I’m proud of all my teams – good people doing great things. But I’m particularly proud of my current team because it was the hardest to form, being split between London and Berlin. I formed this team by turning up. A simple message although quite painful for myself and my family. Actually that pain is part of the reason my approach works. Leaders turn up and the team appreciates that.
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Tag Archives: focus
Software Management Triumvirate: Delivery, Product and Technical
I view Delivery, Product and Technical as the three legs of software management stool. I have people responsible for these elements at both programme and project/team level.
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PDCA – Plan Do Reflect Improve. Um, sorry, I mean Check Act
I’m a huge fan of the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. It was originally intended for process improvement within manufacturing but I now see it everywhere. But, being an Agile kind of guy I wish Deming had put “Reflect” and “Improve” into the name.
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Five Reasons Why Decision Makers Don’t
I’m rather impatient with people who can’t or won’t make decisions. Here are five reasons for failing to make decisions. This is not an exhaustive list – there are more.
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Contracts do not fix incompetence
“Contracts are the least powerful in getting people to do something. A contract does not fix incompetence.” Not my words, they come from Rajesh Mathur, but I completely agree.
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Programmes are more than Big Projects
Some projects deliver products and some programmes also deliver products. The difference is the goal. The goal of those projects is to deliver the product. However, the goal of these programmes is to deliver benefits deriving from the new product. I’ve written about the difference between programme, project, portfolio and product management before, but feel in need of a new rant – a rant brought on by DAD.
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Focus – “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one”
Whether a Russian hunter or a software/project/programme team the proverb “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one” offers useful advice.
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Unfortunately Corporations Equate Weight of Paper with Safety
I believe in barely sufficient documentation but Corporations equate paper weight with safety.
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How to describe your Big Idea in a succinct and compelling way
Having identified “Three-Market-Forces” that highlight an opportunity, you can use the “Big Idea” format to articulate your new product development concept.
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Quality is a choice: the case of the Next Generation Apps
Over the last year I’ve had the privilege of overseeing the development of the next generation of mobile apps (iOS and Android) for the major commercial radio brands in the UK. The most amazing thing about this experience was the priorities – UX&D was #1 priority – something I’ve never had before.
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