I just read a great article by Paul Graham called Holding a Program in One’s Head. In it, Graham, explores the value of programmers having large blocks of uninterrupted time to code. This seems like a simple way to improve the quality of code and the productivity of your developers.

He lists eight points that help programmers and makes the following observations:

• It’s striking how often programmers manage to hit all eight points by accident.
• Even more striking are the number of officially sanctioned projects that manage to do all eight things wrong.

It looks like there is plenty of room for managers (and programmers) to improve!

Source - Jeff Sutherland - 2006

I have been doing some research on agile software development methodologies, specifically Scrum, and found the following videos.

• Pretty straight-forward concepts: Scrum Basics
• Another quick overview of Scrum: SCRUM in Under 10 Minutes
• Google Tech Talk with Jeff Sutherland: Scrum Tuning: Lessons learned from Scrum implementation… (This runs about an hour.)
• Goofy: Agile Development with Scrum: What they don’t tell you.
• Kinda long: Agile vs. Waterfall: A Tale of Two Teams

In the book, The Toyota Way, it is stated (p. 87) that “Most business processes are 90% waste and 10% value-added work.”

“Traditional business processes, in contrast, have the capacity to hide vast inefficiencies without anyone noticing – people just assume that a typical process takes days or weeks to complete.  They don’t realize that a lean process might accomplish the same thing in a matter of hours or even minutes. – The Toyota Way, p. 88

“The first question in TPS is always “What does the customer want from the process?” (Both the internal customer at the next steps in the production line and the final, external customer.)  This defines value.  Through the customer’s eyes, you can observe a process and separate the value-added steps from the non-value-added steps.  You can also apply this to any process – manufacturing, information, or service. – The Toyota Way, p. 27

1. Overproduction – Producing items for which there are no customer needs.
2. Waiting – Workers “standing around” waiting for the next processing step.
3. Conveyance – Moving work between different processes or storing work.
4. Over processing or incorrect processing – Taking unneeded steps to process the work or inefficient processing which produces defects.  This could also be caused by producing higher-quality products than needed.
5. Excess Inventory – This is harder to identify in the office environment, but think about work stacking up in one function area.  A constraint or inefficiency causes the work to “get stuck” at this bottleneck.  There may be some functions that should be outsourced to eliminate this “inventory” from your business processes.
6. Unnecessary Motion – Any wasted motion that is performed during the course of work.  Walking is an example of this. So are many meetings.
7. Defects – This refers to production defects that require rework, inspection, special handling time, extra cost, or lost revenue.
8. Unused Creativity – This is not in the core seven types of waste, but in the world of knowledge workers is a real form of waste.  This happens when you do not engage or listen to your workers.  It also happens when no time is set aside to think.  The cost can be high in terms of missed opportunities to save time, capture ideas, and improve skills.

As you look to improve the efficiency of your business process, examine everything in light of the eight wastes listed above.  Be brutally honest in your evaluation and then take positive action.  This will help you identify and eliminate the real pain points that are holding your business back.

Book Review: Why Work S***s and How To Fix It by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson

I eagerly awaited my copy of this book. Like many others, I want to have control of all my life. I don’t see any reason why a Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) can’t work at my work.

I will state up front that I have the hardest time with some of the language in the book, including the title. I just don’t use these words in my life and have a difficult, if not impossible time, saying them. Sure, I used to cuss back in my junior high days, but there was a point when I gave up that kind of talk. I won’t speculate why this kind of language was used, but it is my opinion that it will hurt adoption of ROWE in many organizations.

That being said, I am working in my organization to implement and promote the concepts of ROWE. I have challenged my own assumptions about work and how to measure it. Certainly, results are what are really important. I am able to telework one day a week. This has taken some pressure off my life. However, I would like complete control over when and how I do my work. I see the need in my team and colleagues, too. They are all trying to juggle life, work, and expectations. It would be much better if they could decide how and when to do their work, as long as they produce results. Results – it’s what every manager should want from their organization.

Cali and Jody do a great job of taking the reader through the changes at Best Buy. They also discuss the benefits of ROWE to both the employer and employee. The discussion of sludge is especially good. Any team will benefit from removing sludge. It is also good to hear about how ROWE has impacted people through the Voices from a ROWE sections after each chapter.

Finally, the total focus on results is the key to everything. Yes, a lot of what goes on in the workplace is looking busy. It always amazes me how little of the traditional workday is productive and how little of the communication is truly effective. In a ROWE individuals have control over their time and are measured by results. They now become focused on the important, communicate better, and are more productive.

I recommend, what I refer to as “The Introduction to ROWE Book” with the caution I stated above about the language. The book is packed with great ideas which should prompt valuable discussions. I hope that many workplaces will transform themselves into Results Only Work Environments. If they don’t, the world may just go there anyway.

I was searching the other day on how to become a better developer and came across the following series of articles. I really liked how each part encourages the developer to examine different facets of their job. Part 11 might work, if you like “boughten” massages.

• Part 1: Making Fans
• Part 2: Know Your Core Competencies
• Part 3: Enjoy the Panorama
• Part 4: Know What You’re Building
• Part 5: Don’t Use a Dull Knife
• Part 6: Become a Manager
• Part 7: The Jigsaw Puzzle
• Part 8: Know Your Archetype
• Part 9: How to Criticize a Software Developer Without Getting Punched
• Part 10: What Do Your Colleagues Think of You?
• Part 11: Get a Massage (and Get Your Boss to Pay For It)

If you are a software developer, I think it is worthwhile to read one part each day and reflect on it. It just might help you become a better one!

I read an article, or should I say I started reading an article, called When Taking Time Off Is No Vacation by C.J. Kelly. The following quote caught my attention.

Of course, I still have to maintain the security infrastructure. Before I went on leave, I worked a lot of hours trying to get ahead on my project schedule. It’s amazing what you can do when you lock yourself up in a lab, ignore e-mail and mute the cell phone. (emphasis mine)

In fact, by the time I left, I had managed to get two months ahead of schedule. With no time for chit-chat, I condensed my responses to questions and requests, even from my boss. I checked voice mail and e-mail when I woke up each morning, in the middle of the day and when I got home. If a message wasn’t urgent, I ignored it or passed it along to someone on my staff.

Wow! Two months ahead of schedule. That’s an amazing result with three basic steps.

1. Lock yourself up (Teleworking?)
2. Ignore email (Only check at scheduled times?)
3. Mute the cell phone (Uninterrupted time for work?)

What can you do to improve your focus and accomplish more?

Follow this link to a good article on dealing with your inbox. (Examples here are in Microsoft Outlook.)

Too often, our work is managed by our inbox. The inbox is simply an input to our work. It is better to work your inbox and decide what to do with each item. Follow the steps and adapt it to what works for you

I modified the “Trusted Trio” and added CC Mail (which I automatically route emails to) and Reading.

I also added the Delete button to the keyboard shorcut toolbar.

I am experimenting with different reading pane views to see what works best for me.

For years now, PowerPoint has firmly established itself as the “best” way to status a group of people about a project. Is it effective? By effective, I mean, does it communicate well and encourage discussion?

I think that, to some degree, PowerPoint presentations invoke what I call the TV syndrome. The people in your meeting sag into couch potato mode and become passive in the meeting. Imagine an hour or more filled with someone reading 58 PowerPoint slides!

Wouldn’t it be better to go with a one-page status on 11 x 17 paper, as suggested in The Toyota Way? With this approach, the essential details are available to all, on paper. Discussion can then be centered around the most important items, looking to not only problem solve, but also to set and keep direction, and to give recognition to people and their achievements.

I think that it is worth trying.

4/18/08 – EDIT:

The 11×17 status report is better known as the A3 report in The Toyota Way.

Click here to see an example.