You know by now that Code Inventory is something of an obsession with me. Like it or not, most of us, whether developers or sysadmins, work in a service industry. It's fast and furious, and we don't have time to build features that nobody wants. With sufficient test coverage, there's no code that can't be … Continue reading Code Inventory and Tracking Releases
Category: Kanban & Agile
Forget Trains. Take off on a Release Plane!
This is a guest post by Kevin Parker, VP and Evangelist, Serena Software For those that have to deal with release management, release train is a well-understood term. It refers to a software development schedule where multiple products are released as a part of a single ‘train’ on a regular, pre-planned schedule. But just as … Continue reading Forget Trains. Take off on a Release Plane!
Why Agile Fails
In the past decade we've seen thousands of companies introducing agile methodologies. A lot of teams started introducing scrum, re-structuring the way they work, and ... getting stuck after a couple of months. Why do most agile introductions come to a screeching halt? Why do so many teams either fall back into old habits or … Continue reading Why Agile Fails
Kanban Boards: Physical or Electronic?
This is a story about merging two teams. One was using a physical Kanban board and the other was using an electronic one. Of course we were discussing the pros and cons of electronic versus physical boards. My role in the discussion was pretty funny: I used to be a very strong fan of physical … Continue reading Kanban Boards: Physical or Electronic?
How are Lean, Agile, and Devops related to each other?
You hear a lot about various agile approaches. Things like Lean, Scrum, Kanban, and Devops seem to be important but it's hard to sort them out. How do they relate to each other and where to start? Let me try to structure these ideas for you. Lean is the basis of Agile Lean tells you … Continue reading How are Lean, Agile, and Devops related to each other?
Has your Scrum implementation caused more problems than it solved?
Implementing Scrum helps your development department but breaks the old way of doing things, so the overall process actually slows down. Everyone was bashing your development department. You were too slow, you were the bottleneck - if only development would be faster, we could earn so much more money ... you know what I'm talking … Continue reading Has your Scrum implementation caused more problems than it solved?
Why projects fail and how to make them succeed with more transparency
Imagine you’re driving your car through uncharted territory to a destination only vaguely described by "That Guy" who told you to go there. "That Guy" was kind enough to give you an absolutely non-negotiable deadline too. With that in mind, you race to the first waypoint - you should already be able to see it … Continue reading Why projects fail and how to make them succeed with more transparency
Stop missing out on collaboration opportunities by creating situation awareness
Yesterday, I was waiting for the train to arrive for my daily commute. After it pulled up to the station, a mother with a baby carriage tried to disembark. She struggled with the carriage while carrying a heavy bag, a second child pulling her arm. Naturally, I jumped in to help out and she was … Continue reading Stop missing out on collaboration opportunities by creating situation awareness
The Daily Standup: One step closer to the goal
Almost 9:30am. Time for our stand-up. What did I finish yesterday? What do I plan on finishing today? What's stopping me? The daily routine of the morning stand-up is so ingrained, I go through the above liturgy without conscious thought. For me, the stand-up provides a focused center for the team, our morning huddle. We … Continue reading The Daily Standup: One step closer to the goal
How to make a team self-organizing
Self-organizing teams perform better than micro-managed ones. The ability to really make a difference motivates the team members and makes everyone contribute his best effort. But how can we create self-organizing teams when everyone is used to hierarchical command and control patterns? To be able to self-organize and perform optimally, a few basics need to … Continue reading How to make a team self-organizing
Agile Web Operations 