Learn from Successes and Failures

Brad Feld has a great post up today titled “What do you Suck At?  I love the exercise he describes that asks participants to talk about what they suck at.
I was recently listening to a podcast from the Standford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar by Tina Seeling.  She has an assignment in one of her classes [...]

People Laws (part 2)

This post continues the Laws of Development Physics as related to people elements that impact development.

People Laws (part 1)

“…when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in thought advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be.”
                                                                                                                  - Lord Kelvin

“There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains [...]

Pay Now or Pay Later

To follow up on the fourth law, I add as reinforcement the fifth law of development physics: 
If you cannot pay for variability reduction, you will pay in one or more of the following ways:

Long iteration times and high story points in progress

Wasted capacity or need for more resources

Slower burn down rates

Of course, the [...]

Are you a Resultant?

I was reading through some old notes this evening and ran across this idea:
   Consultant:
   - Delivers Reports
   - Retains skill
    Resultant:
    - Delivers Results
    - Transfers Skills
While I don’t think I want to be called a “Resultant,” I like how simply this places a focus on generating valued results and outputs. It also reminds us that it’s not just about doing [...]

The Value of Values

It’s not immediately obvious why values are important to success. To me, it at first seems like the process dictates values and principles attached to them. To some extent this is true. A waterfall process, by its nature dictates that planning and control are important values. Agile dictates that adaptation is key. But neither process [...]

Agile on a Single Page

One page summaries of the values of agile software development.

Eliminate Variability

Variability is the root of all evil in development and must be eliminated.

Measure Outputs for Success

If you want to ensure success, forget input measures and focus on measuring outputs. Track deliverables completed. Measure quality. Track burn down. Ensure risks are being mitigated. Measure tangible impacts to ensure value is being delivered. Measure customer and stakeholder confidence and user satisfaction.

Tell Me a (Short) Story

Stories are the raw materials of development. They should stay in a raw form until needed. Or, as stated by the third “law of development physics”: The value of requirements increases as its production release becomes imminent. Or, you know what you need when you see it, until then, make up a good story.