Cheat-sheet for Laws, Principles & the such

Have you ever been in a conversation where somebody ends an argument with something like “But as we all know this will never work because of Conway’s Law”? And even worse, have you found yourself thoughtfully nodding even though you are not 100% sure what Conway’s Law exactly says? I for one admit to have […]

Quality Indicators

One of the questions I get very often as a quality coach is “how can we measure quality?” If I were to reply right off the bat, my answer would be “No clue!” as I find it very hard to quantify something as abstract and ever changing as quality. Nevertheless I think the premise of […]

Have you Tried Turning it Off and On Again? – Appreciating Your Customer Support

A long time ago I was working in customer support, spending my days speaking to unhappy customers who had purchased some sort of electronic device. People generally didn’t pick up the phone to tell us how pleased they were with their purchases. Sometimes they would call to ask for a technician, others to ask how […]

The Surprising Diversity of Password Retrieval

In the last weeks of my pregnancy the “nesting” instinct kicked in. Since I was no longer working, I had the time to do important chores, such as trying out all the pens in our household to get rid of the ones that were empty. Once I was done with the physical world, I went […]