posted on Monday, October 24, 2005 11:14 PM
by
chrisdonnan
Lean Software Development
I just finished up Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit for Software Development Managers
LSD with 7 Principles and 22 Tools
* Eliminate Waste
– Seeing Waste, Value Stream Mapping
* Amplify Learning
– Feedback, Iterations, Synchronization, Set-Based Development
* Decide as Late as Possible
– Options Thinking, The Last Responsible Moment, Making Decisions
* Deliver as Fast as Possible
– Pull Systems, Queuing Theory, Cost of Delay
* Empower the Team
– Self-Determination, Motivation, Leadership, Expertise
* Build Integrity In
– Perceived Integrity, Conceptual Integrity, Refactoring, Testing
* See the Whole
– Measurements, Contracts
What
a great book. I have read so many different software development books
and this is one of those few that are the 'must reads'. I just cannot
recommend it enough. The book compares software development to the
manufacturing industry, particularly auto manufacturing. It uses Toyota
vs GE examples quite often to show how the paradigm level differences
were able to grant Toyota huge wins in efficency and delivery. At the
end of the day - the software analogy here is a strong one. This is a
practical book - that I can say many mental nuggets will work their
ways into my daily way.
I found this particular pic interesting:
So
what does this mean - be LEAN. Only implement what is the top prioirty
work. Deliver it fast, get feedback fast. Do Not waste your efforts
doing BDUF (Bug Design Up Front). In stead delay decision making as
much as possible, focus on the priorities - and deliver - fast.
As
a Scrum user (for the past several projects) I can say that this
approach just plain works. Once the stakeholders see that they can have
some input after the 'initial spec' they are just pleased. Once you can
continually deliver working - RELEVANT software - your team will be
more highly valued than if you were an 'excellent task master' and
delivered pristine docs for an already outdated system.
-CD