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Foundations

15
Dec
Monday Myth: “We Ship Fast Now. We Fix It Later.”

Monday Myth: “We Ship Fast Now. We Fix It Later.”

There is a persistent myth in modern IT and product organisations: that rushing a delivery without proper acceptance criteria is a valid trade-off in the name of speed.
5 min read
10
Dec
What the Hunting Licence Reveals About Systems, Tradition, and the Discipline Modern IT Lost

What the Hunting Licence Reveals About Systems, Tradition, and the Discipline Modern IT Lost

The French hunting licence is not a recreational certification. It is a demanding, consequence-driven system refined over more than fifty years. It embodies principles that modern IT has repeatedly forgotten.
5 min read
08
Dec
The Day I Stopped Lowering the Bar for Anyone

The Day I Stopped Lowering the Bar for Anyone

Two cats gone. Lola first. Minette now. Both died with their eyes open, and with a level of dignity that people in positions of responsibility no longer even attempt to match.
2 min read
05
Dec
The Illusion of The One: Why Modern IT Recycles Its Best and Rewards Its Worst

The Illusion of The One: Why Modern IT Recycles Its Best and Rewards Its Worst

A Matrix-inspired dissection of modern IT, infused with the Architect’s precision.
3 min read
03
Dec
The Ultimate Red Flag

The Ultimate Red Flag

“We Are All the Same Team” The strongest teams never need to say this sentence. The weakest teams repeat it endlessly.
3 min read
02
Dec
The Russian Dolls of Real Engineering

The Russian Dolls of Real Engineering

Most organisations lose track not because people lack discipline, but because the work lacks a centre of gravity. Teams optimise for tasks, not concepts. They produce fragments, not systems. They move fast, but without structure, so speed becomes noise.
3 min read
01
Dec
Monday Myth: “Engineering Must Know Everything in Advance”

Monday Myth: “Engineering Must Know Everything in Advance”

A stubborn myth persists in tech: engineering must foresee everything before writing a single line of code. Perfect requirements. Perfect risk maps. Perfect predictability. It is not professionalism. It is fear.
3 min read
28
Nov
Friday Fun: The Gollums of Tech

Friday Fun: The Gollums of Tech

Every organisation has at least one Gollum. Not evil. Worse. Someone who clings to a system, a domain, or a piece of code with a devotion completely disconnected from reality.
4 min read
27
Nov
Common Sense Has Left the Building

Common Sense Has Left the Building

There was a time when engineering relied on something simple and powerful: shared understanding. Unwritten principles, basic reasoning, and a sense of direction that did not need to be re-explained every week. The obvious remained obvious. Today, the obvious is an endangered species.
5 min read
25
Nov
The System Lives Longer Than You

The System Lives Longer Than You

In every mature engineering discipline, the creator disappears and the system remains. Railways, bridges, aircraft, industrial plants, power grids, and
4 min read