Because I’m a consultant, I receive emails with a question, “Do you consult in <fill in this blank>?” Many times I do. But the real question is. “What is your objective?” or “Why do you want to do <this thing>?” There are many good reasons to do so. Release some product—any product, for example! Go […]
Lisa, Vin, and Derek in their comments on Agile, Architects, and Programs were concerned about how an architect might lead the test architecture work. They have good reason to be concerned. I hadn’t expressed how I see architecture working in an agile program, and they haven’t been to my talks, where I have discussed it.
When I was on vacation, I realized that lots of people already know that we need development architects on complex programs. And, lots of people forget that we also need test architects on complex programs. The more complex the product, the more you need integrated testing, so the more agile makes sense for your product.
Feature-itis. It’s an agile Product Owner game. It’s when the Product Owner says, in his or her best George Carlin voice, “Gimme Features. I don’t care about no stinkin’ framework. I don’t care about no technical debt. I don’t care that it’s going to make your work harder later. I only care about now. I’m
I posted a new newsletter, Three Tips for Your Geographically Dispersed Agile Teams. If you subscribed, you’d have seen it last week… There’s still time to sign up for the workshop in Tel Aviv next week.
Bob Payne interviewed me about agile program management last year at the Agile 2010 conference and posted the podcast. We always have a great time talking, and that podcast was no exception. He makes me sound quite coherent! Matt Heusser interviewed me about my new workshop with Rebecca Wirfs-Brock about Agile Architecture. My column on
There was a question on a LinkedIn group earlier this week about a program with teams with interconnected features and how did you know when a feature was done. After all, a feature wasn’t done until all the teams were done with it. After a few more questions, I realized the teams were architectural teams,
It seems strange to plan for Murphy’s Law, but if you don’t plan for risks, they will happen and they will turn into disasters. Some risks you can’t plan for, but many risks you can anticipate. I plan for some typical risks: I keep a power cord in my office, in my briefcase, in my
I caught up with posting a couple of Pragmatic Manager email newsletters last week. My January email was Why Multitasking Doesn’t Work. The April email was Agile Programs: Possible or a Pipe Dream. If you subscribed, you’d have read them by now.
I have a new column up on Stickyminds, called How Do We Compare? Years ago, people used to ask me about the ratio of developers to testers. Now they ask me about how agile they are. That’s almost always a sign they aren’t agile enough for what they need. I hope you read and comment.