conference paper excerpt...october 18th – 19th, 2010 pacific nw 28th annual software conference...
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October 18th – 19th, 2010
PAC
IFIC
NW
28TH ANNUALSOFTWARE
CONFERENCEQUALITY
CONFERENCEPROCEEDINGS
Conference Paper Excerpt from the
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Project Patterns: From Adrenaline Junkies to Template Zombies
Tim Lister, Atlantic Systems Guild
Tim Lister and five of his partners at the Atlantic Systems Guild have compiled project patterns they’ve observed in their combined 150 years of project consulting and summarized them in a new book, Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies: Understanding Patterns of Project Behavior.
Tim will begin his keynote presentation with examples from his new book by describing common patterns he’s observed at individual, project, and organizational levels. Tim has come to believe that project patterns are far stronger and more important than “best practices” will ever be. What are project patterns? They are the habits, decision-making practices, and unstated rules of corporate culture that dominate business life. The key to using project patterns is to identify your organization’s current patterns. If they are positive patterns, how can you replicate them across all projects? If they are negative, how can you break the habits?
Tim’s keynote will include audience participation! Tim plans to ask the audience to share some of their own project patterns. The goal is to go back armed with realistic goals and objectives for improvement in your organization.
A principal of the Atlantic Systems Guild, Inc. based in New York City, Tim Lister divides his time between consulting, teaching, and writing. Tim is a co-author with his Guild partners of Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies: Understanding Patterns of Project Behavior. He is co-author with Tom DeMarco of Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects, the Jolt Award winner as General Computing Book of the Year for 2003-2004, and Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, now available in fourteen languages.
Tim has over 35 years of professional software development experience. He is currently a member of the Cutter IT Trends Council, the IEEE, and the ACM. He is in his twenty-third year as a panelist for the American Arbitration Association, arbitrating disputes involving software and software services.
Excerpt from PNSQC 2010 ProceedingsPNSQC.ORG
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Patterns of Projects:From
Adrenalin Junkies toTemplate Zombies Tim Lister
Patterns
Let’s look at some Project Patterns…
More Patterns
Let’s look at some Project Patterns…
Safety Valve
To counter the intensity of their work, the team devises a pressure release activity that becomesa regular part of team life.
Excerpt from PNSQC 2010 ProceedingsPNSQC.ORG
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Mañana
The loss of a “natural” sense of urgency.
The Dead Fish of Failure
It sits on the table of far too many projects.
How can we accept projects formulated to fail?
Everybody smells it right away.Everybody hunkers down.
Who’s to blame for this loathsome situation?
Excerpt from PNSQC 2010 ProceedingsPNSQC.ORG
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Me, and my generation.
The joy of success. It lets you:try hardlearnexperimenthave pride
Lessons Unlearned
Retrospectives rarely trigger change. (Sorry.)
What Smell?
.
Excerpt from PNSQC 2010 ProceedingsPNSQC.ORG
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Nursing HomeMonkey CageTeenager’s BedroomMake-up Room BackstageSea BreezeMildewElectrical FireCigar Bar
SMELLS… Marilyn Munster…
The esteem often given technical workers versusmanagerial staff varies. In some organizations developers are kings; in others they are pawns.
Surprise!
The manager offering rewards and incentivesgets responses in addition to those he planned.
Can you findthe Big Bossin this picture?
Project Sluts
Managers who just can’t say, “No.”
Excerpt from PNSQC 2010 ProceedingsPNSQC.ORG
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Rattle Yer Dags!
urgency + confidence + iteration = bent for action
Dashboards
Dashboards are used by strong teams and weakteams, but typically not by average teams.
It’s Always the God-DamnedInterfaces
Project team members focus relentlessly on interfaces both system and human.
Cool Hand Luke
“What we have is a failure to communicate.”
A legitimate conflict is interpreted as a “failure to communicate.”
Excerpt from PNSQC 2010 ProceedingsPNSQC.ORG
Page 6 of 8
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Straw-man
Team members feel comfortable offering a straw-mansolution in order to elicit early feedback and insight.
1. Please don’t operate the grinder orthe press if you have been drinking.
2. Please don’t smoke in bed or usecandles.
3. Please don’t go up on the roof ifyou’ve been drinking — especially atnight.
4. Please don’t take bottles with youwhen you go up on the roof.
CIDER HOUSE RULES
project
1. Please don’t operate the grinder orthe press if you have been drinking.
2. Please don’t smoke in bed or usecandles.
3. Please don’t go up on the roof ifyou’ve been drinking — especially atnight.
4. Please don’t take bottles with youwhen you go up on the roof.
CIDER HOUSE RULES
project s work.project s work.
Cider House Rules
1. Please don’t operate the grinder orthe press if you have been drinking.
2. Please don’t smoke in bed or usecandles.
3. Please don’t go up on the roof ifyou’ve been drinking — especially atnight.
4. Please don’t take bottles with youwhen you go up on the roof.
CIDER HOUSE RULES
Members of the project team ignore or work aroundrules made by people who are unconnected to theproject’s work.
White Line
The chalk line on a tennis court clearly definesthe extent of the playing surface. The projectneeds a white line to achieve a non-arguabledelineation of scope.
Endless Huddle
The right of infinite appeal ensures that no decisionis ever final.
Excerpt from PNSQC 2010 ProceedingsPNSQC.ORG
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Music
People with real musical skills are disproportionallyrepresented, sometimes extremely so, in technology organizations.
Look for Patterns…
Name them…
Propagate them, or
Defeat them.
You’re good at this; you can do thistogether.
Tim ListerThe Atlantic Systems Guild, Inc.3143 Broadway, 2BNew York NY 10027 USA212 [email protected]
Send me your patterns!
1-800 DH BOOKS: AJSPECIALwww.dorsethouse.com/ajspecial/
Excerpt from PNSQC 2010 ProceedingsPNSQC.ORG
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