Hackers and Fighters

Hackers and Fighters: A clear, interesting, and provocative description of the divide between theoreticians and 'street programmers'.

Taking time to think...

This is an article by Jeff Atwood about a key differentiating factor between great and mediocre programmers/engineers: Taking time away from the immediate tasks to think about the surrounding issues.
How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming

A Lesson on Form and Function, for managers and developers

This article is spot on...

The 'Iceberg Secret' Revealed

There are two critical mistakes that many developers make, either believing that user interface is the least important aspect of a development project, and pushing it off till the very end, or embracing the user interface and demoing a flashy photoshop temp at the very start of the project. Upper level managers tend to make only one mistake: equating the state of the user interface with the state of the development project.

These mistakes wreak havoc in development-based businesses. If either situation applies to you, read that article, quick! I want the people I work with to understand this... Way too many people miss the importance of this perspective mismatch.