Just plain cute

First spinn of the year

(Agile stuff can be found on http://annaforss.spaces.live.com/)

Finally, I held my first spinning session on Wednesday. It was over a month ago and the legs felt kind of soggy. A new colleague hanged along and since he knows how to ride a bike, he was really with me over the mountains and on that yellow field where we test sprinting.

After the spinning session, I felt slightly dizzy. I guess I need more fluids than I'm drinking. I haven't thought about me needing more from screaming and speaking while having the spinning sessions. I need to get that right. Well, after some refilling with water I got back to my old self. Or at least I thought that.

During this morning's run to work I could feel the cycling in the legs. It was quite cold (-7C) and the legs didn't feel right. For some reason I run a bit faster as well. So, it felt hard. Having meetings all day I wondered if I could stay focused the whole day. But since all the meetings were interesting and active, I soon forgot about that and had a normal day.

This weekend, I'm really going to take it slow. Really slow.

Getting longer

(If you're looking for the stuff about agile and lean software development, check out my new blog at http://annaforss.spaces.live.com/)

Since I changed jobs, I've also increased the route to work. From having 4,5k to work it's now 8,5. And since the parking fee is much higher, driving is no longer an option. So, it's biking or running for me. I've also gotten back to the tube. But I prefer the bike or my own feet.

I was wondering how it would work, increasing the weekly dosage of running with almost 15k and it was many years since I took longer morning runs. It hasn't been a problem. Quite the opposite. The first k:s are always the worst for me so the run feels perfect.

The only problem is the temperature. During the nights, the temperature goes under 0C and during the days it rains. So, it's like running on glass on portions of my run. But that also makes it a bit more interesting and challenging. I can focus on standing on my own two feet.

So, what does this mean for my running objectives? I don't know yet. I'm still doing Midnattsloppet, even if I haven't decided on a costume yet. Perhaps I'll do a half marathon later this year.

Four new kids

The challenges with the global environments are many and since my company, TUI Nordic works strategicly with all its objectives, it is important to have clear objectives and take part of the right projects. It is therefore with joy that I can tell you that Fritidsresor has become active in the WARF - Wild Animal Rescue Foundations "Gibbon Rehabilitation Project". This means a lot of things, like posting information how travellers can help the situation for the gibbon monkey and also that we have adopted four gibbon monkeys in the project.

Since Thailand is an important site for the company, this feels like a worthy cause. Read more at the WARF web site.

Splitting into two

I've been thinking about this for a while, but now it's time to get moving. This blog is about my interests (running, cooking, family, the skeptic movement, and so on) and about my thoughts on agile and lean in software development. The statement Pain is temporary, failure lasts forever fits better for my personal interests than for my view on software development. So, I'm migrating the upcoming posts on software development, agile and so on to my new blog.

Since I always want to try new stuff, I'm keeping the new blog on Spaces and this is the new address:

http://annaforss.spaces.live.com/

On this blog, I'll continue post more on my interests and my personal travel through life. And thanks, Sir Agile, for making me finally do this

New activity in my vaccination campaign

Today I semi-launched my site for supporting the Swedish vaccination program. Since the campaign is directed against Sweden, the site is in Swedish:

http://barnvaccination.spaces.live.com/

Not the best looking site but this was really the easiest way for me to get the information out. I'm going to give the site some more love in the near future (the weekend) but new job, college classes and a family takes time too...

Concept store in Forum Nacka (Stockholm)

This is the new concept store for Fritidsresor in Forum Nacka here in Stockholm.

I spent the day in the store, listening to both customers and the sales people. As you can see, the store is quite different from other stores (at least in Sweden) which sells leisure travel.

Half the store is a cozy sitting area, while half is more for self service. Really nice!




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A visit to the real world - the project manager in the field

You might not be able to tell, but this picture is actually from one of our new concept stores. The store is located at the mall at Forum Nacka, and it will be really interesting to see a completely new environment in which we sell leisure travel (at least in Sweden I've never seen anything like this).

Besides from meeting our sales staff, I hope to meet some customers and listening to their questions and ideas. Meeting real customers and users. Hurray!

A story of growth

My son really loves baking. From an early age, he loved hanging around me in the kitchen, eager to help. Of course, in the beginning his help was of no help to me in my baking. Then, I had three options:

• Since it took less time, I could have done everything myself
• Even if it took longer time, I could involve Peter is different tasks, having him learn the stuff.
• Combine the two strategies
  

I went for the last strategies: I involved Peter in tasks which he could learn to master and explained to him which tasks were not suitable to him and then he could only watch. Of course it took longer time and I chose bakery which weren't too complicated.

As time has progressed, so have Peter, and on Sunday, he was finally making a net value. We baked some cinnamon rolls and 3 kg of home made lasagne to a friend who is giving birth this week. Peter took care of melting the butter, taking out the forms and placing the rolls in the forms. He made his own rolls and he really helped me making the lasagne plates, including fixing the dough.

Imagine his pride when he could serve his father his very own cinnamon rolls and guess how much better he eats when he's cooked the meal. Giving responsibility is enabling confidence.

Are you accountable?

Mike Cottmeyer discusses the combining of the "traditional project manager view" and the "agile leader view" in his thought worthy blog post on accountability.

One very interesting part is when one of the team members says the following to Mike (then new to the agile mindset):

"you just get what you get when you get it."

This is of course true. In all projects it's important that the participants do their best to make the "what" as the right stuff to the right quality and that you get the most right stuff to the right quality as possible. In other words; people do their best to increase the product increment.

What Mike was really worried about was that people didn't do their best, perhaps slacking, perhaps working on other projects or just the wrong stuff.

In other words, he wasn't sure that he count on the team doing their best on his project. Why do project managers feel like this: that they cannot count on people doing their jobs? Are they evil not believing in people or are the participants not to be trusted.

Trust does not come automatically. We all know that. But in agile projects, trust is a necessity. The business people need to trust the developers knowing how to build stuff. Developers must trust that the business people tell them which problems they need solved as soon as they know themselves and that they say when they change their minds.

Managers need to trust their groups doing their jobs. Because everyone on an agile project need to be someone you can count on. That does not mean that managers should stop managing. That just mean that a good manager does not need to scare people to work and they people with a good manager work independently if he's checking on them. He's making sure that things run smoothly and that the team know what they're supposed to do.

Before going agile, make sure the trust is there and otherwise make sure to build trust in your organisation. A good start to get some ideas on the subject is of course reading Five Disfunctions of a Team by Lencioni.

And no, trust is not confiding in someone. Just because a team member told you something personal in confidence does not mean that he trusts you or that you trust him.

Another thing to remember that trust is not absolute. I trust my son being able to make the different exercises at gymnastics but that does not mean I trust him driving the car. You must have reasonable expectations and not give unwarranted trust in someone.

Finally, an important question is how well you have trust in yourself. If you don't trust yourself doing the job, how could anyone else trust you? An interesting insight in this situation is the personal account by Dan Kennedy describing his career in the music industry in the book Rock On.

Go ahead and build some trust: be the person others can trust. Make people wanting to be trusted by you.

Corporate visions?

This Wednesday I started my new position at TUI Nordic and since then I've been busy getting busy at my new job. It's interesting to finally be working at a company which focuses on a real corporate vision and related strategies. Just after three days, I know the vision and strategy from the heart and this colors how I view the projects I'm getting involved in.

I've earlier discussed the importance of a product vision and a project vision before starting an agile project. But I think the corporate vision is the way to start. From the corporate vision, product and project can be set.

I'm also really excited about working in an organisation actively working with lean values.

I guess this is it for now. Time for rest, but I'll get back to you. From next week I starting to publish the material from my booklet on product ownership in scrum project.

Campaigning with the help of google documents

Perhaps you think that the outburst from the other day was just a coincidence. I beg to differ. These last days I've spent many hours educating myself and completing a document which will be the basis for our campaign. We are now a handful of individuals working on the same document and even more has been invited to view the content as the work is in progress.

Since the document is filled with references, I used Microsoft Word while creating the first version but now when we've moved into editing mode, I've published the document on Google Documents so all interested can view it and so that we editors can edit it directly. Wonderful! I wouldn't have wanted to create the basis of the document in Google Documents but the collaboration features are excellent in their ease of use and just the right set of features. I was amazed that my footnotes were included when I imported the document. Adding or removing footnotes now will be a bit more complicated than in Word but I agree with Google that the included features are enough.

I've also been in contact with a number of organisations, doctors and researchers and am happy to learn that a complete novice has been given so much time and effort, even if we are in a country which will not be as effected if the battle against measles is not won. I guess that if you've really seen the effects or been in a country struck by measles, this subject is something that affects you.

In a couple of days, we'll be done with the document and then the next phase will commence. Keep you updated!

When your every day chore is an event for you customer

I guess the lift off of a space shuttle is still not considered an every day thing, but I guess it's kind of mainstream to the guys at Kennedy Space Centre. For my husband, spending a day watching the lift off was a real treat (he took the picture this summer and I hope he won't report me for stealing it from him to publish here but he's kind of used to me discussing his stuff on this blog). For him, this will always be a special occasion since it was the first time he saw a space shuttle lift off on site.

When delivering services like education, travel, theatre, health care, what ever, we have customers to whom THEIR experience is something extra ordinary but for the staff it's an every day thing. Also, the staff is often not be affected after the event has passed.

For example, a friend of me is in a few days having a new baby. Having born two really big boys before (both weighed over 5 KG), giving birth is quite frightening. But having the staff reassuring her that "but we deliver women every day" still does not help her in her fears. Because they don't deliver her babies every day. And they are not doing the actual delivering either. OK, they see it all the time and help out all the time. But that does not make every birth very unspecial to the parents involved. Also, a failed birth might to the staff result in punishment in some form, but for the parents and the kids involved, this is a life changer.

I often found this hard to tackle when giving computer classes. Even if I'd held a class a thousand time, the participants would only participate on that only occasion and really wanted to feel special and "all". And a failed course meant for me ... nothing ... while a failed course for a participant might mean that they could not do their job properly, feel stupid and perhaps cause other problems at their work places. I had a guy taking Excel classes who where going to calculate medicine doses after my class. What if I hadn't helped him get it right. Pride in your work is making every occasion count. Or as Gordon Ramsey put it: a chef is never better than his latest service.

Compare with travelling. What if your latest trip sucked and you contacted the company and they said; well, your trip sucked but the one before was excellent. Why would you care? And it does not matter if that you where the best developer on your last sprint if you produced bad code this sprint.

So, every time you think "Here we go again, yet another X. I think I'll do some short cuts this time because this is becoming boring" while completing your work, think that this occasion is a mark of your professionality. It does not matter that the last time you made X, you were brilliant. That mattered then. But it does not make it OK to do a crappy work this time. If the tasks are boring, find ways to improve them without affecting the quality or find yourself another job.

When technology rule the development

I guess few people in the industry are uninterested in technology, gadgets and things. I guess the interest in system development in many cases derive from an early interest in the gadget Computer. Embracing new technologies, tools and versions are often good for the creative process, and for productive environment, but this must be prioritized like everything else. The costs must be calculated as well as the benefits. A software project is not about letting the developers have a nice time playing with the newest toys on the market.

This is perhaps best illustrated in the story of The Works. The Works was supposed to be the first computer animated film. Ten years after the project started, they were still not done and one of the main reasons was that the developers too often got new tools and versions and felt that they had to start all over. When the project was canceled in 1986, only a few minutes of actual film had been completed. Another reason for the project failed was that the technology was not ready for what they wanted to do. And that is also an important lesson: only build what you can complete.

But don't forget that most developers are interested in the new things and don't say no to everything. But estimate the costs and benefits and put it on the list. Also, introducing the "new stuff" can be an excellent reward for a hard working team after they've accomplished something grand.

Thanks Hexmaster of Faktoider for sharing the story (here in Swedish).

How much media want to believe

The history of Carlos is interesting to everyone who wants to easy to become a known medium.

Carlos hit Australian media like a meteor. A young American man could channel to an ancient spirit named Carlos, stopping his pulse during the process. As this medium he could predict the future. Wow! Really amazing. Or was it more amazing that no journalist bothered to check the facts before channeling the story to their audience?

Sad sad times for human health - the anti vaccination movement seem to get what they want

This morning I became really, really upset, reading about measles in the world. In Sweden, we have an objective to eradicate measles from the population. Because people falsely (yes, falsely since the study which showed this was falsified before published in the Lancet) believes in an increased risk for autism when vaccinating children, measles are still here. And also alarming, we Europeans has yet again spread measles to South America. The last time this happened, the Indian population was heavily decimated and this is a main reason for the Spaniards so easily conquering the continent.

You might see measles like something harmless but one out of 1000 develop meningitis, and this is a deadly disease.

Get yourself educated! Help fight measles and the anti vaccination movement. Here are some links. I've included links from scientific, catholic and skeptic sources, since this is nothing that only the "evil corporate forces" want us to believe. Even the Catholic church states that this is one of the most important issues for the health of humanity.

http://csicop.org/si/2007-06/
http://www.catholic.org/ae/movies/review.php?id=29777
http://csicop.org/si/2004-01/anti-vaccination.html
http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/vaxliars/questions.htm
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19426094.200-us-vaccines-on-trial-over-link-to-autism.html
http://www.gavialliance.org/
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_45489.html
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4055

And for you who don't think measles is such a big deal, here from MSF:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/issue.cfm?id=2397
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=1757

Don't break your back going agile

When I was starting my first structured agile project, everyone said it was hard. There are many burnt out folks in the business.

I look at it like one of last spring's projects. I was quite annoyed by a bush at our entrance and suddenly I was in to my knees in dirt, digging out the thing. It took me the better part of a day and I saw no end to it. I just kept digging and finding more roots. The area where is stood was kind of small so I also had big problems finding a good place to stand while working. It was raging hot for a Swedish summer. I guess some people would have just cut the roots at an appropriate depth. But that is not me.

But finally, the thing moved when I shoved it and within an hour I could drag the thing from the earth. Success! Going agile feels sometimes the same. It just get worse and worse and you're at a really dirty small area while everyone else seems to be chilling in the shade.

The risk for physical harm is probably not so great in software scrum as in rugby scrum, but isn't it interesting that the risk for cervical spine injuries are the greatest to the hooker, who should be considered the rugby scrum's scrum master? Take care of your scrum master.

Do you have a Collyer?

The term Collyer is used for an area packed with junk, trash and belongings. The term come from a pair of brothers whose house had to relieved from approximately 103 tons of garbage upon their death. The trash consisted everything from dead horses to abandoned trash from the neighbours. One of the brothers had been dead for two years but the surviving brother had kept his body in the house. And now it's happened again, a man digging tunnels through his garbage got lost and died in England.

One wonders how it got started. I don't think the man in England decided that he was going to gather so much junk that he could make tunnels in it. I think it started in a habit common to many. "I don't know how I'm going to use this but I'll just hang on to it and it will perhaps come to good use sometimes." Another (often combined situation) is when someone is like the birds in Find Nemo: "Mine mine mine." For some, having is not as important as others not having. And then this is repeated over and over again. And suddenly you cannot do anything because all you do is dig through the garbage.

Lean Software and agile development identifies this as one of the most important problems in software development. If you look at you project or your development environment as the Collyer house you probably have those routines and documents that you really don't see how you're going to use but you think can be handy. Right.

This does not mean that you should only have things you need right here and now. There are things like insurance and fire indicators which have a value even when they are not used. But then you know that there is a calculated risk and the consequences if the unfortunate happens. But no one will die because you didn't keep that broken umbrella.

(Thanks to my friends at VoF for supplying with details on the Collyer family.)

Bright lights in a sea of darkness -are bright developers really so rare?

Yesterday, Mark Levison posted a very interesting blog post on the less productive developers. His post is as always thought worthy and I was already planning on writing about it today. He stresses the importance not starting the blaming game directly but looking at the reasons for someone not performing as expected.

This morning I also read two other posts on the subject of under performers, but from another point of view. They discuss the bad programmers. The bad developers might be productive, but what they produce is garbage. Jay Fields and Soon Hui both gives a rather dark picture of the state of software development. The good developers are like the bright light in the picture; few and shining in a sea of darkness. Is it really true that only 20 percent of developers can be considered good and the rest is crap? I hope not.

In a time of recession, the demands will increase the stress on teams and these issues can be the killer of a team, a project and a company. But before labelling someone as bad, consider reading Levison's blog first.

New music and cold weather

Today I filled my Shuffle with some well deserved new music and got going in the freezing cold. You who wonder how you keep up the spirit while having a running habit, here is a clue. Change the music now and then. Running with new music can really boost your energy.

But this time I had too little on me. I'm otherwise good at picking the right clothes for running but I thought it was about 0 degrees Celsius (32F) but it was really about -8 (17F). I was so occupied selecting the new music that I lost track of time and to be able to pick up Peter on time from daycare and still have the time for the run to the dog's daycare, I just didn't do the homework.

So now, back at home, I'm still kind of chilled. But happy about my new music and about the winter run. But next time, I'll be sure to wear the right clothes as well.

Amazed again by PC Suite - bad usability

I cannot believe that this program is so bad. Before going on holiday I used the tasks in the phone for my to-do-list. While on holiday, I deleted the tasks in the phone.

Back home, the tasks are back after synchronization. So, I have to delete them on the PC. I thought synchronization meant that a later edit should be kept over a newer one. I'll think again before deleting something on the phone.

But to edit tasks on the PC...

On the task bar in program you can choose what to edit by choosing an Editor. The picture is in Swedish but to translate you have the option to edit Files, SMS, MMS, Contacts or Calendar. Hey, what about the tasks? But of course, you should choose Calendar and there are your tasks. Again, an example of sloppy work with usability. Yes, you can learn this but why should I need to? Had they put in a button for tasks which just opened the calendar view they would have solved that problem without creating a separate view for tasks.

I cannot copy and paste calendar entries (which I want to since you cannot delete one occasion on a recurring task) and if I change the starting time on a calendar entry the end time does not change and it's only on save that I'm prompted to change the end time in a dialogue box which could have been avoided and is avoided in for example MS Outlook. I need not go on.

And to return to the issue of language, it is kind of embarrassing that a company with much of its roots in Sweden cannot make a decent Swedish translation. Redigerare is used as the translation for the word Editor (as can be seen on the image), but this is just a translation for the word when its used for an Editor for an newspaper, e t c.

Suggestion for a new year's resolution!

Yes, I know that New year's has passed but it is still time for a new year's resolution from Kevin Rutherford

In your current job, can you identify:

1. Five regular activities that contribute value towards your organisation’s goal?
2. Five regular activities that do not contribute value towards the goal?

Something we all can do and probably should. Perhaps it's easier than quitting smoking or exercising more.

Modern project management, or?

One of the classes I'm taking at Mittuniversitet this spring is Project Management (Projektledning). The objectives of the course:

The course targets people with interest in project management with focus on software development projects. The objective of the course is giving a basic knowledge about project work and project management.

Kursen vänder sig till personer med intresse för projektledning med fokus på systemutvecklingsprojekt. Syftet med kursen är att ge grundkunskap om projektarbete och ledning av projekt.

The main literature on the course is Arbeta i projekt - en introduktion (Working in project - an introduction) by Sven Eklund. The book is from 2002 but you could never guess it. The book could have been written during the golden days of waterfall.

I got rather suspicious when the author mis spelled the word Gantt chart on the back side of the book, spelling it as Gannt. So, I just flipped through the pages. The same error can be found through out the book. This is not a good sign. So, I started reading. I guess that I won't be the teacher's favorite pupil if he shares the viewes of the author. How about this:

9.2.2 Right or wrong?
What is right or wrong while you're testing? Where is the key to how the product should behave? Well, the key can be found in the documents created during the definition- and design phases. During those you have, often together with the orderer, specified requirements, objectives and behaviour of the product. It is also this the orderers expect that the product should be able to do when delivered.

9.2.2 Rätt eller fel?
Vad är då rätt eller fel när man testar? Var finns facit för hur produkten ska uppträda? Jo, facit finns i de dokument som man tog fram under definitions- och designfaserna. Här har man, ofta tillsammans med beställarna, specificerat krav, målsättningar och beteenden för produkten. Det är också detta, som beställarna förväntar sig att produkten ska klara av vid leverans.

Oh my god. I guess the author never heard about agile software development. The word agile does not even appear in the book. Let alone lean. Is this what the informatics major's in Sweden learn? Today? Of course it's good that students learn the classic way of carrying out an software development project. But just giving this picture without even mentioning that other methods are used and that this method isn't always successful. As I said, I guess I won't be the teacher's favourite student. I hope I can pass the exam without selling my soul to the devil.

(The picture is from a Valtech seminar, given by a what I thought rather well known lady.)

Countdown

After being off for more than a month work is getting closer. Well yes, it has been getting closer all the time, but since I'm starting next week, it really feels like a countdown. Peter is getting back to daycare on Wednesday and I'll guess we'll keep our late mornings for a couple of days, but then I need to get back to track.

It's been really nice to be home. I haven't had a proper time off since I started my previous position so this time was well needed. But now I really feel it's time to get back to work.

Why language is important

At a previous position, I was in a constant fight for Marketing taking the time and having the appropriate employees so that the language on the web site was correct.

To be frank; I was embarrassed by the many grammatical errors and the lousy language. I know the language on this blog is far from perfect, but this is a private web site.

But my boss didn't agree. He thought it didn't matter. And to some, like my boss and the people at marketing at that company, it isn't important. But I would never buy something from a company who couldn't even spell the product names correctly. And I know others who feel the same. Companies not caring about language are not serious about their business.

But often enough, a poor language can lead to misunderstanding in ways you could not imagine. Look at the waste basket on the picture. What does it say; should I waste more or should I put the waste in the bin? I hope most people understand what they are supposed to do, but could you blame someone for reading is as they should create more waste?

What they really want

It is now a little more than six month since our trip to Disney World and Orlando and it's fun to see what little Peter (then 3,5 years old) recalls from the experience. Here is a top-six-list:

1. The car was huge. We are used to Swedish cars. This car was big compared with the other cars in Orlando.

2. The swimming pool. For Peter, a hotel is still somewhere you go and there is a hot swimming pool. We realized this during a stay at a City hotel this December. It was not at all what he expected and it took some time before we realized that for him a hotel is the yellow house with the very warm swimming pool.

3. The large and scary figures. He was scared of all of them. Too big. He was kind of close to Buzz but the rest were avoided.

4. The Toontown, including Mimi's kitchen with almost all the things in it and that Mickey had gloves in his drawer.

5. The racing cars at Magic Kingdom. On site we rode them about 15 times. If that is enough.

6. They burnt cars at Universal studios. We had to leave the show because he was so angry and he still gets upset when he talks about it.

These are things Peter can bring up on his own, without us asking so I think they give a pretty good idea of what made an impact on him. When I went to Disney World I had no idea that these were the things he would remember or have these emotions around. Yes, I know he was a couple of years too young but I thought he would love meeting Mickey and Buzz Lightyear. Instead he loved the car. By why would I think that he would love seeing these large figures? Why did I assume that he would like the stunt shows? Well, the simple answer is that I assumed that a small boy would like them.

I wonder how many vacations becomes failures because people makes assumptions about their children's preferences and then are upset when the kids don't appreciate what they get.

These types of assumptions about other people's preferences are also made all the time when developing software. We assume that we know what they want. Perhaps we assume they value the same things we value. Perhaps we have an image of what "that type of person prefers".

Agility is the way to go; having a chance to change is the only way to handle assumptions. I had to rethink my visit to Disney World when I came there and realized what Peter wanted. Shorter visits to the parks, taking the rides he loved over and over and skipping the rest. Long pauses with ice cream and toys.

Letting actual users TEST software during the process instead of SHOWING them when it's all set and done. It is not the same if you handle the software and they sit beside you. They need to be in charge of the device and software they're testing.

And most importantly; don't get angry because you were wrong. Instead see that you've learnt something new about your kid or your users.

Wanderlust and wonderlust

You can read Alex Garland's The Beach and you can be amazed by the colourful surroundings or you can be troubled by the selfishness by the people described in the book.

We travellers around the world have a big responsibility. To the environment, to each others and perhaps most importantly; to the local people.

When I went to college the word of the day was Information. We were supposed to be information seeking individualists. Information seeking? When starting reading Informatics this winter I understood that this is not fashionable any more. We don't seek information but thrills.

This affects me being a part of the leisure industry. We don't only have the wanderlust in people. We also have a wonderlust to tackle.

But it affects all developing software. People are not content in a system which barely surrenders the information they need. You get frustrated and disappointed if the system is not intuitive and amazing. Developers thinking "well, that (lousy) usability issue is something people have to learn how it works" need to build a sense of craftsmanship or get another job.

On the picture my son is looking longingly at the airplane. Experiences are so much about longing. In the case of leisure travelling this is perhaps obvious. When we start thinking about travelling we start longing for it. The longing period is also part of the experience. But this also applies to the implementation of computer software. Agile software developers leaves room for this phase by their inclusion of users in the development process and this should be exploited better. If you see the introduction of a system as a travelling experience you can give your customers and users so much value.

Most travellers don't only care about the trip from the time the plane lands. They also care about how the alternatives are presented, how the order is put, how the logistics at the airport works, which services and products are available. And I believe the same applies to the users of computer software.

Party tricks

Do you want to learn some party tricks like how you bend spoons, do you have a mother who thinks she have physic powers or are you in to those tv shows where mediums "solve" crimes? James Randi knows the tricks and is an excellent tutor how these things can have natural causes.

The tv show is old but is still valid. James Randi on the James Patterson show!

Where were you?

The reason for me working on Confessions of a serial product manager was that even if there are lots of books on scrum, story writing, agile planning, etc, I didn't have a book which brought it together from a product owner point of view. But guess what; Rob Galen of RGalen Consulting Group is just finishing the book I was looking for! The book is called Becoming a great product owner. You can read a free version at their web site. Here are some details from the download page concerning rights:

I've controlled access to the document, so you can't print or copy the contents. Nor do you have my permission to distribute the material--so please honor all aspects of the copyright. However, you can view / read the document as a reference and my hope is that it provides insights and value in that free form

R Galen digs into the deeper questions and details and I can highly recommend you product owners reading his (and mine, of course) view on product ownership.

Thanks Rob for sharing your experience with us!