Episode 314 | Jim Holmes - Breaking Bad Dynamics

Guest:

Jim Holmes

@aJimHolmes

Jim Holmes talks with Dave Rael about the nature of leadership, the leadership journey, applying lessons from athletics to professional teams, resetting negative dynamics, and delivering value

Jim is an Executive Consultant at Pillar Technology where he works with organizations trying to improve their software delivery process. He's also the owner/principal of Guidepost Systems which lets him engage directly with struggling organizations. He has been in various corners of the IT world since joining the US Air Force in 1982. He’s spent time in LAN/WAN and server management roles in addition to many years helping teams and customers deliver great systems. Jim has worked with organizations ranging from start ups to Fortune 10 companies to improve their delivery processes and ship better value to their customers. When not at work you might find Jim in the kitchen with a glass of wine, playing Xbox, hiking with his family, or banished to the garage while trying to practice his guitar.

Chapters: 2:19 - Dave introduces the show and Jim Holmes4:37 - Jim's athletic history9:46 - Jim on leadership and the leadership journey15:34 - Leadership in the context of being a software developer and/or part of a software development team28:01 - Jim's story of failure - too much focus on details instead of strategy, realizing a dynamic that needed to be broken too late36:15 - Jim's book recommendations and the delivering not of software, but of value46:19 - Jim's top 3 tips for delivering more value49:46 - Keeping up with Jim

Resources: Jim's Blog The Leadership Journey - Jim Holmes The Bad News Bears David Giard on Developer On Fire Kalamazoo X Conference Mike Eaton Jim's Leadership 101 Blog Post Series CodeMash The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist - Frederick P. Brooks Jr. Cain and Abel Fred George on Developer On Fire Chad Fowler on Developer On Fire The Passionate Programmer: Creating a Remarkable Career in Software Development (Pragmatic Life) - Chad Fowler Corey Haines Dave Fancher on Developer On Fire Ken Versaw on Developer On Fire Kansas City Developer Conference

Jim's book recommendation: Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit - Mary and Tom Poppendieck Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash - Mary and Tom Poppendieck Leading Lean Software Development: Results Are not the Point - Mary and Tom Poppendieck The Lean Mindset: Ask the Right Questions - Mary and Tom Poppendieck The Trusted Advisor - David H. Maister Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (3rd Edition) - Tom DeMarco

Jim's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Step back from technology and talk it out with whoever you are delivering to At the team level, step away from the keyboard and understand the organizational fit of what you're doing Keep some balance