Thoughts on software engineering, architecture, delivery, technical judgement and systems thinking.
2026-10-26T08:30:00.000Z
An effort estimate and a delivery date are not the same and yet teams regularly make the mistake of treating them as such and then wondering why the project is "late".
2026-10-19T08:30:00.000Z
The work we tend to forget to estimate is usally what surprises us during execution. We usually know that we'll encounter some, or all, of them and yet we still don't explicitly account for them.
2026-10-12T08:30:00.000Z
Early ROM estimates are about highlighting assumptions and risks early enough for the business to make sensible decisions.
2026-10-01T09:27:00.000Z
A ROM estimate isn't about accuracy, it's about whether the business can risk doing the work at all.
2026-09-21T08:30:00.000Z
Allowing performance considerations to dominate design early on is often counter-productive. It's better to make the system work and then make it fast.
2026-09-07T08:30:00.000Z
Problems with delivery are often signs of deeper structural problems.
2026-08-24T09:00:00.000Z
Testing strategies need to change when a system moves from being merely complicated to genuinely complex.
2026-08-18T11:30:00.000Z
The discussion around using AI in software engineering is becoming increasingly polarised. To my mind these 'AI wars' are usually missing the point.
2026-08-10T08:30:00.000Z
Tests only prove behaviour under the assumptions they were designed around. Change the definition of correctness and those same tests may no longer prove what you think they do.
2026-08-04T09:15:00.000Z
Pre-read material isn’t a formality. It’s how you ensure that when people challenge an idea they’re doing so from an equally informed position.
2026-07-23T11:30:00.000Z
AI is changing software engineering so quickly that I wanted to understand local AI for myself.
2026-07-21T08:30:00.000Z
Good engineering judgement isn’t about knowing the rule. It’s about knowing when the rule doesn’t apply.
2026-07-14T08:30:00.000Z
Are we sometimes confusing the process used to manage work, the way we develop software, and the evidence required for certification?
2026-06-30T08:30:00.000Z
Agile processes themselves didn't make our teams effective, short feedback loops did.
2026-06-23T08:30:00.000Z
There’s a belief that if you define the software process in enough detail, good outcomes will follow.
2026-06-09T08:30:00.000Z
In technical discussions I sometimes get the feeling that something isn’t right — but I can’t immediately explain why.
2026-05-26T08:30:00.000Z
Spend most of your effort making the decision right rather than on making the right decision. Momentum matters.
2026-05-12T08:30:00.000Z
Decisions made under pressure often look right in the moment, but turn out worse than those made with time to think.
2026-04-28T08:30:00.000Z
Without struture teams loses a shared understanding of the system and their ability to reason about what they’re building.
2026-04-14T08:30:00.000Z
What's do we really do as engineers - we interpret, clarify, explore options, weigh cost and risk and own ultimately the outcome.
2026-04-14T00:00:00.000Z
Clarity matters so respect the bandwidth of your engineering team.
2026-04-01T08:30:00.000Z
Why clarity matters more than theoretical completeness.
2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z
Where AI helps development teams in 2026
2026-03-01T00:00:00.000Z
A little more about me
