Tackling The Big,
Impossible Project
Michele Titolo
Lead Software Engineer, Capital One
What Is A Big,
Impossible Project?
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
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Large Scope Or
Large Change
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Relative To Current
State
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Can Be New Product
Or Existing
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Intentional Or
Unintentional
• Definition of Done
• Dependencies
• Transparency
3 Key Things
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Definition Of Done
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Define for Individual
Items
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Define for Project
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End Result Starts
Fuzzy
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New Product: MVP
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Existing Products:
Giant Lists
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Beginning: 120 Line-
Item Spreadsheet
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End: ~170 Items
• New Features
• Breaking things into smaller chunks
• Surprises
the list grew because
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Dependencies
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What Is a
Dependency?
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Any Work That
Needs To Get Done
That You/Your Team
Cannot Do
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Identify Early
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The BAU Trap
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Plan To Get Blocked
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Have a Plan B
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Communicate
Blockers
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Having a
Dependency ->
Being a Dependency
Transparency
Photo by Justin Medina on Unsplash
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Make It Easy for
Others To See How
You're Doing
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Fewer Meetings 🎉
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Communicate
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Plan Risky Things
First
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A Risky Rewrite
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Important To Get
Right
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Design and PoC
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Buy-in
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Change Was Well
Known and Well
Estimated
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Don't Spring Big
Changes
Photo by Kristine Weilert on Unsplash
Thanks!
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Tackling the Big, Impossible Project