Chris Sterling and I presented “Integrating Quality into Portfolio Management” at the BayAPLN last night. I played the role of Earl and Chris played Geoff in several vignettes that described several conversations at different stages of the most strategic initiatives in the company.
1. We just finished our annual portfolio planning. Geoff is in great shape because his Saturn Alpha release went so well. Earl let’s him know he is doing great and keep it up.
2. Later (several months) Geoff comes to Earl with a problem. They need to slip the schedule! Defects are spiraling out of control. Earl is so upset because everything is impacted because of dependencies. Earl yells in helpless frustration, “Just get it done!”
3. Still later (several iterations) Geoff comes back to Earl. The goal of every iteration has been “Integrate.” Dependencies are causing huge problems. Still, things are better. Forecasts are converging and it looks like a release is becoming predictable. Earl wants to know how he can help prevent this in the future because it looks like he will keep his job after all.
Quality bit Earl hard…Strategic Planners and Portfolio Planners must understand quality or schedules will be at risk. Quality problems often reveal themselves late in release cycles when options are few.
1. We just finished our annual portfolio planning. Geoff is in great shape because his Saturn Alpha release went so well. Earl let’s him know he is doing great and keep it up.
2. Later (several months) Geoff comes to Earl with a problem. They need to slip the schedule! Defects are spiraling out of control. Earl is so upset because everything is impacted because of dependencies. Earl yells in helpless frustration, “Just get it done!”
3. Still later (several iterations) Geoff comes back to Earl. The goal of every iteration has been “Integrate.” Dependencies are causing huge problems. Still, things are better. Forecasts are converging and it looks like a release is becoming predictable. Earl wants to know how he can help prevent this in the future because it looks like he will keep his job after all.
Quality bit Earl hard…Strategic Planners and Portfolio Planners must understand quality or schedules will be at risk. Quality problems often reveal themselves late in release cycles when options are few.
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