https://thecynical.dev/Recent content on The Cynical Developerhttps://thecynical.dev/images/og-cover.webphttps://thecynical.dev/images/og-cover.webpHugo -- 0.147.2en-usThu, 08 Jan 2026 14:13:49 +1300https://thecynical.dev/posts/energy-doesnt-disappear/Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/energy-doesnt-disappear/When work doesn’t absorb a developer’s energy, it doesn’t vanish — it gets redirected, or burned off as heat.https://thecynical.dev/posts/first-real-pause/Sun, 04 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/first-real-pause/The first week in about 21 years without a job. Unfamiliar territory but oddly freeing.https://thecynical.dev/posts/christmas-reflections-2025/Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/christmas-reflections-2025/A quiet end-of-year reflection on contracts, community, delivery, and heading into uncertainty with cautious optimism.https://thecynical.dev/posts/serial-learning/Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/serial-learning/Why constant learning can feel productive but quietly erode our ability to think.https://thecynical.dev/posts/death-by-1000-pings/Wed, 05 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/death-by-1000-pings/Attention isn’t infinite, and yet modern development culture behaves like it is. A quiet rebellion against meetings, pings, and performative productivity.https://thecynical.dev/posts/sphere-of-control/Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/sphere-of-control/A field guide to what developers can control, what they can bend, and what they can only influence inside a larger organisation.https://thecynical.dev/services/retro-clarity-snapshot/Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/services/retro-clarity-snapshot/A short, external teardown that turns your team’s last retro into a roadmap for shipping faster.https://thecynical.dev/services/career-course-correction/Tue, 26 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/services/career-course-correction/A 6-week program for mid-career developers who feel stuck, coasting, or drifting. Stop autopiloting. Start steering.https://thecynical.dev/posts/what-if-the-internet-wasnt-free/Tue, 19 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/what-if-the-internet-wasnt-free/A thought experiment: how different would the web look if every service came with a price tag?https://thecynical.dev/posts/toxic-workplaces/Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/toxic-workplaces/An open review of workplace culture and patterns I&#39;ve seen across the years.https://thecynical.dev/posts/senior-forever/Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/senior-forever/For many developers senior is the quiet end of the road.https://thecynical.dev/posts/ghost-buzzers-and-burritos/Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/ghost-buzzers-and-burritos/A self-checkout system so broken it deserves it&#39;s own blog post.https://thecynical.dev/posts/cynical-dev-pir/Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/cynical-dev-pir/A cautionary tale about what happens when your cynical developer blog gets popular before you learn how to compress images.https://thecynical.dev/posts/agile-that-doesnt-suck/Fri, 27 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/agile-that-doesnt-suck/Agile isn’t broken—it’s just been overcomplicated, overcontrolled, and oversold. Here’s how to rebuild it from the inside, one useful change at a time.https://thecynical.dev/posts/agile-was-never-your-problem/Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/agile-was-never-your-problem/Agile didn’t fail you. The process theater did. A blunt look at why your team hates standups, story points, and pretending it’s working.https://thecynical.dev/posts/ticket-driven-development/Sat, 21 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/ticket-driven-development/When every dev is just doing the next ticket, who’s steering the ship?https://thecynical.dev/posts/not-really-refactoring/Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/not-really-refactoring/Refactoring is supposed to make code better — not just different. Here’s how to tell if you&#39;re improving something or just rearranging the mess.https://thecynical.dev/posts/legitimate-phishing/Mon, 16 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/legitimate-phishing/When your public health system accidentally nails every hallmark of a phishing scam — and calls it a service.https://thecynical.dev/posts/the-death-of-senior/Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/the-death-of-senior/Somewhere between title inflation and egalitarian delusion, the meaning of &#39;Senior Developer&#39; got lost.https://thecynical.dev/posts/obsolete-jobs-in-2025/Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/obsolete-jobs-in-2025/Scrum Masters, Release Managers, and the illusion of progress in a world that should know better.https://thecynical.dev/speaking/Tue, 27 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/speaking/Want a dose of dry wit and hard-earned lessons at your event or in your codebase? I speak and consult on legacy systems, privacy, burnout, and fixing things that actually matter.https://thecynical.dev/posts/okrs/Thu, 22 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/okrs/A cynical developer&#39;s guide to why OKRs often fail, how they sometimes help, and what to do when you&#39;re assigned 15 of them.https://thecynical.dev/posts/scrum-got-us-here/Thu, 22 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/scrum-got-us-here/Scrum helped us escape the waterfall. But it’s become more ceremony than substance—and the real work is happening in the cracks between stand-ups.https://thecynical.dev/about/Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/about/<p><strong>The Cynical Developer</strong> is a blog for tired engineers, reflective skeptics, and anyone who&rsquo;s seen too many “Next Big Things” end up as tomorrow’s tech debt.</p> <p>This site is maintained by a seasoned developer with a mild aversion to buzzwords and a fondness for refactoring code and expectations.</p> <p>Here, you’ll find honest commentary on software, systems, and staying sane in tech.</p> <h4 id="the-guy-behind-the-cynical-developer">The guy behind The Cynical Developer</h4> <p>I&rsquo;ve been building software for two decades — sometimes well, sometimes in pain. I’ve led teams, modernized monoliths, and navigated the swamp of enterprise Java. This blog is where I reflect, rant, and occasionally offer useful insight.</p>https://thecynical.dev/contact/Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/contact/<p>Want to reach out? I’m happy to hear from fellow devs, writers, or the hopelessly over-engineered.</p> <ul> <li>Email: <a href="mailto:hello@thecynical.dev">hello@thecynical.dev</a></li> </ul> <p><em>Please don’t send cold sales pitches. I’m not that kind of cynical.</em></p> <p>Got something to say? Use the form below. Please, no recruiter spam or marketing pipelines. Nigerian princes are fine.</p> <div class="contact-form"> <form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true" netlify-honeypot="bot-field"> <input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact"> <p hidden> <label>Don’t fill this out: <input name="bot-field" /></label> </p> <p><label>Your Name: <input type="text" name="name" required></label></p> <p><label>Your Email: <input type="email" name="email" required></label></p> <p><label>Message:<br><textarea name="message" rows="6" required></textarea></label></p> <p><button type="submit">Send</button></p> </form> </div>https://thecynical.dev/posts/from-jndi-hell-to-cdi-heaven/Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/from-jndi-hell-to-cdi-heaven/Because @Stateless shouldn’t require 3 XML files and a blood sacrifice.https://thecynical.dev/posts/have-we-lost-our-way/Sun, 18 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/have-we-lost-our-way/Agile was never supposed to be a checklist. Somewhere between the ceremonies and the certifications, we forgot what it was for.https://thecynical.dev/posts/as-the-pendulum-swings/Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/as-the-pendulum-swings/Getting from command-and-control to trust and autonomy—and why most teams never quite make it.https://thecynical.dev/posts/evolution-of-a-software-company/Thu, 15 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/evolution-of-a-software-company/The startup origin story you&#39;ve lived through at least once—and what usually comes next.https://thecynical.dev/posts/welcome-to-the-cynical-developer/Fri, 02 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/posts/welcome-to-the-cynical-developer/<p>I’ve been a commercial software developer since 2005. I’ve earned a BSc in Computer Science (mostly for the debt), and spent the last two decades writing code at big corporations, scrappy startups, and everything in between.</p> <figure class="half-width"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://thecynical.dev/images/welcome.webp" alt="Old school computer and coffee"/> <figcaption> WYSIWYG </figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>This blog exists because…</strong></p> <ul> <li>I’m opinionated.</li> <li>I’ve seen “the next big thing” turn into the next big baggage.</li> <li>I’ve backed into a 12‑year‑old monolith more times than I care to admit—and lived to tell the tale.</li> </ul> <p>Here, you’re not getting hype, evangelism, or feel‑good manifestos. You’re getting:</p>https://thecynical.dev/newsletter/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/newsletter/Occasional cynical essays. No spam. No meeting invites.https://thecynical.dev/guides/retros-that-dont-suck/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/guides/retros-that-dont-suck/A short, cynical guide to running retros that don’t waste everyone’s time.https://thecynical.dev/now/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://thecynical.dev/now/<p>Last updated: 8th January 2026</p> <p>Life has calmed down and I&rsquo;m officially on holiday. First time in my entire career I&rsquo;ve been between jobs and I&rsquo;m enjoying the change of pace but also looking forward to the next challenge.</p> <h3 id="-what-im-working-on">⚙️ What I’m Working On</h3> <ul> <li>Focusing on building out some consulting offerings.</li> <li>Rewriting a web application for a NZ club - its finally in testing.</li> <li>Preparing to run the second cohort of the Career Course Correction</li> </ul> <h3 id="-what-im-reading">📚 What I’m Reading</h3> <ul> <li> <p><code>The Five Dysfunctions of a Team</code> by Patrick Lencioni. I absolutely loved this little book. It was recommended to me and it was helpful.</p>