Agile Complexification Inverter

I received this letter from  Jurgen Appelo and thought it might be worth posting here as an example of good criticism and taking action, rather than just complaining.  Yes, there is a  call-to-action   down near the bottom. Dear David, In the Lean-Agile community,  there is a ton of criticism on the topic of certification . Most certificates have little meaning, prove nothing, empty your wallet, and are little more than nasty money-making schemes of savvy certification bodies. At least, that is the sentiment that I usually hear when I bring up the topic. I believe it’s worth trying to do better. 1. Accomplishments One reason for improving upon the idea of certification is that many people find the motivational aspect of certificates to be a positive thing. Human beings crave recognition.  We all want to feel appreciated for the work we do and the successes we have achieved . Badges, awards, trophies, and certificates are standard techniques for signa...

I've been around agilist and SW devs that are using the term MVP quite a lot these days.  And when we get deeper into the conversation I learn that the thing there are referring to is not at all an MVP . It's not the box - it is the Star! Perhaps we need a better term.  Perhaps we should define the terms we are using.  Perhaps we should just use the tools we have to find the better term.   Or I could just tell you - the better term is MBI - Minimum Business Increment . Why does MVP not suffice?  Because to have a product one needs a customer that has paid for said product.  And the purpose of the MVP was to learn for actual customers about how they liked our product and if we should change it in any way.  It was also a test of our current business model, and an opportunity to learn about our business model (was it efficient, could we optimize it in some way, etc.). Most MVPs I've discussed with people have no customers - there is no exchange ...

Concept of Product Development Flow "I believe that the dominant paradigm for managing product development is fundamentally wrong.  Not just a little wrong, but wrong to its very core.  It is as wrong as we were in manufacturing, before the Japanese unlocked the secret of lean manufacturing.  I believe that a  new paradigm is emerging, one that challenges the current orthodoxy of product development."  -- Donald Reinertsen Reinertsen goes beyond the advance ideas of lean manufacturing, what he calls Flow-Based Product Development. Scrum was sparked by a paper called The New New Product Development Game by  Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka (1986).  Are you seeing a synergy of ideas? Lean principle of Flow In the manufacturing world Toyota exemplifies the achievements one may obtain in 50 years of practicing a new mindset of principles.  Manufacturing deals with repetitive tasks predictable processes to produce component parts, hom...

What do these phrase have in common - what is their inherent consistent meaning? Zero Defects Take the time to do it Right Repeatability and Reliability Process Maturity Model Measure twice, cut once Six Sigma Rework is Waste, Lean processes remove Waste They are ironically consistent in their purpose to reduce variability.  Don Reinertsen will attempt to convince us that in the domain of product development (unlike other domains) variability may not be the enemy of good.  He will argue that it is the economic payoff-function of this outcome that is of upmost concern in design. Voltaire 's aphorism :   Perfect is the enemy of good. I'm in a group at work that is reading books on Agile software development topics to what purpose... well to learn I hope.  After Lyssa's book on Coaching Agile Teams  we turned the knob up to 11 with Don Reinertsen's Principles of Product Development Flow .  Since it's such a tough read, a dense book with so m...

Our organization is starting to talk about measuring Cycle Time and Lead Time on our software engineering stories.  It's just an observation, but few people seem to understand these measurement concepts, but everyone is talking about them.  This is a bad omen...  wish I could help illustrate these terms.  Because I doubt the measurements will be very accurate if the community doesn't understand when to start the clock, and just as important - when to stop it. [For the nature of confusion around this terms compare and contrast these:   Agile Alliance Glossary ; Six Sigma ; KanbanTool.com ; Lean Glossary .] The team I'm working with had a toy basket ball goal over their Scrum board...  like many cheep toys the rim broke.  Someone bought a superior mini goal, it's a nice heavy quarter inch plastic board with a spring loaded rim - not a cheep toy.  The team used "Command Strips" to mount it but they didn't hold for long. The team convinced me th...

Here's the 2016 Pumpkin decorating contest loser.  It's been a real LEAN year for the Scrum team. Have you heard of a MVP - Minimal Viable Pumpkin? Minimal Viable Pumpkin (MVP) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_startup

Best quote: "Significant Impostor Syndrome" 2013 Brickell Key Award nominations video. Published on  Oct 24, 2013 Nominee recognition video for the Brickell Key awards, presented at LeanKanban North America 2013 in Chicago IL, USA. Video by Derek Wade.   Music: Thomas Newman - "American Beauty" Spollier Alert!!! The winners were Yuval Yeret and Troy Magennis. See Also: http://leankanban.com/brickell-key/   the award page.

'I would ask 500 Whys ' When I stand up yeah I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who stands up next to you When I unit test yeah I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who tests along with you The Proclaimers - I Would Walk 500 Miles If I get drunk yes I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you And if I haver yeah I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you But I would ask 500 whys And I would ask 500 more Just to be the man who asked 1000 whys To help your process improve. When I'm working yes I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you And when the  praise  comes in for the work I'll do I'll pass almost every accolade on to you When I program yeah I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who pair programs with you And if I falter well I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's...

Why do some product win in the market place and some lose?  Is being first to market the key distinction between winning and losing? The Agile software development movement has this one aspect (time-to-market) as key differentiator.  Many surveys note this aspect as a reason to adopt Agile methods.  Business people resonate with this value proposition.  The Lean Startup movement has this within its core.  It appears just common sense.  But is it good practice - is it a true cause and effect relationship?  If one is first in the market place with a new product, will it capture market share and become the de-facto standard product in the market segment? Take the case of the cookie - the Oreo Cookie (introduced in 1912) - have you heard the back story?  It was the perhaps a knock-off of the Hydrox cookie (introduced in 1908), the first in the market segment, yet always labeled "imitator" and never a strong competit...

Scrum is a stepping stone toward the organization becoming  a  learning organization , and much of being Agile is about the opportunity to learn. In the modern world of knowledge workers, if the people are not learning on the job, then they are not creating new knowledge. We create new knowledge by understanding the context of new problems, deconstructing the problem, understanding the forces acting within the system, creating solutions to solve them, and then remembering the decisions that resolved the forces and applying them to new challenges. Experience comes from numerous encounters with similar problems. When we reflect on new problems, we generalize and abstract guidelines and rules – this synthesis is learning. Reflection requires time and distance from the immediate problem. At what point in the Scrum framework do we focus on learning? Well, for a truly mature Scrum team it is constantly, at varying levels. That's what makes working on an Agile team fun for me. ...

a vending machine - random books One simple initiative each Agile Transformation can make is to create a book lending library focused on Agile processes, organizational change, learning organizations, best engineering practices in software development and other topics.  Since this topic of "what books would you recommend" comes up quite a lot, perhaps it is time for me to join the ranks of hundreds of people making their top 10 Agile books list. Top 100 Agile Books (Edition 2012) by Jurgen Appelo But no that's not what this post will be.  It is something much more useful.  Instructions on creating your very own lending library. Get funding - about $1000 for the first quarter. Find a book shelf and a reading room with comfortable chairs. Purchase 3 copies of each book on the short list - these books are the seed stock. Make a company logo sticker for the back of each book and inside cover. Make signs and hall way posters to advertise your new library. Make a...

I proposed the test in February  2011; it's not really been widely accepted as the defacto standard - yet. What is the purpose of the Starbucks Test?  To indicate to me, a Fluent Digital Immigrant, the likelihood of happiness when engaging with a new an unknown organizations. The premise:  When one walks into a Starbucks one expects to increase their happiness. Either by making a "fair" exchange for a coffee with lots of options, and the opportunity to speak in riddles (order: I'll have a tall, skinny, why bother) to the happy staff that deliver value in a very predictable and expected way.  Or to not exchange any of my hard earned money - and just soak-in the cool (or warm) air and spend some quality time using their wonderful space to think, chat, or while-away some hours. The exchange is fair because you both agree to it. It is not the best price that a fair market should trend toward. But there are so many externalities that keeps this best pri...