Mike Bowler
@mikebowler.ca
Helping organizations improve how they deliver value for over 25 years. Using a mix of agile technical practices (XP), workflow design, and applied psychology/neuroscience.
When not doing any of that, he can often be found in the woods with a camera.
When not doing any of that, he can often be found in the woods with a camera.
Who had "adversarial poetry as an attack vector for AI" on their 2025 bingo card?
arxiv.org/html/2511.15...
arxiv.org/html/2511.15...
Adversarial Poetry as a Universal Single-Turn Jailbreak Mechanism in Large Language Models
arxiv.org
November 20, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Who had "adversarial poetry as an attack vector for AI" on their 2025 bingo card?
arxiv.org/html/2511.15...
arxiv.org/html/2511.15...
Social media is often a firehose. If you like the things I write and don't want to miss any of them, then sign up for my free email newsletter at the link below. As a bonus, you'll get a copy of my video course Flow Metrics Basics.
funnel.gargoylesoftware.com/newsletter
funnel.gargoylesoftware.com/newsletter
improvement newsletter
Gargoyle Software
funnel.gargoylesoftware.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Social media is often a firehose. If you like the things I write and don't want to miss any of them, then sign up for my free email newsletter at the link below. As a bonus, you'll get a copy of my video course Flow Metrics Basics.
funnel.gargoylesoftware.com/newsletter
funnel.gargoylesoftware.com/newsletter
I heard “It’s easier to get things done when there is a deadline”, and that tells me something about motivation, or more specifically, lack of it.
November 18, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I heard “It’s easier to get things done when there is a deadline”, and that tells me something about motivation, or more specifically, lack of it.
If you've ever taken one of my classes then there's a good chance you know what I mean when I say "sometimes we just need to pick up the fax machine". If you haven't heard this one yet, then buckle up for a crazy story.
unconsciousagile.com/2025/11/18/j...
unconsciousagile.com/2025/11/18/j...
Sometimes we just need to pick up the fax machine
My friend Dave once got brought in to help with a large project. The company was purchasing a large fax system from a vendor and then planned to extensively customize it to work in their environment.
unconsciousagile.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:29 PM
If you've ever taken one of my classes then there's a good chance you know what I mean when I say "sometimes we just need to pick up the fax machine". If you haven't heard this one yet, then buckle up for a crazy story.
unconsciousagile.com/2025/11/18/j...
unconsciousagile.com/2025/11/18/j...
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released a great case study on how they used LEGO® Serious Play® to do threat modeling around digital identity. I've written about that here: unconsciousagile.com/2025/11/11/L...
November 12, 2025 at 4:43 PM
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released a great case study on how they used LEGO® Serious Play® to do threat modeling around digital identity. I've written about that here: unconsciousagile.com/2025/11/11/L...
More waterfalls, today in Naramata, BC, Canada
August 17, 2025 at 4:48 AM
More waterfalls, today in Naramata, BC, Canada
In the days that we wrote user stories on physical cards, we deliberately handed out small pieces of paper and large sharpies. We deliberately wanted fewer words on the card.
People who write stories in systems like Jira often miss that point. Those tools allow us to write novels, and so we do.
People who write stories in systems like Jira often miss that point. Those tools allow us to write novels, and so we do.
August 7, 2025 at 6:35 PM
In the days that we wrote user stories on physical cards, we deliberately handed out small pieces of paper and large sharpies. We deliberately wanted fewer words on the card.
People who write stories in systems like Jira often miss that point. Those tools allow us to write novels, and so we do.
People who write stories in systems like Jira often miss that point. Those tools allow us to write novels, and so we do.
I wrote about risk management, illustrated with a hike through grizzly bear country. improvingflow.com/2025/07/27/r...
Risk Management
Yesterday I went on a guided hike to teach people how to safely hike through bear country. Specifically grizzy bear country. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any bears, but we did learn an amazing amount ...
improvingflow.com
August 6, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I wrote about risk management, illustrated with a hike through grizzly bear country. improvingflow.com/2025/07/27/r...
One of the mistakes we make is assuming that people will make logical and rational decisions to optimize for the perfect overall outcome.
I wrote about this, with an example from a recent hiking trip at unconsciousagile.com/2025/08/05/o...
I wrote about this, with an example from a recent hiking trip at unconsciousagile.com/2025/08/05/o...
August 6, 2025 at 4:28 PM
One of the mistakes we make is assuming that people will make logical and rational decisions to optimize for the perfect overall outcome.
I wrote about this, with an example from a recent hiking trip at unconsciousagile.com/2025/08/05/o...
I wrote about this, with an example from a recent hiking trip at unconsciousagile.com/2025/08/05/o...
Helmcken Falls in #WellsGrayProvincialPark. One of the tallest in Canada, with a drop of 140m
August 3, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Helmcken Falls in #WellsGrayProvincialPark. One of the tallest in Canada, with a drop of 140m
All great adventures start with a warning.
We did a guided bear biology hike yesterday, at #GlacierNationalPark. Highly recommended, even if we didn’t see any actual grizzlies.
parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/glaci…
The first 17 photos here are from this hike.
flickr.com/photos/mbowler/
We did a guided bear biology hike yesterday, at #GlacierNationalPark. Highly recommended, even if we didn’t see any actual grizzlies.
parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/glaci…
The first 17 photos here are from this hike.
flickr.com/photos/mbowler/
July 27, 2025 at 1:46 PM
All great adventures start with a warning.
We did a guided bear biology hike yesterday, at #GlacierNationalPark. Highly recommended, even if we didn’t see any actual grizzlies.
parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/glaci…
The first 17 photos here are from this hike.
flickr.com/photos/mbowler/
We did a guided bear biology hike yesterday, at #GlacierNationalPark. Highly recommended, even if we didn’t see any actual grizzlies.
parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/glaci…
The first 17 photos here are from this hike.
flickr.com/photos/mbowler/
July 13, 2025 at 3:09 AM
When I talk to teams about their goals, I'm continually surprised how often the answer is framed as "meets our deadlines" rather than "delights our customers".
We get what we focus on. Perhaps we should have better goals.
We get what we focus on. Perhaps we should have better goals.
July 11, 2025 at 12:59 PM
When I talk to teams about their goals, I'm continually surprised how often the answer is framed as "meets our deadlines" rather than "delights our customers".
We get what we focus on. Perhaps we should have better goals.
We get what we focus on. Perhaps we should have better goals.
Whenever the subject of identifying birds comes up, someone will recommend Merlin (I use it too), however I don't see many recommendations for apps to identify plants, and other animals. Let me recommend iNaturalist, which I use for identifying everything else. www.inaturalist.org
iNaturalist
iNaturalist is a social network for naturalists! Record your observations of plants and animals,
share them with friends and researchers, and learn about the natural world.
www.inaturalist.org
July 5, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Whenever the subject of identifying birds comes up, someone will recommend Merlin (I use it too), however I don't see many recommendations for apps to identify plants, and other animals. Let me recommend iNaturalist, which I use for identifying everything else. www.inaturalist.org
Sometimes when we facilitate a meeting, it's impossible to get anyone to talk, and this makes the meeting a complete waste. I was asked again this week how to deal with this situation.
unconsciousagile.com/2024/03/11/p...
unconsciousagile.com/2024/03/11/p...
My people aren’t participating
I frequently hear “my people won’t speak up during standup” or “they aren’t participating in retro” or other activities. Unfortunately, there are many different reasons why this might be so it’s not a...
unconsciousagile.com
July 5, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Sometimes when we facilitate a meeting, it's impossible to get anyone to talk, and this makes the meeting a complete waste. I was asked again this week how to deal with this situation.
unconsciousagile.com/2024/03/11/p...
unconsciousagile.com/2024/03/11/p...
It was apparently four years ago today that I took this baby picture in the forest. #GreatHornedOwl #Kelowna
June 28, 2025 at 4:18 PM
It was apparently four years ago today that I took this baby picture in the forest. #GreatHornedOwl #Kelowna
In my newsletter this week, I wrote about why rewriting large software applications, rather than fixing them in place, is almost always a mistake. It's now also on my blog at agiletechnicalexcellence.com/2025/06/25/t...
The big rewrite
I remember once having two back-to-back clients who had just rewritten significant systems in their environment. I asked why they’d chosen to rewrite the system from scratch rather than just fixing th...
agiletechnicalexcellence.com
June 25, 2025 at 2:23 PM
In my newsletter this week, I wrote about why rewriting large software applications, rather than fixing them in place, is almost always a mistake. It's now also on my blog at agiletechnicalexcellence.com/2025/06/25/t...
We often talk about the scouting rule of “always leave the campsite cleaner than you found it”, or in a software context “always leave the code a little bit better than you found it”.
June 22, 2025 at 3:47 PM
We often talk about the scouting rule of “always leave the campsite cleaner than you found it”, or in a software context “always leave the code a little bit better than you found it”.
The theme for the week seems to be a focus on quality so let's look at some aspects of that.
1. Focusing on testing when we should be focusing on quality
2. About bugs
3. How pull-requests really aren't a quality step, most of the time
agiletechnicalexcellence.com/2025/06/17/q...
1. Focusing on testing when we should be focusing on quality
2. About bugs
3. How pull-requests really aren't a quality step, most of the time
agiletechnicalexcellence.com/2025/06/17/q...
June 17, 2025 at 3:21 PM
The theme for the week seems to be a focus on quality so let's look at some aspects of that.
1. Focusing on testing when we should be focusing on quality
2. About bugs
3. How pull-requests really aren't a quality step, most of the time
agiletechnicalexcellence.com/2025/06/17/q...
1. Focusing on testing when we should be focusing on quality
2. About bugs
3. How pull-requests really aren't a quality step, most of the time
agiletechnicalexcellence.com/2025/06/17/q...
I did a session at Agile Open Canada last week where I ran people through a LEGO exercise on "technical debt" and then talked about the neuroscience of why this is a more effective way of teaching that concept, rather than using code examples. Now blogged at: unconsciousagile.com/2025/06/03/i...
Improving learning with neuroscience and LEGO
In an training, the goal is to have people learn. That should be obvious and yet we frequently see sessions where people walk out, having been entertained, but not having learned anything.
unconsciousagile.com
June 3, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I did a session at Agile Open Canada last week where I ran people through a LEGO exercise on "technical debt" and then talked about the neuroscience of why this is a more effective way of teaching that concept, rather than using code examples. Now blogged at: unconsciousagile.com/2025/06/03/i...
This week I was at Agile Open Canada in Banff, for another spectacular open space event.
This picture was from dinner one evening, looking down at the town of Banff, where the event had been held.
This picture was from dinner one evening, looking down at the town of Banff, where the event had been held.
May 30, 2025 at 3:27 PM
This week I was at Agile Open Canada in Banff, for another spectacular open space event.
This picture was from dinner one evening, looking down at the town of Banff, where the event had been held.
This picture was from dinner one evening, looking down at the town of Banff, where the event had been held.
I see black bears maybe three or four times a year and this may be the largest one I’ve ever seen.
May 27, 2025 at 3:42 AM
I see black bears maybe three or four times a year and this may be the largest one I’ve ever seen.
The photo below is one of my favourite sunset shots. It’s also a sharp reminder of a mistake I made that could have had serious consequences. It’s a time that I should have quit and didn’t.
Full story at unconsciousagile.com/2025/05/20/k...
Full story at unconsciousagile.com/2025/05/20/k...
May 20, 2025 at 4:20 PM
The photo below is one of my favourite sunset shots. It’s also a sharp reminder of a mistake I made that could have had serious consequences. It’s a time that I should have quit and didn’t.
Full story at unconsciousagile.com/2025/05/20/k...
Full story at unconsciousagile.com/2025/05/20/k...
Reposted by Mike Bowler
This is the funniest science writeup I've seen in a long time. It's about why cats are so perfectly evolved 🧪
Apparently lots of other animals have "tried to be cats" and the fact that other species have so much more variation is "because they suck" 😆
www.scientificamerican.com/article/cats...
Apparently lots of other animals have "tried to be cats" and the fact that other species have so much more variation is "because they suck" 😆
www.scientificamerican.com/article/cats...
May 18, 2025 at 11:26 PM
This is the funniest science writeup I've seen in a long time. It's about why cats are so perfectly evolved 🧪
Apparently lots of other animals have "tried to be cats" and the fact that other species have so much more variation is "because they suck" 😆
www.scientificamerican.com/article/cats...
Apparently lots of other animals have "tried to be cats" and the fact that other species have so much more variation is "because they suck" 😆
www.scientificamerican.com/article/cats...
Reposted by Mike Bowler
1. I reach a lot of readers from a big variety of political backgrounds... and one of the most common points of contention I see centers around transgender sports bans.
In my latest story, I make the moderate case against such bans.
Subscribe to support my journalism.
In my latest story, I make the moderate case against such bans.
Subscribe to support my journalism.
The Moderate Case Against Transgender Sports Bans
Bans on transgender competition in sports tend to be controversial, with some even otherwise supportive people siding with such bans. I present the moderate case against doing so.
www.erininthemorning.com
May 11, 2025 at 5:11 PM
1. I reach a lot of readers from a big variety of political backgrounds... and one of the most common points of contention I see centers around transgender sports bans.
In my latest story, I make the moderate case against such bans.
Subscribe to support my journalism.
In my latest story, I make the moderate case against such bans.
Subscribe to support my journalism.