All posts by Nick Korbel
When will you be home?
What time will you be home today? It’s a simple question. If you’re like most people you go to work and come home about the same time every day. You should be an expert in estimating when you’ll arrive at home. I bet you cannot predict the time that you’ll get home tonight, though. I…
Loss Aversion and Tech Debt
Humans are loss-adverse. We place an irrationally high value on losing something over gaining an identical item. So for example, I’d be more upset about losing $10 than the happiness I’d feel by gaining $10. If I buy a meal and hate it, I’ll likely finish it anyway. [ad name=”Leaderboard”] In general, people would rather…
Please, Stop Saying “I Can’t”
[ad name=”Leaderboard”] I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to uttering the words “I can’t…”. That’s almost never actually true, though. Here are some things I know that I can’t do: I can’t fly by flapping my arms I can’t speak Mandarin I can’t eat my weight in Oreos Here are some things I’ve…
On Hiring Techies
[ad name=”Leaderboard”] I’ve had the good fortune to have worked on some incredible teams. The best teams I have been a part of each had a very structured and rigorous interview process. It took longer than average to hire new team members, but the tenure of team members was high and our attrition rates were…
On Hiring Techies – Evaluate Potential, Not Accomplishments
[ad name=”Leaderboard”] This is a part of a series on Hiring Techies. Evaluate Potential, Not Accomplishments I don’t spend a ton of time reading resumes. Depending on the position we’re hiring for, I may look for a few critical skills but I’m mainly looking for themes that tell me that the candidate has a passion…
On Hiring Techies – Coding Challenge
[ad name=”Leaderboard”] This is a part of a series on Hiring Techies. Coding Challenge Of course, if I’m evaluating a candidate to join my team I want to ensure that they know what they’re talking about. There are many ways to do this. Some people slam a candidate with technical questions for hours. Some people…
On Hiring Techies – The Team Interview
[ad name=”Leaderboard”] This is a part of a series on Hiring Techies. The Team Interview Who is involved in your interview process? Do a few managers speak to a candidate and then decide whether or not to hire them? There are few things more disruptive than having someone dropped into your team. If the day…
On Hiring Techies – Hire For Cultural Fit
[ad name=”Leaderboard”] This is a part of a series on Hiring Techies. Hire For Cultural Fit I said it earlier, but it bears repeating: I can teach someone a new technology. I cannot teach someone how to fit into our culture. A lot of technical interviewers are laser focused on a candidate’s skill set. I’ve…
Booked Feedback
One of the things I love most about working on open source software is the engagement of the community. Booked has a very active community with a huge repository of information. An increasingly common problem I’m hearing is that Booked has a steep learning curve. Being in the application every day, I have blinders on…
TDD: Back to Hand Rolled Stubs
I’m unashamedly an Agile practitioner and self-proclaimed enthusiast. It’s not a perfect way to build software, but I haven’t found anything better. And until I do, this is the approach I’m taking. Building Quality In One of the core principles of Agile is the focus of building quality in from the start, not asserting quality…