Blog

Street view game - hit the road

health

api-usage

c++

typescript

Hit the road allows you to sit back and enjoy the scenary when using Google street view. You can look around while you advance. Very much the same as you would in a car.

Apr 26, 2025

7 min

What I learned about risk management

management

project management

This guide includes my experience and research around the often difficult question in project management, “What is a business risk, and what is just our daily work?”

Apr 24, 2025

The triangle of trust reveals your projects issues.

storytelling

management

teams

agile

leadership

Somewhere out there, a remote project is teetering on the edge of failure. Let’s see how much of this can be attributed to the remote environment and how much is a classic leadership issue. The triangle of trust let’s you turn this situation around.

Apr 20, 2025

Why the Fishbone Diagram Triumphs Over 5 Whys

management

teams

agile

Discover why the Fishbone Diagram outshines the 5 Whys in solving complex problems, fostering teamwork, and avoiding blame. Learn which method suits your team best for effective and collaborative problem-solving.

Apr 17, 2025

How to avoid burying the lead

storytelling

story structure

presentations

A failed presentation on metal strength taught me a powerful lesson in communication. Learn to apply journalistic techniques — leading with key points, forced priorization, and using the inverted pyramid structure — you too can avoid burying the lead and nail your presentations

Apr 15, 2025

The road less travelled - from the dijkstras shortest path to the least visited path

python

mapping

graphs

algorithms

android

What if you are not interested in getting as fast as possible from A to B. But you always search a new path. A python adventure to discover new places.

Mar 25, 2025

How domain driven design makes software development concrete and abstract

storytelling

technical

software design

domain driven design

In the world of technology it’s worth examining whether abstraction truly helps us connect. If anything, abstraction often obscures, complicating both understanding and memory. Concreteness, on the other hand, breaks through barriers, simplifying communication and amplifying retention.

Mar 24, 2025

Engineering presentations that stick

storytelling

software engineering

Make your next presentation remarkable

Mar 23, 2025

Discussions about bias and discrimination in artificial intelligence (AI) are growing louder. Critics argue it is unethical for technology to display discrimination.…

Which cheese are we eating?

machine learning

python

computer vision

Did you ever wonder what kind of cheese you should buy? They all look the same. And then the embarrasement when you can just point and say: that one. Meet the cheese classifier.

Mar 13, 2025

11 min

Your mind and machine learning, the base rate effect

storytelling

mental models

machine-learning

bias

Mar 12, 2025

Successful teams strike the right Balance between Immediate Needs with Long-Term Architecture

management

software engineering

In the world of software development, frustration often emerges when a product behaves in a way that users find counterintuitive or outright inconvenient. When questioned, the response might be disheartening: It’s in the requirements. This sheds light on a deeper issue—the conflict between immediate deliverables and long-term system health.

Mar 7, 2025

Object oriented programming for AI Projects

python

data science

software engineering

technical

Discover what can can transform your AI project into clean, efficient, and scalable software

Mar 6, 2025

How Poor Architectural Understanding is Impacting the German Software Industry

management

teams

Weak software architecture can topple even the most promising projects, inflating costs and frustrating everyone from CFOs to developers. Explore the failure of quick fixes with me and what a tortoise has to do with it.

Feb 25, 2025

Top-Down Thinking is Holding Back Software Innovation

management

software engineering

A thought about dependency inversion.

Feb 22, 2025

1 min

Be careful using python’s dataclass

python

Python’s @dataclass is a powerful tool for creating data containers with minimal boilerplate code. However, it introduces a subtle pitfall when working with mutable defaults like lists or NumPy arrays. This article explores this common issue, its root cause, and how to fix it effectively.

Feb 18, 2025

Milestone vs Activity Planning: Finding the Right Approach for Your Project Management

management

leadership

teams

I was at a pivotal point in my project management career with a high-stakes project on the line. I needed to find the key to keeping my team focused and motivated. As I explored milestone and activity planning, I discovered valuable insights about each approach. In this article, I’ll share my journey and how it led to a turning point in my career.

Feb 15, 2025

14 min

Decision paralysis at a McDonalds

storytelling

mental models

Stuck staring at the McDonald’s menu, always ordering the same thing? You’re not alone—it’s called decision paralysis, and it’s sabotaging more than just your lunch. Discover how it’s creeping into your work life and learn how to stop it before it derails your next big project!

Feb 12, 2025

Precision/Recall vs FN/TN/FP/TP

machine learning

technical

Precision, recall, and the confusion matrix help evaluate machine learning models. Learn to Understand their tradeoffs, especially in imbalanced datasets, and optimize your classifier for better results.

Feb 10, 2025

What is wrong about the pattern tell them what you are going to tell, tell and then tell what you told

storytelling

presentation

Tired of dull, repetitive “tell them, tell them, then tell them again” messaging? Learn how to break the mold with surprising twists and curiosity-driven storytelling. Discover why planned unexpectedness, knowledge gaps, and challenging common sense can make your ideas stick and keep your audience hooked.

Feb 6, 2025

The Stickiness Improvement Plan

storytelling

management

Based on the book Made to Stick, I provide a plan of question to evaluate your idea’s stickiness. Comes with keywords for further improvements.

Feb 3, 2025

Get huge benefits for minimal costs after reading

storytelling

The ultimate goal of creating a sticky idea is to make people care. To achieve this, bridge the gap between what they already care about and what they don’t yet care about. Here I provide a checklist to evaluate the stickiness of your ideas.

Jan 28, 2025

The one thing missing in your perfect presentation

storytelling

management

mental models

Sticky ideas are those that capture attention, linger in the mind, and inspire action. Learn the principles of creating messages that are not just understandable but also memorable and impactful enough to drive change.

Jan 27, 2025

Three basic plots - my take

storytelling

management

Learn how the three basic plots are alternative to the hero’s journey

Jan 25, 2025

Blogging with quarto

blogging

I recently switch from WordPress to quarto. Learn why and how to integrate it in an Obsidian based workflow.

Jan 17, 2025

10 min

Science2Art, a lesson in artful prompt engineering

generative AI

prompt engineering

How can physical equations be expressed in a paintings? In the beginning I only had a few ideas and the whole process was very effortful. Then in 2023, I discovered ChatGPT. And it become a lesson in the art of prompt engineering.

Jan 15, 2025

11 min

Clean coders use lambda expressions

python

c++

clean code

technical

In modern programming, lambda expressions have become an indispensable tool for concise and efficient code. They have their origin in functional programming but have made it to many programming languages. But how, when, and why should you use them? Let’s dive in.

Jan 10, 2025

How to fight computer eye strain

health

android

python

At least for your eyes and your back computer work puts a tremendous strain. This is what can help.

Dec 3, 2024

Premature optimization and the importance of algorithms

clean code

data structures & algorithms

technical

DSA is unknown to many developers. Learn why this is a big mistake.

Aug 10, 2024

Here is what I learned from thinking fast and slow.

storytelling

book summary

A summary with link to the previous posts

Apr 24, 2024

6 min

Taylorism in complex environments

storytelling

software engineering

project management

Studies show that over 70% of businesses rely heavily on KPIs for decision-making. Yet, there’s a story that illustrates how this reliance can sometimes lead to unexpected and counterintuitive outcomes.

Mar 9, 2024

From Challenges to Champions: Unsticking Negative Workplace Stories

storytelling

Stories stick. But what can unstick a story?

May 3, 2023

Waterfall management is a strict recipe, while agility is improvisational cooking.

storytelling

management

In a world where information is fleeting, generative metaphors are the secret weapon. They don’t just simplify complex ideas; they reframe understanding, sparking fresh insights and lasting impressions. Think of a metaphor not as a mere comparison but as a doorway

May 3, 2023

6 min

Unlock the Power of Metaphors at Work to Captivate Your Listeners!

storytelling

writing

speaking

I’ll be sharing a simple yet effective approach to finding and creating your very own metaphors. Learn to apply metaphors more frequently.

May 3, 2023

14 min

Effective Story Spotting

storytelling

Unleashing the Power of Storytelling How Our Team Overcame Remote Work Challenges and You Can Too

May 1, 2023

It’s been countless hours since I first embarked on my journey in the magical land of Hyrule, and I can’t help but ask myself, “Why is this game so addicting?” Zelda, at…

How Playing Zelda Teaches Us the Importance of Audience Engagement in Interactive Storytelling

storytelling

Apr 16, 2023

Intellectual Dishonesty: Recognizing and Combating Toxic meeting culture

storytelling

management

Learn how to spot dishonest behavior in other people’s replies and your arguments.

Mar 4, 2023

Sticking in a shitty job, deprives you of rich experiences

storytelling

growth

If there are no extremes bad/good we can not make lasting memories.

Use risk policies and avoid common planning fallacies in software development

storytelling

project management

agile

Even though most methods tell you otherwise, always use a rule of thumb in software planning.

Everybody wants more money and thinks inflation is unfair

storytelling

finance

Today inflation is rampant. The cost of living in many countries is close to or above 10 %. Many people perceive this as a bad sign.

Investors are living from the greatest of all treasures, which is Hope

storytelling

finance

Rising prices in the stock market show that the recession is coming.

Good managers are immune to survivorship bias

storytelling

management

Learning the golden truth from the one successful projects is rarely possible. Always keep your starting position in mind

The story of Covid and Plato’s cave allegory

storytelling

management

office

Remember the time before Covid? We all went to work and were happy. Despite all the talk, we will never all go back to the office.

The perfect way that projects will never be planned

storytelling

project management

software engineering

There is a profound difference between selling and planning a project—the order of these two phases matters.

Nov 9, 2022

Look at your industry’s state and then decide if you want to become an expert

storytelling

growth

software engineering

The t-shaped engineer is a human centipede. These modern software engineers are different than traditional experts. Which one is better? And what have foxes to do with it?

Nov 7, 2022

Trust me; I am an expert

storytelling

management

The issue is not whether you are an excellent expert, but expert knowledge can not be trusted in an irregular environment.

Nov 7, 2022

The SAFe confidence vote reveals the state of emotional security in your project

storytelling

management

agile

If you have confidence in a plan, there should be a uniform vote for this plan. The question is if your endeavour is predictable.

Nov 7, 2022

You should go back to the office, to help your boss understand you

storytelling

management

office

Shadows are lurking behind your working-from-home chair. There is one big one big disadvantage egoistic developers fail to see.

Nov 3, 2022

Use mental anchors to determine the start position of high-stakes discussions

storytelling

The next time you find yourself in a tricky situation, try to influence the discussion by anchoring at another reference point.

Time-dependent algorithms usually have one major issue. The starting value heavily decides the outcome. The same applies to your mind’s thinking process.

This concept is also called anchoring

Nov 1, 2022

1 min

Try to establish your next planning predictions on well-defined reference points

storytelling

project management

agile

Here is a new method to relate software estimations to a related base rate.

Oct 29, 2022

The good storyteller is a travel guide through the listener’s memories.

storytelling

growth

Stories act as a simulator, allowing the reader to live the story mentally.

Oct 28, 2022

There are no losses; just costs for profits

storytelling

finance

The best guide to selling anything, or so they say.

Oct 26, 2022

You are most likely overinsured

storytelling

finance

Not all insurance cost is transparent, if you are very careful, you forgo good opportunities.

Oct 26, 2022

Regression to the mean reshapes our memories

storytelling

mental model

data storytelling

Why to tomorrow will always be better (or worse).

Oct 25, 2022

Why engineers do not understand stories

storytelling

software engineering

As engineers, we love details. Nothing can be too complex. It is complexity itself that attracts us. What you should do instead.

Oct 19, 2022

Experienced engineers stay away from the flow zone

storytelling

software engineering

Flow is the process that happens when no deliberate control of attention is necessary for a mental task.

Oct 17, 2022

So far, I have written 13 stories on medium over the last six months.

A new writer’s easy guide to find the perfect headline

blogging

knowledge work

Oct 12, 2022

Avoid spending mental energy as if would be limitless

storytelling

mental models

Know if you unwisely exhausted your mental energy supply for the day.

Oct 12, 2022

Providing fake reliability with statistics

storytelling

data storytelling

audience

Statistics can help us to make the pro points more potent and the contra points weaker. The statistics serve as a quantitive anchor to your position. Read on to learn how you can twist statistics to your cause.

Oct 6, 2022

6 min

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do

storytelling

management

Whether we communicate with other people verbally or non-verbally, our brain processes any sensory input of our senses.

Sep 4, 2022

World Sensation, Why remarkably nobody has built your leadership

storytelling

leadership

growth

The truth: you do not focus on accomplishments, and you do not empower others.

Jul 6, 2022

Effective leaders listen for stories that touch the heart and mind

storytelling

storylistening

knowledge work

leadership

growth

The management literature has known it for a long time. Leadership is not identical to management.

Jun 20, 2022

4 powerful secrets medium user need to know about leadership

storytelling

leadership

growth

Today everybody talks about leadership. Just do a quick search on Medium. But is everybody talking about the same thing?

Jun 5, 2022

The world requires influential engineers with a passion for stories

storytelling

Everyone wants their ideas to strive, even engineers.Engineers are often depicted as uncommunicative cavemen. The talking is best left to other people, isn’t it?

May 18, 2022

Successful cross-functional teams need the luxury of confidence and trust

storytelling

management

Today, the cross-functional team and entrepreneurial organization are one of the stock solutions to solve complex problems.

May 11, 2022

Three old but trusted ways to reveal your team’s common story

storytelling

How do you unify a bunch of random people to follow a common cause? Quick answer: provide a common identity and, at best, a shared history.

May 9, 2022

Good presenters embrace these psycho tips in their life

storytelling

growth

We all give presentations, talks, speeches, or dinner toasts. Sometimes we fail to engage with our audience. Try to remember these tips for your next presentation.

Apr 19, 2022

Try these 9 tips to get more and stronger follower growth

storytelling

influence

humour

Did you ever wonder why you have problems getting your point across? On the other hand, somebody else quickly confers the message?

Apr 13, 2022

In my previous blog post, I asked different questions.

The science of influence and storytelling

storytelling

Apr 13, 2022

Do you read? Yes? Then this post is for you.

Knowledge advice: 2 Ways to read a book and improve your understanding

blogging

knowledge work

Apr 9, 2022

Sometimes one person said it all. You read a phrase and it is all there. This is my selection of quotes on storytelling.

Try these priceless mental tricks to gain the upper hand in pointless conflicts

storytelling

Imagine your last stressful situation. Your face is getting red. You start to stammer and justify yourself. What if you had some superpowers…

Feb 20, 2022

7 min

Quotes about storytelling

storytelling

Nov 28, 2021

How find material to read and how to dig through it.

blogging

knowledge work

What are the best sources to read on your topic.

Nov 26, 2021

The resolution is good, but fulfilling it is difficult.

Under construction Gut ist der Vorsatz

blogging

Nov 23, 2021

1 min

How technical is too technical

c++

book review

When you read and write about software, there is always a balance to be struck how technical the books should be. I have read Effective Modern C++, which I found a little too technical.

Oct 28, 2021