Welcome to my journey!

When you develop a software, it is very important to get right the functional and non-functional requirements. I went to an IT shop, and they had an old arcade console. Since the game was Mortal Kombat, the original, I couldn’t resist and try it out. But my experience was utterly horrible. The controls were completely destroyed and I couldn’t do normal combos and play optimally. What do you think will happen next? I played for a while and then give up. Why? Because even though I really wanted to spend 10 minutes on this arcade console and re-live my childhood, the experience was horrible and I was able to resist the urge to give up only for a few minutes. What this story has to do with development and products? The thing is, as a provider, you need to ensure an excellent customer experience in order to have a thriving business. Failed to do so and your customer will give up on you and look for an alternative. And in the age of young startups, there are plenty of opportunities for someo...

I love offline facilitation. It provides as well tons of value and, in some cases, it can make the participants many times more engaged compare to online. At the same time, online delivery can bring also some fun experiences. As an example, once I had delivered online training for students from Spain at 9am and all of them were wearing their pyjamas.   My opinion is that we can successfully use the two methods depending on the use case. I wouldn’t say that because one method exist the other is dead.

A note for a technical presenter. 🧑‍💻👩‍💻 As shared before, I am a presenter for the Java academy for beginners. I am happy that our JUG community is so active. I am so proud to deliver a session on Java OOP, this time in Bulgarian 🇧🇬, my native tongue. It felt strange to find words to translate a native English 🇺🇸 to my language, but also very satisfying. One thing challenging for every person who wants to teach fundamentals is how low level or high level to go with. Sometimes you can’t know the level of your audience in advance and you, as a presenter, need to take crucial decisions on how to structure the lecture. Presenting on-line introduces another layer of complexity. Delays, text size and switching between presenting and coding are some of them. Nevertheless, the point is to improve based on the feedback of your students. Do more live coding 💻 examples and ask questions, try to make it as interactive and fun as possible. I know it is Java language which is very complex ...

There is time and time again, recruiters approach you for a position and they don’t know how to promote it. Recruiters have a script, and they must follow it at all times. But companies need people who can apply innovation and sometimes this means change and disrupt processes. Companies also are complaining about a lack of talent. So how can they foster a culture of innovation when their obsolete processes will chase away any potential innovative candidate? This is the catch. Maybe the companies need to apply innovation in their recruitment process first.

A habit is “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.”. What if you have a bad regular practices? Then this would lead to bad health and a bad life. But how would you know if you indeed have such tendencies?? Well, you need to measure where you want to go in life and establish routines that will work for you. Only by measuring your health, your vitality and other parameters you will know if you are heading in the right direction.

When we need to stop going for the certification? I read this post recently and I know that it is a sarcasm, but there are so many certifications programs out there and sometimes people lose the point. “Folks, it looks like the Agile industry need some help with certification: So just thinking out loud here…. We need OKR certification. Process mapping certification. Coffee making certification. What have I missed?” My response to it is below: People might think that more certification == less work (or at least less practical skills) 😉 The point behind the certification is to ensure that the person who completes it will know the best practices for this skill. The reality is different. I have heard things like, “We need to do daily stand ups”. My question is always “Why?” and the response usually is “Because the management said so!”. When a project uses methodology, but people don’t know why you need to send the management and project leaders to educate themselves, and certificatio...

Is the weekend the next step of life, or is the weekend another opportunity to grow? I love what I do, and I do struggle with letting go and just being present. I would prefer to be on my laptop and do meaningful work or learn new things. How about you? Is the work week just a step toward reaching the weekend or you integrate your work and your rest in your life’s vision?

Is over sharing too bad for you? I believe this hurts your brand, because I see many people who over share without adding too much of a value. Instead, do your own blog and share only the things you want to share and the things that are interested in your audience.

Left something behind you and plant a tree! In my case – 11 trees! 🙂 I didn’t know what this phrase meant until I made the common garden a little better. The thing is there were some points to improve the common surrounding of the building where I leave and it was almost the end of the rainy days. This made it one of the last possible weeks to plant something and surprisingly, it turned out to be during earth day. The feeling of digging into a soil that is not of the best quality, just to change the environment and make it a little bit better, is amazing. Now, I can see the future big trees whenever I go to my balcony and it makes me feel good. This applies to my work, where I want to bring more and provide easier and innovative ways to make the products be better. How about you? Have you planted a tree recently and would you like to do it next year on the earth day?  

I am moving towards being leaner. This means changing my eating habits. What I found out for myself is that I need to establish a plan, what to eat on a daily basis in order not to slip away from the goal. I am of the view that life should be as monotonous as possible and most tasks should be either automated or implemented as a form of a habit. The fewer important decisions we make, the higher the quality of our live will be.

Another interesting story made with ChatGPT, this time the sunk cost of being in a relationship. Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there was a young princess named Rose. She had fallen in love with a handsome prince named William, and they had been together for many years. Rose and William had invested a lot in their relationship. They had shared many wonderful moments together, and had built a life around each other. They had a beautiful castle, a flourishing garden, and many precious memories. But as time went on, Rose started to feel that something was amiss. She no longer felt the same spark and excitement that she had felt in the beginning. She began to wonder if she was truly happy with William. However, she couldn’t bear the thought of all that they had invested in their relationship going to waste. They had put in so much effort, time, and love, and she couldn’t bring herself to throw it all away. So she continued to stay in the relationship, despite her growing dou...

In the context of Twitter, and the latest changes, do you still plan to use it? I am considering switching to an alternative, but I am also not the most frequent Twitter users. Moving to a different media introduces a lot of pain and we hate changes in general. That is why when you own your media and use different platforms to spread the message, you can eliminate some of the pain.

I asked ChatGPT a simple question: “How to follow your goals?” And here is what I got: Following your goals can be challenging, but here are some tips that might help: Set specific and measurable goals: It’s important to have clear and well-defined goals that you can measure your progress against. Write down your goals and break them down into smaller, achievable steps. Develop a plan: Once you have your goals in mind, create a plan of action. Determine what resources you need, what steps you need to take, and when you plan to achieve each step. Prioritize your goals: Some goals may be more important than others. Determine which goals are the most important and focus on them first. Stay motivated: Staying motivated can be difficult, but it’s important to remember why you set your goals in the first place. Write down your reasons for pursuing your goals and review them regularly. Track your progress: Keep track of your progress and celebrate your accomplishments a...

I am happy to announce I am joining JUG Bulgaria and I will deliver sessions on Java and OOP in the upcoming Java Academy.

I am seeing a lot of time that people failed in organizing their life because they lack the long-term vision. Let me give you an example. Buying a house is a long term and serious decision. However, based on my research, if you plan to live in the same place for 5 years, the risk is not so big, because you can in most cases sell the property and move to another location. Such long-term planning saves you the stress and mitigates the risks. Because if you don’t plan in advance, it might get too late to learn new skill or to have your own investment.

Another popular topic is how to create a culture that foster innovation. The easiest analogy is being healthy. It takes regular time and attention and a habit. This is true for creating and most important fostering such a culture. It takes dedication, skills and experience to create it. And it requires a daily focus.

What makes teams motivated? This is a very typical question you might be asked if you apply to be a manager. There are few motivation theories out there and it is important to address them. But the best motivation is the practice. There are people who have charisma and can easily motivate others. And there are people who are far better being experts in their field.

I had to return my rebounder to Decathlon for a small repayment, and now I ended up without a training tool. I am trying at least to keep my step count as one indicator of being healthy. Therefore, I did a nice walk in a huge park I live nearby. What would you do if you can’t follow your workout regime?

My parents become pensioners and I wonder what it will feel like when you go to this stage of life. It seems like you have a lot of free time and some of it they spending it watching TV. Is this the right way to spend your free time, no matter if you are a pensioner or still working?

I am working on gaining more skills on another topic. But it takes a lot of my time and other priorities to struggle. The only way to keep the momentum is to time box and delegate. When I want to learn something, it might be hard to delegate, so I am getting better with the time-boxing technique.

The community in my building wants to create something, but it seems they are still struggling to be organized. The first step to organize people is to gather them and have a way to communicate with them regularly. We don’t have any email or group chat communication. This is a clear sign that this initiative will fail.

I volunteered to teach Java to students. With every decision and event, there are pros and cons.

What does the next level look for you? Being in a better shape, or earn more money, or having more free time? Life is an adventure if you allow it to be.

I am going on a holiday, and even I wonder sometimes. “Shall I bring my laptop” The thing is, when you enjoy learning and doing what you do. Squeezing a little bit of time to do additional projects is not a punishment, but a joy and privilege. The moral of the story is to find the thing you enjoy and make it happen. This is the recipe of fulfilled life.  

After the collapse of the stable job, now everyone needs to sell their skills. Potential employers need to sell why their company, department, manager are a good fit. The job applicant also needs to sell their own skills. In the startup world, there is product/market fit. In the job market, there is as well position job/culture fit.

I just read that Google tries to cut costs, by reducing the supplies their employees can use and stopping purchasing new PCs for their employees and also fitness memberships. After 6 months into the recession, such action seems to be a little too late. But in the right direction. But shouldn’t this had happened before they announced the cost cuts? Since the damage is done, Google had to fire some of their talents. Google and other big tech companies shift their image from a great company to work for to one that doesn’t care about its employees. And this is hard to change. Sometimes, when you cut the costs using the wrong approach, you actually cut your brand credibility.

Happy Psychologist’s Day! EVERY YEAR SINCE 1995, BULGARIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS TRADITIONALLY NOTE THEIR PROFESSIONAL HOLIDAY ON APRIL 4 The history of the holiday: On April 4, 1992, a group of second-year psychology students gathered for a party. Late at night, the company decided to call this day the “Professional Holiday of Psychologists”. The idea finds support from other colleagues as well. In the following years, the group celebrated this day in a chamber composition until 1995, when a celebration was organized in the “Yajceto” restaurant of Sofia University with about 150 people – students and teachers. The interest in the initiative progressively grew, it went beyond the party and led to the creation of the “Association of Young Psychologists in Bulgaria”, which bears the name “April 4th”.

My team delivered the last bugs and improvements to the project we worked on. Now is time to look for the next interesting project.

There are so many opportunities and so little time. The trick is to choose what you want to do in the next 3 months, wisely.

It was about time! Have you seen how many disruptive trams Prague has? Well, the new mayor did something about it and introduced the new traffic sign forbidding trams to enter the street. Now we will have more peace with fewer trams in our beautiful city of Prague.