reference architecture

Team Foundation Server (TFS) 2010 Branching Guide

The following guide is a very helpful resource. I recommend that you read it and determine the branching strategy that you want to use before you setup your team projects.

http://tfsbranchingguideiii.codeplex.com/

DbVisualizer - No install and uses JDBC drivers

DbVisualizer is a good tool if you want to access and navigate through your database using a graphical user interface.

It is a good solution if you don't have a tool installed to access and view your database. This is because it doesn't have to be installed, which means that you don't need local system administrator privileges to run it.

Also, because it uses JDBC drivers to connect to the database it is a good tool for validating your JDBC drivers if you are having issues connecting to the database from another application using the same JDBC drivers.

The Secret to Ensuring Follow-Through - Peter Bregman

Peter Bregman, on his Harvard Business Review blog, recommends using a simple handoff checklist as The Secret to Ensuring Follow-Through.

There are seven items on the checklist and estimates that it would take between 1 and 5 minutes to go through it.

I am a big fan of checklists and this one is well worth reviewing and adopting.

Microsoft Surface Is Now Thinner, Smarter & Cheaper

I have always thought that this thing has a lot of potential and is really cool. Looks like it is getting even better all of the time.

Microsoft Surface Is Now Thinner, Smarter & Cheaper [PICS]

Now I just need to figure out how to get my hands on one.

Using Checklists

[Note: originally published on "improving outcomes blog" on 2Feb2010.]

Checklists are not a new concept. However, they have been generally under-appreciated for the benefits they can bring to complex tasks in a simple and unobtrusive manner.

In many situations people try to over-specify and over-control processes with lengthy policies and procedures that no one reads, remembers, or follows. It is not that these policies and procedures are bad, it is just that they need to be accompanied by simple checklists that ensure that the key policy goals are being met.

Here is a checklist that we used for our Change Control Process. It was used to ensure that you were prepared for the Change Control Board meeting. If you came to the meeting with this checklist completed then you would quickly get approval to move forward. Download Change Control Form.

I haven't personally read it yet but The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (Dec 2009) revisits the power of the ordinary checklist. You can listen to the Harvard Business IdeaCast, Using Checklists to Prevent Failure (22 Jan 2010), which is an interview with the author. A commentary on the book can be found at The New York Times: Freakonomics Blog: The Checklist Manifesto.

The following research and information about checklists are also very useful:

• The Logic and Methodology of Checklists by Michael Scriven (2000, 2005, 2007).
• Guidelines for Developing Evaluation Checklists: The Checklists Development Checklist (CDC) by Daniel Stufflebeam (2000).
• Western Michigan University, The Evaluation Center - Evaluation Checklists
• Warren Buffet Disciples Using Checklists to Improve Investment Results (24 Jan 2010).
• Using Checklists to Evaluate Risk Factors (8 May 2002).
• Using Checklists to "Standardise" Content (2 Feb 2003)
• Helpful checklists for students (2 Sep 2009).