Clarke Ching's Rocks and Snowballs

One Hundred Rules for NASA Project Managers

I've not read the entire list, but I wish I'd written each one of the 30 or so I have read,

http://www.altisinc.com/Links/100_Rules.html

Brilliant stuff.

New version of Transition Tree

A few years ago Eli Goldratt told me that his son Rami had discovered and fixed some significant problems with the original format of the TOC tool called the Transition Tree.  He said that Rami had written an article but it wasn't freely available yet because it was written in what is known as RamiEnglish (English not being his first language).

The edited version of the paper has been lurking out there for the last 5 years or so and I've finally got a copy from a TOC guru friend. 

It's neithor the easiest. nor the hardest, paper to read but I am glad I read it.  After a good bit of thought and study, I have started using the format - more or less - using tables in ms word, rather than the tree structure, just because I can read my typing but not my writing. 

For the record, this paper can be freely distributed.  See the first page: "Rami is giving you his permission to present this write-up to everybody that you think will benefit."

Download trt_new_version__r_goldratt.pdf

ShortText.com

Another “Why didn’t I think of that?” moment:

http://www.shorttext.com/

shortText.com is a site where you can post any information and share it with others. Post your text [in the box below] and we will save it and generate a URL for you. This URL is for you to distribute, print, post!

Don't have a website? Don't want a blog? Want to share a piece of code...perhaps a recipe? Just shortText it!

[via BBC New’s click program]

Why Your Business Needs Agile Software Development - a white paper

I am very proud of this (pdf) white paper which I’ve co-written with a couple of my Vision colleagues.

The paper is aimed directly at senior IT management and their customers, and focuses on the whats and whys of Agile, rather than the nitty-gritty hows.  It includes stuff you won’t find in the books.

If you like the paper then please pass it on.  It may just help you to sell agile to your own management and even your customers.

---

Why Your Business Needs Agile Software Development
– Flexing IT to meet your business needs
by Ricky Morton, Callum Lindsay and Clarke Ching, VISION Consulting

Executive Summary

Organisations must be agile and responsive to prosper in today’s fast-changing business environment. They must swiftly adapt their products and processes respond to their customers’ changing needs. As software becomes increasingly integral to their efficiency and effectiveness, many organisations are discovering the biggest hurdle to their business agility is the development processes used their IT departments.

At least 45% of features and functions built into the average software product are never used

In many organisations, the legacy of early software productivity initiatives remains entrenched. The Waterfall - or V - model, its processes and associated behaviours, continue to be widely employed in IT departments despite the barriers it raises to change and innovation, well-documented rates of project failure and widespread customer dissatisfaction.

Modern approaches, based around iterative and incremental delivery, are designed to efficiently adapt to change throughout a project’s lifecycle. They based on quality techniques proven in product development and deliver levels flexibility and responsiveness previously unachievable in software development.

By adopting these Agile approaches, organisations can respond swiftly to customer needs, speed solution delivery and adapt efficiently to change.

 

No more spell checking for me ... never again.

I don't own a blackberry ...

But, I am going to change my email signature to read "Clarke Ching ... Sent from my Blackberry" ... how else can I justify my poor spelling and grandma?

Caution: Contains spoilers

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2196880,00.html

"It was the egg that came first, not the chicken, according to a study of the poultry pecking order"

Cialdini and Agile

John Brothers has written a nice recommendation of Cialdini's audible lecture and then recommended how to use the influencing concepts when trying to sell agile.  Nice effort John.

http://undefined.com/ia/2006/05/11/persuasion-and-agile-development/

Pretending

Weird.  So Weird.  If you search google for the word pretending then this blog is the 14th entry.

http://www.google.com/search?q=pretending

How uplifting.

Two new chapters of RollingRocksDownhill (was The Davinci Coder)

http://www.rollingrocksdownhill.com/2006/05/chapters_20_and.html

Two more chapters finished.  Yipee!

In chapter 20 Steve discovers that software requirements are like forecasts.  Forecasts - whether they be weather or sales forecasts - are invariably invariable (i.e. wrong).  He learns about the shockingly high costs of building anything - be it cars or software - based on long distance forecasts. Waste, waste, waste.

In chapter 21 Steve contemplates working iteratively from the start of the project - just like they do in product development.  But he's got one great big niggling doubt ...

I'd love to hear your comments...