7 Speeds of Fast
I once read that John “Pieface” McKenzie, a Boston Bruin in the Bobby Orr era, described Orr as having “7 speeds of Fast”. I don’t have the actual quote but I recall the context of his comment being that he was skating up the ice one game, thinking he was going pretty fast, when Bobby glided past him, going much faster, but appearing to be barely exerting himself. The world we live in almost always puts a premium on speed. Business wants to bring products to market...
Read MoreSo many requirements, so little understanding
Business requirements, high level requirements, user requirements, functional requirements, user interface requirements, detailed requirements, system requirements, non-functional requirements, interface requirements, software requirements, business process requirements. The good news to be taken from the list above is that there is no shortage of ways to think about requirements. The bad news is that a list of this size implies many different definitions of requirements which must be at...
Read MoreRequirements – I Got Nuthin!
After 20+ years in the IT business working on projects, I’ve decided I really don’t understand nearly enough about requirements and am going to make the harsh judgement that most IT staff who are either creators or consumers of requirements, as well as business people from whom requirements are supposed to originate, don’t know much about them either. So…I’m takin’ to readin’ to see if I can learn some of the discipline around requirements in a very orderly way. One of the more...
Read MoreOpportunity Everywhere in IT
Canada isn’t producing enough computer science graduates. So says most of the popular press and IT media I’ve been reading lately. Enrollments in post-secondary computing programs, at both college and university levels are down, both in Canada and the United States. The exception appears to be the University of Waterloo – good for it! I don’t want to debate why this is the case but from my perspective, within my client base, there is a ton of opportunity for solid IT...
Read MoreKnowledge Transfer – An Investment
Throughout history, man has had to develop and refine ways to pass knowledge on from one human to another and from one generation to another. Two of the most common forms of passing on knowledge are to write things down or to simply pass the knowledge on verbally. Writing things down can take many forms with language and words being the most obvious examples but other forms such as pictures and music have also played a significant role in this regard. Written things have the advantage of...
Read More10 Things PM’s Should Have on their “Don’t-Do” List
Don’t react – always take time to think through the various stimuli coming your way and respond in a planful way Don’t manage by the seat of your pants – plan! Don’t sit – wander the floor, every day Don’t ignore your sponsor – sounds obvious but it happens Don’t stay home – visit remote sites, if not often then at least at the beginning of a project to get to know people Don’t defer to strong-minded team members – if you...
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