Magic Pixie Dust Increasing the pace of software

Magic Pixie Dust: Increasing the pace of software delivery … through people Matthew Heusser matt@xndev. com Presented at the Indiana Quality Assurance Conference 7 October 2005

Agenda • • The Nature of Innovation Ineffective Habits Effective Habits Common Objections • What to do tomorrow Agenda

Managing Euler The Nature of Innovation

Managing Thomas Edison The Nature of Innovation

Innovation - Defined • ‘Work for hire’ • Innovation is concerned with redefining a task or the way a task is done – Gerald M. Weinberg, Becoming a technical leader The nature of innovation

Bad Pixie Dust • Examples: – Extended mandatory overtime – Pressure – Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt – Implicitly cutting quality standards – Short-term cost reductions Ineffective Behaviors / Bad Pixie Dust

The Status Meeting • Who’s status are we talking about? Ineffective Behaviors / Bad Pixie Dust

Getting it wrong • “Gathering Requirements” • Telephone Game • The Ambiguous Spec Ineffective Behaviors

Encouraging collaboration … • Craftsmanship • Prototypes – And Risk Effective Behaviors

Efficiency or Effectiveness? Effective Behaviors

The trouble with learning Effective Behaviors

Effective Behaviors

Single-Tasking Effective Behaviors

Co-located Project Teams Effective Behaviors

Choice • Choice & Productivity • Methodology Mania – Life at the office • Alternatives – Agile methods Effective Behaviors

Deliver Early, deliver often Image from Software Engineering, a practitioner’s approach, 5 th ed Effective Behaviors

But, Fred Taylor said … Common Objections

My boss needs to hear this … Common Objections

You do have power • Five magic words • Breaking priority lock: – Force tradeoffs early • Breaking ship-time lock: – Force tradeoffs later • Force tradeoffs into project choices – I can do it, if … Common Objections

What to do Monday morning • Pick one way to improve productivity – Rinse, Repeat • Identify practices that solve problems your organization no longer has – (Then stop doing them) • Reward experimentation – Keep it fun • For Quality, consider ‘Arete’

Q&A • What are your questions?

References • Weinberg, Gerald. Becoming a technical leader. • De. Marco, Tom and Lister, Timothy. Peopleware. • De. Marco, Tom. Slack. • Pirsig, Robert, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. • Go google some famous inventors.

Bonus Section

What this talk is not

Managing Issac Asimov The Nature of Innovation

Managing Da Vinci • Error • Copy • Combine The Nature of Innovation

Life in the widget factory The Nature of Innovation

Maslow - Applied Ineffective Behaviors

The Big Game • The role of the leader Ineffective Behaviors / Bad Pixie Dust

Mappers or packers? • The Context-Driven School – A Microsoft QA Manager – A Stryker Instruments QA Manager Effective Behaviors

The Agile Manifesto We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more. Effective Behaviors