I work in an environment that is somewhat dominated by a project governance mentality. What does this mean? What it means to me is this – that our diligence is focused on spending rather than on asset creation. Why is this significant? Because it changes how we focus the decisions in the process of software…
What I Have Done
Recently I have had to look back on my career and remind myself what I have done. I am leading a challenging project, and at times it feels like I have team members and customers projecting their expectations for how the work will be executed. Sometimes amid the cacophony of voices, I have to remind…
Product Portfolio Management
Product Portfolio If you want to manage a portfolio of software products, it is necessary to understand the organizational goals that are met by those software products. The product portfolio is a vehicle for understanding the ongoing investment in development or deployment of software assets. It requires an ability to measure the value of software…
Agile Is Not For Everyone
OH: (on twitter) “Convinced. Everyone that says “agile doesn’t work” or even “agile doesn’t work for us” just doesn’t know what it means to be agile.” I read this on Twitter over the weekend (12/17/11). It really got me fired up. Mind you, I am an avid agilist. The point is, that some situations…
Why are we doing that?
Take anything. Any activity. Any Practice. Any Standard. Any Method. Ask the question “why?” – with fresh eyes, take a long hard look at why we are doing it. Now, ask yourself if the “why” is being accomplished. Ask yourself if you even know how to measure the benefits you originally sought. Ask yourself if…
Take Your Team to a Drag Race
One thing that I have noticed at the beginning of a project is that there almost always appears to be confusion. Confusion about mission. Confusion about terminology. Confusion about what is important. Confusion about roles and responsiblilities. It feels bad, it looks bad and it smells bad. It’s like what drag racers do before a…
Project Pork Prevention
Why is it that the customer in corporate software projects seems to want to pack the scope of every project with capabilities of dubious value, in the same way that our congressional leaders try to pack important bills with “pork”? Why do organizational leaders try to take a well funded project or initiative and use…
Real World Developer Manifesto
Real World developers prefer: Getting things done over sitting in meetings, but understand that communication is important. Working code over extensive documentation, but understand that government regulations, and product sustainability require a rational approach to documentation. Requirements that describe business value over requirements that prescribe implementation vectors, but understand that the customer often can only…
Is It Me?
Occasionally – I will get into a conflict with someone, and I don’t know why. When I look back at the conversation, what I remember, it becomes apparent that either I baited someone into an argument, or vice versa. Sometimes this happens because I attach connotative meaning to something someone says because I think I…
Estimation Purposes
Mike Cottmeyer’s post about How to Think About Estimating is freakin’ brilliant. I applaud him for speaking his mind, and telling us how professional software delivery can get done. Why? Because he gets down to the guts of why estimation is hard for so many teams, and while it seems to me that half of…