeing the Other Person’s Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Seeing Your Own Big Picture - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Staying Sharp - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Big Picture: Four Different Ways of Participating - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Dismal Theorems of Contract Negotiation - Gerald M. Weinberg
- The Exception is the Rule - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Yielding to Pressure - Gerald M. Weinberg
Quality(7)
- Advice for Software Development Managers - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Always Be Second - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Beware of the Quick Fix - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Disposable Programs - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Planning for Delays - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Predictions - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Treaties to Deal with Communication and Conflict - Gerald M. Weinberg
Facilitation(3)
- Test Trimming: A Fable about Testing - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Treaties to Deal with Communication and Conflict - Gerald M. Weinberg
- Twenty Years Ago - Steven M. Smith
Satir(5)
- Choosing Facilitation - Johanna Rothman
- Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings - Steven M. Smith
- Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings, Part 2 - Steven M. Smith
- Safety Check - Steven M. Smith
- Waiting For People Who Arrive Late - Steven M. Smith
estimation(2)
- Convincing Management That Context Switching Is a Bad Idea - Johanna Rothman
- Multiprojecting: The Illusion of Progress - Johanna Rothman
career(3)
- Becoming a Better Estimator - Dave W. Smith
- Estimates: Precision vs. Accuracy - Johanna Rothman
- Use All Four Parts of Project Estimation - Johanna Rothman
implement by feature(1)
meeting(2)
multitasking(1)
project portfolio(1)
schedule games(1)
Perception(3)
- Multiprojecting: The Illusion of Progress - Johanna Rothman
- What’s On Your Not-to-do List - Johanna Rothman
- Where Does Your Time Go? - Esther Derby
Risk(2)
Influence(1)
metrics(5)
- At What Cost? - Esther Derby
- Beyond Belief - Esther Derby
- How to Kill a Software Company - Don
- Measuring Up - Esther Derby
- Pennywise - Esther Derby
Retrospective(2)
testing(5)
- Change is a Disease - James Bach
- Client 101 - Sherry Heinze
- Managing in Mayberry: An examination of three distinct leadership styles - Don
- This Title May Change at Any Time. How Do You Feel About That? - Don
- What’s Your IQ? - Esther Derby