I’m at the Much Ado About Agile conference this week, in beautiful Vancouver. During lunch one day, one of the conference participants started talking about premature optimization of code. Well, I know a few things about that. When I started to work professionally as a developer, I wrote in assembly language. We had 256 bytes …
Context Matters: Premature Optimization or Habits From Long Ago? Read More »
Jurgen asked me to help publicize his survey. Ok, I’ve done it. Now, let me rant about explain why I think surveys like this are not useful, and may be harmful. A survey does not take your context into account. Surveys about any practices without considering the industry, the products, and the management don’t tell …
Why Do You Care About What "Everyone" Else Does? Read More »
When I teach coaching or feedback skills, I teach them in the context of work. At work, as long as the feedback is about the work, or the work relationships, or it’s a question of safety, feedback is appropriate. Coaching, as long as it’s about work behavior is appropriate. But a funny thing happened to …
On the long weekends, Mark and I make a concerted effort to clean up the house. That means I have to address all my little piles: go through them, recycle what I can, throw out what can’t be recycled, file others, figure out what to do with the rest. While Mark was helping me bring …
I’ve been writing pieces of the project portfolio book, and was wondering how to explain how managers get caught in the trap of having too many projects. Then I read Joe Ely’s Minimizing Work-in-Process for Knowledge Workers, and had an “aha” moment. (Well, I think I did. You let me know.) For many managers (and …
There’s an car dealership advertising a multiple-point certification for pre-owned vehicles. To me that translates into “checklist for used cars.” That’s what a certification for people based on book knowledge is also–a checklist that a person knew the right answer. Nothing about the experience or if the experience that led to that knowledge was successful. …
I’m not a purist. I use whatever tools make sense for the context I’m in, and when it comes to organizing projects, I use whatever life cycles–in whatever combination–make sense to me. In response to a mailing list query, here are ways I’ve used life cycles for a few projects. Let’s assume you’re collaborating with …
Using Multiple Life Cycles in Combination on a Project, Part 1 Read More »
Last week, at Agile 2007, I had a fascinating conversation about geography/directions with a colleague. I explained that I needed to visit someplace and walk or drive around until I really understood where everything was. He said, “Oh, you think in postcards.” I can read a map, and write down directions. It all makes …
Do You Think in Compass Directions or Postcards? Read More »
I’m an assertive, bold, blunt, and direct person. I try to live within the bureaucracies I encounter, but I don’t always succeed. I’m at SD West this week, where I did a half-day tutorial Monday and am presenting two classes (really talks) today. Before I speak/teach/consult, I like to eat a real breakfast, so …
Bruce sent me a pointer to this post, There is no spoon. I have to admit, I don’t understand the spoon part. I suspect there’s a reference to a move I haven’t seen. (Fellow writers: be aware that many of your readers do not share your popular culture norms 🙂 But if you read …