Disqus - Latest Comments for pklipp

Re: Backlogs Are Not Waste

pklipp — Tue, 12 May 2015 04:27:59 -0000

You just said the same things I've been saying for years and reached the same conclusion that I reached while fervently asserting that I am wrong. I once called backlogs waste (in a longer Tweet than the one stripped of context by Vasco) to encourage people to think carefully about the value of time invested in them because I have seen teams and product owners spending ridiculous amounts of time estimating, re-estimating, prioritizing, and re-prioritizing lists of features, half of which never, ever, get built.

Backlogs do represent investment because all we invest in software development, after all, is time. A backlog is waste in the same way that a half-finished feature is waste (as described by Mary and Tom so many years ago that I'd expect everyone in the industry to have been exposed to the idea by now). Something good might come of it, but at the moment it's just psychic overhead that isn't generating revenue or making anyone happy yet.

For that reason, I prefer to have a product roadmap, which differs from product backlogs I've seen (and I've seen hundreds) in that it's built around goals and a vision and pushes high-granularity solution design to the last responsible moment.

Kanbanery's roadmap has a very broad long-term goal (The easiest visual management tool to learn and use without sacrificing powerful change-driving feedback), a list of half a dozen major goals for the year, a list of areas to focus on this quarter, and a list of features to add this month.

We have a backlog, dating back over ten years, but it's so full of duplication, irrelevant ideas, customer requests that deviate from the product vision, bugs that have been fixed ages ago or were found in code that we've since thrown away and suggestions that have been rejected that I never look at it, just as J. B. never looks at his. Many hours have been spent on that list that I never look at, and the closest I can come to minimizing the loss is to write that time off as a sunk cost and learn from it.

Re: Waste and why I rather talk about something else

pklipp — Sun, 10 May 2015 07:51:27 -0000

Here's a way to avoid thinking about waste as rubbish. Consider for a while the idea that eliminating waste and minimizing waste aren't side by side on a continuum but are in fact diametrically opposed approaches to efficiency. One is grounded in all the worst aspects of Taylorism (humans are sloppy and careless and we have to keep them from frivolously flushing the firm's cash down the toilet) while the other is grounded in lean thinking (How do we as a team use our resources to produce value as efficiently as possible? What can do we less of and get the same result? What can we safely delay?).

Re: Waste and why I rather talk about something else

pklipp — Sun, 10 May 2015 07:47:41 -0000

Thanks for taking the time to understand my point. That tweet I first spurted out years ago keeps making the rounds every few months (in an even more confusing, abbreviated form) and each time I face the same arguments from people who stick to their guns even after we've clarified that we're not talking about the same thing (waste=rubbish vs. the lean definition). I don't like defending it because, like you, I spent very little time as a product manager thinking about waste. It's an amusing and occasionally useful mental exercise, but it's very far from the core of my job.

Re: COLAB Open Coffee #25 on Feb 26th @ 8am

pklipp — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 23:18:40 -0000

The ACE! Conference (http://aceconf.com) is adding a track for startups this year and offering discount for startups. If you don't want to pay, we also need volunteers to help with organization, setup, and registration.

Re: OpenCoffeeKRK

pklipp — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 05:13:05 -0000

If you've been to a design or startup conference and heard a great speaker, please let me know her name. If you've got a favorite lean startup or leanUX blogger, podcaster, author, or practitioner who talks about growth hacking, customer interviewing, LeanUX, or Lean Startup, please let me know. paul@wawelhill.com

Re: OpenCoffeeKRK

pklipp — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 04:43:12 -0000

The agile/startup conference I mentioned today is http://aceconf.com

Re: Evernote Business Notebook review: A stylish Moleskine jotter to organize your handwritten notes

pklipp — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 02:02:11 -0000

This one at least matches and perhaps surpassed Moleskine, but it's also expensive: http://www.leuchtturm1917.c...

Re: OpenCoffeeKRK

pklipp — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 14:01:07 -0000

Sorry, folks. I forgot that I promised to help my son study for an English test in the morning. I'll come to the next one.

Re: OpenCoffeeKRK

pklipp — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 03:07:29 -0000

I'll be visiting tomorrow to ask people what they'd like to learn at the ACE! conference. Suggestions are: growth hacking, design thinking, LeanUX, copy writing, Lean Startup, user interviewing techniques.

Re: LeanKit - Pricing & Reviews 2014 - ITQlick.com

pklipp — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 06:24:51 -0000

None of the information about alternatives in this article is accurate. Several of them, including Kanbanery, have iOS apps, free plans, and integration with other services.

Re: The Right Way to Unplug When You’re on Vacation

pklipp — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:52:29 -0000

That's complicated. I just got back from a two-week disconnected vacation and all I did was bring nothing electronic with me. My email auto-response message was "I am on vacation with no intention of accessing the internet. I didn't bring a phone. The police might be able to find me, but don't count on it and certainly not in time to do any good. If you have to make a difficult decision because of that, I hope you don't feel uncomfortable and just accept that it's my fault for putting you in that position."

It worked like a charm.

Re: Anatomy of a name badge

pklipp — Thu, 29 May 2014 14:37:57 -0000

I designed this badge (A5 size) inspired by your post for my next conference. The surname is 75 points, and the first name is enlarged to fit the width. Thank you! And to hang it, I'm using a double hole punch and parachute cord so it's adjustable and can't flip. The schedule will be on the back. http://paulklipp.com/images...

Re: How the Government Pays Defense Contractors Tens of Billions For Nothing

pklipp — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 07:39:23 -0000

Recognising a sunk cost when you see one is a sign of mature management. Throwing some money into a hole is bad, but inevitable. Continuing to throw money into a hole even when you know that's what you're doing is reprehensible.

Re: OpenCoffeeKRK

pklipp — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 02:43:15 -0000

The ACE! conference introduced reduced rates for startups. Http://aceconf.com

Re: Watch nearly invincible crazy ant dominate fire ant by neutralizing its venom [VIDEO]

pklipp — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 10:27:02 -0000

I'm pretty sure that's true, but not 100% sure. There might be a 4th option we haven't identified yet. But I put natural selection between those other two ridiculous ideas because 1) randomness does play a role in natural selection and 2) it's not intelligent, but it does have a purpose.

Re: Watch nearly invincible crazy ant dominate fire ant by neutralizing its venom [VIDEO]

pklipp — Sun, 16 Feb 2014 03:51:15 -0000

There's a third option, between randomness and a magic sky daddy. It's called natural selection.

Re: OpenCoffeeKRK

pklipp — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 14:37:10 -0000

I got in touch with them weeks ago and they never responded.

Re: Watch nearly invincible crazy ant dominate fire ant by neutralizing its venom [VIDEO]

pklipp — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 14:34:09 -0000

I don't think anyone believes that evolution is random.

Re: Best Practices in Software Development - The ACE Conference - Community

pklipp — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 11:26:13 -0000

The venue is going to be at ul. Św. Wawrzyńca 12, 31-060 Kraków. I'll look around for the best hotels soon. Anyone from Kraków care to make a suggestion?

Re: OpenCoffeeKRK

pklipp — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 03:45:40 -0000

To be clear - I'm not interested in selling my services as a design ethnographer. I'm looking for a local startup that I can help because I'd like to become more involved in the Krakow startup community after taking a long time away from it and all I ask for is open minded people to work with and the right to use my work in case studies, conference talks, and blogs.

Re: Best Practices in Software Development - The ACE Conference - Community

pklipp — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 07:18:40 -0000

Thanks. I'll get in touch with him.

Re: Best Practices in Software Development - The ACE Conference - Community

pklipp — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 09:02:19 -0000

He always does a good presentation. ACE! was the first conference to invite him to keynote, back in 2011, I think.

Re: ReadingThe Programmers Guide To Peopleby Tom Howlett

pklipp — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 04:23:39 -0000

I'm only 1/3 of the way in and really enjoying it. I'll share more when I finish, but I felt motivated to say that so far, It's a good read.

Re: Lean ProcrastinationUnpublished

pklipp — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 15:27:01 -0000

I'm just a few pages in, but I'm hooked. Olaf's ideas about value delivery starting with discretion fit my experience perfectly and he expresses himself eloquently.

Re: Worst College Majors for Your Career - Kiplinger

pklipp — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 12:41:39 -0000

I have undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and English and I minored in art photography. If I hadn't later earned an MBA from a good school, my life would have been very different. Likewise, if I'd never gotten a good liberal education and instead studied only business, I'd probably have more money, but I would have missed so much that adds color and meaning to my life that I wouldn't know how to be happy with what I had. In the end, the MBA was more useful in opening doors, but the anthropology degree helped me to know which doors I wanted to open.