Whiteboard-space to wall-space (WBS/WS) ratio

Patrick Wilson Welsh has a great little rant on this really incomprehensible trend. I think the root of the problem is that too many companies still think of software development as an industrial, assembly line process and too few have really embraced the idea that it’s a creative effort. That might be why it’s called [...]

Recommended reading

If you want to learn about Scrum there are two books I recommend. Well, more than recommend: These are, in my mind, the definitive works on the subject. They’re both an easy read and if, like me, you get engrossed you’ll probably mark them up extensively and finish the set in a weekend.
Agile Software [...]

Rational Scrum

Recently I tried out a variant on methodology that I’ll dub Rational Scrum. I’ve been trying to put together a few thoughts about the overall process for months, and finally found some time for it.
Just as people have specializations, so do processes. Applying one process to all situations is just as wrong as calling your [...]

Whole teams

Creating a cohesive whole team means building a project team with representation from all stakeholders in the project. Doing so requires both defining the team and creating involvement. It also means creating a structure for involvement that does not slow the project down. Creating this environment of constant, informed involvement does not mean throwing everyone into long (and ultimately unproductive) meetings every day.

Coehesive teams

I really liked this post by Patrick Wilson Welsh about the The Fallacy of Individual Accomplishment. Yes it’s true, your heads-down cubicle dwelling knowledge hoarders are more of a liability than an asset. And while we’re here, let’s all just recite: “Hero Culture Is Bad.”

The case for certification

I had to read the Agile Alliance’s position on certification a few times before I could decide whether I liked their position or not. Part of this is that the opinion is not that well written. Getting past that, I came away with these core statements:

Employers should not require certification.
Non-skill-based certification testing procedures have little [...]

Secure OS/X Squirrelmail

I’m very disappointed with Apple at the moment. I expect careful, well-built systems from Apple. I expect things free video poker downloadpoker videofree online poker no download,free poker playing online,free online pokerfree texas holdem poker gamefree on line pokercrazy game of pokerfree online texas holdem poker,free holdem line poker texas,free texas holdem pokerfree internet pokerpoker [...]

The case for global cooling

About a half degree anomaly over a one-year sample means nothing statistically. I’m interested in the 50- and 100- and 500-year trends. My own conclusions from studying them, be they right or wrong (I’ve no idea which, really): Global warming is happening. And, it probably has little or nothing to do with human activity. And, therefore, while we might be able to influence it doing so would be very, very hard…

My new, favorite CM tool

I recently started looking into Seapine’s Surround SCM as a potential solution to our Software Configuration Management problems at work. Specifically, we were looking for a good suite of tools that provide state-of-the-art source code and document control, and does so with an interface that’s easy enough non-technical people to use. Oh, and it has [...]

Earth friendly digital mail

We’ve all heard about the promise of going digital, forever after to shun the use of paper. But it seems like a whole industry out there trying to go in the other direction—at least, that’s how I feel every day when I sift through half a dozen advertisements, flyers and other junk mail to find [...]

When you’re boss doesn’t listen

I was recently approached by someone asking for advice dealing with a boss that won’t listen to the engineering team, and who doesn’t believe in methodology, testing or quality assurance. Statements such as “QA would just find a lot of bugs and keep us from making release dates” raised. This is a lousy place to [...]

Mentat

We’re always struggling with task management, it seems. I’ve got a great system for personal task management, but what about shared tasks—things that depend on other people? Or perhaps things that need to be worked on collaboratively… I’d like to have a system that lets me hand tasks off to other people.
And of course, it [...]