Lean Software Development Tips and Tricks

Augusto “Gus” Evangelisti - PaddyPower PLC

E-mail: augeva@gmail.comTwitter: @augeva

Lean principles

Eliminate WasteOptimize The WholeFocus On CustomersEnergize WorkersLearn FirstDeliver FastBuild Quality InKeep Getting Better(Mary and Tom Poppendiek)

Tip #1: Easy

Identify waste

The Waste Snake

What you need

Whiteboard/A3 SheetPost-itsCurious team

Tip #2: easy

Ask “Why?”

Ask “Why?”

Software is a liabilityResolving problems with very little software is of

great value

Let me tell you a story

1965 - US Army: “We need a cost effective fighter jet that can reach speed of mach3”

Many companies tried, one succeeded let me tell you a story

Thunderchief Vs Eagle

That means

Refuse solutions to unknown problemsunderstand what the real problem is (asking

“why?”) and then resolve that (Gojko Adzic)

What you need

CourageTrustEmpathyCurious team

Tip #3: Medium

See the whole

Have you ever seen this?

What’s the solution?

That means

Focus on the full flow Remove barriers, collaborate, be cross

functional, remove silo departments, whole team responsibility and accountability, fight

suboptimization.

What you need

Curious teamEmpathyNo barriersNo politicsOne goal, one direction

Tip #4: Difficult

Have zero tolerance for defects

Bugs are waste

The worst kind of waste!Don’t write them in the first place!

Focus on prevention TDD/BDDImplement fast feedback loops

If a bug slips through

Fix it immediately

We don’t need to log categorize, sort, triage, asses, fight over BUGS

We need to fix them so that our customers are happy

A bug management tool is another backlog, ditch it, we’ve done it and we’re happy!

Collaborate and prevent

What you need

Curious teamEmpathyNo barriersNo politicsPassion for our craft

Tip #X: Easy

Don’t ask for permission, beg for forgiveness!

What do these things have in common?

They were failures

What does this mean?

The wrong answer is the right answer to a different question (Paul Sloane)

Experiment, try new things, things you’ve never done before, accept failure and learn from it.

Only people that don’t innovate never fail.You can only improve trying new things, you can

only innovate trying new things, don’t be afraid of failure

So?

Fail often

Fail cheap

How can I fail cheap? Prototyping, spiking, getting fast feedback, speaking to the customers, getting out of my building and speaking about my idea.

What you need

Curious teamCourageDesire to learn

Read More

These readings inspired me:• Lean Software Development - An agile toolkit (Mary and Tom Poppendiek)• Impact Mapping (Gojko Adzic)• The Lean Mindset: Ask the Right Questions (Mary and Tom Poppendiek)• The Innovative Leader(Paul Sloane)

More to come on:http://mysoftwarequality.wordpress.com/

Tip #6: Easy

Use communities of practice to innovate

Tip #7: Difficult

Stop predicting, be predictable

#NoEstimates

Questions?