22 hours agoSo busy, so much to do, and nothing gets doneIn my last post I talked about value streams and how we can use this concept to change how we think about building software. In this article I want to talk more about the most common challenge I have seen to achieving high flow through a value stream: we have…7 min read7 min read
Jan 20Value streams and getting things doneIt’s one of the biggest questions in software development: why on earth does it take so many people so long to get something done? This is particularly true for large organizations with dozens or hundreds of teams trying to work together to deliver software. I’m going to summarize what I’ve…Dev Ops7 min readDev Ops7 min read
May 16, 2022The Cost of DelayI recently posted a video explaining the cost of delay This is such an important topic. We all know the cost of delays when it comes to web requests — if a site takes too long to load, you’re going to lose customers. …2 min read2 min read
Apr 8, 2022Applying acceptance criteria to your careerOne of the things that happens as you become a senior developer is you start mentoring younger engineers. And a common topic I hear is frustration with performance reviews and promotions (or lack thereof). The pattern I see is engineers get comments on their reviews which are unclear or confusing…3 min read3 min read
Apr 5, 2022Applying SOLID principles to servicesA question came in over the wire today about how one might apply the SOLID principles to services when they were originally intended to be about class design. This actually a very interesting topic. I have noticed that as microservices have taken hold, many engineers are finding that object-oriented languages…Design Principles7 min readDesign Principles7 min read
Apr 1, 2022The power of good acceptance criteriaHey, all. I created a short video talking about how to use acceptance criteria to avoid confusion and rework, a common problem I hear from developers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfvcpNtVgkY1 min read1 min readThe power of good acceptance criteriaHey, all. I created a short video talking about how to use acceptance criteria to avoid confusion and rework, a common problem I hear from developers.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfvcpNtVgkY----
Jun 13, 2021How jam makes you toast — the danger of being busyYou’re driving smoothly down the freeway, and suddenly, you’re in stop-and-go traffic. After half an hour, you creep by an accident on the other side of the freeway. Just from people slowing down to see what’s going on, your direction has jammed up. …Lean5 min readLean5 min read
May 17, 2021Braking on ice — handling slippery software delivery issuesI grew up in Colorado, where the roads get dangerously icy during the winter. When you hit an icy patch and your car starts losing control, your immediate instinctive reaction is to slam on the brakes. But it turns out that is exactly the opposite of what you should do…Lean4 min readLean4 min read
Dec 16, 2019What are the odds — how mammals survived a mass extinction eventVerbatim from my Pa (Dr. John Van Couvering, geologist and all-around Scientist), who wrote this up for a his local neighborhood newsletter in upstate New York Most of us have heard of the great extinction that wiped the dinosaurs off the face of the earth. Of course this didn’t really…Science4 min readScience4 min read
Nov 20, 2019A modest testing strategy proposalTraditionally we have been taught that we should strive for high coverage on unit tests, and build some integration tests for end-to-end flows. I’d like to refine that a little bit in this article on testing principles and strategy. Principles of Testing There are some key principles that drive the way I think…Software Development14 min readSoftware Development14 min read