Blog James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/growing-others 2013-05-03T09:41:34Z 2013-05-01T08:49:24Z

Much of what passes for career growth is about individual aspirations and assessing one's place in the pecking order. But those with the greatest careers focus on seeing the fruits of their efforts

James Coplien 2013-05-01T08:49:24Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/trust 2013-04-17T01:50:12Z 2013-04-04T21:25:40Z

I'd like to share some thoughts about paradigms of workplace engagement based on our relationship to risk. These four paradigms of engagement are: conservatism, courage, trust, and existensialism. A

James Coplien 2013-04-04T21:25:40Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/the-risk-paradox 2013-02-23T21:55:38Z 2013-01-29T21:14:14Z

Imagine a career with zero risk. It smacks of an ad in a cheap magazine, targeting the unsophisticated to lure them into some kind of scheme. There are careers with little risk, such as being a hotel

James Coplien 2013-01-29T21:14:14Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/sign-up-and-fight! 2013-02-02T21:41:54Z 2012-12-29T20:20:56Z

It’s hard to grow in an organization where everyone shares all your views. You hope to learn when you sign up to a online discussion group; you hope to be challenged when you read a book. You take up

James Coplien 2012-12-29T20:20:56Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/experience 2013-01-28T09:44:49Z 2012-12-28T19:38:53Z

Someone recently posted the question on an IEEE Computer Society forum: “What is the best Information Technology certification?” As I elaborated in my earlier comments on Certification, I don’t find

James Coplien 2012-12-28T19:38:53Z Margo Mccall http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/certification 2013-01-07T19:52:18Z 2013-01-05T01:17:16Z

Certification aspires to be a societal recognition of some level of professional competence. It’s a measure neither of performance nor ability: a shortcut that claims to predict long-term professional

Margo Mccall 2013-01-05T01:17:16Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/charity 2012-12-28T19:31:29Z 2012-10-29T22:30:09Z

The voluntary, uncompensated gifts of time, talent, and treasures that professionals offer to their colleagues are among the more wonderful social norms among engineers. Or course, it’s not only

James Coplien 2012-10-29T22:30:09Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/the-tyranny-of-the-urgent 2012-12-03T22:21:00Z 2012-09-28T13:59:04Z

Our worst decisions and actions are those without which society would have been better off. To publish a newspaper headline announcing that Truman lost to Dewey. The decision to invade at the Bay of

James Coplien 2012-09-28T13:59:04Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/my-mentors 2012-10-29T22:04:20Z 2012-10-20T19:22:08Z

What should an engineer be thankful for? The usual seasonal platitudes might include being born into a situation that afforded a shot at an engineering education. One might be grateful for the

James Coplien 2012-10-20T19:22:08Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/fads 2012-11-10T20:19:30Z 2012-09-24T11:28:02Z

One only has to look at how we dress to see that engineers are not a very faddish lot. But engineering has roots in the sciences. That science may often be driven more by fashion than by need is one

James Coplien 2012-09-24T11:28:02Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/beauty 2012-09-24T11:21:23Z 2012-09-23T15:34:50Z

Engineering turns human hands to the betterment of humankind. As I pointed out in an earlier installment, the IEEE defines engineering as “promoting the development and application of

James Coplien 2012-09-23T15:34:50Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/coopetition 2012-09-24T11:26:36Z 2012-09-23T15:30:56Z

In the previous essay I spoke a bit about Toyota and Japanese culture. Japanese culture has a strong dose of what we enjoy in lesser degree here in Denmark, but which is largely absent in North

James Coplien 2012-09-23T15:30:56Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/autonomation 2012-09-27T10:50:41Z 2012-08-25T21:25:58Z

A ghost from my childhood still haunts me: the memory of luddites fearfully pitted against factory assembly lines. What’s odd is that in spite of the familiarity of the rant from my childhood, I can’t

James Coplien 2012-08-25T21:25:58Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/making-things 2012-06-29T11:44:54Z 2012-06-29T11:24:35Z

Few engineers build products, but usually get stuck in the middle of the design process. The good news is that most engineering is about making stuff. Engineers are not like the doctors and lawyers of

James Coplien 2012-06-29T11:24:35Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/the-grass-is-greener 2012-06-29T11:26:56Z 2012-06-23T10:26:26Z

The grass is greener on the other side — or at least it often seems that way. It’s the nature of an engineer — or more likely, of human beings — to feed their wanderlust in career space. We grow

James Coplien 2012-06-23T10:26:26Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/outsourcing 2012-06-23T10:21:15Z 2012-06-23T10:19:59Z

Only the ignorant disagree with the claim that most outsourcing sucks. There are three common motivations for outsourcing: market access, inability to grow locally, and cost. Though it’s awkward

James Coplien 2012-06-23T10:19:59Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/it-s-not-engineering-jim 2012-04-06T15:31:28Z 2012-04-06T15:29:14Z

I guess that I’m an engineer. I have a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I have a good grounding in mathematics and the sciences. And I go to Software Engineering conferences. This casual

James Coplien 2012-04-06T15:29:14Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/two-people-at-a-time 2012-03-24T08:38:36Z 2012-03-22T09:40:09Z

We treasure our friends here in Denmark. It may surprise American readers to hear that a Dane usually has only two or three real life friends (ven or veninde). Maybe you call them “best friends” or

James Coplien 2012-03-22T09:40:09Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/the-myth-of-individual-invention 2012-03-20T11:14:17Z 2012-02-28T21:18:50Z

The Swarming essay drew the interest and comments of many readers. Most of the retorts evoked deeply held fears of one’s individualism being threatened. Society has taught us that survival owes to our

James Coplien 2012-02-28T21:18:50Z James Coplien http://www.computer.org/portal/web/buildyourcareer/Agile-Careers/-/blogs/an-extra-day 2012-06-29T11:43:01Z 2012-02-28T10:09:30Z

We all dream of adding years to our lives—by giving up smoking, through good exercise and diet, and all those other good things we associate with clean, healthy living. Let’s say that life gave you an

James Coplien 2012-02-28T10:09:30Z