Theory: Strategic planning and business alignment must be driven by the organization's culture, direction, and vision.

The software development industry is one of continuous change -- if the development methodology is constant for several months, the technology changes; if the technology stays the same, the documentation standards change, and so on. It seems that we get so caught up in the pursuit of technology answers that we overlook basic project management tools -- perhaps because they are not intertwined with the latest technology.

According to Webster's, an "inalienable" right is a privilege that cannot be taken away or transferred. To be an effective manager, you need to establish certain inalienable rights with your team. Establishing them early means they won't be surprised when they are exercised. Such rights, properly exercised, will help transition you from "manager" to "leader."

Many IT organizations think "maturity" means moving up to a higher level in the Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM). After all, a CMM assessment provides an objective report of how mature you are, right?

The problem is that the CMM framework wasn't constructed with input from your employees, your customers, or your management. It's a generic framework, not tailored to your specific organization.

The most important project in anyone's career is not their biggest project, not their hardest project, and not the one that earns them a big bonus. It's their first project in the workplace.

©1999 by Johanna Rothman

The first decade of the new century will see a shift to the development and use of component-based, Internet-enabled systems. Currently, there are two very different approaches to the development of object-oriented systems: object-oriented development methodologies and object-oriented design patterns.

According to a new study, software fix/repair activity occupies US organizations at a level that is 21% higher than non-US organizations.

There are several trends that lead me to believe that we are in the midst of a compensation crisis. What makes this crisis so interesting is that these trends are both counter-intuitive and non-convergent. Consider the following: