Technical Advise Week #13 - Peanut Gallery

We are constantly tempted to tell you about us and the things we do, on a personal basis. Unfortunately, we get the occasional email that complains about us sharing personal stuff and how it was expected a more technical level of content. Even technical details carry with it the personality of the author. In fact, if you look at certain pieces of 'technical' materials you will find cleverly hidden pieces of personality, pieces that reflect both self and business promotion. Some of these personalities are canonized and viewed as new wave profits, who some might view as "Johnny Come Lately's".

In order to appropriately correct Max & I (you notice that we are grammatically correct as well) decided to talk about waterfall artifacts and how they can be useful in the agile paradigm. Those of you that have studied, and not practice agile methods (XP, Scrum, Crystal, Lean...) know that we value delivery over documentation. However, there are those occasions when there are artifacts that are required. This can be as a result of contractual obligations, regulatory mandate, and compliance requirements. Even though we might question their relative usefulness we need to comply with necessity. As we thought about and pondered the question it came to use that Agile has a value that it can provide in this area. Since the artifact is required it goes through the same story carding/story boarding process that feature requirements goes through. Therefore,

1. The artifact requirements must be captured (story card)
2. The story card needs to be prioritized by the BPO
3. The story card needs to be estimated
4. Realign priorities based on knowledge gained in #2 & #3
5. Assign to a iteration or sprint
6. Perform & Deliver work

What is really interesting is that the estimate, and ultimately the actual work effort are not correlated to the project overhead as a direct result of mandates. If one was to take this to the next level we would then be able to measure not only the cost of mandates but also the value from them as well. This provides a strong motivator for process/artifact reduction as well as a renewal in use where maybe things have been left to slide for a period of time. So... in conclusion, Agile once again helps to provide clarity to process where we may have simply provided and delivered where the necessity was not put into question.

In closing, here's your technical content for today... for those who criticized our 'personal' side. For those who love our personal side... Dad's home and we are going to go for a ride and see things outside! Yippee!!!! Have a great and productive week, Max & Mabel signing out!

Technical Advise Week #12 - Pass It On

Well Max & I are back online this week. Dad did a wonderful job holding down the fort while we got some much needed rest. Now it's his turn to take it a bit easy and get his batteries recharged.

Over the last several years we have seen remarkable change in the Information Technology (IT) sector. What was once a process of iterative process improvement has given way to a totally new and disconnected new paradigm. One thing that is most noteworthy is the consideration for the human dimension. Processes are not longer held out there as reverent Gods, rather we are placing more emphasis on people and group dynamics. The combination, while opening up the possibility of inconsistencies, has proven capable of getting the job done. Inconsistencies are not longer considered evil but rather an opportunity to expand ones view of things, an educational experience. We now see books, in the IT context, that are growing the individual, providing personal empowerment, and finding ways to manage difficult people centric problems. With that said, we got thinking about something that Dad has started doing recently. Each day he takes $1 and writes on the bill (which is probably a violation of at least a half dozen federal laws) 'Have a Wonderful Day'. He is observant to people and how they carryout out their daily affairs. Sometimes it's a person who is not appreciated for services, or it may be a person do has done something special that has effect on the community. He gives them the token dollar and provides these simple instructions...

"Do with this as you may, buy something or pass it along to someone who is special"

No further instructions or requirements are given, in keeping with his 'keep it simple' philosophy. It is somewhat like 'Pay it Forward' or as another person was doing giving out $2 bills for positive attitudes. The money isn't the issue, it's what it symbolizes and how it makes one feel on both sides.

While the new paradigms talk about velocity in terms of work accomplishment, one cannot overlook the velocity that we see in people's attitudes and work ethic. The excitement is contagious. So... maybe you too would like to make a difference. Wouldn't it be great to see dollars showing up on a regular basis with the simple inscription.... "Have a Wonderful Day!".

Technical Advise Week #11 - Outsource Intervention

Well before starting WWIII I thought I should intervene between the two technical experts. Looking over their commentaries (ramblings) for the last few weeks I reached a conclusion that I needed to step in. I believe that I have the authority to do this and if I don't please accept my heartfelt apology (and I am sure that I will pay dearly from the two experts as well).

I thought it might be appropriate to talk about outsourcing since it is a fact of life and no longer viewed as an emerging solution. The International Institute for Outsource Management (IIOM http://www.int-iom.org/) in proud to be a supporter for the Frost and Sullivan's Global Sourcing Conference to be held in Orlando December 2-5. Readers who are interested in attending should contact us at info@int-iom.org for a $250 electronic discount.

In the October 8th edition of informationweek.com the focus was on the U.S. Tech Talent pool shortage. Now before you starting getting out your weapons, they weren't talking about current resources but the pipeline of talent coming into this domain area. In a survey conducted by the Society for Information Management and carried out amongst 130 CIOs and Senior IT Executives the following concerns were expressed.

• 51% Attract, develop & retain IT Professionals (thus the push to outsource)


• 42% Align IT & Business (guess we need to do that onshore before going outsource)


• 40% Build Business Skills (again we have to do that internally and also treat IT as a business, not as a service.... not sure if that shoots SOA in the foot or not, maybe a topic that the expert advisors can take up later... that is if they wake up from getting their intellectural power rest)


• 29% Reduce the cost of doing business (outsourcing)


• 28% Improve Quality (we need to do this inhouse before we expect it elsewhere. Bottomline... it's everyone's responsibility per Deming, Juran, Crosby and others)

The rest of the survey showed concerns for security, managing change (refer to Agile notes earlier in this blog), IT Strategic Planning, Better Use of Information, and the Evolving CIO role (which sound a whole lot like the same lament we heard when them when they were managers and we still here today from managers). My two cents on the last part, evolving is a fact of life and not something unique to the role. Our role should in fact be hitched to and encourage change when it makes sense in all of these other areas. Guess I had better stop before I go off on another tangent and yes I guess I had better stop now as the Technical Advisors are now complaining that I'm taking up their space. I suspect the rest did them so much good that they are chomping at the bit to added some commentary.

Technical Advise Week #10 - Hogging the Limelight

Hi, this is Max. I thought it was about time that Mabel took a rest and allowed me to share with you some of my wisdom and energy. As you must have figured by now, I'm know for my enthusiasm, vigor and nimbleness. For this reason I decided to share with you my observations about Agility. Yes, like me Agility share the same vibrant flexibility that allows us to morph to new and interesting challenges. Rather than being hamstrung by methodology frameworks that are unable to have sufficient detail to be universally used or accurately applied, we rely on each other (I think they call it group dynamics) to power through the most difficult tasks. One might think that groups would be more apt to get mired in debate but it's just the opposite. The rapid turnaround (rxP - 2 to 3 weeks, scrum 4 to 6 weeks and crystal 6 to 8 weeks) forces us to get on with business and deliver. Because the training is leaving the station everyone who is anyone is compelled to be intimately involved. The exact opposite held true in early methodologies, and often it was the result of confusion, abstraction, and lengthy gaps between engagement periods.

I asked dad the other day whether development had always been this way. He responded that the success or failure of projects has always hinged upon the people. The methods and the artifacts just happened to be ancillary to all of the fundamental reason for application failure. When I was much younger I came across a book that dad wrote entitled "High Impact Inspections" circa 1994. In that book I was amazed to find a number of similarities to Agile development methods. Although it took him a long time to make the adjustment, he is now firmly on board. I attribute this in large part to his understanding of both legacy methods and evolutionary engineering.

This is Max, signing out, upward and onward! (Mabel says Hi!)

Technical Advise Week #9 - Focused Intensity

Hi! As we lay on the bed contemplating the day and enjoying a bit of mindless entertainment in the form of Buba the Elephant we started to think about our topic for the week. I must admit that Max wasn't concentrating too hard as he was reveling in Dad's late night arrival. Then all of a suddenly it come to me.... focus, attention, intense, and study. It was then that I realized that although my mind was in several places that my visual focuses was acutely attuned to several things around me. I then started to think of ways that I could experiment with all of this. So I told Max to do various distracting things in totally a random fashion. We all know that this wasn't a hard job for him. As the rush of random experiences bombarded me I started to make a note of what things influenced by focus. It wasn't the distraction or the antics, but rather it was the forces caused by audio variances. Whether low and subdued, or loud and crazy it had virtually the same effect on my ability to be acutely aware of a number of things going on around me. These ranged from the actual act of watch/observing, to those surrounding events that were perceivable in a attentive way.

We realize that the world is one big source of information. In our quest for answers, the answers may actually be right in front of us, but the distractions (noise) numb our ability to pick up on these things. Projects require allot of things to occur and yet failures, despite pragmatic process, involve the act of focused intensity in order to reduce occurrence likelihood. So... listen beyond the noise of events and revel in what you become keenly aware to.

Technical Advise Week #8- Parametric polymorphism

Don't you think that this is a big mouthful to come from such small mouths? Aside from large words having big meaning we have also seen the continued influx of abbreviations hitting our desk as of late. Many coming from emerging processes that profess the virtues of simplicity, minimization, and purity. On one hand the theme and on the other hand the truth. BTW... Parametric Polymorphism is code with connection to type but allowed to operate transparently with a large variety of types. Max just giggled and said that it's somewhat like being neutered... still have the life without the impact on other!

Dad told us about an interesting trip back home and how he and some colleagues discussed memory content manipulation, long passed technologies, compressed programming and lots and lots of stuff that frankly is a bit beyond what we can fully understand. He made it pretty simple, there was a time when everything you did had to be conservative, and the relationship was intimate with the hardware and software components. Today, these things are reserved for real-time processes and embedded applications. Everyone else is simply satisfied to know enough to work with the software and not probe to get inside what it is doing. From our little corner of the world.... we have found that a wealth of surprises and interesting things hide within. So unless anyone else gives a hoot, we are quite happy to enjoy these gems for ourselves.

Technical Advise Week #7 - In Search of the Holy Grail (Details)

A constant cry from the world of technology is for details. Details, details, details. What people are really looking for is specific, explicit and exact answers. One would probably say, "is that asking too much"? Neither Max or I think so, but what we are most disturbed about is that isn't what they are really asking for. What they are asking for is for someone to do the work for them. We have even seen cases where they purposefully hide behind 'the details' as a way of saying we don't know exactly what we want, we haven't heard an answer that rings right enough for us to proceed, and ultimately we don't know what we want/need/or whether we have already got it. All too often this level of craziness is the direct result of excess complexity and trying to do too much at one time. We like to think of this as giving someone the cookbook and having them throw the choices back in our face and say that nothing that was prepared tastes good. Each and everyone has an obligation to do their part by first of all establishing what they wish to do, or what they need in order to proceed to the next step. Secondly, the authority (aka SME) is obligated to synchronize this understanding and to provide input, sometimes in a fashion that will foster further dialog, leading to a series of answers of mutual agreement. There are those occasions when 'we' never have seen eye-to-eye. Often it's not for a lack of interest on our part, but because a lack of skepticism on the part of the requester. One must reconcile or at least reach a point of neutrality before engaging in the pursuit. Otherwise wasteful energy is spent trying to convince rather than to solve. For us... we remain intense upon service but we can only do half the lifting (even with our little strong paws), the rest has to be up to the requester (and they have much bigger paws).