Doug Wagner, Author at Sunwapta Solutions

6 Jun 2008

Groundswell

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:40:39-06:00June 6th, 2008|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Software Development|

If you are on the Internet you’ve heard about the social web. Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and the list goes on, are generating a number of books on how to use social networking as a marketing and public relations tool.

By far the best book I’ve acquired to date is “Groundswell” by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff (2008) and I’ve only read the first half so far.

It focuses not just on the technology which is changing quickly, but the patterns underneath the technology. Most importantly they cover a number of methodologies for determining which groundswell […]

5 Jun 2008

Think “Green” Will Sell?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:40:45-06:00June 5th, 2008|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

Have you noticed a trend towards going green in advertising? Many companies are doing it. Presumably it’s a marketing exercise to cash in on environmental concerns that are popular (and rightly so) right now with many people.

But you can’t be what you are not just by running some ads.

I saw a big industrial garbage truck the other day; you know the ones that pick-up and dump the large bins. There was a big sign on the side saying how they were a green garbage company. Apparently when some of their private dumps were full, they put dirt on top […]

3 Jun 2008

Boomer Cars?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:40:52-06:00June 3rd, 2008|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

According to an article (Aging Boomers to Shift Driving Trends, Calgary Herald, 30 May 2008) I read in the paper the other day, the demographic shift will be impacting driving.

By 2015 seniors will out number children under 15. By 2030 seniors will account for 25 percent of drivers. This is making the automobile industry take notice and action. Obviously with these kinds of numbers, car manufacturers want older drivers on the road as long as possible.

This means that ergonomics and safety will become even more important in car design. Roads, signs and intersections will also need to improve in design. […]

2 Jun 2008

Howe’s That?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:40:59-06:00June 2nd, 2008|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Dream Teams|

The C.D. Howe Institute posted a report saying that too many Canadians have inadequate savings and pension plans for an adequate retirement. About 3.5 million workers have no workplace pension plans and 5.5 million households (i.e. 1-2 workers in each household) have retirement investments that will yield insufficient retirement incomes. The goal is 50 to 70 percent replacement of your pre-retirement income.

Compounding the problem are the very high management fees associated with retail investment products which come off the top of your returns.

According to the report, the solution is a supplementary pension plan for Canada.

In “The New Retirement” […]

30 May 2008

Pro-Appreciatic Cultures

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:41:07-06:00May 30th, 2008|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Dream Teams, Software Development|

Does your organization create and promote a culture where there is respect and appreciation?

It’s very easy to slip into habit of being critical.

When a client is changing software specifications at the eleventh hour it’s very easy to focus on how they should have known better. But just maybe we should be thanking them for making the overall product better.

When reviewing the work of a coworker or subordinate, it’s very easy to focus on the mistakes instead of the things that were done well. Sure, the mistakes need to be fixed in many cases, but the real work […]

30 May 2008

The New Retirement – Changing the World Part 2

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:41:10-06:00May 30th, 2008|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Dream Teams|

There are numerous components to a happy retirement:

Physical health
Mental health
Sense of purpose and belonging
Financial health

You need to have a life plan to truly plan for retirement. What do you plan on doing in your later years? What do you hope to accomplish? Do you and your spouse agree on the plan? Will you have aging parents to support? Once you decide on the lifestyle you wish to lead and where you want to live you will be better able to determine what you need to achieve the goal.

More important than financial security is mental and physical health. Staying mentally active […]

29 May 2008

The New Retirement – Changing the World Part 1

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:41:13-06:00May 29th, 2008|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Dream Teams|

I just finished reading “The New Retirement” by Dr. Sherry Cooper (1998) in its entirety. Sherry Cooper (a baby boomer) is a senior economist with the Bank of Montreal. Now reading books by economists, actuaries and financial planners is generally not for the faint of heart and this book does not disappoint. Don’t get me wrong, there was lots of good information and things to think about but it does read more like an economics textbook than it needed to.

In this two part post, I will give you my shorter summary for many of the subjects covered in […]

28 May 2008

Angry People are Different

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:41:16-06:00May 28th, 2008|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

Seth Godin raises an interesting point in his post.

Dealing with an angry person can be an opportunitity or a drain on your business. His point is quite valid though, unless you can deal with the anger, you cannot move foward with any other subject or rational action.

If the person is not angry with you or your company you may have a huge opportunity. If you can resolve the problem you may have won yourself a loyal customer. However, you need to potentially spend a lot of time getting to the root of the issue. During this time […]

27 May 2008

Delivering Client Value with Agile Development

By Doug Wagner|2017-07-26T16:11:30-06:00May 27th, 2008|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Software Development|Tags: agile, agile development, client value, delivering value, developers, iterations, Software, software development, user story, value|

When all is said and done, moving to agile development methodologies has had positive results for us.

The biggest gain by far is the total focus on delivering client value early and at all stages of a project. Sure, we were focused on client value before, but only at the milestones where there were client deliverables. Usually, iterations were longer and developers did the tasks in any order as long as the client got the expected result at the end of the day. This resulted in being 80% done for a long time yet having software that was not releasable or […]

27 May 2008

Making Dough 3 – Reinventing the Wheel

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:41:22-06:00May 27th, 2008|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

Why is that most people look at the manual (cookbook) only after they get really stuck? This is certainly true for navigating a car. How many people only ask for directions if they are desperate (or their wives make them)?

How many times does something get rebuilt from scratch when the problem has been solved a gazillion times before? Why do some people insist on doing things from scratch for no other reason than they want to do it their way (because it’s “better”)?

I challenge every one of you to learn from the success and failures of others. If you are […]

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