I’m one of those people who thinks estimation is a waste of time and I am a supporter of the #NoEstimates movement. The reason being I don’t think it adds any value, and at best it starts a conversation in the team. It does not add value to the process or the products when we endlessly argue about if it should be a certain estimate. Estimates does not add value when team members cop out of the discussion or just agrees to whatever the first estimate is given. And this applies to estimates given in hours, story points or how many bananas the team can eat in a sprint.

In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid–a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.

It has a dark past–one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot.“ But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more. Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue. What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks.

Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?

Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?

And what will become of it when it’s caught?

No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

It calls itself Murderbot, but only when no one can hear.

It worries about the fragile human crew who’ve grown to trust it, but only where no one can see.

It tells itself that they’re only a professional obligation, but when they’re captured and an old friend from the past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.

Drastic action it is, then.

SciFi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is again on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah’s SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.

Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back.Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s a...

This is an interesting podcast about how Google created a new product in an entirely new domain and how they did in an enterprise environment.

Amplify Your Creativity, Effectiveness, and Personal Fulfillment as a Software Professional In Modern Software Engineering, continuous delivery pioneer David Farley helps software professionals think about their work more effectively, manage it more successfully, and genuine...

The Indispensable Handbook of Systems-behavior, written specifically for all of us who must daily cope with the Pitfalls, Foibles, and Failures of the Systems that make up our Modern World. GENERAL SYSTEMANTICS PRESS of Walker, Minnesota is proud to announce the revised and m...

In the podcast 10 lessons on career, growth, and life Brian Balfour has a nice comment about sparring versus coaching.

I’m paraphrasing it a bit but you’ll get the idea

Have a sparring partner to get better. Coaching will only take you so far. Your sparring partner is in the arena with you and can give you timely feedback.

It is hard to say no, and what is the underlying reason not saying no.

One of my favourite Substack’s “The Beautiful Mess” had a post with a list of reasons on why the team didn’t say No.

I like most of them but this one below is the one that struck me most

7. Saying no takes confidence. It can be hard to draw the line if your confidence has been beaten down or never lifted up.

Which one is you favourite reason for people not saying No!

I like this statement from Micromanagement: The Unpopular Truth You Need to Hear

…our collective aversion to micromanagement and how it might sometimes prevent us from effective management.

And it has me thinking about how the lack of trust and transparency is a symptom of micromanagement.

For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts...he's at Hogwarts.

" Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Wizards and Witches.

Fourteen-year-old Harry Potter joins the Weasleys at the Quidditch World Cup, then enters his fourth year at Hogwarts Academy where he is mysteriously entered in an unusual contest that challenges his wizarding skills, friendships and character, amid signs that an old enemy is growing stronger.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince takes up the story of Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at this point in the midst of the storm of this battle of good and evil.

Harry receives a warning from impish Dobby as he packs for his return to Hogwars School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The warned disaster does strike and fresh torments and horrors arise in Harry's second school year. When the real trouble begins someone, or something, starts turning students to stone.

…half of everybody working as a software engineer joined the industry in the last 10 years.

So I’m gonna get more prescriptive and more detailed in my communication. And that’s actually counterproductive. ’cause that’s actually not what people need. people need the foundations and the strategy and the system and the goal. they don’t need sort of the, the work divided down into smaller and smaller pieces.

HOW DOES MAGIC HAPPEN? The Ogilvy advertising legend—“one of the leading minds in the world of branding” (NPR)—explores the art and science of conjuring irresistible products and ideas . "Sutherland, the legendary Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, uses his decades of experience to di...

CERN Institute, Switzerland: a world-renowned scientist is found brutally murdered with a mysterious symbol seared onto his chest. The Vatican, Rome: the College of Cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Somewhere beneath them, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion. In a breathtaking race against time, Harvard professor Robert Langdon must decipher a labyrinthine trail of ancient symbols if he is to defeat those responsible - the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood presumed extinct for nearly four hundred years, reborn to continue their deadly vendetta against their most hated enemy, the Catholic Church.

*NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING TOM HANKS AND FELICITY JONES* Florence: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in a hospital bed with no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings. A threat to his life will propel him and a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city. Only Langdon's knowledge of the hidden passageways and ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers. With only a few lines from Dante's Inferno to guide them, they must decipher a sequence of codes buried deep within some of the Renaissance's most celebrated artworks to find the answers to a puzzle which may, or may not, help them save the world from a terrifying threat...

#1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER • While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. “Blockbuster perfection.... A gle...

The Freakonomics of math—a math-world superstar unveils the hidden beauty and logic of the world and puts its power in our hands The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan E...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • When we deny our stories, they define us. When we own our stories, we get to write the ending. Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart! Social scientist Brené Brown has ignited a global conversation on courag...

Written more than 70 years ago, 1984 **was George Orwell’s chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, his dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever... • Nominated as one of America’s be...

The third book in the NYT bestselling Expanse series, Abaddon's Gate opens the door to the ruins of an alien gate network, and the crew of the Rocinante may hold the key to unlocking its secrets. Now a Prime Original series. HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST SERIES For generati...