"Insane" seems to the word of the year already #2026
FlowChainSensei
I'm Bob Marshall, a business culture change veteran with 50+ years of experience. I've created innovative approaches such as FlowChain, Prod•gnosis, Organisational Psychotherapy and Quintessence, as well as the Antimatter Principle. I pioneered "European" Agile back in 1994. I'm passionate about sharing new ideas in software development and consider myself an Ideas Artist. My work is well documented in books such as Product Aikido, Hearts over Diamonds, Memeology and Quintessence. Also, my blog.
Preferred role
Organisational Psychotherapist
Secondary role
Software teambuilding
@MikeStok True enoiugh. I prefer "Stochastic parrot".
@MikeStok Probably no.
In this article Steve Yegge argues that AI coding tools (especially Claude Code) are creating a new problem: AI-induced burnout.
"Who capture the value of productivity improvement via AI?"
Worth a read IMO (and shares a strategy which I've assiduously followed for 40+ years)
https://fosstodon.org/@flowchainsenseifoss/116064289740294326
Think Different
Most software development advice rehashes the same thinking. After 50+ years in the industry and 1,500+ posts, I've learned the real breakthroughs come from questioning the assumptions everyone else takes for granted.
That's what I explore at my long-running blog Think Different—where conventional wisdom goes to get challenged.
Curious? The archive https://flowchainsensei.wordpress.com/archive-3/ is open. If you find it valuable, please comment, like, share, and subscribe.
The Software Quality and Productivity Crisis Executives Won't Address
Reflections From the Long View - 50 Years in Software Consulting
Over my five decades in software consulting, I've witnessed remarkable transformations in our industry—from punch cards to cloud computing, from mainframes to microservices to AI coding. But in the past few years, I've observed something deeply troubling: a…
People are NOT our greatest asset; it’s the relationships BETWEEN people that is the greatest asset
We've all heard it countless times. It's printed on office walls, declared in annual reports, and repeated in town halls: 'Our people are our greatest asset.' It's meant to be inspiring, a testament to an organisation's commitment to its workforce. But this well-intentioned phrase is fundamentally missing the point....
Did you know that there's 50+ years of experience and insights into the business of software development, with 1500+ posts and articles on my long-running blog. Regular readers will attest to the value of Thinking Differently.
https://flowchainsensei.wordpress.com/
Compassion rarely wins any votes.
When the Guardians Guard Themselves: Parallels Between UK Policing and Software Development
I’ve recently become interested in UK policing (and its widespread failures). In particular, many YouTube videos on Auditing (of police and security staff behaviours). Also known as e.g. First Amendment Auditing in the USA. I’m interested not least because of the parallels I’ve come to see between poor UK policing and the parlous performance of the software development....
@MikeStok Thanks for your kind support :)
Why Software Developers REALLY Hate Teamwork (And What That Tells Us About Organisations)
For fifty years, we've been telling ourselves the same story: software developers are antisocial hermits who despise collaboration. They'd rather code alone in dark rooms than work with other human beings. It's just their nature, right? Wrong. The real story is far more interesting—and far more damning of how we run organisations....
A recent post of mine:
Attentiation: the deliberate act of bringing something forth through focused attention and care. This word captures something that exists at the intersection of observation and creation, where sustained caring focus doesn’t just notice what’s there but actively participates in bringing forth what could be...
https://flowchainsensei.wordpress.com/2025/06/16/attentiation/
Starmer a democrat? Pshaw! #AndyBurnham
The Uncomfortable Truth: Why Developer Training Is a Waste of Time
There's an entire industry built around "improving" software developers. Conferences, workshops, bootcamps, online courses, books, certifications—billions of dollars spent annually on the promise that if we just train developers better, we'll get better software. It's time to say what many of us have privately suspected: it's all just theatre...
FlowChainSensei boosted:
If you are thinking about a new book to read for 2026, maybe Bullshit Job by David Graeber is a good option.
The Comfortable Lie: Why We Don’t Actually Learn From Our Mistakes
What if, in the contexts where we most desperately want to learn from our mistakes—complex, adaptive systems like software development—it’s not just difficult to learn from failure, but actually impossible in any meaningful way?
"I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division.
“They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness [and] empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer."
~ Robin Ince
#BBCBastards
@jwd630 See: the #AntimatterPrinciple
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