Under Pressure

This talk is an exploration of how we react to pressure on our software projects to GO FASTER!
Originally presented at Agile and Beyond 2017

Transcript

1. Under
   Pressure
   Resisting the urge to GO FASTER
   

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2. My name is Todd Kaufman
   Tweet away @toddkaufman
   Say hello@testdouble.com
   

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3. Disclaimer: The stories you
   are about to hear are strictly
   HYPOTHETICAL
   

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4. The Team
   

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5. The Team
   

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6. The Team
   

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7. Iterations
   Points Remaining
   

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8. Iterations
   Points Remaining
   

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9. Iterations
   Points Remaining
   

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10. Iterations
    Points Remaining
    

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11. “We need to
    add more
    people!”
    

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12. “Let’s work
    weekends
    until we’re
    back on track!”
    

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13. “I’ll just skip
    tests for this
    feature and
    come back to
    do them later”
    

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14. Will we
    SPEED UP?
    

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15. Faster
    10%
    Slower
    90%
    Results
    

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16. and the cycle
    continues…
    

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17. How do we react
    to PRESSURE
    

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18. How can we avoid
    PRESSURE
    

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19. More People
    

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21. Does adding developers
    resources to a project,
    that is already late,
    speed it up?
    

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22. Nope
    

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24. Why is
    this?
    

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25. 1. Ramp up
    2. Communication
    3. Separation of work
    4. Integration
    5. Dysfunction
    

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26. “Adding manpower to
    a late software project
    makes it later.”
    Brook’s Law
    

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27. “Adding people to a
    dysfunctional software
    environment makes it
    even more inept.”
    Todd’s Law
    

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28. Instead
    

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29. Fix existing
    issues
    

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33. Remove
    negativity and
    waste
    

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34. More
    Commitment
    

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35. PMs like per
    sprint
    estimation
    

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36. Predictable
    outcomes
    

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37. Time
    1x
    .25x
    4x
    Cone of
    uncertainty
    

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38. Realistic cone
    of uncertainty
    

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39. Time
    1x
    .25x
    8x
    

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40. “When will
    we be done?”
    

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41. “We don’t
    know”
    

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42. One cannot simply
    change an estimate
    to a commitment
    

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43. #noestimates
    

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44. 3 possible
    outcomes
    

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45. 1. Nailed it!
    

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46. 2. Early
    

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47. 3. Late
    

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48. How does that
    affect the next
    estimation session?
    

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50. Instead
    

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51. #noestimates
    

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52. Cycle Time
    

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53. Quick
    Sizing
    

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54. More Stress
    

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55. Does applying
    pressure work?
    

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56. Stress
    Performance
    Fatigue
    Exhaustion
    ILL - Health
    Breakdown
    Comfort
    Zone
    

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57. What about
    creativity?
    

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58. Creativity
    Under the Gun
    

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59. Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri
    Creativity
    

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60. Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri
    Creativity
    

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61. Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri
    Creativity
    Planning
    Meeting
    

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62. Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri
    Creativity
    Planning
    Meeting
    

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63. Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri
    Creativity
    Planning
    Meeting
    

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64. Are developers
    lazy?
    

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65. not when
    properly
    motivated
    

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67. But we aren’t
    saving lives…
    

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68. Focus less
    on stress
    

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69. Instead
    

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70. Focus more
    on Why
    

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71. Cut
    Corners
    

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72. Do we reduce
    QUALITY in order
    to speed up?
    

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73. What is
    quality?
    

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74. “low Cyclomatic
    Complexity”
    

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75. “SOLID”
    

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76. “High Test
    Coverage!”
    

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77. Quality
    How easily
    and safely we can
    change a codebase
    

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78. Do we reduce
    QUALITY in order
    to speed up?
    

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79. Less
    Tests
    

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80. Less
    Refactoring
    

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81. More
    Complexity
    

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82. Less
    Comprehension
    

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83. More
    Defects
    

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84. More
    Rework
    

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85. Less Quality
    

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86. Less Speed
    

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87. Instead
    

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88. Resist!
    

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89. Make Debt
    Visible
    

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90. Pair More
    

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91. Estimation
    

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92. #noestimates
    

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93. Are there cases
    where we should
    estimate?
    

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94. “Is there
    a ROI?”
    

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95. $150k
    

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96. $150k
    $780k
    

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97. Left with only
    this data…
    

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98. We need
    estimation
    

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99. We need
    to get better at
    estimation
    

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100. Why is
     ESTIMATION
     so difficult?
     

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101. 1. Optimism
     Bias
     

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102. Other
     5%
     Programming
     95%
     Workday
     as we
     estimate it
     

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103. Other
     10%
     Cukes
     15%
     Meetings
     25%
     Work
     50%
     Workday
     as we
     live it
     

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104. 2. No two
     things are alike
     

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105. 3. Requirements
     suck
     

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106. “The ability to
     report on data”
     

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107. Instead
     

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108. Team Level
     Cycle Time
     

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109. Resist
     Change
     

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110. Leverage
     Spikes
     

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111. Adjust
     Fidelity
     

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112. Is it just a Lack
     of trust?
     

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113. Yes
     

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114. Have we
     earned it?
     

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115. No
     

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116. Discipline and
     Accountability
     

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117. Objectives
     Constraints
     Fidelity
     

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118. Communication
     Impediments
     Organization
     

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119. Estimation
     Quality
     Resistance
     

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120. Predictable
     over
     Quick
     

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121. Thank you!
     

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122. References:
     https://www.amazon.com/Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Responses-Organizations/dp/0674276604
     https://www.amazon.com/Mythical-Man-Month-Software-Engineering-Anniversary/dp/
     0201835959
     http://dilbert.com/strip/2010-04-29
     https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-some-men-pretend-to-work-80-hour-weeks
     https://hbr.org/2002/08/creativity-under-the-gun
     http://www.construx.com/Resources/White_Papers/Managing_Technical_Debt/
     Icons:
     Dice by Hopkins from the Noun Project
     Clamp by Tomas Knopp from the Noun Project
     Quality badge by Gregor Cresnar from the Noun Project
     Communication by Oksana Latysheva from the Noun Project
     options by Bernar Novalyi from the Noun Project
     Unicorn by Lele Saa from the Noun Project
     Tshirt by Edward Boatman from the Noun Project
     Lock by Aleksandr Vector from the Noun Project
     

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