Skeezix's Thoughts

Agile Programming

skeezix99 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:42:32 +0000

Agile Software development is a development methodology orginated in 2001. It begins with the “The Manifesto for Agile Software Development”

We are uncovering better ways of developing
software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on
the right, we value the items on the left more.

The four points of the manifesto are intriguing because it is a fundamental shift in IT of focusing on the human aspect of the development rather than the process itself.

Now I’ve always been an advocate of following the process, but it doesn’t have to be any particular process. One of the primary leadership concepts is to “Challenge the Process.” If there is a better way, I’m all for that. So I have two questions about Agile Development:

1. Is this truly a “process” or a formal way back to “cowboy coding”?

2. If it is a process, is it the better way.

So with question number one, Agile Development seems to be growing up and becoming a true project management process. There is an attempt to partner with PMI and move into a formal development “process”, in the sense that it would be a set, repeatable, process. My biggest fear in Agile Development comes from my personal experience with software developers. Now please don’t be hurt if you are a developer, I was one once too. However, developers have a tendency to want to do their own thing, or in other words “cowboy coding”, I have yet to meet a developer who would admit that they have developed code with any bugs in it. “I’ve tested the code myself, and it has zero defects!”

To finish question number one, I am moving toward question number 2: Is Agile Development a “better way”? Like with most software development projects, this will depend on the project manager and how well they keep the team on track. With a cooperative team of developers and strong project management, I believe that the Agile Development principles (see http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html ) are very sound and can result in happier customers. But, this is a greater risk if the developers are not disciplined, the development could spiral out of control.

So my final assessment is that Agile Development can be a better way, if leadership is applied and discipline is followed.

6 year olds and a Process Oriented Approach

skeezix99 — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:29:12 +0000

I am having a wonderful experience this fall in being an assistant coach to my 6 year old son’s football team. I have been truly amazed at just how much they can learn and do at such a young age. While I’ve coached many different sports teams with my sons, this was my first exposure to coaching football.

On a parallel track, I’ve taken on a new position at work as the PMO Director for CDC/NCPHI. Once again this is another new experience. The same week I started my new position the leadership of our organization completely changed. In the process the new director was asking for a landslide of information about the projects within the organization. This request became a significant challenge within the organization, one that would end up falling on my plate.

So how does coaching a 6 year old football team and taking a new position with organizational change relate to one another? It all falls in the category of “what works and what doesn’t”.

Let go back to the football team. If you take 18 6 year old boys and put them on a grassy lawn what do they do? PLAY, not too bad when your 6. (or 40 for that matter). How do you get them to play football? Repetition! Everything our head coach teaches our team is done over and over and over again. He created a standard repeatable process and continuously repeated it, allowing time for process adjustments and continuous improvement. Wow, that sounds familiar!

Back to my new position, when the data call when out to our organization five different groups started to collect the data, organize, and format it in five different ways. By the time I got a handle on the request everyone was upset with all the different messages they wanted to turn in their own work and be done with it. My group stepped in and started to apply a process to the data collection, developing a standard repeatable process to the data and worked with the data owners and in less than a day, we took all the scattered data and formatted it in an easy to understand format that was useful to our new director.

Whether it’s football (any age) or business the principles are the same, develop a standard repeatable process, allow for performance adjustments with a component of continuous improvement. It is a formula that works.

Remembering a Prophet

skeezix99 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:53:12 +0000

My blog is generally focused on very non-personal things, today I am going to stray from that. This past Sunday evening, Jan. 27, 2007 a great man passed from this life, Gordon B. Hinckley, President and Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I recall as a young boy when President Hinckley was called into the leadership of the First Presidency of my Church, he was in his 70’s and humorously commented that at his age the youth were starting to help with the leadership. What a lesson that was, that humor and spirituality can live hand in hand. While many will remember his for his sharp wit, I will remember his for his tireless work ethic. He was 97 years old at his passing and he never slowed down.

The only change I ever saw in him over the years was in 2004 when his sweet companion passed on. He would smile a little less, but you could always see in his eyes a twinkle of his wife.

I have read and watched numerous tributes to him over the past few days, one in particular has really struck a cord in my heart and that is the tribute from radio and TV personality Glen Beck, take a look…

Book Review: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

skeezix99 — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:24:00 +0000

This was a good book, another quick read, but was very well written. The Style of writing in a fable format was very easy to follow. Now the content of the book was very good. The things that I enjoyed were the fact that the basis for the model is trust and that the overcoming of each dysfunction is a logical lead in to the next dysfunction. In my experience gaining the trust of your team is vital in becoming a successful organization. Once trust is gained the second dysfunction “fear of conflict” can be addressed. Without trust, conflict will deteriorate into just fighting. Good conflict is productive and will lead to better decisions. The book allowed the story to show the effectiveness of the management tools in the book. These tools allow you to become a better leader, but do not force you into a pre-set manager mold.

I highly recommend this book to managers and leaders or those aspiring to become one.

Book Review: The One Minute Manager by Kenneth H. Blanchard

skeezix99 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:48:40 +0000

This was a quick read, a short fable discussing a fictional “One Minute Manager” and what makes him good. This came down to several points:

Set expectations (One Minute Goal Setting)
Provide feedback both positive and negative (One Minute Praising / Reprimands)
Show employees respect
Separate the individual from the performance

This is not the greatest book on management or leadership, however it did have some nuggets of quality tools, nothing new, but useful.

I do take exception that a manager’s mold is set in a similar fashion for everyone (Everyone becomes a “One Minute Manager”). Each successful manager must find their own methods for utilizing leadership and management tools.

Networking or NetWeaving?

skeezix99 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:16:37 +0000

Have you heard the term NetWeaving? I had not until recently; it is a form of networking that focuses on the concept of helping others rather than yourself. The movie from a few years back called “Pay It Forward” was a similar concept. When someone does something nice for you rather than paying back that individual, pay it forward to another person (or three others in the movie).

To be honest, this is the way I’ve thought of networking for quite some time. If you are always willing to help others out, then when it comes time that you are in need (hopefully a rare occasion) others will be there for you. Bob Littell is the one who formalized the NetWeaving process and has worked with the author of “Pay it Forward” in a collaboration effort.

Most of what I am talking about here can be found at http://www.netweaving.com (Bob Little’s website)

The concept is simple and yet very effective. Being the giver of assistance and career advice will provide countless opportunities for growth. I know that without knowing what it was called, I’ve been the recipient of NetWeaving from my mentor. He has shown this kindness to countless individuals. His goal? To help others in their career path. What benefits does this do for him? Well, if I count, me…I have stuck with my current organization in large part due to his “NetWeaving”. Am I the only benefit? I’m sure not, but it is a small example of how his unselfish caring efforts were a benefit.

NetWeaving has a 5-step process: (this is directly from the NetWeaving website: http://www.netweaving.com/steps.html )

At any meeting or social outing you attend, try and meet (max 3) people whom you would like to get to know better. Make sure to write some words or comments on their business card about what you discussed.
Followup NEXT DAY with a Note/Email summarizing several key points you heard and why you would like to get to know him/her better (if you can’t think of any good reasons, pass).
Schedule a One-on-One Meeting at which you talk a little about NetWeaving and why you like it; ask the other person the key NetWeaving questions (see Article).
1. Is there someone I know who would benefit knowing or meeting this person?
2. Could this person provide information and/or resources to someone else I know?
3. Has this person impressed me so much that I need to get to know him or her better, and if they continue to impress me with their exceptional quality, make them a part of your Trusted Resource Network?
At either your first or second One-on-One Meeting, discuss “hosting and referrals” and commit to “hosting” a meeting for each other (see Article)
At the end of the Hosting Meeting you ask each of the persons to PIONTTO– Pass It On To Two Others (see Article).

I have not taken this out to the full five steps, but it does sound intriguing. Giving back or even giving first is the nature of the Golden Rule and it has always payed to follow.

The Measure of Success

skeezix99 — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 03:18:00 +0000

What is the measure of success? For a project manager it may be bringing the project in on time and on budget, for a football team is may be considered a victory. I would challenge that both of these views are limited and somewhat short sided.From a leadership standpoint the measures of success should be set at a much higher level. While these events are significant milestones, are they real success? I would say not always. So if these are not the true measure of success, what is?Here is what started my thoughts on this subject. My son decided this year to play football. It has been a thrill for me, because he has put everything into this team. He is a first year player and so does not have the experience, but works his tail off. Well, the league rules state that every child must play a minimum of 10 plays per game. During the first game (which we lost) at least five players did not get the required number of plays. I made a huge issue of this with the head coach and he promised both my son and I that it would not happen again.

The second game, every player got their plays and even though we lost, the team was in much better spirits. Winning did not make the difference to these 10 year old boys, being part of the team and participating made the difference.

As a leader sometimes we are challenged with employees who have not defined their own measure of success, leaders can help these individuals make the choices to characterize success, if the employee is willing to take those steps. The most difficult challenge is when an employee’s goals are to get out of work at all costs, but that is a different blog altogether.

I have found the best definition of success comes from identifying one’s own values and principles. True success comes in the areas of our lives that mean the most to us; this may be family, faith, career, or whatever. By obtaining a core value success we establish our own personal happiness, and in the end happiness, true happiness, is what we are here for.

The Customer Dilemma

skeezix99 — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:45:00 +0000

I often find the most challenging part of an IT project is working with the customer. Now I firmly believe that business should drive the technology and not the other way around. My favorite adage is the example of a car, the developer can tell you the best place to put the ignition and the best design for aerodynamics, but they should never be the driver, or “Never give the nerd the keys”.The basis for every IT project should be the requirements of the project. These requirements should be developed with great care through a close relationship with the customer. This I am firmly committed to in every IT project that falls under my responsibility. So where is the customer dilemma that I’m talking about?Well, that is the rub, the project’s foundation is the requirements, however, that is far from the end state. Some customers want to insert themselves into the design and development process. In my experience, allowing the customer this much access during the design and development phases will cause scope creep and most likely delay the project and lead to cost overruns.

Now some would argue that these are acceptable consequences for the benefit of the customer input. I would submit that this same benefit can be achieved through regular project updates and a solid change control process, without the same risk of scope creep, time delays, and budget issues. This will allow the IT shop to control the scope, cost, and schedule. If additional requirements are added through the change control process, they are scoped, budgeted, and scheduled and therefore are not delays.

The key to this process is customer education. Some customers are so used to having the developer at there disposal, with the ability to tap them on the shoulder and suggest a “slight” change in the project. The developer wants to be helpful and quickly implements the change, with little or no documentation. This slight change only took a “couple of days” to put in and the customer is happier. Right? All is well!

The project is scheduled to be complete at the end of the month and at the project status meeting the developer informs the project manager that he is a month behind schedule. Because over the past six months the customer “shoulder tapped” him about once a week. Now we have a gold plated application that is behind schedule and over budget. The same customer who had been doing the shoulder tapping is now upset with the project manager because his project is delayed for a month and is going to cost more money. Whose fault is this situation? The project manager is to blame; they must control the project, which in turn means controlling the customer.

As a customer is educated to the benefits of a solid change control process they will learn to embrace it. They will understand the impact of the change requests and understand the responsibility they have in the project. This will also help the developers focus on the actual work and complete the project on time and within budget.

The educated customer is happy and in full control of the requirements through the change control board, without controlling the IT development work. The end product will meet the needs of the customer and then everyone is happier. (Don’t we all wish it work this way every time?)

All this being said, the customer dilemma is very real; I wish educating customers were as easy as it sounds, but it takes a major paradigm shift. This is especially true in the world of re-organization that is covering the industry currently. It is also important to pick your battles, remember that the war is not won on a single battle, but through very small victories along the way. As you show your customers your can be successful and deliver a product that meets their needs they will be more willing to provide you with the needed support in the change control process.

Change Control Policies

skeezix99 — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 14:50:00 +0000

I have been following a few blogs over the past several months; one in particular is that of Joel Dehlin the CIO for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. His latest post was about the “Maintenance Monkey”. The challenge we all face in keeping IT projects and applications running and the continual cycle of “bug fixes”. I highly recommend you take a look at his comments. I wanted to add one more thought to this line of business and that is Change Control.
What a wonderful tool to utilize in managing, not only projects, but customers. A strong change control policy, driven by the customer, will assist in the reduction of maintenance. I have found that customers often do not understand what they are asking for, by driving them to a change control board, change requests that where once considered critical the customer will not even make it to a change request. By forcing them to defend the request to the board they must take a closer look at the request. The change control board will also reduce the number of request as they begin to see the impact and risk assessments of change requests and realize the true scope of what they are asking for.I think IT shops get into a habit of not giving the customer enough credit for the ability to understand. This mistake is due to OUR faults in speaking in tech languages rather than in business languages. I agree that a good project manger, program manger, etc. is vital and should be on the CCB in an advisory position, but the CCB voting members should be customers with decision making authority.

Standards

skeezix99 — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:25:00 +0000

I just returned from the National Immunization Conference in Kansas City, MO. Great BBQ and steaks! However, what I learned most was the affirmation of the idea that standards make the world go around. While speaking to a large group of highly qualified immunization professionals, including doctors, nurses, and highly educated pubic health professionals it hit me like a ton of bricks, they don’t understand what standards are, or what they do for us as information technology professionals.I was asked why developing a new vaccine ordering system was so difficult, when in this day and age we can go across the globe and use our ATM cards and get money from our banks, why can’t we develop an interoperable immunization ordering system. My response was that the banking groups got together decades ago and agree to standard business practices and communication standards. During this process each organization was willing to compromise on certain proprietary business processes for the greater good.In my current reading of Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat”, he discusses “10 Forces that Flattened the World”, of these ten forces one that hit home to me was “Work Flow Software”. The discussion of this topic came around to “standards on top of standards” and the two quotes that hit the spot were:

“Once a standard takes hold, people start to focus on the quality of what they are doing as opposed to how they are doing it. In other words, once everyone could connect with everyone else, they got busy on the real value add, which was coming up with the most useful and nifty software applications to enhance collaboration, innovation, and creativity.”And:“…software companies stopped competing over who got to control the fire hydrant nozzles and focused on who could make better hoses and fire trucks to pump more water.”

This illustrates the how we can use ATM’s around the world, the banking community stopped worrying about whose business model was best and focused on interoperability between systems. What a great lesson to learn. If every organization would remember that the work is more important than the process and accept the use of standards and design their systems within the framework of those standards, things would move much faster and efficiently.