Leaves - Dorotree

A gold-framed mirror lying in the grass, a hand reaching toward it and meeting its own reflection

Psychology

No Barnum, Please – What an AI Can and Cannot Tell You About Yourself

I asked my AI what it notices about me that I may not see, and told it to skip the flattery. Much of the picture resonated. The more interesting part is what was missing from it, and why I want it to stay missing.

A railway crossing sign and a red signal light in sharp focus while a train rushes past in motion blur

The Gate Is for the Context – Why I Still Read What My AI Writes

I asked for a workflow that writes my blog posts automatically. What I got stops halfway and waits for me. That stop is not quality control. It is the only place where I can see what the AI was never told.

Four people in a meeting at the far end of a long conference table, empty chairs in the foreground

The Accountability Gap – Why Putting AI Into Your Process Isn't Enough

Teams stay formally responsible for output they can no longer fully verify. That is the accountability gap, and plugging AI into old processes will not close it.

Overview graphic of iPadOS features, including window tiling, a menu bar, a new design and live translation

Tools

iPadOS 26: The Moment the iPad Grew Up

With iPadOS 26, Apple made the biggest leap for the iPad in years. A long-time iPad enthusiast looks back at what hooked him on the 'third category device' and why this release feels so significant.

Film still: an older man reads a form while shirtless young recruits wait in a crowded examination room

Metrics

Individual KPIs in Agile Teams – A Critical Yet Intriguing Perspective

Measuring individuals in a team that owns its work collectively sounds like a contradiction. Five developer metrics, what they can tell you, and why none of them means anything without context.

Rows of old alarm clocks on a wooden shelf

Productivity

Productivity Reimagined: Shifting from Time Spent to Outcomes Achieved

Hours at the desk are not productivity, yet managers still read face time as engagement. Why that measure is flawed, and what a shift towards outcomes looks like.

A wooden sign in a grassy landscape reading "Authorized personnel only"

Leadership

Authority in Leadership: Finding the Right Balance Between Control and Empowerment

Authority is not a property of the person in charge. It is negotiated between people who lead and follow voluntarily. On the balance between control and empowerment.

A man in a white lab coat reads a printout next to an early desktop computer

SAFe

Metrics in SAFe 6.0: An Opportunity for Improvement or a Slippery Slope to Agile Taylorism?

SAFe 6.0 brings a new theme around reliable delivery, with Measure and Grow and OKRs. An opportunity for improvement, or a slippery slope towards agile Taylorism?

A checked suit with a bow tie on a tailor's mannequin, a white jacket in the background

SAFe

SAFe - The Art of the Right Suit

For some, SAFe is the death of agile culture, for others a silver bullet. The truth is probably somewhere in between. On whether the framework fits, and whom.

A classic Macintosh computer with the word "hello" handwritten on its screen

About me

👋 Hello World

My name is Michael, and I try to look at the world the way toddlers do: everything is fresh, and there is always something to learn. Where this blog started.