Category Archives: Management Thoughts

Another Book on Decision Making

Daniel Kahneman’s book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, mentioned Gary Klein, particularly on their opposite approaches to decision making. At the end, they “agreed on their disagreement” and accepted that there are two different approaches to better decision making skills. Klein … Continue reading

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Loss and Regret

A friend is considering suing someone. The lawyer thinks it is a 50-50 chance to win. If she wins, she should expects minimally $400k, otherwise nothing. The lawyer gave her two options on legal fees: she can pay a flat … Continue reading

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Six Common Strategic Errors

There is the Do-It-All strategy, shorthand for failing to make real choices about priorities. The Don Quixote strategy unwisely attacks the company’s strongest competitor first. The Waterloo strategy pursues war on too many fronts at once. The Something-For-Everyone tries to … Continue reading

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For Young Job Seekers…

A young person was working with me on her job hunt. So many questions/confusions! Which cities are best? Which industries should she target? Is cover letter necessary? Are those really called “experience?” These are the summary of our exchanges: No … Continue reading

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Why Unions Still Exist?

The benefits of unions to the labor side is clear: good income, good lifestyles, and job security. Extra costs to business translate to higher prices. But if the business is a near monopoly, its customers have no choice. The customers, … Continue reading

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练英文

练英文有两招: 找个英文读物,最好是知名新闻刊物,随便选一篇,从头读到尾,有生字查了后写在张纸上。读完后,回头再读开头两段。然后,不看它也不用背,自己写一遍,比较一下。 这时,把生字表拿来再看一遍,看完就可以丢了它。 找条英文歌,下载歌词。一面听,一面跟着唱一遍。能跟着唱完就行。 这两招,每周练一遍。不会超过一小时。三月必有成效。一生都能受益。别去上英语会话班。浪费钱。

Posted in China, Management Thoughts | 1 Comment

这样,你才算起步了

什么叫“扎实”的软件工程师? 设计完整严密:有没有面面顾到?有没有文档写好?有没有人审查评估过? 实现涵盖错误处理:一般而言,代码要有一半以上是做错误处理,甚至更高。错误处理常是实现阶段的主要动作,而不是算法。 软件形单元测试:软件工程师最引以为傲的就是他的代码像诗般完美:简洁,高效,稳定,功能达标。测试单位永远找不到缺失。顾客用户永远没问题。只有用软件写的单元测试才可能达到这水准。 一般“好手”,五年可以达到这“扎实”的功力。也有人20年后也不行。这些是“永不妥协”的个人职业要求,没这些就不够格自称“软件工程师”。所有的时间的估计,必须包含了以上三点。没估进的,工程师自己加班补上。三点还是不可妥协。

Posted in China, Management Thoughts | 4 Comments

They don’t work hard enough!

Software geeks work in mysterious ways, also in strange hours. That they are also highly paid makes others wonder if this is just a big scam. These people created all those bugs and then demand high compensation to fix them! … Continue reading

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Design for Testability

Many years ago, I wrote a program that converted Gregorian date to Chinese and vice versa. I researched the topic, found the formula, designed the user interface, and finished the code in several days. I ran it, tried several dates … Continue reading

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Got No Respect?

An employee came to me, frustrated, seeking a transfer. After 30 minutes or so, I came to the realization, “So what you are saying is that people don’t value your opinion?” He agreed that was the source of his frustration … Continue reading

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