You Want IT When?

When re-reading the essay “Nine Steps to Defect-Free Software,”  I stumbled upon a gem of a quote by the author.

In retrospect, virtually every decision against trying for defect-free and in favor of short schedule time was wrong and resulted in longer schedules, more bugs, more support, higher costs and smaller profits! by Terry Colligan, president of Tenberry Software, Inc.

It has been my experience that shortchanging quality has always had a negative impact to the team and the organization that was never worth the trade-off.   How about you?  Has this been your experience?  If so, why do teams and management persist in repeating this mistake? He is also saying that shorter schedules don’t improve project success.  In fact, they contribute to project failures.  That is contrary to the Agile tenent of short release cycles.  What do you think?  I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

It’s interesting to learn what pieces the readers are most reading on this blog.  It’s typical that what the author thinks will generate the most interest is different than what the readers find most interesting.  This has certainly been my experience.  “Why Software Process Adoption Fails” has been the most read essay.  It by far has the most clicks beating the next closest essay by a 2 to 1 margin, which is “No Pain, No Gain.“  When I wrote it, I thought it captured well my experiences at adopting process in the companies where I had worked.  Frankly, I didn’t expect it to be as popular, but it’s not surprising given the feelings about process in the software community.

(more…)

When I was a high school student I was an avid competitor in the sport of wrestling.  It’s an extremely demanding and punishing sport: requiring extreme stamina, strength, skill, agility, and mental toughness.  You have to have a strong mind to compete successfully in wrestling.  When you’re in the 3rd period of a match, you’re exhausted, and your opponent continues aggressively to push the action, only the tough-minded continue to fight and pull out a win.

Preparation for competition is key and demanding.  Practices are lengthy, exhausting, painful, and mentally draining.  It is common for a wrestler to lose anywhere from 3 to 10 pounds of body weight in a single practice.  Preparation requires discipline to keep with a training and weight loss program.  The diet can drain an athlete mentally having to refrain from the daily temptations of satisfying treats.

(more…)

Did you ever read one of those articles where the writer had instant credibility?  I recently stumbled upon one when I was looking to get my web site indexed on dmoz.org.  The article is titled “Nine Steps to Delivering Defect-Free Software” by Terence M. Colligan.  When I read the article I knew he isn’t just writing about somebody else’s experience because it mirrored my own experiences when I was writing software myself.  In the article he identifies nine traits contributing to defect free code.

(more…)

The Agile software development practices are in their infancy stage as evidenced by the number of variants that are being promoted in popular print and usage today:  Scrum and XP being two popular variants.  Clearly the Agile practices are still evolving, and I believe what will eventually emerge are a set of Agile practices that look awfully familiar to traditional approaches.  The question is, is once the Agile community arrives there, will the conflict cease?

(more…)

Have you ever wondered why software process has yet to flourish in the software industry?  Why, after many decades of industry growth, there is no consensus on a process methodology or even best practices?  Why specious Agile approaches have captured significant mindshare in the software community?  Why when you mention the words software process, software professionals cringe?

In other industries process innovation has been the contributing factor in the explosive growth.  Where would the industrial revolution be without the innovation of assembly line processes?  Where would the auto industry be?  A predictable, repeatable process has been the cornerstone of innovation and quality for many successful industries.  Did you ever wonder why a hamburger and french-fries at McDonalds taste the same no matter where in the world you purchase it?  It’s all about process.

It’s an enigma to me and others who have had great success with software process that we continue to debate the need for formal process in the software industry.  Yet the software industry continues unabated with a record of late deliveries, budget overruns, missed expectations, and low quality.  In this article, I’d like to explore the factors that contribute to software process adoption failure.

(more…)