Michael Norton (doc) is a software delivery professional working to make the world of software development a better place. Michael's experience covers a wide range of development topics. Michael declares expertise in no single language or methodology and is immediately suspicious of anyone who declares such expertise. A frequent speaker, Michael is passionate about helping others become better developers, working with teams to improve delivery, and Software Craftsmanship.
These are presentations I regularly give at conferences and user groups. If you are interested in one of these or a talk on a specific subject, let me know.
The Technical Debt Trap
This was perhaps my most popular talk of 2009/2010. I gave it at over one dozen venues, including Oredev, Chicago Code Camp, and Agile Tour Toronto.
Technical Debt has become a catch-all phrase for any code that needs to be re-worked. Much like Refactoring has become a catch-all phrase for any activity that involves changing code. These fundamental misunderstandings and comfortable yet mis-applied metaphors have resulted in a plethora of poor decisions. What is technical debt? What is not technical debt? Why should we care? What is the cost of misunderstanding? What do we do about it? Doc discusses the origins of the metaphor, what it means today, and how we properly identify and manage technical debt.
Keywords
Career Management
Craftsmanship
Kata
Learning
Also given at Oredev, this talk lead to an interview with the .NET Rocks! crew. This particular talk is of significant importance to me. Too many developers feel trapped, disempowered, or unsupported. It need not be this way. Take control!
Synopsis
As developers, we tend to spend a lot of time focused on languages, frameworks, and tools. But few of us spend time thinking about our careers or personal growth. Michael "Doc" Norton talks about simple things you can do today that pay off in a big way tomorrow. Take control of your Development Career. Be the developer you wanted to be. It is easier than you might think.
Keywords
Software Development
Mythical Man Month
Business
Lean / Agile
Organizational Change
This talk was given at TEDxLakeshoreEast in Chicago.
Synopsis
Software Development is notoriously expensive and unreliable. There are innumerable stories of cost overruns, missed deadlines, and just plain bad software. But what if software is merely a reflection of the organization that built it? What if the software is broken because the company is broken? The structures and practices that make for good software are the same structures and practices that make for good companies. Doc explores a few of these structures and practices and shows how they can be applied to business.
