Clean Agile

Question 1

The Iron Cross of Product Management

Answer 1

Good, fast, cheap, done: Pick any three you like.

Question 2

Hope Versus Management

Answer 2

We practice Agile in order to destroy hope before that hope can kill the project.

Some folks think that Agile is about going fast. It’s not. It’s never been about going fast. Agile is about knowing, as early as possible, just how screwed we are.

Question 3

Managing the Iron Cross:

Changing the Schedule

Answer 3

We want to tell the stakeholders that our delivery date will be March (i.e. delayed) before they buy the booth space at the November show.

Question 4

Managing the Iron Cross:

Adding Staff

Answer 4

Brooks’ law states: Adding manpower to a late project makes it later.

Question 5

Managing the Iron Cross:

Decreasing Quality

Answer 5

Producing crap does not make you go faster, it makes you go slower. This is the lesson you learn after you’ve been a programmer for 20 or 30 years. There is no such thing as quick and dirty. Anything dirty is slow.

So we’re going to take that quality knob and turn it up to 11. If we want to shorten our schedule, the only option is to increase quality.

Question 6

Managing the Iron Cross:

Changing Scope

Answer 6

If the organization is rational, then the stakeholders eventually bow their heads in acceptance and begin to scrutinize the plan. One by one, they will identify the features that they don’t absolutely need by November. This hurts, but what real choice does the rational organization have? And so the plan is adjusted. Some features are delayed.