InfoQ had a round-up of ideas about “How Long Would it Take to Build the Product?”. It was funny (ha-ha funny) to read some of the responses. One person suggested that upfront estimations end up in a fixed scope, which is anti-agile. If I was new to agile, I would read it this way: if
Last week, I had the great pleasure of attending the Agile Practitioner in Israel meeting. Roy Osherove gave a splendid presentation on the “10 mistakes team leaders make” (and if that’s the sample, you better go check the entire course). As the presentation went on, it was evident there’s some division between the crowd and
A couple of comments on my last post (the sad truth about agile planning) made me think: Maybe I was slamming agile planning too much. Then I thought (after an elaborate discussion with myself) – I wasn’t doing that at all! So let’s put some things in perspective: Can I make a plan for the
If you’ve read any basic agile stuff, you know that agile teams deliver value in a consistent frequency. The team works on what’s important first, giving the best value for money. When working in a consistent velocity, you can estimate very accurately when features are going to be delivered. Prepare yourself for a shock. It
Are sales people and developers like oil and water? As I was reading this article I recalled Michael Feathers’ presentation at NDC about “The mistake at the heart of agile”. To recap: Agile closed the developers behind a walled garden, in order to let them produce without interruption from other sides of the organization. On
My NDC 2011 talk in moving pictures form. Danger! Craftsmen Ahead! from Gil Zilberfeld on Vimeo.
At NDC 2011, there were a couple of presentations about the state of the agile today. Of note, were Uncle Bob Martin’s excellent “The land that Scrum forgot” (That man can give a show just by reading from index cards!) and Michael Feathers’ “The mistake at the heart of agile”. Until the videos are out,
How can something seem so right, and yet so wrong, at the same time? Easy. When the person who speaks is different than the one listening, which is usually the case, and there’s a translation problem. Consider the term “Refactor mercilessly”. I don’t recall when I first heard it, but it definitely caught my ear
I’m a fan of “House”. I’m currently catching up on the 7th season, where the theme is about truth and lies. For those leaving in a cave with no cable TV, “House” is about a brilliant, misanthropic doctor who runs a diagnostic team in a hospital. In each episode the team dives into a mystery
The Agile Manifesto has 4 principles. In Agile 2008, Uncle Bob Martin in his keynote suggested a 5th principle: Craftsmanship over Execution (Yes, I’m 3 years late for the party, but bear with me. This came to me as I’m preparing to my NDC talk). All principles were written by technical people who emphasized communication