Poppendieck MaryPoppendieck Thomas David. - Leading lean software development: results are not the point

Results Are Not the Point

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Poppendieck, Mary.
Leading lean software development : results are not the point / Mary and
Tom Poppendieck.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-321-62070-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Management information systems. 2. Computer softwareDevelopment. 3.
Organizational effectiveness. I. Poppendieck, Tom. II. Title.
HD30.213.P65 2010
658.4038011dc22 2009035319

Copyright 2010 Poppendieck LLC

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ISBN-13: 978-0-321-62070-4
ISBN-10: 0-321-62070-5
Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at RR Donnelly in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
First printing, October 2009.

I was a relative newbie to both agile and lean when I first met Mary and Tom Poppendieck at an Agile Conference in Salt Lake City in 2003, so of course I started our conversation with the question that had been bothering me: How do you reconcile the lean view that tests are waste with the need for tests in software development? Marys immediate response: Unit tests are what let you stop the line.

Ive learned a lot about both agile and lean since then, and the more I learn, the more I appreciate the profound understanding that led to that simple answer so clearly tying multiple agile practices to fundamental lean principles.

So, when Mary asked me to review her new book, I jumped at the chance, and I wasnt disappointed. The approach of framing various views into lean leadership provided fresh perspectives on many of the issues that we must all address if we are to be effective in developing software in the twenty-first century. I could rave on about the book, but that would just keep you from reading it, so I decided to limit myself to sharing my three favorite parts of the book (in chronological order)not an easy task when the whole book is packed with valuable information.

Since Im a geek at heart, my first favorite part of the book was Chapter 2, Technical Excellence, with its fresh look at agile practices as a continuation and extension of the fundamentals expressed in the early days of computer science by giants such as Dijkstra, Parnas, and Mills. Seeing agile practices as an evolution of the best of the past, rather than as a revolution that rejects the past, is an important step in enabling adoption of the best that agile has to offer.

Since Im an idealist, my second favorite part of the book was in Chapter 4, Relentless Improvement, with the discussion of the need for a shared vision of what success will look like for your organization. When you couple this with the material in the same chapter about the importance of managers as mentors in developing problem solvers, you start to see the potential for an organization where everyone works every day to remove the impediments to future success.

Finally, since Im a realist, my third favorite part of the book was Chapter 5, Great People. Success comes from people. Results are not the point. Developing people so that they can achieve successful results is the point. Statistically speaking, no large company has all above-average employees, suppliers, and customers. However, by following the principles and advice in this book, any company, large or small, has the potential of getting above-average results from its average employees, suppliers, and customers. Thats really what business success is all about.

If I read the book again, would I pick the same three favorite parts? I dont know, but Ill find out. As soon as the book is published, Ill be starting book clubs across our company to share these ideas and see where they lead us. I encourage all of you to do the same.

Dottie Acton
Senior Fellow
Lockheed Martin

Swedens Handelsbanken has placed a large sum of money in an account at the Riksbank in a bid to help the central bank safeguard the financial system.

Stockholm, June 17, 2009 (Reuters)

Svenska Handelsbanken is one of the top 25 banks in Europe. It was not just the only bank that survived the Swedish banking crisis in the 1990s without asking for government supportit has also done very well in the 2008/2009 crisis. Handelsbanken did not have to raise capital or ask for government support and its shares have been the best performing European bank stock by a wide margin. Despite its large size Handelsbanken has, in many ways, acted as a shock absorber, not a shock amplifier, to the financial system.

In 1970, Svenska Handelsbanken was 100 years old and deeply troubled. It was trying mightily to become the largest bank in Sweden, and costs had gotten out of control. To make a bad situation worse, a small provincial bank in northern Sweden was eating into its market share. When the Handelsbanken management team abruptly resigned, its board decided to recruit the head of the upstart competitor as Handelsbankens new managing director. Dr. Jan Wallander was a professional economist turned banker who had his own ideas about how to run a bank.

The first thing Wallander did was to make it clear that growth is not the point; profitability is what matters. He insisted that everyone in the bank stop trying to bring in as much revenue as possible and start focusing on generating profitable revenue instead. To accomplish this goal, he had information systems publish a few key metrics for each branch immediately after the end of each month, numbers such as the cost-to-income ratio (the inverse of profitability) and income per employee (productivity). Then he gave branch managers the freedom to manage their affairs locally. They could decide which products to sell, how much money to spend, how many employees to hire, and so on. Wallander felt that central control got in the way of the people closest to customers, slowed down their reaction time, and stifled their creativity. So decision-making authority devolved to branch managers; staff groups were dramatically reduced in number and size, and those that remained had to sell their services to the branches.