Herding Cats

Quote of the Day

Capabilities Based Planning is Planning, under uncertainty, to provide capabilities suitable for a wide range of modern-day challenges and circumstances while working within an economic framework that necessitates choice. This process requires making estimates of cost, schedule, and technical performance... Read more →

Quote of the Day

Books are the training weights of the mind –Seneca When you hear some conjecture that can easily be debunked with a simple Google Search, you're can be pretty sure the person making that claim didn't do his homework. If you... Read more →

Quote of the Day

I do not define Time, Space, Place and Motion, as being well known to all. Only I must observe, that the common people conceive those quantities under no other notions but from the relation, they bear to sensible objects. And... Read more →

Memorial Day, 2018

Quote of the Day

Uncertainty is the consequence of all complex systems. It is the lack of needed knowledge of the state of the system in the present or in the future that creates risk. [1], [2] Adaptability, flexibility, and other systems “‒illities” are... Read more →

Quote of the Day

Under normal circumstances the liar is defeated by reality, for which there is no substitute; no matter how large the tissue of falsehood that an experienced liar has to offer, it will never be large enough, even if he enlisted... Read more →

Quote of the Day

If we don't know which port we're steering for; no wind is favorable - Seneca This is the primary reason for planning and plans. Without a plan, we can't know what done looks like in any measure meaningful to the... Read more →

Value, Cost and Business Decision Making

In Software Value of something is totally unrelated to Cost This is a popular fallacy in the #Noestimates advocates vocabulary. Let's look at the principles of cost, price, and value to the customer from the point of view of the... Read more →

Risk, Their Sources, and Handling Strategies

Risk identification during early design phases of complex systems is commonly implemented but often fails to identify events and circumstances that challenge program performance. Inefficiencies in cost and schedule estimates are usually held accountable for cost and schedule overruns, but... Read more →

Book of the Month

In came across The Order of Time in Science, 4 May 2018. It looked interesting on the surface from the review. The author also wrote Seven Brief Lessons on Physics which I haven't read. This book approaches some fundamental questions... Read more →

Quote of the Day

Ignorance is a most wonderful thing. It facilitates magic. It allows the masses to be led. It provides answers where there are none. It allows happiness in the presence of danger. All this, while the pursuit of knowledge can only... Read more →

Project Versus Product in Agile Development

Agree, and focus more on discovery since in *delivery* you have 4 problems: 1. Requirements will change, 2. Requirements are never complete 3. It’s impossible to gather all requirements in beginning 4. You don’t have enough time or $$$ to... Read more →

Why Estimates are Needed for Success in the Nondeterministic Universe

There's a fallacy used by some in the software development business, that estimates are not needed to make decisions in the presence of uncertainty. It turns out, of course, this can only be true if the world we live in... Read more →

Quote of the Day - The Fallacy of #NoEstimates

There is NO Principle of Managerial Finance, Probabilistic Decision Making, or Microeconomics of Software development, in the presence of uncertainties found on all projects, by which a credible decision can be made without estimating the impact of that decision on... Read more →

Quote of the Day - Uncertainty, Risk Management, Adult Behaviour

"Uncertainty is an essential and non-negotiable part of a forecast. .... sometimes an honest and accurate expression of the uncertainty is what has the potential to save [big things].... However, there is another reason to quantify the uncertainty carefully and... Read more →