Very good tips from my colleague Rodrigo Castelo on the importance of keeping things simple to accomplish a very good user experience and adoption ratio. Check his post Agile Platform Community Edition - Adventures and Lessons.
Despite being especially useful if you need to create an installer, the tips apply to any kind of software. Check it out!
Some time ago, I read the book “WINNING” from Jack Welch, who was GE’s CEO.
I really liked the book. For each idea presented, it is backed up with several real examples from the author’s experience. I think it is a must-read for every worker.
The book is divided in 5 parts, with a total of 20 chapters. As I was reading it, I underlined some sentences. In these ‘reading series’ posts, I will transcribe the underlined sentences (at least until I get fed up :). This way, maybe you get interested, and eventually also read the entire book yourself.
I asked permission, via email, to the Publisher - HarpperColins. As I received no answer, and if you are the publisher and don’t want this positive advertisment :), contact me. If needed, I will of course delete the posts. Thank you.
http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060753948/Winning/index.aspx
“…I would call lack of candor the biggest dirty little secret in business.
What a huge problem it is. Lack of candor basically blocks smart ideas, fast action, and good people contributing all the stuff they’ve got. It’s a killer.
When you’ve got candor - and you’ll never completely get it, mind you - everything just operates faster and better.
Now, when I say “lack of candor” here, I’m not talking about malevolent dishonesty. I am talking about how too many people - too often - instinctively don’t express themselves with frankness. They don’t communicate straightforwardly or put forth ideas looking to stimulate real debate. They just don’t open up. Instead they withhold comments or criticism.They keep their mouths shut in order to make people feel better or to avoid conflict,…”
“…The mission announces exactly where you are going, and the values describe the behaviors that will get you there.”
“…an effective mission statement basically answers one question: How do we intend to win in this business?”
“…The question forces companies to delineate their strengths and weaknesses in order to assess where they can profitably play in the competitive landscape.”
“…There could be no doubt about what this mission meant or entailed. It was specific and descriptive, with nothing abstract going on…”
“…Moreover, we harped on the mission constantly, at every meeting large and small. Every decision or initiative was linked to the mission. We publicly rewarded people who drove the mission and let go of people who couldn’t deal with it for whatever reason,…”
“…But setting the mission is top management’s responsibility.”
“…In contrast to the creation of a mission, everyone in the company should have something to say about values.”
“…The actual process of creating values, incidentally, has to be iterative.”
“…The text included imperatives such as ‘Act in a boundaryless fashion - always search for and apply the best ideas regardless of their source” and “Be intolerant of bureaucracy” and “See change for the growth opportunity it brings.”
“…With all the stories I have heard in the past few years from employees in companies around the world, I’m convinced you can not be too specific avout values and their related behaviors.”
“…In the most common scenario, a company’s mission and its values rupture due to the little crisis of daily life in business:…”
“… I am saying your company will not reach anywhere near its full potential if all that is guiding it is a list of pleasant platitudes hanging on the lobby wall.
Look, I realize that defining a good mission and developing the values that support it take time and enormous commitment…”
That’s right, that’s a plus (+) before the one (1). We managed to finish everything to the (closed) Beta, 2 days before the estimated date.
My congratulations to all the Engineering Team. Taking in account all the stuff that was made, mainly on the latest days, this is really cool. Probably there are other team members in a better position to mention the challenges that were surpassed. In that case, just leave a comment.
<disclaimer>
Today, it was a tiring day for me - 3 sessions from the MS TechDays 2007 during the afternoon (great stuff, Microsoft), with one extra session starting at 20 o’clock and ending at 23h+. Basically, 9 hours almost non-stop. So, I’ll for sure miss lots of stuff:
</disclaimer>
I’m pretty sure that these latest achievements were possible due to (besides the excellent team, that I already take for grant!) the principles behind the Agile Manifesto, that OutSystems is following for several years. <pub>And, of course, due to the OutSystems Platform “built-to-change” nature</pub>
Hi
Just missing 8 days for the release of OutSystems Express Edition 4.1, beta 1. This will be a closed Beta program. If you are interested in trying it out, leave me a note. Depending on several factors, it might be possible.
I’ll just leave here two screen shots of two OutSystems tools (HEAD code).
OutSystems Service Studio, the main IDE:
OutSystems Service Service Center, the web based management console:
Later on, I’ll also leave here a picture of the bundled application that we are releasing with the OutSystem Express Edition.
Some time ago I bought a wireless router. Basically, I wanted to be able to access the net from anywhere in my home (using laptop).
The router has some standard and advanced features. In what respects to security, it has features that goes from denial of service and intrusion detection to parental control, access control and MAC filtering, for example.
Most of my friends have locked their wireless access the best they can. My net is (at least still) just open. I really don’t mind having my neighbors using it. Using it, not abusing. And, living in a really high floor, I think no one can access it from the street.
Of course I don’t want none of the following:
In my opinion, it would be nice having people taking this community free access position. I’d like wireless protocols to evolve in a way to promote this community sharing of resources, taking in account the concerns priviously enumerated.
I didn’t expect it to be so thrilling. Some months ago, when the rumors started spreading inside the company, it seemed just a natural step - in a near future, we would release OutSystems Express Edition
Since its inception, back to 2001, OutSystems has been relatively closed. But now we are opening our doors, or at least I hope so.
We just finished the build (known as alpha 1), and selected end-users will be trying it.