Agile Complexification Inverter

I'm working with a large client that has adopted the classic user story format for the backlog. "As a user , I want some feature  so that I receive this benefit ." Yet, I'm sure that it is not delivering the desired shared understanding that throwing out the classic business requirements document and adopting the scrum/XP user story practice is designed to deliver. So if your groups user stories have become just a piece of boiler plate language to satisfy some agile coach's requirement - maybe you should reflect upon the desired reason for user stories rather than requirements documentation so many years ago.  User stories do work.  But you have to tell a story.  Few authors are good enough to tell a story in one sentence. @davidakoontz @dayleyagile Card, Conversation, Confirmation. Card contents irrelevant. http://t.co/IIUdJJmxA1 — Ron Jeffries (@RonJeffries) May 15, 2014 Here Ron is pointing to one of the XP practices that were very successful in...

I presented at the Results Oriented Web Conference in Dallas last week.  It was a very nice conference with lots of interesting people.  I had fun with my presentation,  The Marshmallow Design Challenge .  Turns out it was finger licking fun. Finger licking FUN! Marshmallow Design Challenge A winner - 26 inches tall. Wondering what this fun exercise teaches?  Watch the TED video to find out.   Spollier Alert - it's more fun to experience it and then watch the video. Next time I'm bring one of these: From Amazon See Also:   Agile Games Video of Marshmallow Challenge

I had a wonderful Christmas.  My nephews got me addicted to the Dragonvale game.  A land where one breeds dragons of various types - did you know, dragons are very hybidizable (I'm sure that's not a standard dictionary word). Dragonvale - iOS simulation game. To build up to a high enough level to purchase a breeding cave one must build treat farms, dragon habits and grow crops.  For this there is an internal game monetary market.  The prices of these goods are set by the game designers (I'm assuming it is not a true " free market ").  The game does not have a sane and balanced market pricing system. The objective of any game designer is to get you to play and have fun.  That is objective number one - design in the fun-factor (see MIT Technology Review 's Exploiting the Fun Factor ).  A secondary objective is to build a game where people will spend money - real cash in exchange for virtual goods.  This is one technique f...

There are all levels of software development tools.  From project management tools to source control tools, and all manner of in-between tools.  Many new teams starting out want a quick list of the tools they should use.  This is a cheat.  They want a quick fix to their existing problems.  Here's a clue - it is hard work that fixes your problems.  No tool is going to solve your underlying problem. Chances are that your problem is not technical at all.  Changes are that your problem is a human caused problem.  You are not working together, not collaborating.  Adding a tool will just mask the root cause.  But most management will purchase such a tool if it has some good smoke and mirrow hand wavy justification. My first recommendation is to use your brain.  Then use your hands.  Make your problems visible.  Draw them on a white board, or a flip chart or an A3 sheet of paper (11x17 for you Americans) .  Yes use you...

I'm researching tools for collaboration.  I'm a firm believer that the best tool for collaboration weighs in at about 3 lbs, is made of 100 billion neurons and consumes 20% of the energy your body uses.  This tool uses other tools like that mouth of yours and the big ears on the side of your head to communicate.  Along with those tools it uses the facial muscles to form expressions that are interpreted by other 3 pound blobs.  All of which gets synthesized into a cognitive mental model. diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measurement of a human brain . All these other tools are substandard replacements for pieces of the above ecosystem of collaboration in a face-to-face manner.  But let's take a look at some of them anyway. One very interesting tools is Mind Mapping in a collaborative tool.  Follow the rules of brainstroming and this tool may rock your next retrospective.  MindMeister.com Here's a list of tools for collaboration an...

There is an App for that, but are they any good for helping with your Agile software team? Here are a few iOS apps I have on my iPhone.  I'm not sure they are going to replace the sticky notes and a whiteboard. Clock Pro - it has a multi-city world clock for visualizing timezone differences.  Great for those dis-located teams. Agilely Timer - a clock timer for scrum meetings and round table discussions. User Stories - a backlog management tool for user stories with estimates & priority. Game Storming - a set of exercises (game if you wish) that create synergy in groups and discover knowledge. Scrum Cards - estimation cards and cheat sheets for process. LeanKit - a Kanban tool, integrates with the web tool LeanKit Kanban . Whiteboard Capture Pro - whiteboard photo capture post processing. Processed Image           Original Image Whiteboard Share - another photo processing tool - this one integrates with...

What does a TODO tag in your code say about you as a developer? When is a TODO not appropriate - is it every appropriate to postpone work that you recognize, but just don't want to deal with now?  Is procrastination a trait that we encourage or discourage? I posit that quality code has very few if any TODO tags.  That there is a inverse correlation between the percentage of TODOs in a code base and the quality of the code. Srikaran Reddy had this argument to make: TODOs present in code may be indicative of the quintessential engineer: one who can distinguish between what is required at the moment versus an ideal, or potential future requirement, that is of relatively lower priority. The term 'sine qua non' comes to mind. This is especially true when maintaining inherited code. On the other hand, a TODO could represent some sloppiness. There are different flavors of TODOs that need to be factored into this argument. The good thing about TODOs is that they are eas...

Proposal to Adopt Agile Development Methods David Koontz Chapman University College Proposal to Adopt Agile Development Methods Welcome to the Twenty First Century.  We have amazing technology, a complex ecosystem of global industry, and a systems-thinking learning organization.  However, we are using antiquated software development methods. Our home-grown methodology based upon a manufacturing model of large up-front detail designs, construction, then verification, and finally production is a phased or largely sequential software development process.  This process does not work well for software - a very malleable product.  Our project success rate of 32% is slightly better than the industry average of 28% (small companies) reported in the CHAOS Report (Johnson, 1995).  However, if we continue to fail two-thirds of the time, we may find ourselves at the back of the pack, and possibly in the bankruptcy courts. Agile software development is a family of m...

This is a paper I wrote for a master's in Organizational Leadership. Ref:  See Sutherland's original paper on Shock Therapy  - A bootstrap for hyper productive teams (PDF) Shock Therapy: Good for the Team David Koontz Chapman University College Building new teams is very difficult, getting a team to come together and gel is an art that has been studied in group dynamic and other team building efforts.  Bruce Tuckman’s model of group development (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing) is the basis of team building. Scrum is an Agile software development framework based upon empirical process control theory.  Using an inspection and adaptation feedback loop Scrum allows a team to self-manage while constantly improving its process and methods of work.  Many teams require months to reach the performing stage.  A method to reduce this startup cost is a controversial technique named Shock Therapy.  With skilled and competent leadership ...