Agile Complexification Inverter

 My friend and colleagues have released their new book:   Software Profit Streams(TM): A Guide to Designing a Sustainably Profitable Business And it has me thinking about what it means to be a sustainable business.  My best definition of a sustainable business would be to look at the lifetime longevity of the business .  My guess is that a family business would be the most sustainable model.  One could include a monarchy in that class of business model (looking at the  House of Windsor ).

Have you heard about the PO's new assistant?   It is quite the item of gossip - isn't it? Could you imagine if we were to outsource our development jobs to someone?  Someone in another country, a foreigner,  or an artificial life-form, an AI - oh the shame of it all! What would it require to craft an AI with the ability to write a Product Backlog?  Would we require special software, expensive specialist knowledge, and millions of dollars? Would we be able to trust that the user stories the AI wrote and placed in our backlog were the correct requirements for our unique product? It is the 21st Century - we have to be ready! That is a quote from Captian Jack Harkness , and he is in a Time to know. Let's run a test.  Let's try the AI out and see if it could write the basic product backlog for a travel app.  Phone apps have been around now for 15 years or more.  The best ones are targeted at just such a task.   We could then see if the AI generated user stories were good en

I've recently been party to a somewhat rare event in one's life.  It has made me think about the customer experience - or the UX that we discuss so much in software.  On a scale of 0 - 10 rank these events in your life: Applying for and receiving a home mortgage . Being the subject of Inter-Stellar Species cataloging and experimentation ( Alien Abduction ). Having the periodic Colonoscopy exam . I feel like I can be considered an expert in all of these areas, having multiple experiences in each unique domain.  Here is how I rate them on the scale (terrible to uneventful): (0) Home Mortage - - - - (5) - - - Colonoscopy - Alien Abduction (10) What is your worst UX experience? Is anything worse than a Home Mortage experience?

 I've been exploring the Umwelt of my dog, Malibu through our walks (it is a practice described by Ed Yong in An Immense World ).  So I'm practicing the practice of ...  Umgebung  (an Umwelt as seen by another observer) . It is an interesting practice - one that takes extreme empath - it is exhausting and exhilarating at times. I read a book sometime in the 1990s about a spaceship crash-landing on a planet with beings like trees - the trees were sentient and I cannot remember the title nor much more about the storyline.  Those trees had a unique Umwelt, and to communicate the humans had to first, practice Umgebung.  [Note: this book could have been by Don Saker -  Scattered Worlds series - maybe].  I've been reading about the Hlutr - they have a First Language - of color, they have a Second Language - of sounds, and they have the Universal Language. I'm trying to remember... investigate this... When I read about a minke whale in captivity that "learned to speak&q

The first edition, 2000 copyright, version of XP Explained by Kent Beck has a uniquely great table of contents.  I've talked with people about this... I feel that these 27 chapters could be the outline for a master's degree in software. I don't know if this content was removed in later editions or what... I don't see it in the online versions of the table of contents. At the risk of getting called out - here are some images of those pages.  Decide for yourself - is this not the greatest SW Dev book of the last 30 years? Table of Contents - eXtreme Programming eXplained

  Did you see this offer for developer help?  This is great for the solopreneur iOS Dev.

 I just found a site and fell in love with the illustrations.  Here's just a sampling... GoLimitless - Visualising the World's Wisdom.

 The Google Site manager gave me this graph of the history of Agile Complexification Inverter views over the history (since 2011).  In 2017 I guess I was most active and received about 15K per month.

Do you want your team to run upon the principle of democracy or benevolent dictator or some form of holarchy or self-selection, etc?   There are many ways to organize or self-organize.  But the one form that humans have found valuable and worth repeating is best described by the term Benevolent Dictator.  This is the pattern that describes so so many of our businesses and many organizations.   We must find it useful. I  just heard that scientists have found that dolphins have a tiered network of associations. " Bottlenose dolphins form multi-level alliances to find mates — the largest known network outside of humans, according to a new study . Bottlenose dolphins are social creatures, usually traveling in a pod of 12 or more, even though they do strike out on their own from time to time." I was  talking with a  business owner who  described  one  of  the  key factors in his weeding out of people that didn't fit well  with the  company (either culturally,  mission, tempe

 Here's a  2022  Article  about what  Agile  is  and  even better a combined  V-Shaped software development method  that  combines the  best of Agile with Waterfall.  Proving that just because you  can read it - doesn't make it TRUE. The Growing Popularity of Agile in Software Development Nate Nead   /   20 Aug 2022   /   ReadWrite The Agile model of software development is becoming more and more popular compared to the V-shaped model. This model is based on iterations and feedback, and it allows for changes to be made quickly and effectively. The V-shaped model is a combination of the two most popular models currently in use-Agile and Waterfall. The Agile model of software development is a more recent model that has been gaining in popularity in recent years. It is based on the principle of iterations-meaning that the software is developed in short, repeatable cycles-and feedback. This allows for changes to be made quickly and effectively, which is beneficial for both the cust

 Some times it takes time to  process great truths.    They  don't all hit you like a  grand piano  falling from the 5th floor.  Many  take time and considerable ruminating to totally GROK. The 20-Day Agility Challenge DeMystifying Agility, one belief at a time. There is a good friend of mine that has worked to make the Agile Manifesto reachable by the many people who need to read (reread) and come to terms with its true meaning.   Here is  Derek's summary in a multipart pod-cast   The Long Way Around the Barn. PLAY EPISODE Podcast: Unlimited Agility The Agile Manifesto is often thought of as a historical event or document, but Derek Lane is hoping to redefine how it’s introduced and revisited because the principles are time- and battle-tested in how it brings value to people. As 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the Agile Manifesto, Lane and fellow colleagues have formed a community, Unlimited Agility, where you won’t find answers, but you will find like-minded individuals to

 They tell me I'm not a Rocket Engineer -  and it's true.  To think like a rocket engineer is to think very differently.  So who is  a  rocket engineer - I bet you came  up with the name Elon. Here is Elon's  thought process for building  rockets. Make the  requirements less dumb.    Question the   requirements - the constraints  are wrong.   Especially  if the requirements are given by an  expert.   Also all requirement need to be traceable to a  person - not  a department. Delete the  part or the  process  - it's redundant or not at all needed.   Remember the  human  bias is to add.  The rocket engineer should be adding back only after first deleting and proving it  must be added back (an  acceptable rate of  re-addition  is 10%). Simplify or  optimize  only after steps 1 &  2.   Never optimize early.   Do  NOT optimize the thing that shouldn't  exist.  Example SpaceX grid fin folding parts - they just are not needed. Excelerate cycle time.   But only after 1,