Rod Bray

A short thread on "Leading Indicators." My goal for software development- "Deliver as much value to the customer by delivering work product, in the shortest time, consistently, and at an acceptable quality, both now and in the future.” What dimensions do we need to measure?

More and more I think we need to start people off in tech by teaching them systems thinking, not programming languages. It should be the first course in every CS curriculum. (I’ve a few books listed at the top of holub.com/reading if you want to pursue that.)

Code created with TDD always has 100% coverage. You write the "test" first, before any of the code you're "testing" exists, then write exactly enough code to get the test to pass. Then you stop. Not one line more. Voilà, 100%. 1/1

There’s no manager in Scrum, but you can’t just fire all the managers. Dawid asks a great question. The answer is in systems thinking. All organizations are systems of interlocked components. The only way to change managment structure is to change the whole system. So, how? 1/6

Interesting data capture bias technique. Altered the capture date so initial values are lower but later amended. "show" decline now & increase later when no one looking. Florida changed its COVID-19 data, creating an ‘artificial decline’ in recent deaths miamiherald.com/news/coronav…

"What gets measured gets managed - even when it’s pointless to measure and manage it, and even if it harms the purpose of the organization to do so." - Drucker 1/5

Yesterday I was on a consulting call with a head of engineering. He was struggling with the ancient problem of the need for estimates and the fear of being held to them when the situation has changed.

True story.

Agile does not get you anywhere faster. What it does do is assure that you're building the right thing and also the best thing you could build in the time available.

"I wrote a program in Visual Basic, once. The C# stuff isn't all that different! Programming is programming. Why aren't you done, yet?"

What a day! Finally finished the Gantt chart I'd been working on alone for 3 wks. The resources are lined up perfectly to hit the June 2024 deadline. Also ran a great planning poker session. The team committed to 74 story points for the next Sprint, a record! (12 previous best).

The whole "rockstar" or "ninja" programmer model is seriously broken. Read about the Theory of Constraints. No one person can improve the effectiveness of the entire system. The only "high performers" worth keeping around are those that put effort into improving the whole system.

“The minute you supply a person with the answers… you block them, once and for all, from the opportunity of inventing those same answers for themselves… [If] what you want is action to be taken, then you must refrain from giving the answers.” —Eli Goldratt #tocot

“Goldratt taught manufacturers in the 1980s that full machine utilization is a false metric and that managing the flow through bottleneck units is the road to higher productivity. This is a lesson yet to be learned by human productivity platforms.” bit.ly/35Uvf7v #tocot

"Doctor, I don't know what disease you'll find, but you have to guarantee you'll cure me, at this price, and before this deadline." - most software development contracts. Author unknown, which is ironic

All contracts specify, not just a result, but also a way of working. So, you need a contract that specifies the way of working that you want! You cannot work in an Agile way if your contract requires a waterfall (milestones, estimates, fixed scope, etc.). 1/2

A lot of damage comes from treating a software project as if you’re purchasing a readymade product. Tell me what it costs! Give me an estimate! That’s all purchase-a-product thinking. Instead, think like an investor. VCs do not invest in products. 1/3

I was in Grant Park in Chicago on election night in 2008, maybe 40m from Obama as he gave that unforgettable speech. I’d forgotten that, elsewhere that evening, John McCain was giving an even better one. What a hero. He personified American greatness: