Herding Cats

Managing In The Presence Uncertainty

All projects operate in the presence of uncertainty, that's the reality of project work. There is no way around it. Either we deal with it - manage in the presence of uncertainty - or ignore it - and get managed... Read more →

Books for Cost and Schedule Forecasting

Cost is always the consideration in making decisions for systems development. How much will it cost to provide the needed capabilities? Quantifying the cost estimate and the economic risks associated with the development effort is core to any business decision... Read more →

Quote of the Day

Again and again and again — what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell," avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history" — what are the... Read more →

Quote of the Day

Is a common phrase used in the project management domain. Just apply my idea, just install this tool, just adopt this process. The actual outcomes for the athletes that Just Do It and run like the wind, is nearly unlimited... Read more →

Indicators of project performance provide us with "Steering Inputs"

In order to take corrective action for our project, to keep it on schedule, on budget, and producing the expected outcomes (more or less within out variance bounds) we need indicators of performance. Cost, schedule, and techncial performance. In order... Read more →

Earning Value from Earned Value

There's a post on a Deltek implementation partner site about applying Earned Value. It has some good advice, but the premise of the starting point needs to be addressed. Before going on to suggest things to do on a project... Read more →

Project Success?

The discussion of estimating, managing, risk handling, and performance measurement are all focused on Increasing the Probability of Project Success. But what is project success and how can it be assessed. Here's a collection of papers that have helped me... Read more →

How To Estimate Almost Any Software Deliverable in 90 Seconds

There is a popular notion out there that estimating software projects is not possible with any level of confidence. This is misconception is popular for several reasons - all of which are due to Dilbert-style management. Estimates are misused everywhere.... Read more →

Estimating Cost, Schedule, and Technical Peformance

When asked to make estimates of future cost, schedule, and technical performance many wince. Many refuse saying we don't make no stink'in estimates here. Well there's a few problems with that approach: Those with the money need an estimate to... Read more →

A Common Myth in Software Development

There is a common myth in the development of software starting with the developers paradigm. This approach is missing a critical role not found in many IT or business softwware domains, that is found in most other software intensive domains... Read more →

Management is a Control System

With all the discussion about estimating, controlling, and sometimes even managing project it may be useful to have a paradigm of managing anything. One paradigm is the Control System. In some places where agile software development is discussed, the term... Read more →

A Fundamental Principle of Writing Software for Money

When there is a sunk cost of any development, be it software, hardware, concrete, a gene-editing anti-virus drug - the value of the resulting product or service is directly related to that sunk cost. Let's look at a commercial software... Read more →

New Book On Its Way

Coming soon Performance-Based Project Management. The Principles, Practices, and Process of project success described with working examples in 256 pages. This is the full length version of Principles, Practices, and Processes of Performance-Based Project Management(sm) in 60 seconds. These Principles,... Read more →

Reference Class Forecasting for Software Estimating

When it is conjectured You can't do estimates on software projects stop for a second and think about that concept? Really, "you have no idea what so ever about how long this will take and how much it will cost?"... Read more →

Quote of the Day

The notion of #NoEstimates ignores a critical concept (one of many)... Promises, schedules, and estimates are important instruments in a well-run business. You must make promises - don't lean on the often-used phrase: "I can't estimate it because it depends... Read more →

Don't Do Stupid Things On Purpose

A post in Twitter about a Software Development project that had 6,000 pages of specifications that failed is an example of Doing Stupid Things on Purpose. This article was held up by a #NoEstimates poster as an example of something... Read more →

The "Real" Root Cause of IT Project Failure

The agile community likes to suggest that agile development is the solution to many of the problems that are the root cause of IT project failure. I know agile development processes add measurable value to the development of software. Because... Read more →

Discovering the Root Cause - The 5 Whys

There is a discussion on Twitter about project failures in the #NoEstimates thread. I work for a "root cause analysis" division of the Office of Secretary of Defense. The notion of a "root cause" is many times confused with "issues"... Read more →

Exploring New Ideas

When exploring new ways or challenging everything or trying to smell out issues it many be helpful to remember several things about the notion of process improvement in general If we've identified a problem and we're looking for a solution... Read more →

Making Improvements Requires Discipline

If the #NoEstimates discussion has shown anything, it is that when making improvements in the processes we use to manage the spending of other peoples money requires discipline. There's a bumper sticker here in Boulder that always puts a smile... Read more →