Errors are going to happen. Trying to prevent them is helpful, but it is often more effective to minimize the impact they have by detecting them quickly. In software development, waste can be thought of as “unplanned work caused by errors which are usually exacerbated by delays in feedback.” It can come from several sources. … Continue reading "Don’t Worry About Process Waste; Worry About Delays & Output Waste"

Test-first yields analysis, it helps us determine what is clear, what is unclear or missing, and ferrets out misunderstandings. Unit tests are unforgiving, they don’t let you get away with anything. But Test-Driven Development also creates better design. Bad design is hard to test, and so moving tests into a primary position reveals the pain … Continue reading "Test-Driven Development is not Merely “Test-First”"

The future is here today for a select group of companies.  It’s no longer a question of what to do, it’s a question of getting there. By looking at the characteristics of these select organizations we can gain insights into what we have to do to help our own organizations. One thing is clear however, … Continue reading "The Effective Organization of the Future"

“Were you directly involved in the creation of the materials for your workshop?” This is important because it guarantees the trainer will understand the materials. And because you know they are prepared to handle skepticism met during the presentation. Here is what trainers know. Creating course materials deepens your knowledge of the materials. You can … Continue reading "What is the Most Important Question to Ask a Potential Trainer Teaching Anything But an Introductory Workshop (e.g. CSM)?"

Scrum is based on empirical process control, the pillars of which are transparency, inspection, and adaptation. This mostly means that instead of following a plan we observe how things are going and adjust accordingly. But this doesn’t mean that we can’t use theory. It’s just that when we do use theory we must verify it … Continue reading "Improve Your Scrum by Using Flow Thinking"

Recently, Scrum.org announced the integration of Kanban practices into Scrum and that “Observe Orient Decide Act (OODA) is the mindset of Scrum. This comes on top of the announcement of Scrum team training a few years ago. These are all good things. It’s nice to see the Scrum community trying to catch up to the … Continue reading "Nice to See Scrum Catching Up (or Trying To)"

Design patterns are often described as “solutions to recurring problems within a context.”But the real power of patterns is to see the forces that each pattern resolves. They should be used as a way to help analyze what’s needed to create a quality design. That is the goal. Given a situation where, say, the Strategy Pattern … Continue reading "How Design Patterns Give Insights Into Process Patterns"

The most important words of the Agile Manifesto are, “We are uncovering better ways …” This should continue to be true. Agile is often thought of as a way of being. But getting people to “be” Agile is hard. And it’s not clear what “doing Agile” is. “Being” is good. But getting there is another … Continue reading "Agile is Here to Stay (Or at Least the Being of It)"

I’ve been having a very interesting two weeks. I would like to say that whenever I go into a client, I am always on, and always get my clients to see new opportunities. But I’d be lying. However, for the last two weeks, that’s been what’s been happening… with five clients. While I feel I’ve … Continue reading "Something has Happened to Me (Not My Normal Rant)"

In the past, we have tried waterfall, Agile, and Agile at scale to deliver value through product development. Each has been lacking. Here is what the next generation of accelerated value delivery will require. An integration of business and technology based on flow intended to reduce the cost of delay An intense focus on the … Continue reading "The Next Generation of Business Value Realization"