Ewan’s posterous

Reindeer food - no house should be without this Christmas

Oops, getting home is going to be a little tricky.

Morning run - Umhlanga pier, sand art and the sound of the ocean

                   

Joys of parenting

Caleb and his mom in 2007, parenting rewards.

Making the most of the sun - afternoon in the Durban botanic gardens

Derivco kids Christmas party 2009 was a great success - laughter, presents, mayhem and meltdowns :-)

Oh look, yet more rain.

Martin Fowler on software development predictability - a real light-bulb moment

In general, no. There are some software developments where predictability is possible. Organizations such as NASA's space shuttle software group are a prime example of where software development can be predictable. It requires a lot of ceremony, plenty of time, a large team, and stable requirements. There are projects out there that are space shuttles. However I don't think much business software fits into that category. For this you need a different kind of process.

One of the big dangers is to pretend that you can follow a predictable process when you can't. People who work on methodology are not very good at identifying boundary conditions: the places where the methodology passes from appropriate in inappropriate. Most methodologists want their methodologies to be usable by everyone, so they don't understand nor publicize their boundary conditions. This leads to people using a methodology in the wrong circumstances, such as using a predictable methodology in a unpredictable situation.

There's a strong temptation to do that. Predictability is a very desirable property. However if you believe you can be predictable when you can't, it leads to situations where people build a plan early on, then don't properly handle the situation where the plan falls apart. You see the plan and reality slowly drifting apart. For a long time you can pretend that the plan is still valid. But at some point the drift becomes too much and the plan falls apart. Usually the fall is painful.

So if you are in a situation that isn't predictable you can't use a predictive methodology. That's a hard blow. It means that many of the models for controlling projects, many of the models for the whole customer relationship, just aren't true anymore. The benefits of predictability are so great, it's difficult to let them go. Like so many problems the hardest part is simply realizing that the problem exists.

However letting go of predictability doesn't mean you have to revert to uncontrollable chaos. Instead you need a process that can give you control over an unpredictability. That's what adaptivity is all about.

~~ Martin Fowler, The New Methodology - http://martinfowler.com/articles/newMethodology.html

View from my work desk. KZN summer afternoons ftw.

Awesome run this morning - Umhlanga Pier and back

What a perfect morning. Got in to work early, cleared out my mailbox, went for a 9km run, and back at the office for a great breakfast at 7am!