I published a tongue in cheek article yesterday, but it left me wondering whether I believe in the value of certification.
I guess the answer is yes, but …..
Archive for the ‘Observations’ Category
Do I believe in agile certification?
Posted by James King on July 15, 2011
Posted in Agile development, Observations | Tagged: agile certification | Leave a Comment »
A mathematical formula to make agile work
Posted by James King on July 14, 2011
I was speaking to some experienced Agilistas about whether “Agile” had a good or bad reputation at the moment.
We spoke about agile maturity models, agile certification, real agile versus pretend agile and even whether there was a right way to do agile. We did not come to any agreement about whether certification and maturity models were good or bad but we did agree there was no one formula for success in agile.
This seemed logical at first but then I thought there really should be one formula we can apply. That way we can simply measure people on whether they are using it and correct their approach for them.
So after minutes of detailed research and experimentation I came up with the following formula.
Posted in Agile development, Agile fables, Arguing | Tagged: agile, formula for success, maturity model | 2 Comments »
Link to my presentation for the agile gathering in Sydney in July
Posted by James King on July 13, 2011
Last night I did a presentation for the monthly gathering of agilistas in Sydney, so I thought I should publish my slides here.
There is no sound so they may not make too much sense without any context, but here they are anyway:
http://prezi.com/vllsdawtxfxv/but-where-do-the-stories-come-from/
They are created in a free software package called Prezi.com that allows you to zoom in and out of material so you can present a mindmap rather than a set of slides.
I am sure with practice and creativity you can create far better presentations, but even as a first try I found it really easy to use.
Posted in Events, Observations | Tagged: agile, prezi.com | Leave a Comment »
Agile fables: Penny goes to a management meeting
Posted by James King on May 25, 2011
Penny didn’t used to think that testing and management had much to do with each other, but she was about to learn that the most testing people of all were the managers.
Posted in Agile fables | Tagged: agile fables, managers distressing people | Leave a Comment »
What is happening to business analysts in agile projects
Posted by James King on May 12, 2011
I went to a conference recently and someone asked about the impact of agile projects on the role of the business analyst (BA).
The panellists all explained that BA’s are really important members of the team. This was comforting for the audience but didn’t really address the question.
Posted in Agile development, Observations | Tagged: agile business analyst | 2 Comments »
Penny and the agile support team part two. Zara tries hard to explain things.
Posted by James King on May 10, 2011
If you have just joined our story, Penny was promoted to run the new third level support team and she has been told they have to be agile.
Penny decided to start their second day with a team meeting and she bought everyone a coffee as a welcome to the team kind of gesture. Penny wasn’t absolutely sure, but she thought managers were allowed to charge coffee to the company when they had important meetings.
Posted in Agile fables, Observations | Tagged: agile fables, agile support team | Leave a Comment »
Penny Wise and the Agile Support Team–episode one
Posted by James King on May 5, 2011
The story so far
Penny worked in the IT call centre. Her title was quite bland (she was a Second Level Support – Analyst Class 4), but she pictured herself as a young Sherlock Holmes.
Posted in Agile development, Agile fables, Observations | Tagged: agile fables, support team | Leave a Comment »
Stealing ideas from Stand Back and Deliver
Posted by James King on April 16, 2011
I am running an “advanced BA course” next week and as part of the course we will be exploring the concept of strategy from a business analysts point of view.
One of the trainers I work with (Shane) recommended we provide the participants with a book called “Stand Back and Deliver” by Pollyanna Pixton, Niel Nickolaisen, Todd Little and Kent McDonald.
Posted in Decisions, Idea management, Investigation, Observations | Leave a Comment »
Signing in from Canberra
Posted by James King on March 26, 2011
I have been to Australia’s capital city twice in the last month to run training courses.
I stayed in different hotels each trip and noticed that they had slightly different approaches to making me feel welcome.
Both offered breakfast, though neither did it very well. Both had friendly staff and both had the same overall processes in place to take payment, give me my key and so forth. But the first hotel differentiated themselves with an unexpected welcoming sign in the bathroom once I settled into my room.
Posted in Observations | Tagged: signs | 1 Comment »
If agile is anti-documentation, why is there a manifesto?
Posted by James King on February 6, 2011
Agile development is becoming mainstream in IT. But people new to agile often ask about the seemingly thorny area of documentation.
Posted in Agile development, Observations | Tagged: agile, documentation | 1 Comment »
