When we hired a new CTO at Valore, we rolled out agile/scrum with our product and engineering teams. We had been in the waterfall dark ages. We predictably experienced every bad outcomes one could expect from a misaligned development process. It took some time for the team to understand it, get comfortable with it, and … Continue reading Implementing scrum for non-software teams
Category: management
Practice
Why don't business people practice? Sports and business are always compared. There are an endless number of analogies used every day - teams, winning and losing, star players, competitors, etc. The comparison holds, for the most part. Except for practice. Why? Athletes at all levels know that they will need to practice their ass off … Continue reading Practice
Speed Wins
Speed wins. Startup dogma. Silicon Valley platitude. Dangerous concept that is often misinterpreted. People hear this and think of the mythological developer who just cranks things out at lightning speed. Working all night, crushing Red Bulls, typing furiously on their laptop. There are many flaws with that mythology that I won't go into here, but … Continue reading Speed Wins
The Line of Chaos
The "Line of Chaos" is a concept that good product managers will not just understand, but will embrace with vigor. First, let's start with what it is. It is an imaginary line that serves to illustrate the interface between business and technology. Why does that interface matter? It matters because business people and engineers are … Continue reading The Line of Chaos
It’s Complicated
It is very complicated. It can be anything. It can be a program, a script, a process, an integration or any other situation, problem or context you may confront in your day. Do not let someone trick you. Do not confuse complicated with complex. Things can be complex without being complicated. When people try to complicate things, they … Continue reading It’s Complicated
ericnewman.org 