One of my teams was responsible for maintaining over 3,000 applications, utilities and audience facing services. We didn’t know who owned or cared about the majority of these. This mysterious majority had been commissioned in the mists of time by people who’d moved on. 3,000 was too many and we needed to cut. Our only recourse was the “Scream Test”.
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Author Archives: Steven Thomas
PMs Need a Technical Ally When Introducing Automated Testing
I need a technical ally when introducing Specification by Example and BDD. Actually I need a technical ally when introducing automated testing of any kind. Somebody to coach / mentor / encourage / explain / enthuse about the technology and how it helps.
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Nine Things to do When Nobody on Your New Team Knows Lean-Agile
Last month I looked at what to do when everybody on the team says they know Lean-Agile. This month I look at what to do when nobody on your new team knows Lean-Agile.
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Four Reasons to Book Regular One-to-One Meetings
Rich and Rachel were a bit surprised when they noticed I had a regular weekly one-to-one meeting booked with Michael. I had worked with them closely for over a year, relied on them heavily, but a relative new comer with less responsibility got a dedicated slot from me. How come?
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Two Heads are Better Than One
My problem was how to transport my hot black Americano to work in a bumpy taxi without the coffee slopping out of the cup, making a mess in the taxi and burning me. Generally I believe in sharing. When I’ve got an insoluble problem I’ve found it even more important to share. Somebody (else) has the answer. And in this case a quick brainstorm with a colleague gave me a simple solution.
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Specification by Example helps even with no Automation
I’m keen on Specification by Example particularly with a tool like Cucumber to automate tests. However this style of specification is also useful without the automation. I introduced my current team to Specification by Example and, with some help from me, the customer is now using the same disciplines to define requirements to hand to a 3rd party development shop. The experiment has been very successful.
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Everybody on your new team says they know Agile. Don’t believe it
Early in my Agile career I was the only person on my team who knew anything about Agile. Now everybody claims to know Agile and/or to have Agile experience. Certainly this has been true for most people on my last couple of teams. My advice to you is – don’t believe a word of it. Assume they know nothing.
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Corporate control = Project brakes
In general I believe brakes let you go faster. But what if the brakes are locked on? Suddenly you’re not going anywhere. And that is what happens when a project comes under excessive corporate control. The project screeches to a halt.
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Abuser Story – User Stories to Prevent Hacking
A couple of years ago Mike Cohn introduced me to a cute concept. The “Abuser Story”. A User Story to prevent abuse.
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DRY Gherkin: When Using Cucumber, Keep Your Step Definitions DRY
When using Cucumber for automated testing I try to ensure my Gherkin uses ubiquitous language so the business and development team share a common language. But the Gherkin must also be DRY. This not only saves confusion but also saves development effort.
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