The challenge isn’t learning new things. It’s unlearning old ones. Change is all but doing something differently, which requires learning something new. No problem, right? Life is learning. But there’s a flip side to change. You have to unlearn something old. You need to stop doing something you’ve learned to do. If you’re not particularly […]
Without Trust, No Enterprise Software Development Approach Can Work
I’ll bet you’ve seen this happen. It may even have happened to you. The business folks are using software they built to track and report something important. The software is a bit crude, maybe even primitive, but it works. It’s simple. (Often, Microsoft Excel and/or Microsoft Access are the preferred tools.) Everyone loves the insights […]
Software Quality and Time-To-Market Should Never Conflict
Here’s a question that I believe generates some of the controversy around agile software development techniques versus waterfall techniques. If your team delivers fewer software features and functions but the software is higher in quality, are your user base and your company better off? Agile teams often claim to deliver better quality software. I agree […]
Velocity Is a Useful Metric But Not a Crystal Ball
I’ve criticized metrics in this blog before and I’m doing it again. I’m really a fan of metrics when they’re applied properly and interpreted correctly. Unfortunately, metrics are often misapplied and misinterpreted resulting in poor decision-making. That said, let’s take a closer look at a popular Scrum metric — velocity. Here is the definition found […]
Agile Project Management Works for Small Businesses
Guest Post I’m pleased to share this post written by the folks at Agil8. Project management systems are not methods that are just for big businesses and large-scale organisations alone. They are also suitable for smaller businesses that can benefit a great deal from these methods too. The fundamental principles of project management can be […]
10 Steps to Avoid Selecting the Wrong Business Software (Part 2)
This is the second part of this two-part blog entry discussing how to select commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software. It’s often better to buy than build – if you go about it the right way. Part 1 of this article is available here. 6. Use spreadsheet comparisons wisely Too many companies prepare elegant spreadsheets showing long lists […]
10 Steps to Avoid Selecting the Wrong Business Software (Part 1)
This blog usually covers topics dealing with building enterprise software systems. I’m going to diverge a bit this time and discuss how to select commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software. Companies spend millions on COTS software and much of it is wasted. (I’ll post part 2 of this blog entry in a few days.) Buying an enterprise-scale software […]
Chickens, Pigs, Commitment and Teamwork
Arguments About the Value of IT Are All Wrong
There are endless arguments around whether IT is a support function or a strategic office. Neither side can win the arguments because they’re both wrong. IT occupies a middle ground that’s unique in the enterprise and can’t be classified like other departments. What is Information Technology? What does an IT department do? Would you believe […]
Are You Accountable for Your Work? Let’s Hope So.
Are you accountable? Someone has to be. Work must get done. Software must be delivered. All the supporting artifacts that go into building great software must be created and maintained. We all know that, right? But are you accountable? Is your work clearly defined? Do you know precisely what you have to do? Do you […]
10 Common Mistakes Account for Many Project Failures
There are many more ways to fail than ways to succeed. (Anything that can go wrong, probably will, right?) Yet most software project failures are attributable to a small set of common mistakes. Avoid these and your chances of success increase dramatically. Here’s a short list of common, but often overlooked, project mistakes. Review this […]
Estimates Don’t Matter But Story Sizes Do
I’ve read quite a few blog posts lately regarding software estimates. Should we estimate epics, stories and tasks or not? Are estimates useful to software development teams or are they a waste of time? Do estimates add value to the development process or are they inaccurate and misleading? As is often the case, the answers […]
Governance Can Suck the Life Out of Software Development Teams
Large enterprises like to centralize governance across all departments. Most large IT departments follow the leader and adopt centralized control mechanisms internally. They often establish governance entities such as program management offices, whose mission is to enforce conformance. There are good reasons for it. By approaching major projects in a uniform fashion, everything from status […]
Software Bugs Won’t Just Go Away. We Need to Fix Them!
Software bugs, all of us despise them. You might prefer to call them by their politically correct name — defects. I still despise them. Yet many companies seem to ignore them. Are they hoping no one will notice? Do they expect bugs to scamper away on their own? Maybe they believe customers will be able […]
Great Technology Isn’t Enough For Being Agile
We have a disconnect in the agile community. Agile approaches to software development are not about technology departments like Information Technology, Engineering or Research and Development. Agile development approaches are about customers, knowledge workers, and successful outcomes. This fundamental concept seems to be difficult for many companies to grasp. Or, maybe many managers and developers […]
10 Reasons Why Your Team’s Software Is Crapware
Crappy software. It’s everywhere. There is far more poorly-designed software than well-designed software. So much more, in fact, that we are literally drowning in crapware. It gives all of us in the software business a bad reputation. I hate it. You’ll find lots of information on how to build better software (just click here). However, […]
Some Tips for Guiding, Not Controlling, Software Developers
I like to move fast. I like having the “first mover advantage”. I don’t believe that my team needs to be smarter than yours or better at what we do (though those attributes certainly help). If we can simply move faster, we’ll have the advantage and we’ll be more likely to succeed. Regrettably, I work […]
The Curse of Recurrence and Habit
Some habits are good. Others are productivity killers. Here’s one example. Someone schedules a meeting. That’s bad enough, right? And the person decides to make it a recurring meeting — every week for as far into the future as anyone can imagine. Then it gets worse. Week after week, zombies (sorry, I meant people) arrive […]
You Don’t Need to Be Better. You Need to Execute Better.
Companies don’t need to be better than their competition, they need to execute better. You don’t need to be better than your coworker, you need perform better. Your team doesn’t need to be better than another team, it needs to do better. Make sense? Simple, right? Not at all. When we use the term “better”, […]