Time as a victim, change as a child

There are things that rattle around inside of projects things that we don’t see. There are variables that people never address.

• Is this the right project
• Are we doing this at the right time
• Is this really what we need
• Did we plan for the right amount of change
• Is there enough time in the plan to get this done

The last two are the funny ones. Time as a victim of the project planning process. why is it that no matter how many times you do something you are often off in terms of the time it requires?

Why is change such a huge variable in one project, then do the same project in another place and change doesn’t matter at all.

It is the wonder of software architecture.

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The path to the accidental enterprise architecture

I have a number of friends who are in the space Enterprise Architect. They are brilliant people who are able to map huge business problems to various solutions within an organization and have everything work together.

But in most cases the companies I visit don’t have an EA team, or if they do they don’t have the output of that team (an enterprise architecture).

Why is that?

The smartest people in the profession i know call themselves Enterprise Architects. They live and breath taking business process and improving it through the use of technology and other solutions.

• They use Norton-Kaplan maps to determine what they need to consider.
• They build huge blue ocean strategies designed to carry the business into the realm of non-competition

So why the disconnect?

Or am I asking for too much?

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Development as an extension of the architecture

I know a large number of developers (and have for many years). I find that most developers are structured analytical people who do a great job of thinking through specific problems in front of them (or around them, near them etc). In fact the one’s I’ve worked with are so good, as an Architect I often feel like I can just disengage and let them do what they need to do.

So the question is, with good developers is development an extension of the architecture itself?

It seems like that is reality of the world but you never know.

In some development organizations they don’t take that approach – they focus on having a management structure around the developers so that they focus on coding not moving the solution forward.

Perhaps that is the reality of the world but it seems funny to me. If you hire smart people and set them on your problems, in theory they will be able to solve them in time. If you lock them in a room then in the end you will get exactly what you asked for rather than a solution to the problem.

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If, and when

If is an amazing word in the architectural space. If is a portent of things to come that are built into a solution and yet may be an extra benefit.

When on the other hand is a known entity – something we know will come from this solution we have deployed.

Together they are the promise of a solution. When is the known benefits that we were seeking in deploying the solution. If represents the future state additions that we may yet gain with this solution.

For example wifi may originally have allowed people to work in conference rooms and places other than their desk as a when. The IF would be the ability to have separate wifi networks for contractors and other temporary employees that are segmented from the rest of the network.

If and when the two sides of the architectural coin we flip with solutions!

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Excepts from my upcoming book

Show don’t tell, make migrations easier!

It’s an interesting concept that I’ve covered in my blog a number of times https://docandersen.wordpress.com. How do you provide another organization with a roadmap to where they want to go?

1. What does a transitional service mean to the organization you are working with or for?

2. What does a successful project mean in the organization?

3. What does a failed project mean in the organization?

4. How do they/you measure failure and success?

I’ve been a consultant and IT person for over 20 years now. During that time I’ve come to realize that the most painful thing for a company to do is to migrate anything to anything. That is the rationale behind the tool that was selected for this process (ReGen) and the various processes offered within Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server (MOSS). Making migrations easier is a goal of transitional services, helping organizations become more agile as they progress through the process. The reality of migrations is not that they are difficult, it is that the migration being undertaken is probably more complex than the organization realized.

 

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Change, the last friendly house

Over the past year i have written about creating lighthouses near issues or problems in the solution you are deploying to warn people of what is coming.

My next great idea (if of course this really isn’t my first, and perhaps not even a great idea) is the concept from the Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, the concept of the last friendly house.

Elrond of course was the owner of that last friendly house before the wilderness that represented the wilds of Middle Earth. We should do the same thing for software solutions when you are heading into uncharted or new territory.

The last friendly drop of code 🙂

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Additional thoughts on the national healthcare debate

The cost of a universal healthcare system based on the system we have in the US today would be incredible. But, there are a number of things we can do that would alleviate some of the costs of the system and bring things closer to a universal system at a significantly reduced price.

• Reduce the maximum amount for medical damage or malpractice suits.
• Provide universal malpractice insurance for doctors and other medical providers
• Determine which services are most critical and provide those for free to everyone

Any system based on providing everyone the minimum has two inherent issues. The first is that you move the minimum bar so far down the scale that it becomes useless. Or, the system ends up costing so much money that you end up with a 35-50% tax rate for everyone.

If we can leverage the first two bullets and then automate as many services as are possible using technology as the equalizer we may be able to pull this off.

The problem is, no one has a 3 years plan. everything is geared to right now – which means we are going to be a risk again, in less than 3 years.

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The great meeting kit!

Over the years I have attended 100’s of meetings. Some that you would assume were bombs that ended up being great meetings. Some that had to be great meetings that in the end fell far short.

Why is that?

Great Meeting Plan:

· Great meetings start on time

· Great meetings end on time

· Great meetings are a safe haven/open forum

· Great meetings are structured but allow for free flowing exchanges

· Great meetings are talked about – frankly they are “fun” to attend even if they are incredibly hard work while attending.

This brings us to “everyone should have in their Great Meeting Kit.” Great meetings are all about control, process and validation and of course require the four pieces above coming together.

Great Meeting Kit:

· A way to share the information

o Pre-meeting information

o Meeting information

o Post-meeting collaboration

· An acceptance of others schedules and requirements

o Gathering pre-meeting information

o Recording the meeting for later review and presentation

o Post meeting collaboration that supports online, offline and nearline collaboration

· A list of people to be involved that can participate materially in the outcome of the meeting

· A plan to meet the Great Meeting goal of “fun,” “hard work,” and ultimately achieving the team and personal goals of the people attending the meeting.

· Have a comfortable meeting place that supports what you need to do

o Projection

o Conference call

o Video Conference call

o Whiteboards

· Consider the shape of the room, King Arthur built a round table to show that everyone at the table was an equal. Consider the shaping of the room. As a school teacher I found that the more “circleish” the desks ended up being, the less likely we were to have issues/concerns and communication problems.

o People need to be heard

o If they aren’t heard they have two reactions

§ Withdrawn

§ Become combative

o Don’t make your room a part of the problem!!!

· A solution that allows for the publication of post-meeting notes and pre-meeting agendas that tie the meeting together

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Now for something completely different

Some communication anti-patterns:

Anti-Patterns:

· Selective Communication: this is where only certain people are privy to the “big picture” view of the overall project. Everyone else is kept in the dark.

· A variation of selective communication: the special people list: Beyond the selective communication is the concept of only certain people are the “favorites”

· Project Pirate: Swoops in and take charge of the meeting leading you in a new direction

· Project ghost: appears at every meeting and never agrees with anything. When the project has issues they are the first one to say “I was there and tried to stop them”

· Brain Storming Police: Starts conversation with a statement “let’s talk about what is going on and come up with ways to solve the problem.” When an idea is presented they respond by saying “well let’s not go there”

· Project Dictator[1]: Ok so maybe they don’t have special police forces for specific projects but you know what this person does. We are building a solution and there is ONLY ONE WAY TO DO IT

· Everything is Bad News: this person attends meetings and of course always has the negative view of what will happen next or the overall impact on the project. If they are the team lead this can be a huge issue

· Everything is Good news: this person attends every meeting and regardless of the situation only hears the good news. If they are the project lead this can be a huge issue.

· The Volunteers Evil Twin Brother: will also volunteer to drive things for your solution but will SELDOM if ever complete anything they volunteer to do

· Anti-Leader: the naysayer who makes Bad News Betty look like an optimist. This person will walk into the room as a leader in the eyes of some team members and then will do everything possible to destroy the project from there

· The Anti-Comic: This person interjects humorous comments at the wrong time that break up the meeting with laughter and groans. For humor in a meeting it’s all about the timing

· The Hanger-On: We never really know who invited this person to the meeting or in fact why they seem to be in every meeting but they are there. Their ultimate goals have nothing to do with any meetings rather they are “all-about” filling out their timesheet with all the meetings they have attended that week

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[1] This reference comes from Stephen “Doc” List and has been modified from his original project dictator.

Laughing through the meeting

from my upcoming book on transitional services, the various communication patterns. Anti-patterns are coming tomorrow…

Patterns:

· The helper: Let’s move this forward – what role do you need me to play? The helper can move your project forward very quickly

· The volunteer: This person will step forward and take on anything to move the project forward

· The cleaner: This person will remove issues and problems from the technology or business side of the solution by talking to people and working through the issues

· The opera star: well you know this person kinds of announces the project is completed and was of course, a huge success. They can also trumpet milestones and hurdling of small problems

· Commander Cody[1]: this person works through the issues with the project pirate and the ghost by engaging them and involving them in solving the specific problem you are attempting to solve

· Leader: the person who will take this team to greatness

· Scribe: the person who will document your meetings, from a camera picture of the whiteboard to extensive notes taken and posted on the team site the Scribe helps bring consistent communication to your team.

· The Comic: this person has impeccable timing and shares funny stories that continue to move the meeting forward while keeping the topic light

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[1] With of course deference to the old radio show, “Commander Cody”