You Want IT When?

One of the difficulties I have with the Agile software methodologies and its proponents is that they go to far.  They are often susceptible to hyperbole while hawking their methodology like used car salesmen.   Their embracing of the practice of refactoring is one example of this. Of course, we should refactor, but refactoring isn’t a design methodology,  it isn’t a way to be agile, and it doesn’t help deliver software faster.  Refactoring as advocated by the Agile processes is essentially a design methodology.  A team following Agile arrives at an optimal design and implementation via a series of iterations and refactoring efforts.  Refactoring as a design methodology is incompatible with the Agile goals of delivering faster and accommodating change anytime in the project life-cycle.

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First, I’d like to wish everyone a belated Happy New Year.  I’m starting to get back in to the swing of things, and I’m looking to publish as frequently as I was before the months of November and December consumed my time with other positive diversions.  In some ways I believe the slower pace was actually positive as the readers began discovering the earlier articles that were published, and as I’ve been saying, the most practical and readily usable article published was “An Objective Method for Navigating Your Project Successfully.”  That article was the third most read article for the month of December.   The top five articles for the month of December are as follows:

1. Software Metrics: Making the Case
2. Outsourcing Debate - Two Guys Talk it Out
3. An Objective Method For Navigating Your Project Successfully
4. Why Software Process Adoption Fails
5. Believe Defect Free Code is Possible

The five most read articles of 2007 are as follows:

1. Why Software Process Adoption Fails
2. No Pain, No Gain
3. Reflection: Unrealistic Schedules
4. Part 1: How to Manage an Unrealistic Schedule
5. Danger Agile Practices at Work

We often focus a lot of attention on process and the technical aspects of our work to improve software management.  While those aspects are important, there is less written about the people and cultural aspects that impede our productivity and success.  In January, I started writing about those aspects of the work that we need to address.  Improving process and the technical aspects will only get us so far in improving software practices.  To realize even further gains, we need to address the behaviors and attitudes that also impact the team’s ability to perform at peak.   Please, share your experiences and thoughts.  I’d like to learn of other perspectives on the subject.

It’s been a good six months since I’ve started this blog, and the readership continues to grow every month.  Thanks for your support, and I hope to continue to publish articles on software development that you will find interesting and valuable to your work.

It’s often said, you have to take risks to be successful. Who would disagree with that?  Starting a business is risky.  Investing in the stock market is risky. Going to college is risky.  Getting married is risky.  Few would argue that these risky endeavors shouldn’t be pursued in life.  These are all rewarding endeavors when we’re successful at them.
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It finally happened.  It was only a matter of time before the day of reckoning would strike.  Leading up to the crisis, you’d never have known there were clouds forming in the real-estate and credit markets.  Since the stock market crash in 2000, there have been a minority of industry professionals writing about the building crisis.  My favorite has been David Tice at the http://prudentbear.com/ .  He has some great presentations on their web site with data to support his case.   It’s unsurprising how when professionals use metrics, they seem to be ahead of the crowd and more confident in their views.  But that’s a topic for another article.

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