“Joel hits a high note himself documenting the 1:10 productivity difference between crap and rock star programmers in Hitting the High Notes. But what’s even more interesting about his argument is the thesis that its not just about productivity, it’s about making a different class of software. The best programmers don’t just make the same software faster, they make a different kind of software…”

“In my older years, I have decided to ‘give away as much as I can.’ My new Web site features lots of my Fast Company columns, articles, interviews, audios and even lots of free video. Please feel free to download, copy, send and use anything from my site. Please feel free to use with anyone in your corporation. Even better, please feel free to use with your church, charity or non-profit. If you need any permissions, please just send me an email and I will send you permission.”

“Over many years, the leaders of SAS Institute have distilled a set of principles for getting peak performance from creative people. Among them: Value the work over the tools, reward excellence with challenges, and minimize hassles.”

“The concept of teams is not new. Although a ‘teaming’ revival has been zinging around the globe for several decades now, the concept has been around since before men worked in teams to hunt mammoth. Yet most teams today are nowhere near as effective as they could be. The reasons are many; lack of structure, lack of well-defined roles and responsibilities, and lack of communication, to name a few. But one reason overrides all the rest — a lack of passion. Passion is strongest when it exudes from a natural source, such as identifying and working within your true vocation — that career for which you are best suited.”

“You can only learn from a mistake after you admit you’ve made it. As soon as you start blaming other people (or the universe itself) you distance yourself from any possible lesson. But if you courageously stand up and honestly say ‘This is my mistake and I am responsible’ the possibilities for learning will move towards you.”

“Branding shouldn’t be solely about your visual identity, although it’s important. It should be about your voice, your face, your humanity and your story. It’s should be real. In an experience economy it’s the experience that matters. To illustrate that, I’ve got a story about one of my favorite brands and the supplier of some of my favorite experiences: The Majestic Bay Theatre.”

“Sure, all clients are different. They have different kinds of strengths, weaknesses, cultures and goals. Even what blocks their efficiency and growth (blind spots) is different. Davis, Kingsley & Company has conducted hundreds of interviews and there are four strong themes that always emerge.”

“My feeling was (and is): You don’t adopt the mannerisms of big, successful companies when you’re small, because those mannerisms aren’t what made the companies successful. They’re actually symptoms of what is killing the company, because it’s become too big. It’s like if you meet an really old, really rich guy covered in liver spots and breathing with an oxygen tank, and you say, ‘I want to be rich, too, so I’m going to start walking with a cane and I’m going to act crotchety and I’m going to get liver disease.’”

“Like most of us, Don Watson hates corporate jargon. But Watson, a former speechwriter for the Australian prime minister, is trying to do something about it — this year, he published Death Sentences: How Cliches, Weasel Words and Management-Speak are Strangling Public Language, a witty and incendiary attack on the jargonization of everyday life.”

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“The advice in this essay comes from many years of interviewing people for different jobs in the tech-sector. I’ve written this as a general primer. It should apply well for any kind of job: managers, designers, programmers, testers, or anyone that needs to work in a fast paced, collaborative, high energy environment. Look for future essays that go into greater detail on interviewing for specific job roles.”

“I encourage you to pick up a pen and a piece of paper and jot down the goals you want to reach. Look at each goal and evaluate it. Make any changes necessary to ensure it meets the criteria for a SMART goals: S = Specific; M = Measurable; A = Attainable; R = Realistic; T = Timely”

“Back in May, I wrote in a friends-only post: ‘I got mail from some guy from Fortune writing yet another article about Netscape, this one ‘pegged to the upcoming 10th anniversary of the IPO.’ ‘ So I said, ‘See, if you had said just about any other anniversary, I might have been interested, but by picking that one, I think you’ve just told me that your article is about ‘gosh, look at the rich people’ instead of being about what we accomplished.’”

“Just because you’ve used lots of software doesn’t mean you can write code. Just because you’ve been in lots of buildings doesn’t mean you can be an architect. And just because you’ve logged a million frequent flyer miles doesn’t mean you can fly a plane.”

“When discussing Product Placement with clients - it’s alway important to keep things in perspective. Below you will find a listing of how much an advertiser has to pay for each 30-second commercial time they buy during any given series.”