So recently, there was a <a href="https://www.engprax.com/post/268-higher-failure-rates-for-agile-software-projects-study-finds">study</a> that said software projects adopting Agile are 268% more likely to fail than those that do not.
That’s a bold statement to make.
But before we jump into it in more detail, it’s important to note that the company behind the research, Engprax, does plug their book, <a href="https://www.engprax.com/work/impact-engineering-transforming-beyond-agile-project-management">Impact Engineering</a> (which currently has 2.8 stars on Amazon at this time of writing) early on. So this could be viewed as a way to get people to buy this book.
The study was conducted between 3rd to the 7th May 2024, with 600 software developers (250 in the UK, 350 in the USA). To me, I find it odd that this study only lasted four days. That doesn’t seem that would be enough time to complete a study and claim that Agile is a cause for projects failing (funnily enough, most sprints last longer than 4 days).
Also, that’s a very small number of software developers to interview. In comparison, the <a href="https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2023/">2023 stackoverflow survey</a> had over 90,000 respondents. To have a better understanding of what people think of Agile versus other methodologies such as Waterfall, this study should’ve interviewed thousands of developers.
This was a part of the report that stood out to me the most:
<blockquote>
Indeed, the Horizon IT system was one of the earliest large-scale projects to use an Agile methodology, namely Rapid Application Development, which has been condemned by Fujitsu engineering witnesses in the public inquiry (Terence Austin and the whistleblower David McDonnell) as a cause of the technical problems due to the absence of a robust requirements engineering process. Charles Cipione, the technical expert witness to the inquiry, summarised simply, saying that “if you don’t have a good design, it’s not going to work properly.” The failure to address these issues and cover-up attempts led to the Post Office scandal which has been described as the largest miscarriage of justice in British history, linked to multiple suicides with those wrongly imprisoned including a pregnant woman.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The research also found, disturbingly, that software engineers in the UK were 13% less likely to feel they were able to discuss and address problems than those in the US; the largest difference of all engineering practices between the two countries. The finding comes after November 2023 research by Engprax found that 75% of software engineers in the UK faced retaliation after reporting wrongdoing.
</blockquote>
I find blaming Agile methodology for the Horizon IT scandal and retaliation for reporting something to be a huge stretch. There can be so many other factors that should be taken into consideration, such as blame culture, unrealistic deadlines and budgets. One of the key pillars of Agile is responding to change, over following a plan.
I also saw this:
<blockquote>
Projects in which the software engineer reported feeling psychologically safe to discuss and address problems quickly when they emerged were 87% more likely to succeed those which didn’t.
</blockquote>
This again doesn’t feel like an issue with Agile, more about an issue with the workplace environment itself.
Now don’t get me wrong, Agile isn’t perfect (and neither is waterfall). I’ve seen a few projects fail that have used Agile, but was it to blame? No. It was down to hugely unrealistic goals and budgets.
One of the key points of the <a href="https://agilemanifesto.org/">Agile Manifesto</a> is to have working software over comprehensive documentation. As software development becomes more complex, and more demanding, the importance for living documentation grows. Being able to onboard new joiners with up to date and accurate documentation is something that I view is as equally important as working software.
The Agile Manifesto was created in 2001, and things have changed hugely since then in software development. Maybe it’s time that there was a version 2.0 of Agile?

About that study on the failure rate of projects using Agile…

I’ve used several note taking applications, like <a href="https://bear.app/">Bear</a>, but more recently, I’ve been using <a href="https://www.notion.so/">Notion</a> for writing my posts and planning my episodes for my podcast. It’s used by companies such as Figma, Pixar, Nike, Amazon, Uber and Toyota.
And the fact that it does so much for free is mind blowing.
In case you don’t know what Notion is, it’s described as a connected workspace. Which offers features that support teams from Engineering, Design, to HR in creating effective documentation. Notion have also recently launched a separate <a href="https://www.notion.so/product/calendar">calendar</a> application as well.
I’ve very slowly begun to explore what Notion can do and I’m sure that over time, I’ll gradually learn more of the complex features behind it
Although the application is more geared for business use, but it’s also extremely useful for personal use. From planning trips, tracking tasks, to taking notes, Notion does it all. This is what I’ll be focusing on in this blog post.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of other free note taking applications out there. In fact, there are extensions available for the Apple Notes application such as <a href="https://smallest.app/notescmdr/">NotesCmdr</a> and <a href="https://www.pronotes.app/">ProNotes</a>.
But I’ve ended up using Notion for so many things, not just note taking:
<ul>
<li>Organising my LinkedIn Learning / Udemy course notes</li>
<li>Managing my blog posts</li>
<li>Planning trips</li>
<li>Planning a podcast</li>
</ul>
Let’s jump into a few of my favourite features
<h1>Writing</h1>
At Notion’s core is writing.
Whether it’s for personal note taking, documenting for a product, or writing a book. Notion’s minimalist design makes it appealing for writing.
If you enjoy writing in markdown, then you’ll find some similarities between Notion and markdown syntax (especially if you plan on exporting your notes).
<h1>Databases</h1>
One feature that pulled me in to using Notion was that I could create a database on a page. I ended up creating a kanban board for my blog. I would have unique posts on the board, which would link to it’s own page for me to write the post contents and move it along the kanban board.
I honestly can’t believe that I’m excited over the ability to create and manage kabnan boards.
Plus, you can create a template so that when you create a new item on your kanban board, it’ll have whatever you want ready to go. I use this feature for my podcast, so when I start planning a new episode, Notion will use the template that will have an episode layout ready for me to fill in. I’ve found that this saves time and stops having to copy and paste something I did before.
But there’s more than just kanban boards. Notion offers galleries, lists, calendars, tables and more as databases than can be added onto a page.
<h1>Media</h1>
From YouTube videos, images, files and sound; media can be easily added onto a page in Notion.
The only media I tend to embed into my blog posts is code. When I export the post, it treats it as a markdown file, which makes it easy for me to publish the post on my website.
I can see embedding media being useful on documentation for marketing or HR teams. But for personal, I don’t use this feature that much.
<h1>Integrations</h1>
A way for Notion to stop you from switching to different applications is by offering <a href="https://www.notion.so/integrations">integrations</a>. Whether you want your data in Notion to be observable to keeping data from other tools in sync, Notion offers a wide amount of integrations.
I currently use the <a href="https://www.notion.so/integrations/github">GitHub</a> integration so I can see a table of the merge requests I’ve created for my website and their status, I find it to be a handy overview of what I’ve done.
Majority of the integrations available are more aimed at businesses rather than personal use, but I’ve found the GitHub integrations mentioned above to be useful for hobby projects.
I did discover something called <a href="https://www.notion.so/integrations/nightfall-ai">Nigthfall AI</a>, which seems useful for detecting sensitive information such as API keys on your pages.
<h1>Templates</h1>
Another part of Notion is the community <a href="https://www.notion.so/templates">templates</a> that are available to use, from free to paid. There are templates for content creating, personal websites, teaching, engineering, personal finance and more!
I think this is one of the strongest points of Notion. Finding templates to suit your need where a majority are free to use is great. Plus, I find it’s a good way to learn Notion by seeing what others can create.
<h1>Publishing to the web</h1>
Speaking of templates, you can share your pages online for others to view, edit and comment.
I’ve uploaded an online version of my <a href="https://www.notion.so/Joshua-Blewitt-Resume-CV-accea10012824431bc7f8654d77590a2?pvs=21">resume</a> for anyone to see (in fact, there’s a link on the homepage to it!)
If you’re looking for a quick and professional way to build your web presence, using a Notion page is a good idea.
<h1>AI</h1>
Yes, Notion has an <a href="https://www.notion.so/product/ai">AI feature</a> as well.
And it’s something that I would use, on both personal and in a professional use case. I’ve tried this with some notes from courses I’ve taken and it works surprisingly well.
The Q&#x26;A feature is incredibly useful if you’re searching through notes and are looking for a high level summary. There’s also features for helping with writing and autofilling tables.
There are also AI powered <a href="https://www.notion.so/templates/category/ai">templates</a> as well, ranging from planning a trip to product name description.
The AI feature is free to try, but it does cost a monthly fee (starting from $8 a month).
<h1>Even more…</h1>
This is only scratching the surface of what Notion can do.
Notion can also:
<ul>
<li>Add table of contents to posts</li>
<li>Add equations</li>
<li>Add buttons</li>
<li>Breadcrumb trail</li>
<li>Add columns</li>
<li>Add dividers</li>
<li>Sync content across pages</li>
<li>And more!</li>
</ul>
<h1>Wrap up</h1>
That’s a quick overview on how I use Notion.
It’s free to use and it offers great mobile applications as well as desktop and web versions as well.
If you’re like me who has a blog with over 100 posts, using something like Notion to organise your posts is worth looking into.

Notion - the application that organises my blog posts

When I started my second IT job eight years ago, I was 26 years old. I still had so much to learn, in both technical and soft skills. I hadn’t had much experience in soft skills, and within the first few weeks of working at the job, I organised a meeting to discuss something. I sent out a meeting invite with the title of the meeting, the time and the location.
One of my colleagues I had invited declined the invitation, I was confused. Why? The invite had everything someone needed to know. I thought the title explained everything.
Or so I thought…
My colleague told me that they wouldn’t accept a meeting that was empty. My meeting invite was blank. And that’s when I realised that to someone else who knew nothing about the issue, this invite wouldn’t tell them anything about the meeting at all! If you work in IT, you probably have also had a meeting invite without a description appear in your inbox.
I went back to my meeting invite, updated it, and the invite was accepted. Crisis averted. I ended up writing basic descriptions for each meeting from then on. Were the descriptions the best? Probably not. But it gave the attendees enough information about the meeting.
What got me to write this post was something that happened recently. A colleague that I worked with shared something that I’ve never heard of before when defining meetings, my colleague shared that a meeting invite should have the following; Purpose, Process and Payoff. Coincidentally, they also didn't like empty meeting invites.
These three points should define everything someone should know about the meeting. But what does each point mean?
<ul>
<li>Purpose - What is the purpose of this meeting? Why are we all here? Give a description that informs everyone what the meeting is about. Share some links to JIRA tickets or confluence pages as well.</li>
<li>Process - How is the meeting ran? Is there going to be any demos? Give an overview of how and who is running the meeting.</li>
<li>Payoff - What will everyone get out of the meeting? Will anything be resolved? Describe what the outcome of the meeting will be.</li>
</ul>
Here's an example:
<ul>
<li>Purpose - to discuss the findings following the spike we brought into our sprint.</li>
<li>Process - I will walk through a confluence page and share my discoveries with the attendees.</li>
<li>Payoff - Feedback will be given, questions will be raised for further investigation, attendees will gain knowledge on what was discovered on the spike.</li>
</ul>
You could expand this invite more by providing a link to where the results of the spike are located, diagrams and more.
I’ve now started to get into the habit of defining the purpose, process and payoff whenever I create a meeting invite. I think it’s definitely helped me in taking the time to clearly define what the meeting is about, what will happen and what the outcomes will be. I’ve found it to be a good way in being more organised, it’s an improvement to how I used to write meeting descriptions.
But what are the main reasons why you should define a process for meetings?
<ul>
<li>Inform - People need to know why they’re being invited to a meeting. I originally thought for years that just providing a meeting title would be sufficient, but it isn’t.</li>
<li>Organise - Taking the time to define these three points will help you organise the meeting, making you look more professional and resourceful.</li>
<li>Prepare - Using the three points will allow yourself and others to prepare for the meeting, in case anyone needs to bring a set of notes or something. Plus, it allows you to prepare the ‘process’ step of the meeting.</li>
</ul>
Although this should help you to define better meetings, it’s important to remember to avoid having too many meetings or long meetings. But that is an entirely different topic altogether.
If I could go back to when I started work, I’d definitely share this process to defining better meetings. It’s something that University didn’t teach me, or prepare me for.
Are you ready to redefine your meetings? Start by implementing the Purpose, Process and Payoff framework in your next meeting invite. Don’t forget to share this post with your colleagues - because better meetings start with us. If you implement Purpose, Process, Payoff, let me know how it goes!

Purpose, Process, Payoff! How to define better meetings

Recently, I participated in my first hackathon where I work at, and I’ve learnt a lot. Not just learning more about technology, but also soft skills and seeing the benefits of having a hackathon.
So in this post, I wanted to share my thoughts on my first hackathon.
I don’t want to go into too much detail on what the hackathon was about or what I worked on.
<h1>What is a hackathon, anyway?</h1>
A hackathon is an event where people participate in rapid and collaborative engineering in a short period of time. The goal of a hackathon is to create a piece of functional software by the end of the event. Hackathons tend to have a specific focus which can be a specific programming language, or problem.
People are given freedom to choose to form a team for a project or join an existing project. It’s important to allow for creative freedom as it drives problem solving and collaboration.
At the end of the hackathon, each group gives a presentation of what they achieved. Sometimes, there are prizes which are awarded by a panel of judges.
Who takes part in a hackathon? Anyone can! This is one of the strongest points of the hackathon in my view (which I’ll explain later)
In the hackathon I participated in, it lasted for three days (two days hacking, one day for presentations)
<h1>How did it go?</h1>
I think my first hackathon event went quite well! The project I was part of was great, we produced something that was very impressive and the presentation was well received.
I immensely enjoyed it, I was able to get a hands on experience with some new technology and work with people who I don’t work with often.
Our project progressed very smoothly, and it allowed us to explore and learn more about the technology we were working with. I think we all gained a deeper understanding, appreciation and thoughts on the technology we worked with during the Hackathon.
We did have regular catch-ups before the hackathon to ensure that our group was prepared, and I think that hugely helped us. From understanding what we wanted to achieve to setting up our development environments, so on the first day we were ready to go. By preparing, it gave us more time to work on the project itself.
The presentations shown by the other groups at the end were also fantastic. It showed what was possible in a small amount of time.
<h1>What are the benefits of a hackathon?</h1>
Hackathons are a great opportunity for anyone in a company to learn something new, meet new people and gain insight into software development. And are a good way for anyone, in any role, to make a contribution to a project and learn from others. I'm a big believer in giving people opportunities, and hackathon's provide a great space for anyone to come and gain experience in something.
Hackathons are also great for teams to come together, explore ways to solve problems and get an opportunity to work on new technologies. Plus, these events are a great way to discover new requirements, and an opportunity to involve product owners to gain interest in new technologies.
The project I was in grew from one idea, to many ideas. All it took was working on the project and collaborating to discover what else we could do. From conversations, to messages on slack, the hackathon allowed the project to grow to find new problems we could solve.
Not everything from a hackathon will be used in a feature in production, but it could lead to inspiration for future ideas. Think of it as an opportunity for rapid prototyping or perhaps creating a product roadmap.
Another benefit I found is that hackathons are a good way to practice soft skills from communicating to scrum methodology. Since the work is low risk and not in production, it’s the best environment to find which way of working is best.
Hackathon’s are a great way to improve a culture in a team, by bringing a team together and giving them the time and space to create something has tremendous benefits on communication, motivation and passion for work.
<h1>Should everyone take part in and run a hackathon?</h1>
In my view, yes. Spending a few days to participate in a project gives tremendous benefits and allows a business to see what their teams can achieve in a few days.
You don’t need development experience to take part in a hackathon. Anyone in a business can definitely take part in one, and make a contribution. Plus, taking the time and seeing what software development is like can be inspiring.
Hackathon’s are a great opportunity to come together, and see what can be built in a small amount of time. Plus, you can discover new opportunities within the business that may have never been thought of before.
If you've never run a hackathon before, check out this <a href="https://www.hackerearth.com/community-hackathons/resources/e-books/guide-to-organize-hackathon/">post</a> on running one.
I also did an interview for the podcast that is run by the company I work for about the hackathon, so keep an eye out for that early next year!

What I learnt from my first hackathon

Artificial intelligence is everywhere on the news and blogs around the world right now, for better or for worse. You can’t escape from it.
From how companies have agreed to safeguards, Hollywood writers going on strike because of the threat AI, a new research lab in <a href="https://sakana.ai/">Tokyo</a>, to even <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65631168">BT planning to cut 55K jobs with up to a fifth being replaced by AI</a> (which I think is a terrible idea). Not a day goes by without a new article about AI is being shared around the world. At times, it’s quite frightening at how fast AI development is going.
Sure, there is plenty of doom and gloom around how AI is going to automate jobs etc, but I think we should view AI as an opportunity to improve human and computer cooperation, and not to replace humans. I believe that the opportunity of improved human and computer cooperation will allow us to solve incredibly complex problems.
To back this hypothesis up, I decided to use ChatGPT (version 3.5) in helping me write parts of this website.
The areas that I used ChatGPT for this website are:
<ul>
<li>Pagination on the blog page</li>
<li>Implementing an RSS feed</li>
<li>Pinned post feature</li>
<li>Tags on posts</li>
</ul>
To be clear, I didn’t go to ChatGPT and say ‘give me the code for a blog, with styling, that’s built using NextJS that has pagination, RSS, pinned posts and tags on posts’. I built a large majority of this blog myself, but when it came to areas that I wasn’t confident in developing myself, I turned to AI for a helping hand.
The way I approached this was this:
<ul>
<li>I provided ChatGPT a clear explanation of what I wanted, including what framework I was using.</li>
<li>I provided ChatGPT of what I was working with (so I included code snippets)</li>
<li>If I encountered an error, I’d share the error message with ChatGPT and work with it to debug the issue</li>
</ul>
And the end result was that, despite some small issues (and on one occasion, I corrected ChatGPT), you can see that pagination, an RSS feed, the pinned post feature and post tags are working correctly.
I was honestly surprised at how easy it was to work with ChatGPT to get these features working locally. I thought I’d have to spend hours working through error messages or rewording the question so that it could clearly understand what I wanted. I think the longest I spent debugging an issue with ChatGPT was probably twenty minutes.
I did, for an experiment, ask ChatGPT the following question:
<blockquote>
Can you write me the code for a blog built with NextJS?
</blockquote>
And it did bring back an example of a blog that was built with NextJS. But would I consider it something was ready for everyone to see? No, far from it. The response ChatGPT provided was extremely bare bones.
Take a look at this question I asked ChatGPT:
<blockquote>
I have a blog built with NextJS and I fetch my markdown posts like this:
<code>code snippet here</code>
How can I find a specific post by name?
</blockquote>
In my question about finding a specific post by name, I provided ChatGPT the context of what I was working with. The answer I received improved the code I provided and was easy to implement.
Providing the context also improved the debug experience (because I am not the best engineer). I told ChatGPT what error I was getting and the code I had written. And majority of the time, ChatGPT told me what the issue was and how to solve it.
Here’s the <a href="https://chat.openai.com/share/b133295e-88c8-47e1-b970-702d054de9a9">link</a> to the conversation I had with ChatGPT about implementing an RSS feed and here’s an example of the code it generated:
<pre><code class="language-jsx">import RSS from "rss";
import { metadata } from "../../components/page"; // Replace this with your site's metadata file

export async function generateRssFeed() {
 const baseUrl = metadata.siteUrl; // Replace this with your blog's base URL
 const feed = new RSS({
 title: metadata.title,
 description: metadata.description,
 feed_url: `${baseUrl}/rss.xml`,
 site_url: baseUrl,
 image_url: `${baseUrl}/favicon.ico`, // Replace this with your blog's favicon URL
 managingEditor: metadata.author,
 webMaster: metadata.author,
 language: metadata.language,
 });

 // Your code for generating the RSS feed items here...

 // Return the XML string for the RSS feed
 return feed.xml();
}

export default async function handler(req, res) {
 const feedXml = await generateRssFeed();
 res.setHeader("Content-Type", "text/xml");
 res.write(feedXml);
 res.end();
}
</code></pre>
Not bad, right?
Sure, it’s not perfect. Asking ChatGPT to find a way to embed YouTube videos into a markdown file that uses <code>remark</code> is a scenario where it gets stuck. But, it did attempt it. This is something that I will need to revisit in the future.
Now some may ask, “If you were stuck with this to begin with, why didn’t you turn to Stack Overflow or something?” And my response to that question is the hostility of these communities is what drives me away. Why should I post a question and receive awful responses on something I’m trying to do? <a href="https://www.similarweb.com/blog/insights/ai-news/stack-overflow-chatgpt/">Similarweb</a> found that traffic to Stack Overflow was down by 13.9% in March this year, which could be linked to the popularity of ChatGPT.
Greg Brockman gave a <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/greg_brockman_the_inside_story_of_chatgpt_s_astonishing_potential">TED talk</a> about the potential of ChatGPT and it really shows how these tools can enhance human and computer cooperation. In the talk, Greg said:
<blockquote>
I think this really shows the shape of something that we should expect to be much more common in the future, where we have humans and machines kind of very carefully and delicately designed in how they fit into a problem and how we want to solve that problem. We make sure that the humans are providing the management, the oversight, the feedback, and the machines are operating in a way that's inspectable and trustworthy. And together we're able to actually create even more trustworthy machines. And I think that over time, if we get this process right, we will be able to solve impossible problems.
</blockquote>
Towards the end of the talk, Greg said the following:
<blockquote>
And if there's one thing to take away from this talk, it's that this technology just looks different. Just different from anything people had anticipated. And so we all have to become literate. And that's, honestly, one of the reasons we released ChatGPT.
</blockquote>
And this is true, computer literacy is a life skill that is incredibly important today and for the future. The <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/b1b710a1-6d12-43e5-8508-ae4584a7289a">Financial Times</a> reported that 10.7mn job postings requiring computer literacy ranged from HR roles to nursing. Microsoft released a <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/en-gb/2021/11/17/universities-we-cant-solve-the-uks-digital-skills-gap-on-our-own/">report</a> about what work is needed to close the digital skills gap.
And hey, maybe this is a better time than ever to go back and read a post I wrote about <a href="https://www.joshblewitt.dev/posts/2021-04-02-digital-skills-shortage">how we can solve the digital skills shortage.</a> Or even <a href="https://www.joshblewitt.dev/posts/2023-03-26-MK-tech">why the Milton Keynes tech community is important.</a>
Let’s get back on track about the main topic of AI being an opportunity for human and computer cooperation. In my example for getting features on my blog, the human, had some knowledge, but required the cooperation of a computer to help with a more complex task.
The idea of human and computer cooperation isn’t new. In 2012, Shyam Sankar gave a <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/shyam_sankar_the_rise_of_human_computer_cooperation">TED talk</a> on the same subject. Shyam speaks on how we could improve human-computer symbiosis. We should design humans into the process, and not think about what the computer needs to do to solve the problem.
Garry Kasparov, the famous chess grandmaster who played IBM’s Deep Blue, said in a <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/garry_kasparov_don_t_fear_intelligent_machines_work_with_them/transcript?autoplay=true">TED Talk</a> that:
<blockquote>
What I learned from my own experience is that we must face our fears if we want to get the most out of our technology, and we must conquer those fears if we want to get the best out of our humanity
</blockquote>
Garry also said the following regarding how in 2005, a pair of American chess players operating three PCs, won a chess tournament:
<blockquote>
A weak human player plus a machine plus a better process is superior to a very powerful machine alone, but more remarkably, is superior to a strong human player plus machine and an inferior process. This convinced me that we would need better interfaces to help us coach our machines towards more useful intelligence.
</blockquote>
And:
<blockquote>
Our technology excels at removing difficulties and uncertainties from our lives, and so we must seek out ever more difficult, ever more uncertain challenges. Machines have calculations. We have understanding. Machines have instructions. We have purpose. Machines have objectivity. We have passion. We should not worry about what our machines can do today. Instead, we should worry about what they still cannot do today, because we will need the help of the new, intelligent machines to turn our grandest dreams into reality.
</blockquote>
We do need to ensure that the development of AI is safe. The World Ethical Data Foundation <a href="https://openletter.worldethicaldata.org/en/openletter/">released</a> a new framework for developing AI safely. The framework has a range of questions for people working an AI product, the working group and of the algorithms or models. I think it’s important that the industry does adopt a framework to ensure safe development of AI.
I saw recently that <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66604123">Bletchley Park</a> is going to host the first summit on AI safety this November. It’s not known which world leaders will be attending this, but it’s a start which hopefully will get the ball rolling on safety.
Let’s take a look at the article I mentioned about BT cut jobs and replace them with AI again. Could you imagine what customer service would be like if it was run by ChatGPT today? It would be a disaster! AI would need to improve massively by the end of the 2020’s (which is when BT wants to complete it’s restructuring).
In fact, Meta's president of global affairs (and former deputy prime minister) Nick Clegg <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66238004">said</a> the "hype has somewhat run ahead of the technology". And that current AI models are "quite stupid".
Yejin Choi gave a <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/yejin_choi_why_ai_is_incredibly_smart_and_shockingly_stupid">TED Talk</a> about how smart and stupid AI can be. Towards the end of the talk, Yejin said this:
<blockquote>
We're now entering a new era in which AI is almost like a new intellectual species with unique strengths and weaknesses compared to humans. In order to make this powerful AI sustainable and humanistic, we need to teach AI common sense, norms and values.
</blockquote>
I also do wonder how much running an AI for BT would cost. Not just the cost of training the model but the cost of running the model to handle requests from customers. I’ve had some experience with cloud computing platforms such as Microsoft Azure and if you’re not careful, the cost of using these platforms can be very expensive.
If there’s anything that everyone should remember from this post, it’s this; calculators did not replace mathematicians, it only enhanced their work.

How AI is an opportunity for human and computer cooperation

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I’ve recently been doing some courses to expand my knowledge on Business Analysis recently and one part of the course that stood out to me was the view of scope creep.
In some ways, scope creep can be seen as a good thing. I thought “What? There’s no way that can be right!”
First, let’s ask the question of what is scope creep, anyway?
Well, it’s when deliverables exceed the agreed project scope.
During my time as a software tester for nine years (that’s a long time), scope creep was probably the worst thing that could happen. To be fair, as the software tester, I would be one of the last people involved in the development cycle. So the added stress and frustration didn’t help me. Especially if the deadline didn’t move.
But during the courses I’ve taken I can somewhat see the reasons why scope creep can be a good thing. Let’s take a fair and balanced approach to this (or try to at least).
<h1>The argument for Scope Creep</h1>
Unlocking new opportunities
Okay, I will say this. If the Scope Creep is necessary, justified and required, then it can unlock new opportunities to enhance what is being delivered.
At the end of the day, the project is something that delivers the product. We want to make sure that right product gets built, right?
Avoids disaster
Sometimes, you need Scope Creep to prevent the project from failing. Something can get missed (I mean, let’s be real, mistakes happen)
Just-in-time requirements
In Business Analysis, there’s an acronym called VUCA. Which stands for; Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. Scope Creep can refer to Volatility (being ready for changing requirements) and Uncertainty (creating just-in-time requirements). It could be argued that Complexity also refers to Scope Creep as that relates to adjusting complexity as we go.
With this mind, Scope Creep is inevitable and could be argued as being welcomed as part of the Business Analysis process.
<h1>The argument against Scope Creep</h1>
Last minute decisions lead to chaos
I’ve been on sprint teams where scope creep has been brought in at the last minute, and the original deadline is upheld. This leads to people rushing to get the new requirements in, which only leads to defects being introduced.
I’ve seen this happen so many times, and people wonder why introducing new requirements late into the development cycle never seems to work (it’s a real mystery)
Lost confidence in stakeholders
When Scope Creep happens, I’ve seen teams lose confidence and become less trusting in the stakeholders as a result of this. Especially if it happens repeatedly.
Who would want to work with stakeholders if they’re known to introduce requirements late in the development cycle?
<h1>How can we prevent Scope Creep?</h1>
Preventing Scope Creep shouldn’t sit with development teams, preventing Scope Creep sits with the Business Analyst and stakeholders.
A good way in preventing Scope Creep is creating a good business case. A business case documents benefits and justifies resources. The business case is a good example of a living document, that includes the results of needs assessments and other data, and adjusts over time to align with organisational objectives. A business case also provides valuable information of the business need and the proposed solution.
It could also be argued that requirement elicitation is also important in preventing Scope Creep. This involves the discovery and progressive elaboration of understanding the needs of stakeholders and customers. Elicitation and analysis should be more about dialogue, shared understanding, visuals, and exploring. This will help with engaging with the business in finding the correct requirements (it is important to note that of course, time is limited, and it’s important to prevent analysis paralysis).
<h1>Conclusion</h1>
I think we can all agree Scope Creep is awful for everyone involved. Nobody wants it. But if there is a justified reason (and it has to be an excellent reason) why there needs to be Scope Creep, then it can be a good thing. If it ensures that the project delivers the right product, then that’s what everyone wants at the end of the day, right?

The argument, for and against, of Scope Creep

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Recently, I came across this news <a href="https://www.mkfm.com/news/local-news/new-milton-keynes-city-council-partnership-will-provide-boost-to-citys-tech-sector/">article</a> that the city council will be collaborating with the community led group, <a href="https://protospace.uk/">Protospace</a>. Milton Keynes Council will be providing the group almost £40K to support the tech community.
The group aims to bring people and businesses together to run events and programmes that help bring a vision for technology and innovation for Milton Keynes.
There are many events that are associated with the group. Such as <a href="https://www.madeinmk.com/">Made in MK</a> and <a href="https://mkgeeknight.co.uk/">MK Geek Night</a> (one day, I’ll submit a talk. I’ve never done one before!)
I’m from Milton Keynes, born and raised. I’ve worked at a few companies based in Milton Keynes (the biggest being Domino’s Pizza Group), and I’ve seen how successful Milton Keynes has become when it comes to business.
Or so I thought…
Protospace worked with Whitecap Consulting to create the <a href="https://www.whitecapconsulting.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Milton-Keynes_Tech_Report_260922.pdf">2022 Milton Keynes Tech Ecosystem Report</a>.
In this blog post, I’m going to break the report down and bring you the key points. Hopefully it’ll explain just how important the Milton Keynes tech community is.
<h2>The Summary (TLDR)</h2>
<ul>
<li>There are 45K tech workers, which is 30% of the total workforce</li>
<li>There are 2400 tech enterprises, which is 19% of the total enterprises in the city (yes, Milton Keynes is a city now)</li>
<li>The tech sector has a GVA of £3.4bn, which is 23% of the GVA for Milton Keynes</li>
<li>Milton Keynes has a very high startup activity</li>
<li>Key strength in autonomous vehicles and robotics</li>
<li>Milton Keynes suffers from a tech talent shortage (which is a national problem)</li>
<li>There is a problem around attracting and retaining talent in Milton Keynes</li>
<li>There’s a perception that Milton Keynes lacks a vibrancy that other cities have</li>
</ul>
So overall, a mixed bag. The biggest problem continues to be finding talent. This problem isn’t new. In fact, I wrote up a post about work done by the <a href="https://joshblewitt.dev/blog/2021-04-02-digital-skills-shortage/">Learning and Work Institute</a> in 2021, which you should totally read.
Let’s look into some more sections in greater detail.
<h2>Tech sector</h2>
Compared to other cities in the UK, Milton Keynes really stands out amongst the crowd. It beats larger cities such as Manchester and Birmingham, and is close with Cambridge and Oxford. Which if you think about it, it’s really impressive that Milton Keynes is catching up with Cambridge. Especially since that Cambridge is home to many big names in tech in the Science Park and Business Park. Such as; ARM, Qualcomm, AstraZeneca, Samsung and Citrix.
But what’s one of the reasons why Milton Keynes is so popular?
It’s geographical position.
Sitting between the Cambridge and Oxford arc, being close to the Silverstone Tech cluster, motorway access and trains to London give Milton Keynes a strong advantage in drawing business to the area.
In fact, research suggests that Milton Keynes is the best place in the UK for commuting. Plus, it’s home to the highest number of electric vehicle charging locations and an average commute of 14.1 miles.
If you live in Milton Keynes, you know of the grid road design and the Redways make Milton Keynes unique. And that has paid off as one of the cities key strengths is in robotics and autonomous vehicles. There’s no doubt that you’ve seen the Starship delivery robots going around.
If you look at the tech ecosystem in Milton Keynes, there are companies that specialise in creative works, education, finance and even sports technology. This is a reason why the tech community is important in Milton Keynes, it has a reputation for being a location for testing new technologies.
<h2>Talent and skills</h2>
Everyone knows that digital skills are now life skills. And demand for advanced skills is continuing to rise. This issue isn’t exclusive to Milton Keynes, this is a country wide issue.
According to the Disconnected report by World Skills UK, 92% of businesses require a basic level of digital skills and 82% of job vacancies now require basic digital skills.
FutureDotNow found that approximately 11.8 people million are lacking digital skills.
And the demand for advanced digital skills is growing. With 27% of employer’s are now asking for these skills.
This demand has affected businesses in areas such as:
<ul>
<li>Increased workload for other staff</li>
<li>Difficulties in meeting customer service objectives</li>
<li>Increased operating costs</li>
<li>Losing business to competitors</li>
</ul>
The South Central Institute of Technology found that between 2010 and 2020, the number of digital jobs increased by 21%.
In fact, the SEMLEP Local Skills Report found that vacancies for jobs in the tech/digital sector across the region have increased 68% from 2020 to 2021.
Plus, the highest number of vacancies being for software developers and engineers.
One of the biggest challenges however is surrounding the attraction and retention of talent within Milton Keynes. This is a particular problem for attracting young talent. The report also mentions that Milton Keynes lacks a vibrancy that can be found in other cities.
However, due to Milton Keynes’ geographical position, there are high education providers that offer a strong supply of talent (think of Cambridge and Oxford University). But, Milton Keynes is a city that doesn’t have a University, this could be a factor as to why there is a ‘brain drain’ and a shortage of talent.
<h2>Collaboration</h2>
Collaboration is one key suggestion that can help improve the tech community in Milton Keynes. The report found that stakeholder described the current tech ecosystem as “fragmented” and “disparate”.
Sure, there are events such as MK Geek Night, but stakeholder interviews found that reach and engagement was a problem. There is also a lack of awareness around the technologies, projects and the tech firms within Milton Keynes.
The report suggests that a platform or a forum might be useful. Where organisations and individuals can become members and share information to create an accessible platform. The report also found that there is an opportunity to create a physical space such as a technology hub.
<h2>What next?</h2>
The report makes the following suggestions:
<ul>
<li>Create a Milton Keynes tech steering group</li>
<li>Establish a tech ecosystem strategy</li>
<li>Design and create a technology hub</li>
<li>Create a tech accelerator as part of the hub</li>
<li>Establish an education providers’ group to create tech talent strategy for the benefit of Milton Keynes</li>
</ul>
As described above under Collaboration, creating a technology hub, business/science park would be hugely beneficial. A good example of this would be the <a href="https://www.cambridgesciencepark.co.uk/">Cambridge Science Park</a> (I’ve been there!) or even the <a href="https://atlantatechvillage.com/">Atlanta Tech Village</a> (I have not been there!).
Giving startups and individuals a dedicated flagship quality space would attract, retain and inspire talent to Milton Keynes.
However, there is still a much bigger issue that remains to be solved, the issue about the demand for digital skills.
There’s a lot of work to do to ensure that the tech community in Milton Keynes continues to grow. It certainly seems that the city will be one to watch in the next few years.

Why the Milton Keynes tech community is important

There’s been plenty of buzz about <a href="https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt/">ChatGPT</a> lately.
From Microsoft using the technology in Bing, to users asking it to help them write code. It seems like ChatGPT is everywhere.
But there’s one thing that I never thought ChatGPT would be used, writing comedy sketches.
“Ssssssskiiiineerrrr!”
Says Superintendent Chalmers, as he wonders around Principal Skinner’s dining room. Arms stretched in a T-pose.
“Okay, think fast. What can I do?” Ponders Skinner, wondering around the kitchen, as his meal burns in the oven.
“I know, I’ll pretend like it’s supposed to be burned. He’ll never know the difference. Okay here goes nothing. Hey Chalmers, lunch is ready!”
The screen changes to the outside window of Skinner’s house.
“Oh, look at that. A cat just caught a mouse.”
Of course, this doesn’t happen in the ‘Steamed Hams’ sketch. Skinner tries to cook a roast, ends up buying fast food, and his house burns down.
There’s a Twitch stream called <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/unlimitedsteam">UnlimitedSteam</a> - a 24 hour stream where ChatGPT and other technologies write constant scenes based on Streamed Hams from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jXEuIHY9ic">The Simpsons</a>.
Each episode follows the same scenes:
<ul>
<li>Skinner greets Chalmers at the door</li>
<li>Chalmers enters the house</li>
<li>Skinner burns whatever he’s cooking</li>
<li>Skinner finds an alternative</li>
<li>Lunch is served, but Chalmers knows that the food is different from what was being cooked originally</li>
<li>Kitchen catches fire, Skinner gives a bizarre excuse for why the kitchen is on fire</li>
<li>Skinner and Chalmers exit the house</li>
</ul>
But each episode’s dialogue will be different, and the results are incredible.
Here's an example:
From ghosts, volcanic lightning, Skinner denying the fire is happening and even swearing. The stream has it all! I’ve laughed hard plenty of times at the wild scripts that ChatGPT comes up with.
But I’m laughing at the fact that the script that the AI wrote was just so wild, not that it was actually funny. It looks like it has a long way to go to understanding humour. I decided to ask ChatGPT to write a few scenes in Friends with different scenarios and although it wrote lines for each of the characters, none of the material it wrote was actually funny.
Here's an example of where I asked ChatGPT to write a scene in Friends where Chandler turns into a Zombie:
<blockquote>
INT. MONICA'S APARTMENT - DAY
Chandler enters the room, shuffling his feet and groaning. His eyes are blank, and his skin has a pale, lifeless look.
RACHEL: (screaming) Oh my God! Chandler, what happened to you?!
JOEY: (also screaming) Yeah, man, you look like a zombie!
MONICA: (calmly) Joey, zombies aren't real.
JOEY: (disbelieving) Then what's wrong with Chandler?
PHOEBE: (whispering to herself) This is not good, not good at all.
RACHEL: (nervously) I think we need to get him to a hospital.
MONICA: (skeptically) I don't think that's going to help, he looks dead already.
CHANDLER: (groaning) Brains...
JOEY: (alarmed) Whoa, man, this is getting freaky.
RACHEL: (pleadingly) Chandler, can you hear us? What happened to you?
CHANDLER: (loudly) Brains!
PHOEBE: (firmly) I think we need to call 911.
Just then, Chandler suddenly lunges at Joey, trying to bite him. Joey yelps and jumps back, tripping over the coffee table and falling to the floor.
JOEY: (scared) Get it away from me!
RACHEL: (screaming) Somebody do something!
MONICA: (taking charge) Okay, okay, we need to get him contained. Joey, grab some towels, we'll wrap him up.
The group works together to subdue Chandler, tying him up with towels and propping him up against the wall.
PHOEBE: (worried) What are we going to do with him now?
RACHEL: (tearfully) I don't know, but we can't just leave him like this.
MONICA: (determined) We'll figure something out, but right now we need to keep him from hurting anyone else.
The camera pulls back to show the group huddled together, looking worried and uncertain as they try to figure out what to do with their friend, who has become a zombie.
</blockquote>
There was another AI powered steam called <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjkyxp/whats-the-deal-with-nothing-forever-a-21st-century-seinfeld-that-is-ai-generated">Nothing, Forever</a>, which ran a 24 hour stream of an endless Seinfeld episode. But the stream was taken down and banned after it made an <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/02/endless-seinfeld-episode-grinds-to-a-halt-after-ai-comic-violates-twitch-guidelines/">offensive joke</a>.
But there’s one clip from the stream that does show the limitation of ChatGPT (starting at 1:13):
The audience laughing hard at the set up and then absolute silence at the punch line is a good example of a reminder that AI isn’t perfect, it’s still flawed.
While I was exploring ChatGPT I asked it what it thought of this website, and it gave an interesting response:
<blockquote>
Based on my analysis, <a href="https://joshblewitt.dev/">https://joshblewitt.dev/</a> appears to be the personal website of Josh Blewitt, a software engineer based in Melbourne, Australia.
The website showcases Josh's portfolio of software projects and his blog posts on various topics related to software development, including front-end development, back-end development, and software architecture. The website also provides information about Josh's skills and experience as a software engineer, as well as his contact details.
Overall, the website appears to be well-designed, user-friendly, and informative. If you are interested in software development, particularly in the context of web development, you may find Josh's website to be a useful resource.
</blockquote>
So, according to ChatGPT - I’m based in Australia?
<blockquote>
Based on my analysis of the website at <a href="https://joshblewitt.dev/">https://joshblewitt.dev/</a>, here are some general features and information about the site:
<ol>
<li>Purpose: The website appears to be a personal portfolio and blog site for Josh Blewitt, a web developer and designer. The site showcases his work and skills through examples of his web design projects, as well as blog posts on various web development topics.</li>
<li>Design: The website has a minimalist and clean design, with a black and white color scheme and prominent use of typography. The site is responsive, meaning it adapts to different screen sizes and devices, and has a consistent layout across pages.</li>
<li>Content: The website features a prominent section showcasing Josh's work, with links to his design projects and a brief description of each. There is also a blog section featuring Josh's writing on web development topics, with articles organized by category and date.</li>
<li>Navigation: The website has a prominent navigation bar at the top of each page, featuring links to the Home, Work, Blog, and Contact pages. The navigation bar remains visible as the user scrolls down the page, making it easy to access from anywhere on the site.</li>
<li>Contact: The website has a Contact page with a form that visitors can fill out to reach out to Josh regarding his work or potential job opportunities. The page also includes links to Josh's social media profiles and a brief bio.</li>
</ol>
Overall, the website appears to be a well-designed and professional portfolio and blog site for Josh Blewitt, showcasing his web development and design skills and providing useful information for visitors interested in his work or web development in general.
</blockquote>
It’s wrong that I have a contact page, even a link to this non-existent page.
The way I view AI at the moment is that it's not in a position to be seen as a replacement for anything, but more of an additional tool to enhance our work. Here's an example of me asking ChatGPT how to create a class in Python
<blockquote>
In Python, you can define a class using the class keyword followed by the name of the class. Here is a basic example:
class MyClass:
pass
In this example, we define a class called MyClass using the class keyword, and we include the keyword pass to indicate that there are no methods or attributes defined in this class.
To define methods and attributes within a class, you can use the same syntax as you would when defining functions and variables outside of a class. Here is an example of a class with some methods and attributes:
class Person:
def init(self, name, age):
self.name = name
self.age = age
def say_hello(self):
print("Hello, my name is", self.name)
def get_age(self):
return self.age
</blockquote>
AI such as ChatGPT is not in a position to replace anyone. Besides, ChatGPT doesn't have a web browser, it can only provide information on the content of the website. Here's an example:
<blockquote>
As an AI language model, I don't have a web browser to visit websites like humans do. However, based on the website's URL you provided, "https://joshblewitt.dev/", I can provide you with some information about the website's content.
</blockquote>
So, don't worry about ChatGPT taking over the world.
It can't visit websites, and it doesn't have a sense of humour.

A few hours well spent. And a glimpse into the future?

Watching ChatGPT write comedies on Twitch

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Recently, me and my <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexis-pruitt-1086b6175/">wife</a> been assembling flat pack furniture in our new home. A lot of flat pack furniture (I’ve created quite the collection of Allen keys). We've had so much cardboard that we've had to use a bin that's at a nearby supermarket that allows people to recycle cardboard and mixed paper.
And during the fun process of unpacking and then assembling furniture, I actually learnt a few important lessons in regards to problem solving.
<h2>Patience is part of problem solving</h2>
I have a lot of patience when it comes to most things. But assembling furniture however, taught me that having patience is part of the process in understanding something. I ended up spending a lot of time reading the instructions of the funiture before I start building it.
It might sound odd, but trust me on this.
It takes patience to understand what you need to do and how to do it.
I bought a set of two matching bedside tables (both look great by the way), and once I had an understanding of what I was doing, assembling them was pretty simple! In fact, I probably spent less time building the second one than I did on the first one, as I was familiar on how to build the bed side table.
<h2>Take a break (and then come back to it)</h2>
The biggest lesson came from one flat pack which was a bench for a dining table. Early in the instructions, we had to attach a stretcher to a right and left leg. Seems simple enough. But the instructions however told us to screw into the wood on the bench leg from the stretcher.
That didn’t seem right to me. But after checking the instructions, that really was what needed to be done.
But after several attempts, it wasn’t working. The screw wasn’t going into the wooden leg properly. The attached leg and stretcher was loose and wasn’t stable.
No way would that be safe to sit on.
After spending thirty to forty minutes, me and my wife agreed to take a lunch break.
During the lunch break, I was able to think and recharge. And that moment of being away from it provided me with a brain wave.
And when I got back, I had the complete bench assembled in no time. I had the idea of assembling the furniture on the floor instead of a box of another flat pack, and that made all the difference.
I guess being away from the problem provided me with an opportunity to think about the problem clearly.
<h2>Get a second opinion</h2>
There were a few times when I needed to check if I was doing something correctly. And on a few times, I needed that second opinion from my wife. I could've made some terrible mistakes!
When we were building a TV stand, I wasn't too sure which way the partially constructed furniture should be facing. Was it with the wood facing towards me or away from me? The instructions weren't the best quality as the paper was slightly faded.
But after discussing the instructions with my wife, we were able to understand what was needed to be done. For those wondering, it was with the wood facing towards me.
I've honestly learnt that sometimes it's better to get a second opionion, you never knew what you might have missed.
<h2>Team work!</h2>
Some things need more than one person, and that's what I found on a few flat packs. I did try and attempt it by myself but I quickly found that I needed some help. And sometimes, when you get help, the problem that you're working on could be solved faster. Plus, you can learn some new skills along the way.
It also helps to take note of the instructions, especially when the instructions state that two people are needed to assemble the furniture.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
And those are the lessons that I've learnt so far from assembling flat pack furniture.
I'm not sure what the moral of this blog post is, maybe buy and assemble more flat packs to learn a lesson in problem solving? Maybe!
I’m pretty sure that after this move, I am never going to want to go through another flat pack ever again.
Well, until the next move.

How I learnt more about problem solving thanks to assembling flat pack furniture

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Alright.
I’ve been ignoring the Metaverse for long enough, and the recent image that Mark Zuckerberg posted just left me with more questions, no excitement, or interest about the Metaverse (or the new internet as some people call it).
We've all seen the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10114625396809351&#x26;set=pb.4.-2207520000..&#x26;type=3">picture</a> that Mark Zuckerberg posted about Horizon Worlds, right? The super creepy one with the souless eyes looking back at you.
Even MP Matt Hancock has joined the Metaverse with an equally creepy looking <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/matt-hancock-metaverse-avatar-creepy-125437801.html">avatar</a>.
If the future of communication involves me looking like that then I don’t want to be a part of it. Especially if my avatar loses their legs as shown in the <a href="https://youtu.be/02kCEurWkqU">Horizon Worlds</a> trailer.
I’m just amazed that a company that’s worth billions of dollars, thinks that the screenshot by Mark would convince people that the Metaverse is the future is laughable (and also how Mark thought that screenshot would convince people to try Horizon Worlds is bizarre)
Graphically, I’d expect it to look better considering how much money Meta is throwing at this (to be fair, Meta responded by sharing a somewhat improved screenshot <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/19/23313469/mark-zuckerberg-horizon-worlds-screenshot-memes-response-upgrades">recently</a>. But it still looks creepy. )
In 2021, Meta spent at least <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/25/22745381/facebook-reality-labs-10-billion-metaverse">$10 billion</a> on it’s Metaverse division. And I can only imagine that this figure will only increase as the years go on.
By the way, Meta has now started calling their employees <a href="https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/zuckerberg-calls-staff-metamates-memo-060749258.html">'Metamates'</a>, which sounds incredibly cringey (what's wrong with calling everyone employees?)
To top it off, even Meta's own employees aren't using it. And now they have to use it <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/6/23391895/meta-facebook-horizon-worlds-vr-social-network-too-buggy-leaked-memo">once a week</a>. Meta's VP of Metaverse, Vishal Shah, said the following about Horizon:
And:
Bit worrying that the company is betting so much on a product that hasn't found it's market. As well as forcing employees to use the product.
But given that Meta recently announced the <a href="https://www.meta.com/gb/quest/quest-pro/#overview">Meta Quest Pro</a> (which is priced at an eye watering £1,499.99), the market could be aiming more towards professionals rather than consumers. Also, as <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/meta-quest-pro-vr-headset-hands-on-a-new-1500-headset-is-unveiled/">CNET</a> reported, the battery life of the device is one to two hours. Which doesn't seem great if you're trying to convince professionals that the metaverse is the future of computing. Meta's <a href="https://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shares-search-results/m/meta-platforms-inc-com-usd0.000006">stock</a> also went down following the announcement.
I also love the fact that under the <a href="https://www.meta.com/gb/quest/quest-pro/#overview">experiences</a> section on the Meta Quest Pro page, Adobe Acrobat is listed along with Dropbox and LastPass. I can't wait to manage PDFs, documents and passwords with my super expensive headset!
You might be wondering "what is the Metaverse anyway?", and put simply it's a digital space which is made of digital representations of things. Like people, objects, places etc. This <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw6UCwCt4bE">video</a> by Microsoft does a good job of explaining what the Metaverse is.
I just cannot imagine sitting down for a serious business meeting or job interview and I have to use the Metaverse. The idea of that sounds awful and awkward. Even Microsoft is incorporating 3D avatars and virtual meeting spaces into <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/2/22758974/microsoft-teams-metaverse-mesh-3d-avatars-meetings-features">Teams</a> called <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/mesh-for-microsoft-teams/">Mesh</a>. I’m not sure how I’d feel if the person I was speaking to was a 3D avatar and not the actual person through a video call at a job interview. It would be hard to judge the other person’s body language for example.
With hybrid working and video calls being the norm, I'm not sure if the Metaverse is going to catch on for corporations. If it isn't broken, don't fix it.
<img src="https://news.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/549/2021/11/Mesh-for-Teams-3.png" alt="">
I just want to have legs!
On a related note, can you imagine people using underpowered business laptops and trying to render 3D avatars and virtual meeting spaces in Teams? I know Teams doesn't have amazing performance to begin with (thanks Electron) but I can't imagine rendering 3D environments would make things any better. Plus, I don't think businesses are going to rush out and buy new work machines and VR headsets as those are still expensive.
I struggle to understand the following about the Metaverse:
<ul>
<li>What problem is the Metaverse solving?</li>
<li>Why would I want to use the Metaverse?</li>
<li>And what do I do in the Metaverse?</li>
</ul>
If the Metaverse is the 'new internet', what's wrong with the 'old internet'? The current applications that are available for working together (Teams, Zoom, Slack, Discord) are working well and I can't foresee the Metaverse replacing them. And there are applications such as Discord and Reddit for communities (both are incredibly popular).
The first few comparisons that I think of when I look at the Metaverse is <a href="https://secondlife.com/">Second Life</a> (I bet you thought Second Life was dead but it isn't!), and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRChat?wprov=sfti1">VRChat</a>.
There was once a time where Second Life had so much hype and excitement. It had:
<ul>
<li>Sweden opening an <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6310915.stm">embassy</a> in the game</li>
<li>The comedian Jimmy Carr held a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6227869.stm">gig</a></li>
<li>A virtual <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6609333.stm">design degree show</a></li>
<li>Students had <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7869000/7869303.stm">lessons</a></li>
<li>A University held a virtual <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7303279.stm">open day</a></li>
<li>People buying and selling <a href="https://money.cnn.com/pr/subs/2006/10/20/technology/second_life_money/index.htm">property</a> for real money</li>
</ul>
The BBC wrote an article in <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8367957.stm">2009</a> asking what happened to Second Life, after all the hype, excitement and initial investment from companies such as IBM, and American Apparel - nothing came from it. Second Life didn't become the number one place to socialise and do work in.
When I was in university, during my first year in 2011, one of the first modules I did was called ‘Introduction to Electronic Origination’, and we had to create a movie in Second Life. It was a bizarre experience to say the least. I was surprised by how successful it was and what the community could create (and also how active the community was). I remember struggling to build environments and how bad the performance was on my laptop at the time. To this day, I still wonder why that module was part of my course.
In fact, in 2016, Second Life had a GDP of <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/z43mwj/why-is-second-life-still-a-thing-gaming-virtual-reality">$500 million</a> which is wild. Considering Second Life came out in 2003, I'm amazed it has continued to exist today with people still using it. Maybe Second Life was ahead of it's time?
I’m curious to see what happens to Second Life. It would be pretty amazing if Second Life was able to outlive whatever Meta creates.
Then, there is <a href="https://hello.vrchat.com/">VRChat</a>. This is a good example of what the Metaverse currently is; a sandbox of infinite worlds created by the community. Where people are represented by digital avatars.
And it found success. It brought people together, and the community created content for everyone to use. There are plenty of videos in YouTube that highlight what the community have created. However, there have been <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-60415317">safety</a> concerns about what worlds have been created by users. It’s a legitimate concern to have.
Speaking of safety, there is also privacy concerns around Meta itself. I'm sure whatever Metaverse they create will no doubt harvest data from it's users. Anyone remember the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-43465968">Cambridge Analytica</a> scandal?
One key element I've noticed when it comes to the Metaverse is the role of VR. Meta bought Oculus and is using it's technology as part of the company's ambitions for the Metaverse. There is also <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mixed-reality/windows-mixed-reality">Windows Mixed Reality</a> by Microsoft which works with <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mesh">Mesh</a>. No matter how you look at it, VR is a key component for the Metaverse to be successful.
Selling VR as a games platform has been established. Sony has <a href="https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/ps-vr/">PlayStation VR</a> and Oculus has a fantastic range of games available. Plus, Valve offer their own VR headset, <a href="https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/index">Index</a>, for Steam. There is plenty of enthusiasm around VR games. I own an Oculus Rift (before it was bought by Meta) and had a great time playing various titles such as Duck Season.
But - there is a difference between selling VR as a form of entertainment and as a way of working with the Metaverse. I can see VR growing in popularity to play games, but I don't think the Metaverse will convince many to buy a headset.
There are also plenty of hurdles to jump over first:
<ul>
<li>VR headsets can be expensive (see headsets like the <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/sub/354231/">Valve Index</a>)</li>
<li>VR headsets can start to feel uncomfortable after a period of time</li>
<li>Motion sickness in VR</li>
<li>Not everyone is convinced by (or wants) VR</li>
<li>Safety concerns in a Metaverse</li>
</ul>
There are already early signs that the Metaverse is already failing to launch. Tinder, for example, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/3/23290152/tinder-metaverse-tinderverse-coins-disappointing-earnings">stepped back</a> from their Metaverse ambitions and parted ways with their CEO who had been in the job for less than a year.
Even Meta themselves said that in <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/27/meta-facebook-q1-2022-earnings/">Q1 this year</a> that their Metaverse division lost $3B. With Mark claiming that the year 2030 would be “exciting”. I’m not sure Meta’s investors can wait until 2030 to see the outcome of spending billions.
But the initial failures isn't stopping companies from exploring the Metaverse. <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/video/kate-spade-enters-metaverse-offer-164450002.html">Kate Spade</a> has created a shopping experience, where there is a handbag that can only be purchased by using their virtual world.
I’m not sure what the future holds for the Metaverse. Whether Meta's gamble on this will pay off won't be seen for several years. I'm not convinced the metaverse is the next generation of the internet. But whatever the metaverse is, I just hope avatars get legs.

If the Metaverse is the future, then I don’t want to be a part of it

<img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1510074377623-8cf13fb86c08?ixid=MnwxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8&#x26;ixlib=rb-1.2.1&#x26;auto=format&#x26;fit=crop&#x26;w=2072&#x26;q=80" alt="Empty desks">
No matter where you look, the ‘Great Resignation’ is everywhere on major news sites, blogs and social media.
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210629-the-great-resignation-how-employers-drove-workers-to-quit">The BBC</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/great-resignation-quit-job">Wired</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2021/10/08/the-great-resignation-is-a-workers-revolution-heres-what-real-leaders-must-do-right-now/">Forbes</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/the-great-resignation-and-what-it-means-for-your-career/">Reed</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/03/us-jobs-report-june-trend">The Guardian</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/great-resignation-quitting-job_n_6126ad06e4b0231e3697c4fc">HuffPost</a></li>
<li><a href="https://time.com/6111245/young-workers-quitting/">Time</a></li>
<li>Even <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Resignation">Wikipedia</a> has an article about it!</li>
</ul>
Originally coined by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-everyone-is-quitting-great-resignation-psychologist-pandemic-rethink-life-2021-10?r=US&#x26;IR=T">Anthony Klotz</a>, a professor at Mays Business School, the Great Resignation has been a part of shaping the future of what matters to us when it comes to work and careers. Whether it’s better pay, benefits or an improved work-life balance. Many simply quit because they’re burned out.
In case you’re not aware, the Great Resignation is where workers around the world have quit their job (what a shock). And the impact of this? Well, according to the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/august2021">Office of National Statistics</a>, there was a record number of job openings exceeding one million for the first time.
In America, four million people left their jobs in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/labor-shortage-quit-job-openings-record-vacancies-labor-department-2021-6?r=US&#x26;IR=T">April</a>. Followed by <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm">ten million</a> jobs available in August.
And a study from <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work">Microsoft</a> shows that forty one percent of the global workforce is considering leaving their current employer in the next year (along with some other interesting statistics).
So The Great Resignation is in full swing, with no signs of slowing down. I think the image used in this article by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jul/13/we-quit-the-great-resignation-era-has-begun-at-a-boiling-hot-branch-of-burger-king">The Guardian</a>, of where all the employees at a Burger King restaurant have quit sums the situation well.
Over the past year, I’ve seen the impact of what the Great Resignation has had on me and my thoughts on it. I’ve seen first hand at what a resignation (and multiple resignations) can do. I recently resigned from my last job myself so I’ve been thinking about this recently.
So this week on my blog, I’m going to be looking at The Great Resignation from two perspectives. From watching people leave to being a leaver myself.
Now you might have read a few articles about this topic and might be thinking “Oh no, I’m not reading this! Go back to talking about code!” - but hear me out! I’ve seen this happen over the year and I think sharing my perspective as someone who has left a job and seen the impact of it might be interesting.
<h1>On watching others leave</h1>
It’s weird seeing a lot of people leave. You can’t help but have a sinking feeling as you watch the number of people on your team start to decrease. It’s hard to not have negative feelings as you see people that you’ve enjoyed working with leave.
One of the main things I’ve experienced is the feeling of being left behind, how the morale and mood among colleagues decreases with each leaver. Plus, there’s the fear that the workload would increase after people leave. This comic from <a href="https://workchronicles.com/with-great-responsibility-comes-greater-err-never-mind/">Work Chronicles</a> sums it up well.
This article from <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210915-turnover-contagion-the-domino-effect-of-one-resignation">BBC Worklife</a> is something that I’ve seen first hand. Resignations can spread like wildfire. As soon as a one person leaves, the thought of leaving just pops into everyone’s heads. And from that point on, it’s only a matter of time until another person resigns. And then another person, and so on.
But it’s not just the number of employees leaving. It can be if certain employees leave that may push others to do the same thing.
It would get to a point where you could say ‘another week, another leaving card’.
The low morale and negative mood can also play a role in causing people to leave. Why would you want to work in an environment that takes a toll on your mental health? It also doesn’t help if your workload becomes unmanageable.
Then there is the situation on where people want to work. Now, working from home isn’t for everyone. There may not be enough space to work from home or you may want to have a dedicated working space. Regardless, how a business approaches this can cause people to resign. And I’ve seen this be a reason for leaving.
When you take the factors above into account, it’s no surprise that people are leaving their jobs. Employee retention is now more important than ever before.
<h1>On leaving</h1>
I worked at my last job for five years, and for me, leaving it was a very hard thing to do. After being there for so long and getting used to working with my colleagues and being able to know so much about a system, a change like this is kind of scary.
Not just scary for moving job but also moving job in this new world of work. Although I’ve worked from home for over a year now, there are some parts of being in the office that I’ll miss.
The situation of me leaving didn’t really hit until a few days before I was due to leave. Being with a business for five years is a long time. So starting from the beginning and not knowing much about what I’m working on is going to be an interesting learning experience.
One aspect of leaving I didn’t anticipate was the amount of handover work I needed to do. Being someone who had knowledge on several systems, I had a lot of documentation to write, meetings to organise and questions to answer. It made me think of what would happen to the team once I had left.
<h1>What can companies learn from this?</h1>
I always believe that there is an opportunity to learn from experiences, and the Great Resignation is no exception.
<h2>Listen to your employees</h2>
Seriously, taking the time to listen is important. You can’t improve unless you take the time to listen.
So organise a group meeting or even a one-to-one and just listen. You may not like what you hear but it’s important to understand what is causing your employees to leave.
<h2>Take action and improve</h2>
Following from the previous point of listening, take action. And don’t leave it too late, do it as soon as you can. Showing progress is important so your employees know that you’re taking feedback seriously and are taking steps to improve the working environment.
<h2>Repeat! (And keep repeating!)</h2>
These steps should be a continuous cycle. Just don’t do one round of feedback, make collecting feedback from employees something that happens often.
You could:
<ul>
<li>Send a survey out once a quarter</li>
<li>Have a weekly meeting to share what’s being worked on</li>
<li>Be available for a conversation with your employees</li>
</ul>
What’s important here is that this process leads to actions that are implemented. Don’t collect feedback and do nothing, keep people in the loop on what’s happening.
<h1>What can we learn from this?</h1>
<h2>Your mental health is important</h2>
The study from <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work">Microsoft</a> showed that:
<ul>
<li>One in five global survey respondents say that their employer doesn’t care about their work life balance</li>
<li>Fifty-four percent feel overworked</li>
<li>Thirty-nine percent feel exhausted</li>
</ul>
These stats are terrifying. No wonder people are leaving their jobs!
Companies around the world need to pay attention to the mental health of their employees.
<h2>Remote working is here to stay (whether you like it or not)</h2>
The study from <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work">Microsoft</a> shows that over seventy percent of workers want flexible work options to continue. I’ve seen people find new jobs where they work remotely and that was a major selling point to them.
How we work has changed forever and employers need to realise that. If you look on job sites such as LinkedIn, you can now filter down jobs if it’s on site, remote or hybrid.
<h1>Conclusion</h1>
This past year has been a year of change for the workplace. Businesses have learned that they need to do more improve employee retention and I hope that businesses continue to improve.
I think The Great Resignation is a once in a lifetime event, the pandemic has shown that people can be productive when they are working from home as well as in the office (the future of the office is a separate topic altogether, I wrote about that a few months ago, why not give it a <a href="https://joshblewitt.dev/blog/2021-09-05-the-new-office/">read?</a>).
Retaining employees is now going to be the next big challenge for companies. It won’t be about competing with companies in the local area, it’ll be about competing with companies around the world.
People have had time to evaluate what matters to them, and now businesses need to take the time to listen, engage and act. It’s more important now than ever before.
But when will The Great Resignation come to an end? I’m not sure myself. We could be in for many more resignations to come yet. In fact, I saw this interesting article on <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/era-boomerang-employees">Wired</a> that those who left may end up wanting their old jobs back.
We’ll have to wait and see if this happens.
Thanks for reading! 👏

From watching people leave, to leaving myself. My thoughts about this ongoing event and what we can learn.

The ‘Great Resignation’ - what can we learn? 🤔

<img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1542319920155-a236a55f1a97?ixid=MnwxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8&#x26;ixlib=rb-1.2.1&#x26;auto=format&#x26;fit=crop&#x26;w=1740&#x26;q=80" alt="Studying">
If there's one thing I've learnt since graduating from University is that technology is constantly changing. It's important to read and learn not just for keeping up to date with the latest technologies, but for the opportunity to also take your learnings and use them in your career. I'm pretty sure that some of the modules that I studied at University have been updated to be more relevant to the current IT landscape.
I'm constantly reading and doing courses myself. I've bought plenty of courses on platforms such as Udemy.
Even though my role is a software tester, the approach to solving problems, testing software is changing. Having the appropriate digital skills is now more important than ever before. Digital skills is a life skill. It is now more important than ever before.
Over the past year, I've been taking several courses, reading books and just doing research into many different things. And so on this blog post, I wanted to share some books and courses that I've done or used in the past.
<h3>Books</h3>
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/C-Programming-easy-steps-2nd/dp/1840789069/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&#x26;keywords=C%23+easy+steps&#x26;link_code=qs&#x26;qid=1634406470&#x26;sourceid=Mozilla-search&#x26;sr=8-2">C# Programming in easy steps</a>
This book by Mike McGrath is a really good way to learn and to take your first steps in C#. It has good examples and is very easy to follow. Good price as well!
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eloquent-Javascript-3rd-Introduction-Programming/dp/1593279507/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&#x26;keywords=javascript&#x26;qid=1634406628&#x26;sr=8-10">Eloquent Javascript</a>
Probably one of the best books on JavaScript out there! Written by Marijn Haverbeke. It also has a fantastic <a href="https://eloquentjavascript.net/">website</a> as well!
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cracking-Coding-Interview-6th-Programming/dp/0984782850/ref=pd_bxgy_1/262-0887896-8840051?pd_rd_w=aIVqz&#x26;pf_rd_p=c7ea61ca-7168-47e3-9c8b-d84748f5b23c&#x26;pf_rd_r=0XGGN1Q1C75RCZV22SRR&#x26;pd_rd_r=92fe4303-8cb0-4317-b48c-1a3b26ae4de6&#x26;pd_rd_wg=2kMYE&#x26;pd_rd_i=0984782850&#x26;psc=1">Cracking the Coding Interview</a>
The one and only! Now in it's sixth edition, with over 100 problems, it's a highly suggested book!
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daily-Coding-Problem-exceptionally-interviews/dp/1793296634/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5JJK1JNMWMT7&#x26;dchild=1&#x26;keywords=daily+coding+problem&#x26;qid=1634414097&#x26;sprefix=daily+coding%2Caps%2C157&#x26;sr=8-1">Daily Coding Problem</a>
This is another book I own! Also has some good problems to solve!
<h3>Online courses</h3>
When it comes to online courses, there are plenty to choose from. Here are some that I've taken!
<a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/complete-python-bootcamp/">2021 Complete Python Bootcamp From Zero to Hero in Python</a>
This is a fantastic course. If you want to start learning Python, this is the course for you. Introduces you to key Python concepts as well as other techniques such as web scraping. The instructor, Jose Portilla, is excellent. Give this course a go! Wait until a sale is on to buy this course, Udemy often runs promotions several times a month.
<a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/python-for-data-science-and-machine-learning-bootcamp/">Python for Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp</a>
I'd like to think of this course as a follow up from the Python bootcamp course. This course is also done by Jose Portilla. This offers a great introduction to Python packages such as Pandas.
<a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/python-and-flask-bootcamp-create-websites-using-flask/">Python and Flask Bootcamp: Create Websites using Flask!</a>
If you want to go into web development then this is a good course to do after the Python bootcamp course. Another awesome course by Jose Portilla!
<a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-sql-bootcamp/">The Complete SQL Bootcamp 2021: Go from Zero to Hero</a>
A great course by Jose Portilla. This course focuses on PostgreSQL but you can apply what you've learnt to other major SQL DB's MySQL and Amazon's Redshift. Wait for a sale!
<a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/flutter-bootcamp-with-dart/">The Complete 2021 Flutter Development Bootcamp with Dart</a>
This course is created by Dr. Angela Yu and is a really good course to learn about Flutter and Dart. Frequently updated with plenty of resources.
<h3>Websites</h3>
There are lots of websites about programming/technology out there. Here a few that I use!
<a href="https://www.freecodecamp.org/">freeCodeCamp</a>
A nonprofit organisation that has some very good courses on HTML and CSS, JavaScript, machine learning and more! Has some great articles as well. Free to use!
<a href="https://www.theodinproject.com/">The Odin Project</a>
A free to use, open source curriculum. Offers courses on full stack Ruby and full stack JavaScript.
<a href="https://codepen.io/">CodePen</a>
For those who are interested in front end development, this is an excellent website to try ideas and see what other people have made. Also has support for Vue and Flutter! Free to use with a paid subscription available.
<a href="https://www.codecademy.com/">Codecademy</a>
A website that offers interactive courses that was founded in 2011. Free to use but a lot of courses are locked behind a subscription.
<a href="https://devdocs.io/">DevDocs API Documentation</a>
A handy website that combines API documentations into a single interface. Has support for many different languages and frameworks. Take a look, it's free and <a href="https://github.com/freeCodeCamp/devdocs">open source</a>!
<a href="https://replit.com/">replit</a>
An in browser IDE! Connects to your GitHub repo which is handy. Free to use with paid options available.
<a href="https://blog.codinghorror.com/">Coding Horror</a>
A blog written by Jeff Atwood, the founder of <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/">Stack Overflow!</a>
<a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife">BBC Worklife</a>
This is worth mentioning as it gives an insight onto the changing landscape of working life. Some great articles on there about working from home and hybrid!
<h3>Wrap up!</h3>
And that's my list of books, videos and websites of resources that I use!
I highly suggest that you take some time from your day and do a little bit of learning, even if it's an hour a day it will help you with your career and personal projects.
Thanks for reading! 👏

Need a helping hand in learning something new? This list should help!

Good courses to do, books to read, and websites to visit 📚

<img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1531407676318-76cf12fc69a1?ixid=MnwxMjA3fDB8MHxzZWFyY2h8MTd8fGZhaWx1cmV8ZW58MHx8MHx8&#x26;ixlib=rb-1.2.1&#x26;auto=format&#x26;fit=crop&#x26;w=500&#x26;q=60" alt="Office worker">
Let's be honest; Nobody wants to fail and nobody wants to make a mistake. It's embarrassing, it makes you feel bad, some colleagues may talk about you and the list goes on.
And yet, as humans, we all fail and all make a mistake at least once in our lives - it's basically guaranteed.
Heck, even I have made mistakes and have failed during my career!
In my view, making mistakes provides some of the best lessons. Which is why in this post, I want to talk about why we worry about mistakes, what we can learn from them and what you can do if you make a mistake.
So if we all know that everyone makes mistakes, why do we fear and worry about it so much?
I got inspiration for this post after viewing (the very good) webcomic, <a href="https://workchronicles.com/failure-post-mortems/">work chronicles</a>, on this subject. I've been in situations where I've seen both scenarios play out.
<ul>
<li>The situation is seen as a learning experience</li>
<li>The situation becomes a race to find someone to blame (or to run and hide!)</li>
</ul>
The comic above illustrates the exact reason why we fear failing so much at work; the response from the management. There are plenty of <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=motivational+quote+on+failure&#x26;t=newext&#x26;atb=v267-1&#x26;iax=images&#x26;ia=images">motivational posters</a> claiming that failing means __F__irst __A__ttempt __I__n __L__earning or some other 'inspring' quote from a CEO and yet, when we make a mistake, there's always the fear of getting in trouble.
The fear of failure is also called 'atychiphobia' (something I didn't know until I researched this topic!) and there are plenty of artilces out there which talk about the fear of failing.
But failing isn't just in the work place. It's outside of work as well. I highly suggest you watch this <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/astro_teller_the_unexpected_benefit_of_celebrating_failure">TED Talk</a> which talks about celebrating failure.
People need to remember the human in these situations. Making a mistake isn't a crime, but not learning from it is a serious oversight.
Don't beat yourself up if you fail. If everyone was sacked for making a mistake, there would be a lot of unemployed people in the world!
So, what can you do if you make a mistake? I've thought about this and decided to make a post of useful tips to help should you need it!
<h1>If you've made a mistake...</h1>
<h3>Keep calm</h3>
Keeping calm is essential. It will allow you to think if you're facing pressure and not think negatively. Remember - everyone makes mistakes!
If you want to calm yourself down, try breathing deeply and focusing on something else. Applications such as <a href="https://www.headspace.com/">Headspace</a> can really help if you're struggling to keep calm.
<h3>Take note of what you can learn for next time</h3>
You should always take the opportunity to learn from what happened. Write it down or take a note in an application of your choice or wherever. Just make sure you take a note of what you've learnt from the situation and what you will do differently next time.
<h3>Remain professional</h3>
At all times, remain professional. You don't want to make the situation worse and you don't want to impact the relationship you have with your colleagues.
<h3>Focus on your work</h3>
Don't let background noise get to you. Focus on the task at hand. In my experience, focusing on work can help you organise your mind and keep you calm.
<h3>Don't dwell on it</h3>
I let one situation dwell on me for a long time, even after the situation was resolved. And honestly, don't worry about it. Once the situation is resolved, move on.
<h3>Try again</h3>
Don't let one failure damage your confidence. Try again, there is no harm in trying and applying what you've learnt.
<h1>If you see someone make a mistake...</h1>
<h3>Don't make fun of them</h3>
Seriously, don't do this. It's a horrible thing to do and unprofessional. You wouldn't want someone to do that to you, right?
<h3>Don't bring it up (again and again)</h3>
Nobody wants to be reminded on their mistakes, so don't do this. It'll impact your relationship with your colleagues and it looks unprofessional.
<h3>Give support if needed</h3>
If your colleague needs some help, and if you can help them, then help them. It might be in an area that you have experience in!
<h1>If you're management...</h1>
<h3>Remember the human</h3>
At the end of the day, everyone is human. Everyone makes mistakes. Listen to your employee and understand them as much as possible. Having someone understand you is incredibly important.
<h1>So why do you need to fail?</h1>
Although nobody likes to make a mistake - it happens. And you know what? Those failures can provide some of the best lessons that you'll never forget. You may come across the same situation in the future and you'll be ready for it.
Those situations give you experience and knowledge that you can use in the future. In some cases, you wouldn't get that knowledge or experience from a book or a course.
So don't worry if you make a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. Learn from it and move forward.
I just wish that managers would be more understanding. I get that there are deadlines and deliverables, and when something goes wrong it isn't ideal. However, taking the time to listen, understand and see how your employees learn from the situation will bring more benefits in the long run.
Thanks for reading! 👍

Sometimes, failing provides the best lessons

Recovering from failure (and why you need to fail) 🤔

Over the years, applications have become larger and more complex, which is because of the advances made in technology. Our applications have transformed into very interactice expierences for the user. For example the rise of digital wallets, like Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal. Ensuring our applications have a rich mobile experience as smart phones have become a popular way of viewing web pages. The American Government have this handy <a href="https://analytics.usa.gov/">analytics</a> page which shows a breakdown of the devices being used to access their websites and mobiles are overtaking desktops.
But despite the technological advances we have made, a success of an application relies not only on the technology used, but also on how a user perceives the application.
<ul>
<li>Does the application give value?</li>
<li>Is the application easy to use?</li>
<li>Does the application give a positive emotional response?</li>
</ul>
This is where User Experience (UX) comes into play. UX looks at how a person feels when interacting with a system; whether it be a website, a desktop application or any other form of human to computer interaction.
What UX is can be broken down into several areas:
<ul>
<li>Usability</li>
<li>Design</li>
<li>Accessibility</li>
<li>System Performance</li>
<li>Human Factors</li>
</ul>
And so on.
Let's look back on the digital wallets example as being part of the checkout flow:
<ul>
<li>Do users find it easy and pleasant to use?</li>
<li>How efficient is the experience of filling out forms?</li>
</ul>
UX doesn't just look at one system, it looks at sub systems and processes within a system - like digital wallets and other payment methods in an e-commerce system.
UX is relatively new if you think about it, websites used to look like the official <a href="https://www.spacejam.com/1996/">Space Jam</a> website from 1996!
The term UX was first coined by Dr. Donald Norman, who described the importance of user-centered design and how design decisions should be based on the needs and wants of users. UX looks at incorporating aspects of many other subjects such as psychology, computer science and cognitive science. But it can also involve communication design and game design.
So why is UX becoming so important? Because the applications we're making are becoming more complex and rich with features. And for these applications to be effective and successful, it needs good UX design.
Users can access web applications now in many different ways:
<ul>
<li>There are different web browsers</li>
<li>There are different devices</li>
<li>There are different types of internet connections</li>
</ul>
And there is also accessibility, not just for those with screen readers but for those without broadband and other devices.
A key factor of how we create applications now is based on the experience we want to give to users. The main goal is to create a useful, simple and seamless interaction between a user and the application.
With this in mind, what would benefit from UX design?
If a system is large and complex, such as e-commerce applications or multi-faceted websites then that would benefit from UX.
It's all well and good wanting to design systems to have good UX, but there are several points to keep in mind:
<ul>
<li>Everybody is different</li>
<li>UX is different depending on the application</li>
<li>The UX needs to be tailored to the production process, values and goals of the application</li>
</ul>
In my view, UX is a method of problem solving (much like how design is a method of problem solving).
So where can we see examples of UX in the real world?
That's easy to answer, UX is everywhere.
But what's important is to look for good examples of UX. It's important to get the experience right as there is a lot of choice out there!
If you're looking for good examples of UX, try and look for the following:
<ul>
<li>What is the user using the application for? What's the core functionality?</li>
<li>Does it achieve form over function?</li>
<li>Is it being consistent with the product, design, brand etc?</li>
<li>Is it overloading the user?</li>
<li>Is it treating the user with respect?</li>
</ul>
If you're able to answer the above then you've found yourself an example of good UX.
Large companies will spend time looking at UX closely. Think of Apple for example, some people will describe their products as 'it just works' because it has good UX. Think back to how I mentioned how a user perceives the application, and if it gives a positive emotional response.
You can also look at other companies such as Twitter and see what the user experience is like, how easy is it to send a tweet?
Over the next few years, I think that UX is going to become an important part when it comes to building web applications.
Thanks for reading! 👏

The growing importance of UX 👨‍💻

##Introduction to the report
A few days ago, I saw an article posted on the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56479304">BBC</a> website that looked into some highlights of a recent report by the <a href="https://learningandwork.org.uk/resources/research-and-reports/disconnected-exploring-the-digital-skills-gap/">Learning and Work Institute</a> on the digital skills gap. The report is worth a read, and I've had some time to think on how to approach and solve this issue.
The report mentions some alarming statistics, like this one:
Which is worrying!
However...
Ah right, the ICT curriculum was replaced in 2012 with a new Computer Science one. So the drop in the number of people taking ICT at GCSE can be explained, but the subject of computing still remains unpopular - which isn't good.
But there is good news in the number of people taking computer science courses in higher education:
Which is good news! Although the growth in the number of people taking the subject is slow, at least it's increasing each year.
And it's also good that young people are acknowledging that digital skills will play an important role in their careers.
The report goes into detail that basic digital skills is now considered an essential skill, which is something I completely agree with, but what's important to note that advanced digital skills are in higher demand than ever before.
And employers are feeling the impact of this demand
And young people aren't confident that they have the advanced skills that employers need
Another interesting piece of data from report is where the jobs that require digital skills are located:
London continues to be popular for roles which require digital skills. I feel that more of these roles should be available outside of London, not everyone can afford the high rent or the cost of commuting.
Important Note - advanced digital skills is defined in the report as good knowledge across a range of digital skills, as well as in-depth specialist knowledge in one or more area such as computer aided design, coding, specialist digital software etc (Kipster 2018)
So people know and understand the need for digital skills, but the challenge is training people with the skills that employers want.
This comes to the big question...
##How do we solve the digital skills shortage?
I've had some time to think of some draft ideas and also think on what the report mentions as barriers that people face.
Address digital poverty
This is something that does need to be addressed urgently. The pandemic has shown that there are people who don't have access to a device. In fact, the report mentions that one in ten young people lack access to a digital device.
So, how can we solve this problem?
<ul>
<li>Businesses donate funds and devices - buying multiple computers isn't cheap. And since people are learning remotely now, the importance of having a machine that can do what you need is incredibly important. This is where businesses around can donate funds and devices to people who are in need of a computer.</li>
<li>People donate unwanted/unused devices - if you have a computer that isn't used anymore, consider donating it to someone who would benefit from it. Make sure to wipe your data from it first!</li>
<li>Government scheme to get people a computer - not everyone can afford a computer, and there might not be enough donated computers for everyone. This is where the government should cover the cost of a computer for those who are unable to afford one and need one.</li>
</ul>
Put digital skills in the spotlight
It's a bit weird to suggest this since the idea has been done before with 'Year of Code' (yes, the one which had the car crash interview) but hear me out!
What I imagine is the following:
<ul>
<li>A TV show that highlights different digital skills and shows people how to get started, gives tutorials and answers questions from viewers.</li>
<li>Magazines dedicated to software development and other digital skills. I know there are some PC based magazines and others dedicated to Photoshop etc - but I'd like to see a magazine that looks at software development for those who are new and those who are looking to add to their existing knowledge.</li>
<li>Conferences dedicated to digital skills that are aimed at anyone, across all skill levels, to attend, learn and connect with others.</li>
</ul>
Reform the Computing curriculum that meets the needs of employers
The computing industry is always changing. What I was taught at University and school would be considered outdated (especially since I was taught under the old IT curriculum at school). The education sector should review what's being taught in schools every few years to ensure that it's modern and what employers need.
After school clubs dedicated to learning digital skills
There are plenty of people in the UK who are passionate about digital skills, and if we can get those people into schools to host after school clubs that teach digital skills that would allow students to learn valuable skills that can be used in the workplace.
Employers to offer workshops in digital skills that are open to anyone who wants to learn.
If employers are struggling to hire, then they should open their doors and offer free lessons in the digital skills they need. Employers can look for potential new hires and people learn new skills to help them in their careers. It's win-win!
These are only a few ideas I had after reading the report. I strongly suggest reading the report, it gives a good insight into the situation and it can only be resolved if everyone works together.

Joshua Blewitt

Posts tagged with Professional