I once invested 35 person-years worth of effort on prototyping. From my perspective this was time and money well invested. By the end of that time we knew, really knew, what problems our customers were facing and how to solve them.
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Tag Archives: focus
Scope Creep v Flexible Scope – Undisciplined v Agile
Bart asked “What do I do when agile is abused as an excuse for scope creep?” with the sub-text “You’re agile so you’re flexible, no?”. I say point out the difference between scope creep and flexible scope. Agile makes changing scope a zero sum game – that gives flexibility without the creepiness.
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Deming wasn’t a fan of Management by Walking Around
W. Edwards Deming, credited with launching the Total Quality Management movement, wasn’t a fan of Management by Walking Around.
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4Ls Retro Format – Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed for
I’m always on the hunt for formats for a Retrospective. The latest one we’re going to try is the 4Ls – Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed for.
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I always work with a “Product Owner”; never a “Scrum Product Owner”
I’ve previously had a poke at the Scrum Product Owner role when I called it Scrum’s Uber-Pig. Now I have to admit that, although I always work with a “Product Owner”, I never work with a “Scrum Product Owner”. In fact, given my own responsibilities, I can never work with a Scrum Product Owner.
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ERIC Grid – Blue Ocean Strategy for Departmental Transformation
It is always interesting to see how other people approach a task that in other circumstances I would be doing. So I was quite interested to see the ERIC Grid used to shape a transformation initiative.
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3 Million Pound Budget Cut! Don’t Panic and Go Look for Help
When dealing with major crisis, like the 3 million pound budget cut I faced once, the first you have you have to remember is: Don’t panic, you are not alone.
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I always work with a Technical Lead. Always
They might be called an Architect or a Tech Lead or just “Bob” but I always work closely with a senior technical person.
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Got a WBS for your Agile project? Sure, of course!
What do I do when somebody asks for a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) on an Agile project? Should I run for the hills or should I explain that a WBS is built in?
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The Conductor of an Orchestra Doesn’t Make a Sound
Benjamin Zander observed that “the conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound”. This has implications for all leaders, including those in software development.
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