This document summarizes a presentation on using Agile and Lean principles to redefine project management around product development. It discusses how past project standards have often resulted in good projects but mediocre products. Agile and Lean practices focus on product development principles like small batch sizes, fast feedback, and continuous delivery. These principles provide an effective project management framework for building great products.

1. Chris Girolamo
Vice President, Software and Systems Engineering Group
STG
PMP, CSM, SA
March 19, 2014
PMI WDC Reston Luncheon Series
IT’S THE PRODUCT
N O T T H E P R O J E C T
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Using Agile and Lean to redefine the role of Project Management

2. A G E N D A
With the advent and widespread adoption of project standards and models (e.g. CMMI,
PMBOK, EVM) over the last decade or two, software project management has matured
significantly. However, an overzealous application of these standards has often resulted in
not-so-great products wrapped in great projects. To build great products and enhance our
project management maturity, a new model is needed where the project management is
based on product development principles. Agile and lean practices, which are based on
these product development principles, provide the means to build great products wrapped
in an effective project management framework.
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3. P R O J E C T | P R O D U C T
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4. P R O D U C T D E V E L O P M E N T P R I N C I P L E S
T H E P R I N C I P L E S O F P R O D U C T D E V E L O P M E N T F L O W
D O N A L D G . R E I N E R T S E N
M A N A G I N G Q U E U E S
E X P L O I T V A R I A B I L I T Y
R E D U C E B A T C H S I Z E
U S I N G F A S T F E E D B A C K
A P P L Y I N G W I P C O N S T R A I N T S
C O N T R O L L I N G F L O W U N D E R U N C E R T A I N T Y

5. R U L E O F I N V E R S E C E R T A I N T YR U L E O F C E R T A I N T YP R O J E C T C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S
M A N A G E M E N T A P P R O A C H
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6. D E F I N E D | E M P I R I C A L
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7. T H E R U L E O F S M A L L B A T C H E S
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8. SM ALL B AT C H ES
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EMER G EN T D ESI G N
I N D UC ED D ESI G N

9. W H A T I S D E S I G N ?
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10. T H E F A L L A C Y O F U T I L I Z A T I O N
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M A X I M I Z I N G C Y C L E T I M E

11. Q U E U E S K I L L
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12. YOU CAN ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT
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13. M U L T I T A S K I N G … T H A N K Y O U H E I N R I C K K I N B U R G
Cooper Tory Cullen Clare CadeA S Y N C H R O N O U S
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T A S K 1 T A S K 2 T A S K 3 T A S K 4 T A S K 5
T A S K 1
T A S K 2
T A S K 3
T A S K 4
T A S K 5
T A S K 6
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14. I N V E N T O R Y
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15. C O N T I N U O U S D E L I V E R Y
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16. A D A Y I N T H E L I F E
Continuous Delivery Pipeline
TDD
POTENTIALLY
DEPLOYABLE
RELEASE
9:00 AM 11:00 11:05 11:15 11:45 12:15
AUTOMATED
COMMIT
TESTING
AUTOMATED
INSTALLATION
SCRIPTING AND
TESTING
ACCEPTANCE
REGRESSION
TESTING
Code Check In
Pass
Commit Stage
Integration Testing
Environment
Acceptance Test
Production Replicate
PassDELIVERY
DETECTED BUILD
COMMENCES
Pass Pass
DEFECT?
DEFECT?
DEFECT?
DEFECT?
DAILY
SCRUM
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17. F A S T F E E D B A C K
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18. R E G E N E R A T I V E
Fast
Feedback
Small
Batches
Queue
Discipline
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19. S Y S T E M S T H E O R Y
SDLC 3.0 – Beyond a Tacit Understanding of Agile
Mark Kennaley
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20. S U R V E I L A N C E | C O L L A B O R A T I O N

21. S T A K E H O L D E R ( S ) | P R O D U C T O W N E R ( )

22. I N S P E C T F O R Q U A L I T Y | B U I L D I N Q U A L I T Y

23. M A X I M I Z E U T I L I Z A T I O N | M A N A G E Q U E U E S

24. C O N T R O L C H A N G E | A D A P T T O C H A N G E

25. S P E E D | C A D E N C E

26. A C C I D E N T A L W A T E R F A L L
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27. P R O J E C T | P R O D U C T
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28. C O N N I E . B I R K L A N D @ S T G I N C . C O M
7 0 3 . 6 9 1 . 2 4 8 0 x 1 2 3 7
w w w . s t g . c o m

29. R E F E R E N C E S
1. Cohn, Mike. User Stories Applied, Addison-Welsley, 2010.
2. Hillel Glazer, Entinex, Inc. Jeff Dalton, Broadsword Solutions Corporation, David Anderson, David J. Anderson & Associates, Inc.
Mike Konrad, SEI Sandy Shrum, SEI. CMMI® or Agile: Why Not Embrace Both! Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts: Software, 2008
Engineering Institute.
– Provides a perceptive historical perspective on CMMI and illustrates the underlying reasons that CMMI can be a false positive as well as the
misinterpretations that almost always occur in CMMI implementations that are unhealthy to project and product development.
3. Humble, Jez., Farley, David. Continuous Delivery. Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Addison-Welsley, 2010.
– Describes in detail how to extend continuous integration across the full lifecycle to be continuous delivery. Tons of information , exacting detail, tools
reviews and great insights on a diverse array of topics including automating acceptance testing and deployment scripting; and hammers the theme, “it it’s
hard, do it a lot.”
4. Kennaley, Mark. SDLC 3.0 Beyond a Tacit Understanding of Agile, Fourth Medium Consulting, Inc., 2010.
– A discussion with a proposed framework, eponymously named SDLC 3.0, of a tailored hybrid of lean, agile and unified process as a consolidated lifecycle
approach. The theme is to dispense with the advantages/disadvantages debate driven by competing approaches. Additionally there is compelling chapter
that systems theory which provides applied scientific and mathematical proof that agile is more stable and effective than waterfall.
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30. R E F E R E N C E S
4. Poppendieck, Mary and Tom. Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash. Boston: Addison-Welsley,
2006.
5. Poppendieck, Mary and Tom. Leading Lean Software Development: Results Are Not the Point. Boston: Addison-Welsley,
2010.
6. Reinertsen, Donald G. The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Developent. Redondo
Beach: Celeritas Publishing, 2009.
7. Willis, Carol and Donald Friedman. Building the Empire State Building. New York: The Skyscraper Museum, 1998.
– Though not specially mentioned in the presentation, this book provides a fascinating summary of the construction of the Empire State building which
amazingly was built from cradle to grave in one year. This feat was accomplished with agile and lean concepts such as careful management of queues,
management of work in progress and strategies to achieve .
chris.girolamo@stginc.com
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