Category: Leadership
Latest Updates from Nebraska Dev Lab
When we began thinking about what would become the Nebraska Dev Lab Pipeline Program, we had one goal: create more software developers in Nebraska. But as time went on and we took a hard look at the state of the industry, we realized that we could also make an impact by helping to create a…
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Our Big Employee Engagement Opportunity
The recent news cycle has been relentlessly documenting the effects of the pandemic on our workforce and attempting to predict where we all go from here. Almost every business leader I’ve spoken with recently has this as a concern. And it’s no wonder, given the sheer amount of change happening, the amount of uncertainty, and…
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Get to Know SWEBOK
Note: This post was originally published on Doug’s website on July 20, 2021. Last week, I had the privilege to give the opening keynote at the 2021 Nebraska.Code() conference. My topic was Musings on Developer Maturity and Growth where I laid out a model for creating developer maturity proto-personas using IEEE’s Guide to the…
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Leave Nothing to Chance
“We learn from failure, not from success!” – Abraham Van Helsing, Dracula Last week, I gave a presentation called “Leave Nothing to Chance” at the Nebraska.Code() conference. The essence of the talk was the value of locking down all the little decisions to better ensure success in your software projects. I started the talk with…
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Updating Angular: Making the Process Smoother
Angular has an interesting history. Angular started in 2010, and it grew into a very popular web framework. But at some point, it was decided that the current Angular structure needed a significant change. So in 2016, a new version of Angular was launched. This broke Angular into two major versions. The v2+ lineage is…
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Buttergate, or the Importance of Metrics
Is butter harder? This has been the focus of many Canadians lately, as their butter isn’t spreading across bread or club crackers (which I personally love) as they expect. But, what I don’t love is crackers breaking as I spread butter on them. Harder butter makes that more likely, so this hard butter issue is…
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We Are All George Costanza (We Are All Michael Scott – Part 2)
We are all Michael Scott. That was what I explained in a blog post from a few years back, and I stand by the statement. Michael Scott is the main character on The Office for most of the seasons. He didn’t see himself as an evil boss, intentionally making his employees miserable. He wasn’t trying…
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Introducing the Don’t Panic Labs Advanced Continuing Education Program
Businesses across the country have adjusted to the realities of our current environment. Don’t Panic Labs is no exception. While our professional services business made adjustments to remote work rather quickly, continuing our Software Design and Development Clinics required some additional thought and effort. These classes were designed around in-person settings, so their structure needed…
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A Capstone Project for Good: Teamwork, Communication, and Success
If you keep up with the happenings of Don’t Panic Labs, you’re likely aware of the Nebraska Dev Lab Pipeline Program. It is an educational partnership between us and Doane University. Our goal is to help address the shortage of software development talent in Nebraska by turning a small cohort into quality, entry-level software developers….
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How NOT to Wait for an Online Meeting to Begin (and What to do Instead)
While waiting for online meetings to start, we often find ourselves passing that time in various ways. Unfortunately, this can distract us and possibly lead to us not being as engaged as we should be. There are things you absolutely should avoid doing while waiting for others to join an online meeting. As a person…
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