(2013-02-20) Clear Thoughts On Principles Of Product Development Flow

Andrew Clear: Thoughts on Principles of Product Development Flow, Part 2

Motivations for Altering Software Development Processes

Shortened cycle time, eliminating waste, limiting WIP, driving feedback, increasing unit test code coverage and all the others are only proxy variables for whatever that root motivation actually is

These proxy variables are often much easier to measure and track and can provide great insight into your management process. The problem arises when we forget that these are proxies and start to optimize them for their own sake.

none of these variables are completely independent. Reducing cycle time comes with a cost, and if we forget that cost (or ignore it completely) we may be making horribly wrong decisions in the name of optimization. The perfect example is utilization. We often like to forget that increasing utilization comes with very distinct, non-linear costs in lead time, morale, and code quality.

D. Reinertsen chooses Cost of Delay as his metric

What we need to do is return to the beginning, uncover the reason we are attempting to alter our process and express our proxy variables in terms of that underlying motivation.