I've seen people who can solve complex problems, and I admire them. Alas, I'm not one of them. So whenever I have to solve a complex problem, I make it simple first.

If I can't make a problem simple, it's usually because someone else insists that it remain complex. In that case, I have to wait for someone smart to fix it (thank you, smart person), or for someone to change their mind and allow me to make the problem simple. Wayne Conrad

Complex problems are just a series of simpler problems smushed together.

Solve problems, don't just point them out.

Steal ideas liberally from everyone else. Originality is not a virtue. Learn from the past.

Put trust in people, not in things.

Don't build solutions that try to do everything. Nothing can do it all. Instead, create solutions that play nicely with others, do only a few things, and do them well.

Perfectionism can be taken too far. It's best to get a solution that does most of what you want to do then none at all. Using a war metaphor - it is better to win the majority of small battles then to wait for one conclusive battle-to-end-all-battles.

It is best to actively hunt for solutions to problems and not have problems come hunting for you.

Projects must have solid deliverables. Only when goals are can be stated in clear cut terms can they be achieved. Projects chasing after goals that are not black and white are never successful.

Sometimes you need to do the things that failures do not like to do. Every journey begins with that first step. And sometimes it is the hardest. Schedule your priorities, not the other way around.

Aways shoot for everyone looking good in the end. Find the good-guys and make sure they each share in any success. If you can do this with your enemies - then you've really done a great thing.

Business projects that aren't solutions to diagnosed needs are wasteful projects. They are doomed to failure. Especially true in technology. While technology may expose new capabilities - it is more typically true that it is business need that should be satisfied by technology - not the other way around.

All of the parts to a solution should cooperate with each other and play nicely with each other by being designed with inputs and outputs that are simple and conscise.

Continuously improve skills and knowledge by seeing what others are doing in the world.