Herding Cats

Quote of the Day

Understanding First Principles is the basis of all understanding - Dr. Kaye Remington, PGCS, Canberra Australia, 14 August 2018 Without first principles, immutable first principles actually, any suggested improvement of anything is just wishful thinking uninformed by any governance, boundary... Read more →

System of Systems and Capability Based Planning

A critical missing component of software development, especially agile software development, and even more especially agile software development is the notion of a System and a System of Systems. The majority of the literature based on traditional and agile development... Read more →

Quote of the Day

Wrong does not cease to be wrong just because the majority share it - Leo Tolstoy When we hear cockamamie ideas being tossed around and lots of supporters of those ideas, and those ideas are clear violations of established principles... Read more →

Risk Management is How Adults Manage Projects

In a recent exchange in social media, it was clear the notion of risk and the sources of risk, the consequences or risks and managing in the presence of risk was in very unclear, when it was conjectured, we can... Read more →

Agile for Project Managers

I rarely republish other blogs or presentations. But this one is timeless and needs to be restated at every opportunity. I've corresponded with John over the years. Here's the presentation. As well but John's books. Here's the one we use... Read more →

Quote of the Day

Expert judgment is typically the crux of cost and schedule estimates but in the spectrum of the risk management process, quantification of expert judgment is the weakest area - Fred Raymond, Acquistion Review Quarterly - Spring 199., pp. 147-154 Making... Read more →

Quote of the Day

If a profession is to sharpen its skills, to develop new skills and applications, and to gain increasing respect and credibility, then theory and practice must be closely related – Martin Shrub Process and Practices without Principles are of little... Read more →

Quote of the Day

"I wisely started with a map and made the story fit... the other way about lands one in confusions and impossibilities." — J. R. R. Tolkien When we have no map, no Product Road Map, no Integrated Master Plan, no... Read more →

Quote of the Day

The difference between failure and success is the difference between doing something almost right and doing something right - Benjamin Franklin. Opening quote in the chapter "Agile Project Management Methods for IT Projects," Glen B. Alleman, in The Story of... Read more →

Fallacy of the Week

You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there. —Yogi Berra The notion of some in the agile community that Planning is a waste, just start coding and you'll discover the... Read more →

DDSTOP The Saga Continues

There's been a rash of conjectures about all kinds of bad business, project, and software development (agile and traditional) management ideas of late. Time to update the Don't Do Stupid Things on Purpose (DDSTOP) post. “There’s nothing more dangerous than... Read more →

Beyond the Risk Register

Risk Management starts with a collection of risks. Their probability of occurrence, the probability the risk will unfavorably impact the project. Then some risk handling process is needed to reduce the impact of the risk, or reduce the probability that... Read more →

Quote of the Day

“Software is so vital to military systems that, without it, most could not operate at all. Its importance to overall system performance and the generally accepted notion that software is always inadequate makes software the highest risk item and must... Read more →

Quote of the Day

We are reminded by the work of Dr. W. E. Deming, the father of modern quality management, in which he demonstrated that the vast majority of quality problems are rooted in processes—ignored, flawed, or misunderstood by the worker, not in... Read more →

Quote of the Day

When we mean to build, We first survey the plot, then draw the model; and when we see the figure of the house, Then must we rate the cost of the erection which if we find outweighs ability, What do... Read more →

Quote of the Day

... suddenly a White Rabit with pink eyes ran close by her. There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself "Oh... Read more →

Quote of the Day

"For God's sake, Mane, do not strike at what you are looking but at what you intend to hit" - Nikola Tesla's father admonition to his cross-eyed helper while chopping wood on the farm, My Inventions, Nikola Tesla, published in... Read more →

Quote of the Day

Our first endeavors are purely instinctive, promptings of an imagination vivid and undisciplined. As we grow older reason asserts itself and we become more and more systematic and designing ‒Nikola Tesla, My Inventions, 6 part series in Electrical Experimenter, Feb-Jun... Read more →

Quote of the Day

“Nothing is more difficult and, therefore, more precious than to be able to decide.” Napoleon Bonaparte French General and Emperor, 1769-1821 If you're going to decide in the presence of uncertainty, you're going to have to estimate the outcome of... Read more →

Cost and Value Management for Software Development

There's a popular notion going around the agile community that says ... we focus on Value and don't need to worry about Cost. This, of course, is a violation of the principles of Managerial Finance and Microeconomics of software development... Read more →