Duck Alignment Academy

2022-02-26

PgM for OSS Beta 3 released

The third beta release of Program Management for Open Source Projects features a new chapter on release lifecycles.

News

2022-02-02

Use individual accountability to avoid the bystander effect

When you have a team of equals, taking turns being accountable for the tasks reduces confusion and improves sustainability.

Posts

2022-01-28

Using conferences for connections

I no longer primarily attend conferences for the talks. Now I attend to make and reinforce connections with community members.

Posts

2022-01-21

PgM for OSS Beta 2 released

The second beta release of Program Management for Open Source Projects features a new chapter on relationships and communication.

News

2022-01-19

Spreading the work with infrequent contributors

Over on The Pragmatic Programmers, I wrote an article about spreading the work fairly when you have infrequent contributors. This is a common issue in open source projects that have people who work on them as their full-time job. Contributors are the lifeblood of an open source community. You want to attract and retain people so that the project is...

Posts

2022-01-12

Picking the right animal metaphor

“Herding cats”, “aligning ducks”, “Nemoing tuna”. There are so many animal metaphors for program management. Which one works best?

Posts

2022-01-07

How to Tell If You Are a Successful Program Manager

One of the questions I often ask when discussing a new plan is “how will we know if we’re successful?” The same question applies to your role as a program manager. I just published an article about how I evaluate myself over at the Pragmatic Programmers blog. Computers are difficult and people are difficult and when you put people together...

News

2022-01-06

Program Management for Open Source Projects is here (in beta!)

After almost a year of work, I’m excited to share some very exciting news: the first beta release of Program Management for Open Source Projects is available from The Pragmatic Bookshelf! You can get DRM-free eBooks in PDF, mobi, and epub formats. Everyone does program management; some just do it poorly. Program management is the art of communicating and coordinating...

News

2021-11-06

Your bug tracker and you (SeaGL)

At SeaGL2021, I presented my talk on bug tracking for the first time. One fun fact about this talk: I got it completely written and then realized that I had focused on entirely the wrong aspects and had to rewrite it. I’m pleased with how it turned out, though. I plan on proposing it for future conferences. Slides Abstract: Your...

Talks

2021-09-16

Hold on loosely: project management in open source (POSI)

I joined Jim Hall, Jen Krieger, and Jamie Rachel for a panel moderated by Sam Kimbrel at the inaugural Practical Open Source Information (POSI) conference. We discussed the challenges that open source communities present and how they can benefit from project management. Abstract: Whether you’re an experienced project manager or new to the field, project management in open source projects...

Talks