Velocity defeats itself. Get acceleration instead
what a spherical cow can teach us about task prioritization in software teams
agile
Five Measurements You Should Make and Then Ignore (Plus One to Watch Intently)
Are we succeeding as a software team?Well, if our job were feature delivery, we could look at the parade of JIRA tickets in our “complete” column. That is only part of our job, though.The purpose of a software team is to provide valued capabilities to customers, internal or external. To do that, our software has … Read moreFive Measurements You Should Make and Then Ignore (Plus One to Watch Intently)
To share the work, share the decisions
We get better decisions by forming a shared (overlapping) understanding. We do that with participation from everyone who changes the software.
Better coordination, or better software?
TL;DR: When different parts of an organization need to coordinate, it seems like a good idea to help them coordinate smoothly and frequently. Don’t. Help them coordinate less — more explicitly, less often. Software systems get big, and they have lots of parts, and those parts need to talk to each other. Maybe we’re building … Read moreBetter coordination, or better software?
Project to Product asks more of our software, and more of us
TL;DR: Projects ask teams do what is asked of them; Products ask teams to invent their work. This requires a different way of seeing the world, and not everyone can do it yet. Software is not an up-front investment that pays off over its use. Software is an ongoing concern, an intricate piece of a … Read moreProject to Product asks more of our software, and more of us
One Secret to Quality Software
They ask us for quality. What is “quality”? “Well, free of defects.” (Oh it’s a lot more than that.) What is a “defect”? “Well, when it doesn’t work like we expect it to. Like we agreed it should.” Trust me, you didn’t specify how it works. That’s my job, as a developer. To organize all … Read moreOne Secret to Quality Software
Correctness
How important is correctness? This is a raging debate in our industry today. I think the answer depends strongly on the kind of problem a developer is trying to solve: is the problem contracting or expanding? A contracting problem is well-defined, or has the potential to be well-defined with enough rigorous thought. An expanding problem … Read moreCorrectness
Harder and better (slides)
At Scenic City Summit in Chattanooga last week, I gave a closing keynote about 3 ways our jobs are harder than they used to be, and how each of these makes our jobs better. Annotated slides are on Dropbox.
Post-agile: microservices and heads-up development
Notes from Craft Conference 2015, Budapest. Craft conference was all about microservices this year.[1] Yet, it was about so much more at the same time — even when it was talking about microservices. lobby of the venue. Very cool, and always packed Dan and I went on about microservices in our opening keynote,[2] about how it’s not … Read morePost-agile: microservices and heads-up development
Charting team course with a Seamap
Biggest visible distinguisher of great teams: there is no roadmap – Marty Cagan #CraftConf — Jessica Kerr (@jessitron) April 24, 2015 Great teams are focused on results, not on projects. But how many of us really see the results of our efforts? Can we track the impact of what we’re doing today all the way … Read moreCharting team course with a Seamap