Bill Walsh and Projects
I’m a big fan of many sports. I don’t watch them on TV as much as I used to but I love big sports events, whether they be team events like the Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup play-offs, or major tournaments like the Masters, Wimbledon, etc. The people involved in sports at the highest level are a constant source of interest to me. While there have been many personalities who have changed the game they were involved with, one of my favourites is Bill Walsh. Bill Walsh came to fame as...
Read MoreLean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit
This book was written by a husband and wife team who have extensive experience in software development as well as a host of other industries that have been touched by the lean movement. It is an excellent read. The authors are not shy about expressing their disappointment in how strong the Project Management Institute’s influence has grown over how software development projects are planned and managed. The book outlines 7 principles derived from lean methods. Among these are eliminate...
Read MoreAgile vs Waterfall Comparison
Here’s a very good comparison of traditional software development processes (ie. waterfall) with some newer alternatives (agile and scrum). It is interesting that the author treats agile and scrum as distinct alternatives when many scrum practicioners would suggest scrum is simply an agile approach. In any case, the author’s comparison resonated with me because of how we compared these approaches against each other using a lengthy list of project attributes, all of which are things that the...
Read MoreSearching for Agility
I’ve been managing projects for many years now. Most of my clients have some project management methodology in place that I am to follow while working on their behalf and more often than not, the PMBOK is the underlying framework for these methodologies. While overall my clients have been happy with the results I’ve produced, when I look back at the projects that went well, I get the feeling that the methodology was in some cases as much of a hindrance as a benefit. I’ve done some...
Read MoreProject Charter Observations
In my experience, organizations create charters in two distinctly different ways. Some use the charter as one of the first documents created in the project life cycle. For these organizations, the charter is a stake in the ground to give all stakeholders identified to that point some insight into the key high level attributes of the project. It tends to be a brief document because often there is still a large list of unknowns about the project. Other organizations like to create a much...
Read MoreBusiness Analysts’ Attention to Detail
An old song says that a poker player needs to “know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em”. A similar maxim for a business analyst might be that you’ve got to “know when to drill down and know when to abstract to a higher level”. Not as poetic or lyrical but true nonetheless. A good business analyst is able to balance between the need for drilling down deeper when they perceive their customer is providing input to business requirements at too high a level and conversely,...
Read More