Archives

The Nokia Test (3): Agile Specifications

The third line in the Nokia Test is: “The Iteration must start before the specification is complete.” What does this mean? The first practical goal was to eliminate the analysis paralysis and delay associated with waiting until the specification was “complete.” I don’t know all the details at Nokia, but I have lived them at […]

What’s a ScrumMaster Worth?

You may have noticed that some people are feeling a recession out there (these days). So, money can be a bit tighter. So, can you afford a good ScrumMaster? The answer is obviously yes. In fact, they are even in greater need (since there is greater urgency). Now, let’s unwrap this from a financial viewpoint. […]

Suggested Reading – For Two CSM courses last week

Here are some of the resources we mentioned in the courses. Caution: “Words, words, mere words, no matter from the heart.” — W. Shakespeare. Ground your learning in the heart, and in the fire of experience. “The New New Product Development Game” by Takeuchi and Nonaka. It costs $7 (softcopy). If you need to see […]

“How to Tap IT’s Hidden Potential”

“How to Tap IT’s Hidden Potential” was the title of an article in the WSJ on March 10. Published in collaboration with the MIT Sloan Management Review. The subhead read: “Too often there’s a wall between a company’s information-technology department and everything else. That wall must go.” I remember getting a paper back in the […]

Toward a general theory of Business Value

The title of this post is a little highfalutin, but it gets the idea across I hope. After many discussions with people about this subject, I find that the words “Business Value” tend to mean something very narrow to most individuals. For example, the words often mean, mostly: “the numbers we put on the story […]

A fourth Google video (Lean-Agile)

Thanks to Artem Marchenko for mentioning the Poppendieck’s talk at Google, titled Competing on the basis of Speed.  

Google, Agile and Business Value

Google announced on 4/20/2007 that it earned $1.002 billion in the first quarter. The Net was up 69% from 2006. The sales increase was not too shabby either. Maybe it’s a company we can learn from. (Or maybe they are just lucky.) Google uses Agile. As I hear, Agile isn’t forced on anyone, and many […]

Three Google/Agile videos

Google is doing Agile, and four people have come to talk at the Googleplex about Agile. (Maybe more.) One is Ken Schwaber, who talked to them for about an hour, mostly about Scrum. The excellent video of his talk is here. The nuances of Scrum become clearer when you hear Ken explain it. His website […]

Lean Resources

Brad Appleton had this post with a LOT of Lean resources. I have not reviewed them all. I will endeavor to annotate them later.

Do we have to use the F-word?

OK, it’s a provocative title. I like to talk about two F-words: Feelings and Failure. This post is about failure and how to use it. I was working inside a firm recently and someone said: “We can’t talk about failure around here. That would hurt our careers.” Ummm. First, let me (apparently) change subjects completely. […]