Our making the measurements up or arbitrarily assigning values is of little help. Dismissing the standards as bloated without knowing is not productive. Standards are not evil, no more than ad hoc and on the fly are.
The olden days… A long time ago (seemingly) I graduated from university with my engineering degree. I was lucky, my first job was with a small company and I performed many roles as it applied to developing their new product line. The product was an embedded strand process control unit. This unit would control older […]
Models are not new, and neither models in the employ of product development. Product development has always had some basis in discovery and always will. If everything had such a high degree of certainty, likely the product or endeavor has already been done. Developing new things ceaselessly brings questions. To be effective, we want to answer these questions as quickly and as certainly as possible.
In conventional project management, it is called the white book. In agile, it is known as the retrospective. Both the retrospective and the white book serve the same purpose that is to learn from the past and improve the future. Though the objectives may be similar the manner and perhaps the efficacy are quite different.
What is “watermelon” green? Watermelon. A great treat in the summer. The dark green rind, the yummy bright red center. Recently I had lunch with an IT friend named Phil. We were talking about checklists and determining project “status” when he mentioned the color Watermelon Green. I chuckled. Then I continued a bit afraid to […]
I comes as not surprise that I follow other bloggers. One of my favorites is a word press blog of Tisquirrel. She has recently posted “It seems that I hate estimations. Really?” that I thought very telling. The trouble with Estimates The trials she describes happen very frequently. The truth is, estimates are just that […]
TIEMPO – Test, Inspection, Evaluation Master Plan Organized by Jon M. Quigley and Kim Robertson PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TEST, INSPECTION AND EVALUATION Ensuring product quality is not accomplished solely through testing and verification activities. Testing is but a fraction of the techniques that are at an organization’s disposal to improve their development quality. Good planning of the […]
Cell phones and Laptops, Tools – or the Distraction to Success Ever think your not getting the most out of your team due to distraction. The greatest invention perhaps is the smart phone. Now it is easy to check all of our email accounts, text message our friends, post on Facebook, blurt on Twitter, connect […]
Risk Reduction Via Outsourcing? Perhaps. Many times it seems that companies believe they minimize risks to their project simply by outsourcing. There is a kernel of truth in that approach with a caveat. Consider the implications on the project if the outsourced work package is not delivered on time or at the right cost and […]
by Kim H. Pries and Jon M. Quigley When you step onto an airplane, you hope it will not crash. You, as a passenger, have no control over what happens during the flight. Statistics indicate flying is relatively safe, which is due to vehicle mechanics, pilot training and competence, flight crew and tower teamwork, and […]