Innovation and Agility

Jim Highsmith on [http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CutterConsortiumEnterpriseSuite/~3/127107226/apm070621.html Innovation and Agility]: I have always maintained that one characteristic of a good agile leader is the ability to balance: up-front planning with on-going planning, early architecture with evolutionary architecture, and innovation with efficiency. It is a difficult balancing act. If CEOs can’t seem to get the balancing right, how can a project manager or development manager?

(Via [http://www.cutter.com/welcome.html Cutter Consortium: Enterprise Suite].)

Check this out: cool Mac software from Amsterdam

[http://www.checkoutapp.com/ Check Out App]
[http://www.versionsapp.com/ Made by Sofa]
Via [http://developer.apple.com/business/macmarket/checkout.html Apple Developer Connection]:

:The team of young developers at Amsterdam-based Madebysofa were frustrated as customers of a difficult point-of-sale (POS) application and a shortage of usable and affordable alternatives. So they decided to turn a problem into an opportunity, and set out to create their own application that worked the way they wanted. Their product is Checkout, is a powerful, friendly, and affordable POS system capable of running a small- to medium-size store, and is written exclusively for Mac OS X.

They also create a neat Mac OS X Subversion client.

Freecycle Network

Freecycle Network
[http://www.eekim.com/blog/collaboration/tools/networkedtoolsemail.html Eek speaks] about [http://www.freecycle.org/ freecycling]. A wonderful grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns using a simple mailinglist.

Freecyclers have only one rule:

:Everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages.

An excellent way to get rid of stuff of value to another but not to you. And reduces waste in the process.

Continuous Partial Attention

My son [http://martijn.van.steenbergen.nl/ Martijn] recently started working for [http://q42.nl/ Q42]. One of his new colleagues pointed him to [http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/continuous_partial_attention.php Continuous Partial Attention] on whether or not to unplug from the ever increasing flow of interruptions of the grid and focus on getting some work done.

Becoming ever more agile—do some yoga.

Thanks Martijn & colleague!

Lachende Boeddha

[http://lachendeboeddha.nl/ zittende-lachende-boeddha-met-kids-rounded.png]

[http://gastonpfvile.blogspot.com/ Gaston Vilé] levert sinds kort ”'[http://lachendeboeddha.nl/ lachende Boeddhabeelden]”’ voor ”’onbezorgde gelukzaligheid”’. Mits we onze eigen ware aard—de Boeddha in onszelf—hebben gevonden natuurlijk.

Gaston, ik wens je veel succes, plezier en onbezorgde gelukzaligheid!

P.S. Is het een idee om elke dag een nieuwe mooie [[boeddhistische wijsheden|boeddhistische wijsheid]] te plaatsen?

DocBook – FrameMaker – MediaWiki – DocBook

To my former creative colleague, while at Sun Microsystems, Wilfred Springer, now at TomTom.

Hi Wilfred,

Seeing on your blog [http://agilejava.com/blog Distributed Reflections of the Third Kind] that you’re still a [http://agilejava.com/blog/?p=112 big fan of DocBook], allow me to pose a question.

I am in the process of writing an extensive pattern language (which I call pareltaal, for a number of reasons). Using a MediaWiki engine really helps a lot and allows collaboration among many to grow such a language. But one big drawback is that it’s easy to lose oversight. It’s hard to see the whole picture, especially with hundreds of patterns.

So, for the time being, I switched to FrameMaker, with its excellent cross reference features and its structured document capability. I’m not using the structured document powers yet, since they have a very steep learning curve for me. But I do see how it might help manage an ever evolving structured but loosely coupled pattern language. And it might also help in creating different views on the same source. Repurposing content, as they say. E.g. just a list of patlets with only the pattern name, problem and solution.

Anyway, I’m looking for a tool that allows collaborative writing and evolution of an extensive pattern language while keeping oversight and creating unlimited views on (parts of) the language. I’d like it to be able to support a ”’lossless bidirectional link between, say, FrameMaker and MediaWiki”’.

Thoughts?

Succes en plezier,

:Martien.

Google Spends Money to Jump-Start Hybrid Car Development

Via [http://slashdot.org/ Slashdot]:

:[http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/19/2258242&from=rss Google Spends Money to Jump-Start Hybrid Car Development]: “slugo writes ‘Internet search giant Google (GOOG) hopes to speed the development of plug-in hybrid cars by giving away millions of dollars to people and companies that have what appear to be practical ways to get plug-in hybrid automobiles to market faster.

:’While many people don’t associate Google with energy, analysts say the fit isn’t all that unnatural. Renewable energy, unlike coal or nuclear, will likely come from thousands or tens of thousands of different locations. Analysts have long said that one of the big challenges will be managing that flow into and out of the nation’s electric grid, and that companies that manage the flow of information are well placed to handle that task.

:[http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/19/2258242&from=rss Read more of this story] at Slashdot.

[[One trillion euro for AardWagen]] may fuel this initiative.

One trillion euro for AardWagen

How about rewarding ”’one trillion euro”’ for the first international precompetitive collaboration that produces a vehicle in ten years that improves rather than poverishes our Earth in each and every step of it’s lifecycle?

From original conception to design, manufacturing, use and destruction, AardWagen will make our environment better, more whole, embellish it, enrich it. This requires creative thought and action across the board and must shatter many political and economical barriers.

[[Google already Spends Money to Jump-Start Hybrid Car Development]]. Who’s next to join all powers in a single large worldwide fund to develop AardWagen in an open tournament.

Do Patents Stop Companies From Creating ‘Perfect’ Products?

Via [http://slashdot.org Slashdot]:

:[http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/19/1753257&from=rss Do Patents Stop Companies From Creating ‘Perfect’ Products?]: “Chris M writes “In a recent CNET article, the mobile phone editor writes about what he thinks would make a perfect phone. Unfortunately, as someone in the comments section points out, much of the technology that is used in this concept phone belongs to separate companies. ‘I’m sorry to be the Devil’s Advocate here, but most of those feautres are patented to separate companies. It would require almost all the major manufacturers [working together] to do this, which is highly unlikely.’ Do you think patents are stopping companies from creating ‘perfect’ devices, or are there other factors at work”.

Ah, well, I think they’re absolutely right here. While a tournament fuels innovation, patenting—in order to monopolize a an idea and its implementation—stifles it. Resonates with [[The Truth About Piracy]].

”’Patent something and then make it unconditionally free”’ to be used by anyone and everyone. Heal the world.

Hoshin Kanri

Since 2000 or so, I regularly use a Hoshin sheet to jumpstart new projects or business.

Hoshin Kanri has its roots in the 1950s when lectures by Dr. Deming and Dr. Juran in Japan taught the Deming Wheel (PDCA Cycle) and the need to focus on management processes for continuous improvement, including both Breakthrough Management and Daily Management.

Hoshin Kanri is an organising framework for strategic management. It is concerned with four primary tasks:

*it focuses organisation attention on corporate direction by setting, annually, a vital few strategic priorities;
*it aligns these with local plans and programmes;
*it integrates them with daily management, and
*it provides for a structured review of their progress.

More and more companies recognized its value over the 30 years of refinement. Today, ”'[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Toyota_Way The Toyota Way]”’ resonates very well with the practices of ”’Agile Software Development”’. Joined with ”'[http://martien.aardrock.com/tag/holacracy holacratic] principles”’, government and practices it grows into a very effective leadership instrument.

[http://wiki.aardrock.com/Hoshin Read more on Hoshin Kanri] on AardRock’s Wiki.