Normally I’m very wary of “investigation” or “research” cards in a delivery team. Sometimes there are pieces of development work that are difficult, but I usually find that when a … Continue reading One good approach to development “research”
The importance of a common language
A long time ago I co-authored an article with Mat Wall about the value we found from domain-driven design (DDD). That is a way of capturing in software the concepts … Continue reading The importance of a common language
Team optimisations can have wider consequences
This week I was listening to a great podcast conversation between Ian Gill and Andy Bold, focusing on Andy’s area of expertise, which is devops. (Disclaimer: I am part of … Continue reading Team optimisations can have wider consequences
The evolution of our organisations
I’ve been reading recently about the evolution of species, and it struck me how similar that process is to the evolution of our own organisations and their internal structures and … Continue reading The evolution of our organisations
It helps to know what not to do
In a single day, recently, I came across two things independently, but in which I saw a useful link. The first was a quote from management legend Peter Drucker: We … Continue reading It helps to know what not to do
Personal understanding is essential in the workplace
I was pleased to read an article this week in HBR entitled “What your coworkers need right now is compassion”. It began by suggesting now, at a time of a … Continue reading Personal understanding is essential in the workplace
Simplifying estimation
Many years ago I worked with a team that seemed to be delivering software only very slowly. There were multiple causes, as is usual in these situations, and part of … Continue reading Simplifying estimation
Taking responsibility amid uncertainty
[I held onto a draft of this post for some time, as I felt it was never the right time to publish it. But today, although the details seem to … Continue reading Taking responsibility amid uncertainty
For real innovation, take your second best idea
Recently I was speaking to a friend about choosing business ideas for innovation. He described an exercise in which three teams in the same organisation were tasked with brainstorming and … Continue reading For real innovation, take your second best idea
“Definition of enough” for discovery work
In many development teams I work with there is a “definition of done”. This a checklist (explicit or implicit) of things that need to have happened before we can say … Continue reading “Definition of enough” for discovery work
