A Thankful Developer’s Guide to Building Apps

[Marc Mouries]

A Thanksgiving Developer’s Guide to Building Apps

Lessons from Thanksgiving for Successful App Development.

Thanksgiving & Building Apps: A lot in Common

Thanksgiving: where your uncle with no tech skills suddenly has opinions on app security—and pie recipes.

Much like Thanksgiving, app-building is about collaboration, creativity, and overcoming unexpected challenges

Debates are inevitable...

• At the Thanksgiving table, you argue about politics and pies, who’s baking what, and why isn’t there chocolate?
• Everyone has an opinion, a new startup idea or a trendy recipe…
• And yet in the end what matters is whose pie should go into production the oven first.

Takeaway: Like Thanksgiving, skip the drama, focus on what satisfies the most people and delivers the most value quick.

Success Depends on Collaboration!

• Thanksgiving dinner isn’t a solo mission, and neither is app development.
• Success comes from working together, listening to all voices,
• And maybe not giving Uncle Marc the most critical task, like the turkey or the ERP integration

Takeaway: Collaboration is what turns debates into solutions—just like Thanksgiving dinner isn’t a solo effort.

Governance: Manage but don't Wait

• Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t start with everyone waiting for Aunt Susan to finalize her 12-step gravy approval process.
• You start cooking, ask guests/users for their opinion and then adapt/refine the recipe as you go!
• In both Thanksgiving and apps, don’t wait for perfect governance: Start cooking/building, adapt as you go.

Takeaway: Governance is like cranberry sauce: essential but don’t overdo it—or the turkey (or App) gets cold.

Gratitude Drives Innovation

• Thanksgiving wouldn’t happen without everyone pitching in.
• Even if Aunt Susan insists on Jell-O salad again. It’s about teamwork…
• And politely avoiding the green bits.

Takeaway: Celebrate contributions big and small, they’re the secret ingredient to innovation, whether it’s a Thanksgiving feast or a mission-critical app.

Agile Dinner Planning

• We don’t call off Thanksgiving because Aunt Lily can’t decide between green beans and Brussels sprouts.
• Start cooking the turkey, adjust when Aunt Lily shows up with surprise anchovies
• And hope the dog likes anchovies.

Takeaway: Start with what you know, adapt to surprises, and keep the focus on delivering something everyone can enjoy.

Listening to all voices ensures success!

• Just like menu planning and knowing family members’ allergies prevents a turkey-and-sides disaster, using workshops instead of writing a 100-page requirements doc saves you from mismatched expectations.
• Collaborating, means everyone has an active role
• And Yes, cousin Bob, you’re on dishes.

Takeaway: Success comes from understanding everyone’s needs. Collaboration starts with listening, whether to stakeholders or Aunt Susan’s allergy list and ensures everyone gets a seat at the table, or a dish they can eat.

Uncle Marc’s Turkey Timeline

• Uncle Marc says he found a great YouTube video about cooking the turkey fast & with great flavors
• Six hours later, the turkey’s still frozen,
• And Marc’s blaming the Wi-Fi.

Takeaway: Whether it’s a turkey or an app, start early, trust the right process, and don’t rely on quick hacks.

Homemade or Store-Bought?

• At Thanksgiving, some dishes are homemade, others are store-bought.
• Apps are the same, balance is key.
• But that one homemade secret family recipe? That’s the only thing everyone says is done right.

Takeaway: Balance custom builds with out-of-the-box solutions to save time, but don’t forget the custom touch that makes your app (or dish) memorable.

A Toast to Building Together!

• This Thanksgiving, let’s celebrate collaboration, creativity, and what brings us together:
• Making the world of work, work better for everyone.
• And let’s give thanks we’re building apps, not turkeys, those take forever to debug!

Bonus: Takeaways from Uncle Marc’s Turkey Timeline

• Set realistic timelines—whether for turkeys or apps.
• Trust experts and proven tools to avoid last-minute disasters.
• Iteration and regular checks keep progress on track.
• The process is as important as the result.
• Work together, adjust as needed, learn together and remember: whether it’s a turkey or an app, the end goal is something everyone can enjoy
• The journey and the time spent together and the lessons learned are more important than the burned turkey

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving/app-building parallel?
Which slide resonates most with your team’s approach?

[WORKFLOW-COWBOY]

App dev has never made me so hungry... 😂