Quote Series Part 7 - Philosophy (contd.)

This is part eight of the series, to see what this series is about, click here. This is the last in this series.

Quotes on "Philosophy"

Make time to make it right, or be prepared to do it again - Denise Caron

Embrace new directions... not everything you do will be used, sometimes, the target changes. Re-aim and move on! - Denise Caron

Change is constant... don't fight it, leverage it. - Denise Caron

Don't fall in love with your product, someone will be there to change it, it's a promise. - Denise Caron

Blindly following rules is a fools errand. We have enough grey matter to discern when the rules are helpful and when they are not. We have the responsibility to continuously measure whether the rules are helpful, or whether they are not. - Uncle Bob Martin

It is solely and utterly the team’s responsibility to figure out what to do, and to do it. - Ken Schwaber

"Better" is typically a word leveraged by those in control (eyes of the speaker). "Appropriate" is typically a word referencing those affected (surrounding group). We should seek that which is appropriate, not that which is better. Avoid elitism, blanket statements, or viewpoints of limited individual experience. - Kevin E. Schlabach

Without prioritization, nothing is a priority. - unknown

The practices are not the knowing: they are a path to the knowing. - Ron Jeffries

To tolerate a problem is to insist on it. - Ron Jeffries

If it hurts, do it more often - Martin Fowler

Note: where I can, I've credited or linked the source of the quote. Finding the source of a quote is like chasing a ghost. When a mentor says something witty, you might not know they are quoting someone else. If you are aware of a more appropriate source for any quote, PLEASE put a comment on the post and I'll do what I can to validate this. I mean no disrespect to anyone. I believe the risk of incorrect citings is outweighed by the value of sharing these wonderful nuggets.

Quote Series Part 7 - Philosophy

This is part seven of the series, to see what this series is about, click here.

Quotes on "Philosophy"

...initiating requires a willingness to look foolish, stupid, or uninformed. To initiate great things, you must truly not give a damn about what people think about you. - Seth Godin (Tribes book)

what you call things and their meaning matters cuz it sticks in people's mind - Twitterstream from Lean Kanban 2009 conference

No good idea can be judged by the number of people that get it - Ron Jeffries

Learning faster than our competitor is our only sustainable competitive advantage. - Denise Caron

Change happens fast, our competitors will not wait for us to get ready. - Denise Caron

Self-organize... don't wait to be told, be accountable and stride forward. Self correct! - Denise Caron

Satisfaction comes from closure- open-ended tasks can't be closed - ObjectMentor coach

Managing the project is MANAGEMENT'S responsibility... do the best you can with what you know now and program as though you have time to do a good job. - ObjectMentor coach

If you deliver every day, then no deadlines are special (or scary). - ObjectMentor coach

If it doesn’t hurt, then you’re probably not changing enough. - J. B. Rainsberger

If you just do the same things, only faster, then you’re missing the point. - J. B. Rainsberger

Note: where I can, I've credited or linked the source of the quote. Finding the source of a quote is like chasing a ghost. When a mentor says something witty, you might not know they are quoting someone else. If you are aware of a more appropriate source for any quote, PLEASE put a comment on the post and I'll do what I can to validate this. I mean no disrespect to anyone. I believe the risk of incorrect citings is outweighed by the value of sharing these wonderful nuggets.

Quote Series Part 6 - People

This is part six of the series, to see what this series is about, click here.

Quotes on "People"

If you don't make mistakes, you are not working on hard enough problems - Frank Wilczek

Open yourself to critics and take your capabilities to new heights. - Denise Caron

If you goof, apologize. If you apologize, mean it. - Seth Godin

If you want something to happen your way, try asking instead of demanding. - Seth Godin

If you’re getting feedback, realize that the person must care a lot to have sent it. - Seth Godin

Anyone who uses the term “resource” when referencing people has to put $1 in the “inappropriate comment” jar! - unknown

No matter the circumstances you can always improve. You can always start improving with yourself. You can always start improving today. - Kent Beck

A tool is nothing without a skilled artisan to handle it. - unknown

Don't inflict change on people. - J.B. Rainsberger

A dead scrum master is no good to anyone. - unknown

Note: where I can, I've credited or linked the source of the quote. Finding the source of a quote is like chasing a ghost. When a mentor says something witty, you might not know they are quoting someone else. If you are aware of a more appropriate source for any quote, PLEASE put a comment on the post and I'll do what I can to validate this. I mean no disrespect to anyone. I believe the risk of incorrect citings is outweighed by the value of sharing these wonderful nuggets.

Quote Series Part 5 - Code

This is part five of the series, to see what this series is about, click here.

Quotes on "Code"

Code degrades naturally, it needs refactoring constantly - ObjectMentor coach

Treat the system as a growing organism... failing tests equal the need for a behavior modification - ObjectMentor coach

Always check it in in a better state than you checked it out. - ObjectMentor coach

Don't let code sleep - things happen while you're asleep. (tests must pass on "sleeping" code) - Tim Ottinger

Switch pairs whenever you need to, it is not an insult but a way towards knowledge transfer and efficiency. - ObjectMentor coach

Refactoring: A series of small steps, each of which changes the program’s internal structure without changing its external behavior - Martin Fowler

Code left unchecked-in for a week is like milk unrefrigerated for a week. Eww. - James Shore

By far the dominant reason for not releasing sooner was a reluctance to trade the dream of success for the reality of feedback. - Kent Beck

Reading other people's code is the best way to learn. - Uncle Bob Martin

The mere presence of a great source control system doesn't obligate anyone to use it in a structured, rational way. No. That takes discipline - Jeff Atwood

Architecture without executable code is just an hallucination - Ivar Jacobson

Best code = non existent code - Amit Rathore @ Lean Kanban 2009

Note: where I can, I've credited or linked the source of the quote. Finding the source of a quote is like chasing a ghost. When a mentor says something witty, you might not know they are quoting someone else. If you are aware of a more appropriate source for any quote, PLEASE put a comment on the post and I'll do what I can to validate this. I mean no disrespect to anyone. I believe the risk of incorrect citings is outweighed by the value of sharing these wonderful nuggets.

Quote Series Part 4 - Metrics & Managers

This is part four of the series, to see what this series is about, click here.

Quotes on "Metrics"

Another purpose of measuring capacity is to improve throughput. If you plan for less than your capacity, you get less done than you could have. If you plan for more than your capacity, you get less done than you could have.

Having a plan with "enough" work in it less some slack to improve the probability of meeting commitments increases the amount of work that gets done compared to planning for too much or too little. - Kent Beck

Once you start measuring something, you can easily end up in a situation where the measurement itself starts influencing the things you want to measure. - unknown

Quotes on "Managers"

Management owns the 4 T's (time, talent , treasury, target )... everything else is up to the team. If you have a issue that affects one of the T's, then ask management for input. - Tim Ottinger

Message to Management - eventually, you can push too much change at once.... back off and let the team normalize. - JB Rainsberger

In my experience, it is the leader’s (manager’s) job to intervene in the case of inappropriate behavior, and when he or she does, the rest of the team will be grateful for the intervention. It is being a “servant” to the whole team by suppressing the individual behavior that will keep the team from being successful.

It’s not about telling people what they are doing wrong. It’s about constantly steering everyone on the team in the direction of success, and never letting any individual compromise the progress of the team toward success. - Mary Poppendieck

Note: where I can, I've credited or linked the source of the quote. Finding the source of a quote is like chasing a ghost. When a mentor says something witty, you might not know they are quoting someone else. If you are aware of a more appropriate source for any quote, PLEASE put a comment on the post and I'll do what I can to validate this. I mean no disrespect to anyone. I believe the risk of incorrect citings is outweighed by the value of sharing these wonderful nuggets.

Quote Series Part 3 - Stories

This is part three of the series, to see what this series is about, click here.

Quotes on "Stories"

Devalue the dollar - story points should be small, 1 pt - ObjectMentor coach

Stories add functionality, not technical layers. - ObjectMentor coach

If all stories are less than 5 days, we might not need a task breakdown. - ObjectMentor coach

All stories should be small enough to be delivered in less than a week. - ObjectMentor coach

Note: where I can, I've credited or linked the source of the quote. Finding the source of a quote is like chasing a ghost. When a mentor says something witty, you might not know they are quoting someone else. If you are aware of a more appropriate source for any quote, PLEASE put a comment on the post and I'll do what I can to validate this. I mean no disrespect to anyone. I believe the risk of incorrect citings is outweighed by the value of sharing these wonderful nuggets.

Quote Series Part 2 - Estimates and DONE

This is part two of the series, to see what this series is about, review part 1.

Quotes on "DONE"

One of the goals of the sprint is to measure what you have done - ObjectMentor coach

Burn-up should happen every day to stop scrunch stress (all things shouldn't finish on the last day) - ObjectMentor coach

If we’re not shipping our software when it’s ready, it’s poor business practice. If we’re not sure whether our software is ready, it’s poor software practice. - Ron Jeffries

Make Ship Happen - Todd Little

Quotes on "Estimates"

Ability to estimate correctly is not an ‘ability’ … it is a fluke and lucky guess - Roy Morien

Estimates only help us take action to get to the next step - unknown

Note: where I can, I've credited or linked the source of the quote. Finding the source of a quote is like chasing a ghost. When a mentor says something witty, you might not know they are quoting someone else. If you are aware of a more appropriate source for any quote, PLEASE put a comment on the post and I'll do what I can to validate this. I mean no disrespect to anyone. I believe the risk of incorrect citings is outweighed by the value of sharing these wonderful nuggets.

Quote Series Part 1 - Agile

Over the years, I've collected quotes from my agile surroundings. This collection has been growing for almost 5 years now. I've used it to inspire my teams by writing a new quote on the top of the team's wipeboard every few days. It keeps them thinking and on their toes. I've decided to do a series of blog posts to share them with all of you. (it's also good filler while I'm on leave due to the birth of my 2nd child and many in the industry are at Agile 2009.)

Quotes on "Agile"

My definition [of agile] is that you accept input from reality, and you respond to it - Kent Beck

An agile manager must: manage & deal w/ risk, be results oriented, have high energy, be a team player, have multi-tasking ability, be improvement oriented, listen first and speak second - Lee Henson

Agile is:
- A project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation
- A leadership philosophy that encourages team work, self-organization and accountability
- A set of engineering best practices that allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software
- A business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals
- Mike Cottmeyer / Jon Strickler

Deliver Frequent Releases, Empower Teamwork, Inspect and Adapt, Build Quality In - Karl Scotland

Agile != following steps, Agile != tools training
Agile = individuals & interactions, Agile = Collaboration & Teamwork
Agile = Environment Matters! Agile = learning from experience
Agile=reflection, Agile is an adjective not a noun!
- Rachel Davies (Agile 2007)

Agility might be said to be about encountering all the problems so early and so often that the effort to fix them is less than the pain of enduring them. - Ron Jeffries

Note: where I can, I've credited or linked the source of the quote. Finding the source of a quote is like chasing a ghost. When a mentor says something witty, you might not know they are quoting someone else. If you are aware of a more appropriate source for any quote, PLEASE put a comment on the post and I'll do what I can to validate this. I mean no disrespect to anyone. I believe the risk of incorrect citings is outweighed by the value of sharing these wonderful nuggets.