Changing the Game was more of a business / management oriented session presented by Hal Helms and Clark Valberg. Hal always does a good presentation. Clark held his own and was pretty good too.

The session started with Clark and Hal 2.0 (Anjay from TeraTech) giving an overview of the presentation. Of course, everyone wanted the real Hal who soon made an appearance. The point being that you want to make yourself valuable to your customers, and not just a nameless interchangeable cog. You need to bring value beyond just being a programmer.

Some of the points Hal and Clark brought up:

• consider the interests of the stakeholder's
• what value do you bring to the table
• you should be a natural extension of your client's business
• Be empathetic - don't be a yes man if something the customer wants is not in their best interests
• look deeper
• share innovations
• process is leadership
• be relentlessly curious
• charge a little more...so you can care a lot more

I also like the definition of expert that Hal had - someone who lives more than 500 miles from you.

Posted by jhusum - 10:09 AM - General - Comments - Link to this entry