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Insights, updates, and stories from mhsutton.me

Do you feel appreciated, punk?!

Computer says 'appreciate Mike' Corporates are a funny bunch. There is a process for everything. Even appreciation. A couple of friends of mine in different companies recently celebrated significant ...

I ❤️ Agile Testing Day Netherlands

I've just been to Agile Testing Day in the Netherlands. And I loved it. It's been over two years since I last participated in any agile conference events. Back then I had felt underwhelmed by most th...

[NSFW, 18+] Dear James Ellroy, fuck you.

I like to read. I don't get much time to read as much as I like, but I do like to read. My wife on the other loves to read and she consumes books like a marijuana'd elephant with the munchies. That is...

Read this before 'you eat your own dog food'

It has always amused me when people - usually men - say their company or team 'eats their own dog food'. It has always struck me as a very 'macho' thing to say. I've searched for the origin of the ph...

Je suis Souleymane

A recent incident on the Paris Métro has troubled me ever since I heard the story. Let me summarise what I've read from the media. Three men were in a fairly crowded carriage on the Paris' Metro. Alo...

Why Scrum is designed for misuse.

Street Cred I've been in the software development industry for 21 years,  using agile software development practices and principles for 14 years to actually deliver software. I've been working with Sc...

Do Something Radical - Stop Preserving Your Career

Beware the language of powerlessness How often have you heard any of these phrases or perhaps  used them yourself: "Don't rock the boat" "Pick your battles" "Keep your head down" "That is how stuf...

Charge Cosby or #STFU.

Spoiler: This is not about Bill Cosby. It is about the usurpation of law to condemn a person by media without legal proof. I watched the Cosby show as a kid. I - like millions of other young teens - ...

Screw Fast Feedback

Agile teams love faster feedback Or so the mantra goes. Legions of agile enthusiasts and countless books, conference talks, webinars and training course harp on about faster feedback as though without...

Why every business is a startup or soon will be.

Every business - however large and however profitable - is a startup. Or is about to be. The big WTF is that they just don't realise it yet. This epiphany struck me recently and life hasn't been the ...