So, a lot of things happened in 2021, not all good (obvs), but one really GREAT thing happened for me.
I'd been thinking that I'd love to host a podcast. I thought that, like *everything always is*, it would be harder and more time consuming than you might think, but still...
I saw an opportunity to create a podcast for @madetech, proposed the idea, and they said yes! This was December 2020.
I started researching and experimenting. I asked the wonderful @Kat_Arney for tips, found a willing volunteer (@jessitron) and recorded the first interview.
We experimented some more - with format, with extra content, with editing and transcription.
To give it a little something extra we added Storytime, which meant that I got to indulge in my love of storytelling. We focused on people with Hack of the Month and Making Life Better.
We recorded more interviews (@paulapaultweets , @jonskeet, @kitterati) and more extra content. We found a theme tune. We created some marketing materials.
Finally in April 2021, we had four fully edited episodes and launched with them all at once.
Since then we have published 21 episodes (soon to be 22! Watch out for Episode 22 on 4th Jan with @LouDowne on Good Services). We've given you 21 Making Life Better segments, 10 Hack of the Month clips, and 11 storytime offerings.
We've told you stories about an all-female team at a hackathon (ep 1), a millennium party (ep 5), a Chinese maths lesson (ep 7), some lost journals (ep 11), a sneaky two-faced coward (ep 15), a stolen van (ep 19), a noisy neighbour (ep 21).
We've told you about what it's like to be the only woman in an all-male workplace (ep 13), how it feels when people make assumptions about who your friends should be based on your colour (ep 17), and why allies need to listen and not make assumptions (ep 9).
And then there's the guests! Our lovely lovely guests, without whom we would be nothing.
I spoke to @jessitron about team learning, symmathesy, why learning is exciting, and hair! hubs.ly/H0K-W4w0
I spoke to @paulapaultweets about legacy transformation and why being a consultant can sometimes feel like being a psychiatrist: hubs.ly/H0K-WBz0
I chatted with @jonskeet about home coding projects, drum machines, stack overflow, experimentation, compassion and inspiring women: hubs.ly/H0K-Xmq0
I asked @kitterati about tech for the common good, how it feels to live and work in the same neighbourhood, digital transformation and Ruth Bader Ginsburg: hubs.ly/H0K-Y3p0
I communed with @daverog over toxic technology, systemic prejudice, why people learn to accept rubbish tech, toenails and gardening: hubs.ly/H0LhK_n0
I talked to @apaipi about retrospectives, octopii and other cephalopods, repetition, Prime Directive ignorance, teaching and cognitive load: tinyurl.com/twitter-aino-c…
We had a LIVE LAUNCH EPISODE (exciting!) with @estherderby on people and patterns, containers, blaming people because it's easy, and there was that unforgettable "smoking meat" misunderstanding: tinyurl.com/esther-derby-t…
I chatted with @KevlinHenney about balancing change, enacting rituals without understanding, stirring up the pot with external skills and owning change: tinyurl.com/kevlin-henney-…
I talked to @aimafidon for Women in Engineering Week about becoming digitally literate, getting into the room to have an influence, invisible women and why periods matter: tinyurl.com/anne-marie-ima…
I chatted with @Geek_Manager about changing legacy systems, big band cutouts, new constraints, team motivation nd why people aren't muppets: tinyurl.com/meri-williams-…
I spoke to @vonRunte about service design, why not all services can be digitised, why seeing is understanding, why the best design is invisible and why naysayers are not the enemy: madetech.com/resources/podc…
My co-host @kjdchapman had a good old natter with @ewebber about communities of practice, assisted serendipity, learned helplessness and quality over quantity: madetech.com/resources/podc…
I spoke to @jonhassell during disability awareness week about digital accessibility, personalisation, accessible tools, javascript and transcripts: madetech.com/resources/podc…
I had a lovely chat with @mia_out about crowdsourcing at the British library, being involved with something bigger than yourself, online communities, threshold fear and gatekeeping: madetech.com/resources/podc…
I talked to @matthewpskelton about team topologies, the fast flow of change, what happens when your teams are not clearly defined, the inverse Conway manoeuvre and team sizes: madetech.com/resources/podc…
I spoke to @tastapod about when a test is not a test, why Example Guided Design is a better name than TDD, why testing is for stakeholders, why TDD is like mountaineering, and what a 10x tester is: tinyurl.com/daniel-t-north…
I chatted with @emilybache about refactoring, trunk based development, how to find the safe route, the value of the ensemble and why you need tests to refactor: tinyurl.com/emily-bache-tw…
I talked to @craigjbass about the @madetech academy programme, why experience isn't everything, why we mentor people to help them apply, unconscious bias and how to challenge it: tinyurl.com/craig-brass-tw…
My co-host @kjdchapman stepped in again on a great conversation with @samnewman about microservices, why there's always a schema whether you think there is or not, what your boss does / doesn't care about and how not to eliminate cross team communication: tinyurl.com/twitter-sam-ne…
Phew! That was one hell of a podcast year. Very looking forward to adding a ton more good content and speaking to many more wonderful guests. Coming up on Tuesday we have @LouDowne on Good Services and then I have the great honour of chatting to @cattsmall about many many things!
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Recently, @AllyFogg and I visited @italianamcr, a gorgeous little restaurant in Didsbury, and had a lovely birthday meal for our son. We parked in the public @sluglettuce car park and paid via the app. But the following week I received a letter, demanding a £60 parking fine.
I appealed this, attaching proof that I had paid for parking. It was only then that I discovered there are two car parks in the same spot with no division between them, giant NCP parking signs everywhere (including right in front of where I was parked) advertising the NCP app.
But apparently the tiny area I was in was a separate car park. They are claiming the signage is clear, demanding a £60 fine or £100 if a further appeal is unsuccessful. The PCN number they've given me is invalid and not recognised by the independent appeals process (@_TheIPC).
You know what I really miss about working in an office?
I miss _making mischief_.
I want to be badly behaved every now and then.
Just a little.
I want to play Cards Against Humanity at lunchtime, or get drunk and talk about things I shouldn't and make rude jokes,
or have a massive sweary whinge about everything that pisses me off, or steal office stationery, or skive off to go shopping, or skip out of a whole company update to eat cake and giggle with my office bestie, or pretend to have an Important Meeting so I can go for a gossip.
Or invent stupid games with sharpies and wheelie chairs, or post little notes everywhere, or hide surprises in the biscuit tin, or break things and laugh about being clumsy.
I want to bring my Allen key to work, remove the arms from a chair and put a "Clare's chair" sign on it.
I really enjoyed @EmilyBache’s talk about her Samman Technical Coaching technique (@CoachingSamman) yesterday at #AOTB21. Here are my notes.
Samman = Swedish, means "together".
An agile journey includes technical agile, and that's the part that the Samman technical coaching method focuses on.
Emily did a survey in the talk (using @Mentimeter) about what makes coding fun. The top choices were: 1. An end product that users care about, and 2. Code that is clear and easy to understand.
Great keynote from @KevlinHenney at #AOTB21, as usual packed full with interesting insights, only some of which I managed to capture...
"Agile" definition = "move quickly and easily"
...but agility is not about speed, it's about being able to respond to change.
There are two things that people hate: 1. Things changing, 2. Things staying the same.
(I feel duty bound at this point to mention this also came up during @KevlinHenney's ep on our podcast:
This is a really interesting thread. I totally get what you're saying, and it makes me really sad and mad that women encounter these situations in job interviews.
But the conclusions being drawn also make me sad.
I am a pathological question-asker, and I am aware that I have been judged for that, in some contexts (including interviews).
But, you know what? Sod them. The ability to ask decent questions is a core software development skill.
And it's not just about complex questions that are deliberately obscure. It's also a skill to be able to ask simple questions, and questions that are designed to increase simplicity. For senior technologists in front of less experienced colleagues, I believe it's an obligation.