Rob Grady » Agile

Quote: Implementing Lean Software Development

Rob Grady — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:51:40 +0000

From Implementing Lean Software Development, “Development is the process of transforming ideas into products. There are two schools of thought about how to go about this transformation. We might call one the deterministic school of thought and the second the empirical school of thought. The deterministic school starts by creating a complete product definition, and then creates a realization of that definition. The empirical school starts with a high-level concept and then establishes a well-defined feedback loop that adjusts activities so as to create an optimal interpretation of the concept.”

What school of thought does your organization follow?

Generalized Scrum meetings for everyone

Rob Grady — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:35:18 +0000

Great post on the scrum meeting format and how it can be applied generically. “The scrum meeting method consists of short, daily meetings designed to keep teams on track and help members get their work done. Scrums are focused on the people doing the work, not management.”

With a plethora of software methodologies, pick the right one for the job

Rob Grady — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 04:07:50 +0000

Today there are a number of software methodologies and depending on your bend (and amount of scarring) you’ll likely lean in one direction or another. From waterfall to agile and everything in between, software methodologies create a lot of discussion, heated debate and confusion. If you’re in an influential position or at least in a position to comment, it’s important to be open, avoid the fads, take a measured approach and remember the lawyer answer, “it depends.”

Software methodologies are working models that continue to evolve over time. I know folks that were convinced the waterfall process was perfect when they were first exposed to it. I believe that selecting the best software methodology is situational depending on the organization, actors and product/project. Many professional service firms have a four or five stage variant of the waterfall process i.e. (Discover, Define, Design, Develop, Deploy) or (Discover, Architect, Build, Deploy). This makes sense, as most of their engagements are projects with a start and stop around a fixed set of requirements. Once the project is complete, they move on. Conversely if an organization is managing a software product, they have ongoing product management activities that can be tough to manage with waterfall. Agile may be a much better fit for organizations that have fixed development resources, continuous development needs and more variable business requirements.

Even in a professional services capacity I’ve seen an agile approach work great when there weren’t any defined requirements and a short deadline. It provided the client a way to quickly prioritize and understand implications of their decisions. You don’t have to practice agile to appreciate short meetings where people ask what was accomplished, what will be accomplished and what are the risks. The 37signals team follows a very light approach that enables them to make quick iterations on their products. While that approach doesn’t exactly translate for larger organizations with a large number of stakeholders it doesn’t preclude larger organizations experimenting with iterative methodologies. The danger is taking a polarizing position where a methodology becomes ideology.

We should standardize for the right product, project, process and organization but not to the point of exclusion. Experiment with the methodologies and associated tools that make sense. All methodologies change over time but remember it is just a means to an end.

“Don’t let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn’t go with it.”
-Colin Powell

Reference and Further reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_development_process
http://versionone.com/Resources/AgileBenefits.asp

5 questions with Steve McConnnell on Agile Development

Rob Grady — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:10:00 +0000

Check out 5 Questions with Steve McConnell

More than one development approach?

Rob Grady — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:24:42 +0000

Depending on your development situation you may be lucky enough to have one development approach with a trained team and that is ideal. But, if you happen to work in a professional services firm and work on a variety of projects with disparate teams it may make sense to select a methodology to fit the project/product. Different projects have different characteristics based on requirements, clients, budgets and time. Different methodologies have different strengths as well.

As we ponder CMM, RMM, RUP, XP, SCRUM, and Waterfall process methodologies and the merits of one over another perhaps we should be working to select a process that matches the needs of the project. In a perfect world, we have a dedicated team that can execute effectively but in a professional services context we don’t always have the luxury and are working with a matrix organization. As many organizations focus on a single methodology, perhaps they should examine a more flexible framework based on the needs of the project.