Way back when, when we were learning Agile as a company, we sometimes hesitated to present it as such to our clients. We weren't sure how clients would take it. We took what might call it a "stealth Agile" approach. Over time we got more confident with it and could point to successes as well as a few failures. But we learned from both. From that experience we extracted a few rules of thumb that are good to remember. In this post, I want to share those rules of thumb with you.

I've been reading a rather difficult book in my iPad using the Kindle software.  I have to give these technologies credit for helping me get through a book which I would otherwise put aside by now, although not for lack of interest, but from fatigue.

Keeping aligned is really important to Agile teams and, according to the Scrum methodology, daily standup meetings are the tool of choice for that. When done effectively, they provide visibility and transparency to all stakeholders. Just as importantly, they help the team catch problems early.

Earlier today I listened to Norman Wolfe talk about The Living Organization Model.  It was a courageous presentation that really resonated with me and put into words concepts that are often hard to explain.

I hear that advice often: hire young people, they are more open, and more creative.  And that's true, kind of.  What's also true is that young people starting their careers want to fit and integrate into their tribe and step up in the ranks.  And that often leads to doing more of the same, not breaking the mold.

It's really simple: to innovate, focus on learning. Everything else will follow.

In this 2008 video, Jonathan Rosenberg, VP, Google, talks candidly about product management, innovation, their hiring process, bozos and specialists, product selection, managing dispersed teams, the "20% time" and acquisitions. Although a bit dated, the interview is still revealing  Particularly in how the company has instrumented itself for innovation.

An annotated log of the video, with links, is included in the post, too.

Last Wednesdays of every month are a great opportunity for a get together with entrepreneurs and software developers of Montreal and beyond. Startup Drinks took place at Brutopia, which is the premiere brewpub in downtown Montreal, located on Crescent Street, were you can find all sorts of irish pubs and international restaurants. 

For the third year in a row, Nearsoft has ranked among the TOP 20 Great Places to Work in Mexico.  We are honored (and so very stoked!).  We've ranked in the TOP tier ever since we first applied for this award, three years ago.  Here's our secret sauce.

In this post we'll show you how to create an application with a Navigation-Based interface.  It shows in detail how to switch between different views and how to send messages to different parts of the application using the Notification Center.