This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz by Jared Richardson. Original Post: Microclimates and Software Development Feed Title: Jared's Weblog Feed URL: http://www.jaredrichardson.net/blog/index.rss Feed Description: Jared's weblog. The web site was created after the launch of the book "Ship It!" and discusses issues from Continuous Integration to web hosting providers. Latest Agile Buzz Posts Latest Agile Buzz Posts by Jared Richardson Latest Posts From Jared's Weblog

Have you ever experienced a small microclimate? It's when you walk into the edge of a forest and feel the cool air the shade. Even a medium-sized tree can provide this affect. It's why people sit under trees... they like it there! :)

Something creates a microclimate when it affects the atmosphere in it's proximity independent of the rest of the region.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines a microclimate as the essentially uniform local climate of a usually small site or habitat.

What's your development microclimate?

Independent of the rest of your organization, are you tinkering with new technology? Are the guy who introduced Nunit tests to your team? When people talk to you over lunch, do you talk about Andy Hunt's latest podcast or Ted Neward's latest blog entry?

The question is not how well read you are but how far out do you limbs reach each day? Are you so engrossed in today's problems that you don't have the time to look around?

Here's a quick litmus test for you. If each software blog you read this week was a leaf, what kind of tree would you be? A tree that provides shade or a scraggly old hulk that looks half-dead?

Strive to be the person who picks up one or two new ideas each week. Ask people what they think about the ideas over lunch or try to implement the ideas during the day. You don't have to change the world today to make a big difference a year from now. Little changes add up!

What are some practical ways to get started?

Artima.com's Buzz forums is a great blog aggregator. I catch everyone from Martin Fowler to Andy Hunt.

The Buzz can be perused as sub-categories as well. They are .Net, Agile, Design, Java, Linux, MacOS, Open Source, PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby, Web, Windows, Wireless, and XML.

If you can't find one a category that applies to your work, then move to Artima's blog page. There you'll find people like Bruce Eckel and Michael Feathers.

Still haven't found what you're looking for? Then visit Technorati and type in your favorite author, speaker or topic. Find out who else is talking about the books, authors and practices that you are. Search on junit or Ruby on Rails to see whose talking about these topics.

The information you need is out there and it's accessible. The only question is whether or not you're going to go get it and generate a nice localized microclimate of best practices and interesting ideas. Or will you sit back, let the industry pass you by and have to say "Oh crap! My Job Went to India (And All I Got Was This Lousy Book).

;)

Jared