Posted by Denis Koelewijn just before lunchtime: May 13th, 2010
This is the second of a series of blog posts discussing Lean Architecture principles. Each post will discuss one principle and applying these principles will result in an architecture (process) that is better connected to the business, better able to deal with change and more cohesive. Last week we discussed the first principle Always involved. In this blog entry we discuss the second principle that applies to the architect role and the architectural artifacts and is called “Travel Light“. Travel light should be taken literally, how much does the architect have to carry around running from stakeholder to stakeholder? How much material does he need to explain the business needs to the development team, what does he need to explain the vision of the product to the business, to involve operations early on, etc., etc. ?
Posted by Gero Vermaas in the early morning: April 28th, 2010
This is the second of a series of blog posts discussing Lean Architecture principles. Each post will discuss one principle and applying these principles will result in an architecture (process) that is better connected to the business, better able to deal with change and more cohesive. The first principle that we discuss applies to the architect role and is called “Always Involved“. The architect role is not limited to one project phase or even one project, a good architect takes a much broader perspective. The Lean Architect constantly communicates with all stakeholders (from business till operations), plays an active role in running projects, and ensures that lessons learned in projects are known and where applicable used in other projects.
Posted by Gerard Janssen terribly early in the morning: April 23rd, 2010
In our work with clients we often have discussions about the function of architecture and the role of architects. These discussion are largely due to fact that architecture does not visibly contribute to organizational goals and is perceived as a nuisance for projects. Many discussions originate from a lack of understanding of the role and place of architects in the organization. We have defined three goals of the architecture function in IT organizations: The Three C’s of Architecture. These are: Connection, Cohesion and Changeability. Taking these as the prime principles of architecture provides focus on what to do and how to position architecture in the organization.
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Posted by Machiel Groeneveld around lunchtime: May 28th, 2009
A few months ago I was joined a software development team that had some problems getting their process right. The team was doing Scrum by the book, apart from regular production releases they were doing it all: sprints, planning, retrospectives, Scrum board etc. This team didn’t need too much explanation of Scrum so I could dive into development straight away, or so I thought. They struggled with getting the sprints right, their velocity was decreasing and spirits were low. Luckily we managed to change our process by changing some basic Scrum practices and replacing some of them with Lean practices, inspired by the new Kanban articles and presentations. Productivity is now higher than ever and we can now focus on what really matters: product quality and customer satisfaction.
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Posted by Machiel Groeneveld mid-morning: January 5th, 2009
Will infoq.com have a “Lean” section in the near future? Given the recent rise in blogs, presentations and articles on Lean subjects, don’t be surprised if, in 2009, Lean will be the new Agile.
Lean is a process management philosophy derived from the Toyota Production System that aims to provide more value with less work. Lean originated from mass manufacturing, but has successfully been applied in other industries such as health care, travel industry, and services. That means Lean can also be applied in software development.
Although Lean is becoming more popular in the Agile community, the views on what Lean is, differ widely. Martin Fowler tries to avoid the entire Lean vs. Agile debate by stating that they are equal. Although the idea of keeping Lean within the boundaries of Agile has its appeal, not everyone agrees.
Posted by Anurag Shrivastava at around evening time: July 7th, 2008
On 6th July 2008 we had opportunity to welcome Mary and Tom Poppendieck at the Xebia office in Gurgaon, in their last leg of India tour, in which they organized workshops on Lean Software Development. Mary, an Engineer, started her career at 3M, as a junior engineer, described how she was mentored by seniors to learn and perform. It was very easy for me to relate the 3M case study at ISB with the actual experience of Mary at 3M. A key point for me to notice was that at 3M the business managers kept two best engineers without any project assignments so they would be available to help juniors.