Configuration management plays a key role in product development, including software development. Knowledge of branching and merging are fundamental practices that allow teams to work on multiple features, bug fixes, or experiments simultaneously without interfering with the main codebase. Understanding how to manage branches and merge changes effectively is crucial for maintaining code quality and […]

By: Jon M. Quigley Introduction: Why Testing to Standards and Specifications Matters In product development, testing to standards and specifications is essential, but not necessarily paramount. It ensures that products meet regulatory requirements, perform as expected, and are safe for consumers. This approach provides a benchmark for consistency, allowing manufacturers to verify that each product […]

Introduction In the dynamic world of product development, product management modifications are crucial, particularly when multiple projects alter existing products simultaneously. This post explores effective strategies and techniques, such as branch and merge, to ensure seamless integration and delivery of product updates.   The Importance of Product Management Modifications Product management modifications are pivotal in […]

By: Jon M. Quigley Introduction We watch Air Disasters on The Smithsonian Channel. You should watch the program to understand the root cause analysis. It is not just about root cause analysis but also risks and how circumstances and events stack up to produce unwanted results. A recent episode I watched was about Atlantic Southeast […]

Thinking about what can go wrong in the project and how to respond (risk register) is so that we know what to do when the event happens. From experience, the quickness of the response to an emerging event often reduces the risk impact on the project.  Ideally, we will have generated a list of the […]

A Song As I wrote this, I kept getting that song by Barenaked Ladies, One Week, going through my head. I have been working on the bassline for that song. My kid introduced the song to me some years back and just recently I thought about learning it. I’m very close. Estimating I have a […]

The Product Development Hike. You won’t read far in product development, where product road map analogy (or actuality) is brought up. Recently, I saw a tweet (is it still called tweet, or is it an X) from @CGLambdin. I wish I had captured the tweet for posting here, but I recall it was about the […]

I usually have little problem writing. I write multiple columns at technical and business magazines per month; I have a book or books in the queue at any given time. This has taken much longer than I had hoped, but for days, my mind raced. I ran through many Jimmy Buffett experiences and have never […]

People are Human I realize this piece is likely, nearly certainly, to ruffle some feathers. That is not my intention for sure.  We have written on the impediments to us seeing things truly as it is.  There are many cognitive biases that may plague us. In fact, we dedicated an entire section in our latest […]

Once Upon a Time I worked while I was acquiring my undergraduate engineering degree, hell, I worked while getting all three of my degrees. My undergraduate was especially interesting, in that I did not have a mass of skills so my work was not a high-paying gig.  I am grateful for the job, but there […]