A Caboodle of Pragilematic Posts

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Christopher R Goldsbury

I’ve been hanging out and posting at the ASPE SDLC blog. Yes…I have their permission to do that. Geesh. Check em out Gilbert:

Six Things To Avoid When Reporting Project Status – Project status is about the facts and your strategy to address and manage those facts.

This Daily Standup Is a Joke – This article details some challenges associated with daily stand-ups and some potential strategies for dealing with these.

An Axiom of Project Success – What’s the common thread to project success? We’ve seen projects that should have died. We’ve also seen projects fall apart that seemed like they were in the bag. This post attempts to nail the overriding factor.

That’s Great…But How Does Agile Benefit Our Shareholders? – Selling agile to key leaders in your organization takes more than just a thorough understanding of story points, and time-boxing. This post brings it home for those wanting a bigger bang for their agile swang. Whatever that means.

Custom Built Software Is a Depreciating Asset

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Christopher R Goldsbury

Custom built software. It occurred to me this week that this ‘asset’ as it’s categorized by GAAP is a depreciating asset, much like a car or piece of capital equipment ( machinery ).

Does it derive value? Yes….indirectly. But ultimately it’s value is underutilized, and quickly de-valued.

Imperfect as it is…there is little alternative….FOR NOW. So what’s the best strategy for investing in this ‘asset’?

Minimize it. The less you put in. The less you lose.

Find the cheapest way to accomplish your custom software needs and invest in that first. Any other investment strategy invites disappointment, and reduced expectations in the future. This strategy, however stark, also recognizes the truth…..big things start small and simple.

Prove it out with a minimal project and then decide whether additional value could be derived.

Getting to Success Instead of Getting to Done

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Christopher R Goldsbury

Projects are about getting things done…right?

Uh-Uh.

They’re unique, collaborative, human efforts endeavored to achieve success. Success is can be defined with certain goals. Success has a point, a place we reach and can say “Ah-ha!….we did it!”. There’s a finish line. Done, on the other hand, is never done. Excuse the pun. And the rhyme.

Done is an endless backlog.

Done is a never ending series of requests.

Done is code that’s never perfect.

Done is test cases that still need to be refined.

The fog of “Done” can envelop the project and the minds of our teams. It obscures the truth. We’re not looking to get everything “done”. We’re looking to succeed. Within success there is room for variation on “done”.

To Succeed Quickly = Fail Fast and Often

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Christopher R Goldsbury

Loved this article and thought I’d put in my blog/tweet it out. My take away? Forget about success and failure….just try stuff, have fun, and learn/grow. You don’t control all the variables anyway. Focusing on gaining experience, contacts, and ideas.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/08/the-5-secrets-of-silicon-valley/242958/