Technical Leadership
Why Readiness Should Be a Habit, Not a Final Gate
Quality isn't decided in the final review. The teams with the smoothest launches built it through daily habits, long before anyone thought about a release date.
Dean Hume
Game Development
A Maturity Matrix for Game Development
A few years ago, I wrote about using a Maturity Matrix to assess software engineering teams. The idea was simple - what does a great team look like, and how honestly can you measure yourself against that picture? Since then, I've moved into the gaming industry. Anyone who has
Technical Leadership
As Engineering Teams get smaller, is the Technical Program Manager the missing piece?
Do you remember what a "normal" software team looked like? A product manager, an engineering manager, a designer, and six or seven engineers. Weekly planning meetings, a backlog to groom, a sprint to run. For most of the last decade, that was just... how teams worked. It was
Technical Leadership
Meeting Notes - A Free Desktop App for Tracking 1:1s
Have you ever walked out of a 1:1 and realised you can't quite remember what you agreed on last time? Or spent five minutes before a catch-up scrolling through Slack threads, trying to piece together a conversation from three weeks ago? I've been there
Building a Custom MCP Server with Node.js
Ever wished your AI assistant actually knew your stuff? Your files, your schedule, or even a custom data source? That's exactly what the Model Context Protocol (MCP) makes possible. MCP is an open standard for connecting AI assistants like Claude to external data sources and tools. Think of
Technical Skills Every Technical Program Manager Should Learn in 2026
Over the years, I’ve learned that being a Technical Program Manager (TPM) is a bit of a strange hybrid role. You’re expected to understand the tech well enough to contribute meaningfully, but you’re not the one writing and deploying the code anymore. The best TPMs I’ve
Technical Program Manager
Supercharge Your Clipboard with PowerToys Advanced Paste 📋
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how PowerToys Workspaces helped me stop wasting time arranging windows every morning. Since then, a few people asked what else I use from the PowerToys suite. So today I want to talk about another tool that's quietly become part of my
Technical Program Manager
How I Use PowerToys Workspaces to Switch Contexts in Two Clicks 🫰
Have you ever sat down at your computer, ready to get into a flow state, and then spent the first ten minutes just arranging windows? Dragging your editor here, your browser there, nudging Slack into a corner - only to close it all two hours later, and start from scratch the
Game Development
Staying Technical as a Technical Program Manager
In my career, I've been many things - a Support Engineer, a Software Engineer and an Engineering Manager. These days, I've settled into a Technical Program Manager role (which I am thoroughly enjoying). As a Technical Program Manager (or TPM), you're often expected to wear
Backup Buddy: A Simple Tool to Backup Your Website Content
Have you ever wanted to create a backup of your website or blog? Maybe you're migrating to a new platform, or perhaps you just want a portable archive of your content that you can read offline. I've previously experienced issues with this site going down and
Game Development
From Crash to Resolution: A Practical Guide for Xbox & Windows Developers
If you’ve ever had an app crash at the worst possible moment, you’ll know how frustrating it can be - both for developers and players. Recently, I wrote an article for the Microsoft Developer blog that dives deep into this exact challenge: how to diagnose and resolve crashes effectively
Oauth
A Modern Guide to Using OAuth 2.0 with C# and Visual Studio Code
Many years ago, I wrote an article on the basics of OAuth and while it was helpful, it is now quite outdated. A lot has changed in the past 14 years! OAuth 2.0 has become the de facto standard for securing APIs and authorizing users in modern applications. The