Uncovering better ways

I am uncovering better ways of developing solutions – by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work I have come to value:

• Apply the costs to add business value – over cutting costs
• Being flexible and open  – over adding predictability 
• Providing information for decisions – over ensuring the reliability

• Solving the right problem – over solving it the right way 
• Seeing the end result – over being nit-picky and detail orientd
• Suggesting examples and cases – over having one-size fits all  
• Do something good enough – over doing something perfectly  
• Get something shipped – over achieving total coverage  
• Being prepared for change – over following a script  
• Share information and connections – over hoarding and hiding 
• Appreciate good efforts – over taking things for granted 
• Trust and empower people – over controlling
• To lead and help – over managing
• Challenge and question – over keeping quit
• Suggest and discuss privately – over critiquing publicly
• Being empathic  – over focussing on rightfulness
• Quality as a relationship – over quality as fixed attributes
• Training and mentoring – over certifications

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, I value the items on the left more.

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

1. The value of any practice depends on its context.
2. There are good practices in context, but there are no best practices.
3. People, working together, are the most important part of any project’s context.
4. Projects unfold over time in ways that are often not predictable.
5. The product is a solution. If the problem isn’t solved, the product doesn’t work.
6. Good software testing is a challenging intellectual process.
7. Only through judgment and skill, exercised cooperatively throughout the entire project, are we able to do the right things at the right times to effectively test our products.