Herding Cats

Capabilities Release or Cadence Release

Business runs on deadlines and milestones for a simple reason - Time is Money Those paying for the development of a product or service have an expectation that they will get the value from their investment on some date in... Read more →

Book of the Month - Fleet Tactics: Theory and Practice

Fleet Tactics: Theory and Practice is a framework for project management. I live in a neighborhood with several Navy Captains. Both surface warfare and submarine warfare. All Naval Academy Grads. These men were hired to work at Rocky Flats, where... Read more →

Quote of the Day

And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner; not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors obeying the Almighty effort... Read more →

Numbers and Their Usefulness in Decision Making

To continue the previous Trouble with Charts post, here's a quick overview of what was missing from the CA report. The chart below is from Larry MacCherone's presentation titled The Impact of Agile Quantified Follow Larry's link back for other... Read more →

Quote of the Day

A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing - Alexander Pope When there is some conjecture made in the absence of principles, mathematics, governance, standard processes, it's not just wrong, it creates the foundation for confusion, waste, and discord. Many such... Read more →

The Trouble with Charts

Today the Rally chart reappeared. This chart is from "The Impact of Agile Quantified." This chart shows a performance index. But, a VERY critical caveat of the report is... The findings in this document are extracted by looking for correlations... Read more →

Quote of the Day

In my career, I've worked for a lot of really good managers, and of course, Gene Kranz was one of the best. One of the things I really admired about Gene ... is that if things didn't work out quite... Read more →

Quote of the Day

In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of a defeat, but in the evolution of real knowledge, it marks the first step in progress towards victory. - Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) Science and the Modern World Read more →

Quote of the Day

Overheard at a dinner party ... Software development in the Silicon Valley is like students at a Montessori School. Doing pretty much anything they please to entertain themselves while exploring the subject matter. Software development in the defense or mission... Read more →

Quote of the Day

Castles in the air - they are so easy to take refuge in. And so easy to build - Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), The Master Builder When we hear about some method that conjectures to solve some dysfunction, with no evidence... Read more →

Fourth of July

For those who have served, the term freedom and patriotism has special meaning, well beyond Flags, Marching Bands, and public speeches. Willingness to puts one's safety, and at times one's life, at risk for comrades and colleagues is the basis... Read more →