Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Reflections on Agile 2009 Part 1: Submission System

It was a revolution in conference submission and a move toward a high trust, transparent culture when the Agile Alliance moved in 2008 to an open submission system for the Agile 2008 conference. It wasn’t without it’s flaws though and this year the system had a few tweaks - one of which was to hide the rating given by reviewers.

This reduction in transparency and consequent social capital was lamentable in my opinion. I am sure there was a better way to handle the problem with the recommendation engine. The 2008 model had a -2,-1,0,+1,+2 type voting system and some individuals were notable for simply skimming through and voting “-2” on topics they didn’t like or people they didn’t like, without attempting to provide any constructive feedback.

For Agile 2009, the system seems to be working even more poorly. Submissions opened in mid-December. Despite this about 20% of submissions to the Agile Frontier stage, for which I am a reviewer, happened in the last 3 days, with around 10% in the last 6 hours before the system closed.

For those who got their submissions in early, there seemed to be little benefit. Despite a review committee of 10 people for each stage, each submission received only 1 or 2 comments or reviews in the early weeks. Even now after the system has closed to submissions, but open for review, there are on average only 3 or 4 reviews for each submission. If the system were working properly there ought to be at least 10 and more like 20 reviews for each submission. In 2008, my submission received 14 reviews.

[Now there were issues with the technology… For example, if a submitter wanted to solicit reviews by sharing the submission URL on the Web, the socially minded agile community member clicking the link to give a review was in the early days simply shut out with an “access denied” message. Later this was updated to provide a login screen. However, many folks may not have had an account and would have to create one, by which time the system would have lost the state/context for the original link. The usability of the system has remained a problem despite the fact that this is version 2. I’m curious if the Agile Alliance pays for this development work. If so, then it ought to be better. It ought to be an exemplar, an archetype of agile development and business value delivery. If not, then they really ought to consider paying professionals to do the web site.]

So meanwhile, what about that lack of reviews, lack of community spirit and lack of early feedback? Shouldn’t those who submit early be rewarded for their efforts. Should those who submit late be penalized? And what about those folks who have submitted 5 or more submissions? One fellow submitted 4 proposals to the Agile Frontier stage on the final day! My view on this behavior of submitting 5 or more proposals is that it is anti-social. In an open system it should never happen. If the system were working properly, then those who made 5 or more submissions should be thrown out of the Agile Alliance because they clearly don’t understand a fundamental principle on which the community and its methods are based. Until then they can be forgiven. The system doesn’t work the way it’s intended.

For those of us who made the effort to review, folks who make multiple submissions give us extra work.

So, how do we modify the system for 2010? Firstly, we must not regress to a closed system. We should push forward with an open and transparent system. We should reward people for making early submissions, for making fewer, higher quality submissions, and for contributing to the community through the review system. Perhaps the system needs to work like a bulletin board? Perhaps you need to earn points for reviews and you can spend points on submissions? The key here is that there must be an economic system introduced that provides the correct balance of incentives. We need to get away from a deluge of submissions in the last 72 hours and from the culture that encourages spamming the system with submissions in the hope that one will be successful. Technorati tag: Agile+2009, Agile+Chicago, Agile+Alliance, David+Anderson

Monday, March 09, 2009

L&K2009 Highlights: Amit Rathore

In the 2nd in my series to promote the Lean & Kanban 2009 conference, I’d like to highlight Amit Rathore (former Thoughtworker) and promoter of Lean Thinking in software development. Amit is proof that several people can follow the same line of thought independently and come up with almost identical solutions. I’ve been a big fan of Amit’s blog. I’m looking forward to meeting him in person at the conference. Amit will be presenting on May 6th, Lean Day in Miami.

Lean Software Development for Startups (or Why Agile isn’t Enough?)

If you’re in a startup, then you know that statistically, the odds are heavily against you. Pretty much the only inherent characteristic of a startup that can be counted upon to help, is that of its small size. If the company can be nimble and agile, then it can hope to gain some traction against its larger rivals. In such an environment, using an Agile methodology is a given. Without some form of a hyper-iterative software process, it is impossible for a startup to create a successful product. Or even to determine what that product is! In todayʼs climate, exacerbated as it is due to competition, lower capital requirements for software companies, the compression of Internet time, and the recessionary economic conditions, it is no longer enough to just use an Agile method. To stay competitive, indeed to just survive, something more is required. Lean Thinking provides just such an advantage. A startup needs to ground its philosophy in Lean Thinking, Theory of Constraints, Critical Chain, Queueing Theory, Systems Thinking, and the like. It will obviously gain from the long-term focus, throughput-based accounting, and value-based constructs that these provide.

Amit Rathore Bio

Amit Rathore has been using agile methods since 2001 - and has more recently been a thought-leader in the lean software development community. He spent nearly seven years at ThoughtWorks working on a variety of projects in several domains - at large and small organizations. He’s played several roles during this time - developer, architect, and project manager. Amit has been writing about his experiences at http://epistemologic.com and at http://s-expressions.com .

In the middle of 2008, he became part of the founding team of a startup based in Mountain View, CA. He’s leading the software development effort in this organization - and he’s been using lean techniques in order to do maximize what is doable, given the limited resources at the fledgling startup.

Register today for all 3 days at Super Early Bird price of $550, or Lean Day May 6th only at $335. Technorati tag: David+Anderson, Agile+Management, Agile, Lean, kanban, Amit+Rathore

Friday, March 06, 2009

L&K2009 Highlights: Peter Middleton

I’m going to do a series of blog posts highlighting content at the Lean & Kanban 2009 Conference in Miami May 6-8. Starting with Peter Middleton, co-author of Lean Software Strategies. Peter will be presenting on May 6th Lean Day at the conference.

Lean Software Development: achieving better requirements

Abstract: Agile approaches help by acknowledging the uncertainty and noise that surrounds software development projects. Their solution to this is evolutionary or emergent development. The question now is how can we improve on this? How to make the requirements process more objective and rigorous? The presentation suggests that a lack of rigorous requirements data can lead to sub optimisation and solutions that lack end customer focus. The next wave is to understand why customers interact with the organisation and then put those interactions under statistical process control. The evidence available for the strength of this approach is substantial

Peter Middleton Bio: Dr Peter Middleton MBA is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. His PhD in Software Engineering is from Imperial College London. With James Sutton he co-authored the book: ‘Lean Software Strategies’ which explored the application of lean ideas to software development. His current work is on putting customers’ interactions with an organisation under Statistical Process Control (SPC). The SPC data shows precisely the organisational performance customers are experiencing and therefore the current capability of an organisation to deliver it’s services. Performance gains in the order of 40% are normal when change based on this data is implemented. The proposal is therefore the Agile and Lean methods should evolve to incorporate this technique.

Register today for all 3 days at Super Early Bird price of $550, or Lean Day May 6th only at $335. Technorati tag: David+Anderson, Agile+Management, Agile, Lean, kanban, Peter+Middleton

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Lean & Kanban 2009 New Pricing Announced

Exciting news about the Lean & Kanban 2009 Conference released today…

Quite simply the greatest ever assembled group of experts in Lean
software development will be convening in Miami in May to explore the
frontiers of agile and lean in software development. This is your
chance to be a part of the new wave in agile development and
management practices.

Speakers include: Alan Shalloway, Dean Leffingwell, Peter Middleton,
James Sutton, Corey Ladas, Karl Scotland, Amit Rathore, Sterling
Mortensen, Aaron Sanders, Rob Hathaway, Alisson Vale, Max Keeler,
Linda Cook, Eric Landes, Eric Willeke, Chris Shinkle and David Laribee.

The final conference agenda has been released. You can download it here.
http://www.leankanbanconference.com/agenda.pdf

along with the program (draft) released yesterday
http://www.leankanbanconference.com/LeanKanbanProgram.pdf

The new conference format provides Day 1 - May 6th - as a Lean Day and
Day 2 - May 7th - as a Kanban specific day. Day 3 will be open space
and lightning talks.

Pricing
Today we are announcing exciting new pricing for the Lean & Kanban
Conference. We’re responding to market feedback and making the event
more accessible.

Full Registration
Until March 16th full registration for all 3 days will be offered at
the super low price of $550. All existing registrants will be
receiving a refund in the next few days of the difference between the
previous amount and the new $550 super early bird rate.

After March 16th early bird registration will be $700 until April 16th
after which time the full $800 price will apply.

Register now at http://www.leankanbanconference.com/

Agile Florida special rate
Members of an Agile Florida User’s Group can make use of the Super
Early Bird price as a special discount until April 16th. Membership of
an agile group in Florida and residency in Florida (based on Credit
Card details) are required to qualify.

Register now at http://www.leankanbanconference.com/

Lean Day Only Registration - May 6th
For those who only want to attend the Lean sessions at the conference,
we are offering a special one day rate that will include the evening
reception. The price for this is $335. Register now at
http://www.leankanbanconference.com/

Kanban Day Only Registration - May 7th
For those who only wish to attend the Kanban case study presentations,
we are offering a special one day rate of $295. Register now at
http://www.leankanbanconference.com/

Please bear in mind that the numbers at the event are strictly
limited. Please register early to avoid disappointment.

David
http://www.leankanbanconference.com/ Technorati tag: David+Anderson, Agile+Management, Agile, Lean, kanban, Alan+Shalloway, Dean+Leffingwell

Monday, March 02, 2009

Lean & Kanban 2009 - Draft Program

I’ve been busy finalizing the speaker roster and program for the Lean & Kanban 2009 Conference in Miami May 6th-8th.

We’ve finalized our speaker list. We will have key note speeches from me, Alan Shalloway and Dean Leffingwell. And main conference sessions from Karl Scotland, Amit Rathore, Corey Ladas, Alisson Vale, Peter Middleton, James Sutton, Rob Hathaway, Eric Landes, Eric Willeke, Chris Shinkle, Max Keeler & Linda Cook, Sterling Mortensen, Aaron Sanders and David Laribee. While there might be other leaders in Lean applied to software development that I’d love to have present at our event, I am confident this is the best line-up of thinkers and practitioners of Lean in software development ever assembled. Be sure to sign up soon as the numbers at the event are strictly limited.

Download the full program of titles and abstracts and speaker bios. Technorati tag: David+Anderson, Agile+Management, Agile, Lean, kanban, Alan+Shalloway, Dean+Leffingwell