Matt Fletcher on Atomic Spin

Writing Agile Stories, Part 2 – Making Stories Small & Meaningful

Agile stories should focus on outputs, empowering the dev team to implement behaviors as they see fit. Keep them small and free of arbitrary distinctions.

Project & Team Management

Writing Agile Stories, Part 1 – Breaking a UI into a Set of Features/Stories

Ready to build your agile backlog? Start with the user interface. By breaking your UI into features, you end up with a manageable list of bite-sized tasks.

Planning Your Project

There’s No Such Thing as a “Massive MVP.” Build Releases Instead!

The best way to solve an overwhelming problem is to break it into smaller pieces. So let's build software in incremental releases.

Extracurricular Activities

A Docker Pipeline for Mirroring & Archiving a Website

My goal is to have zipped website archives created once a week, with my process built on Docker, and the Synology task scheduler taking care of the work.

Personal Optimization

A Spreadsheet for Breaking Down & Tracking Big Goals

I find it easier to achieve my goals when I define them, break them down, and use simple tools to visualize and measure my progress. Here's a spreadsheet I've been using for goal t

Project & Team Management

Software Exposes People Problems that You Can’t Ignore

People problems present significantly more risk to a software project than the software itself. For example, if a new software system adds more work for users, but doesn't offer th

Development Practices

Exploding Breadcrumbs Make Life Easier for Your Future Self

Your future self will be thrilled when they encounter exploding breadcrumbs instead of a unworkable project.

Development Practices

Today’s Code Is Tomorrow’s Legacy Project – Make It Easy to Resurrect

Getting legacy projects running again is never fun. Leave some breadcrumbs, and your colleagues & future self will thank you.

Project & Team Management

Great Consultants Provide Great Options: Active Problem Solving in Three Steps

Great consultants are active problem solvers, transforming "What should I do?" into: "Here are the options, their pros and cons, and a recommendation."

Project & Team Management

Better Project Budgeting with the SUMIF Function

Your spreadsheet's SUMIF function is super handy when budgeting for a project. It can show you, at a glance, how the costs of different features add up.

Personal Optimization

Three Reasons to Say No

Sometimes, the best thing for everyone is for you to say, "No." Better to say no and stay sane, than say yes and lose it all.

Personal Optimization

Emotional Intelligence, Part 4 – Improving Your Self-Awareness

Self-awareness can be uncomfortable, but it empowers us to turn our negative emotions into something positive for everyone.

Matt Fletcher

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