no doubt... this is him... President elected Obama... He was everywhere... but mainly on the web, where he definitively built his image from zero to the super-hero he is considered today (putting aside the threat being seen as superman can be those days, when you have extremely complex issues to solve, and quickly based on the huge expectation of his electorate...). The web was used in this case not solely as a colorful communication channel, but as well as a way to raise funds that have helped him making the difference when required. His advisors/teams are, with no doubt, true maters in communication, understanding from day one the importance and the impact of Internet as a revolutionary media, capable to touch most segments of the society, not only in the states, but internationally... yes, Mister Obama could have been elected the President of the world with such a campaign... I'm sure we will see more of that in future elections around the globe. It's for sure not new... a person that knows how to re-invent and control his image, is king... This is not only applicable for a president, but also for any entity/person willing to tremendously influence its/his environment... (because at the end of the day, everything is a matter of influence... Think of it.) For that, I guess, you need to be well prepared with a clear message and a detailed action plan...
My 2c interim lessons learned results on Scrum from a project management viewpoint
Hi Folks,
I had some time this week (my last week at NDS), so I've decided to start learning a bit more about Scrum...
Scrum is an iterative incremental process of software development commonly used with agile software development. The following diagram I've found on wikipedia provides a good descriptions of the general idea behind Scrum:
We had some attempts to implement a flavor of Scrum in some SW development projects, to be honest the results were mixed. Based on my analysis (mainly conducted via interviews with stakeholders), if we focus for a sec on the management functional layer, it seems that 4 key points are essential to increase the chance of success for SW development projects using Scrum:
A. Pick an experienced leader (one & only one) who was involved in the management of similar development projects before, and that is seen as a true leader in his field. I personally see Scrum as a toolkit, as in the real life, not all the tools available are adapted for a specific work. One of the first tasks for the leader will be to define the internal processes (The Framework) that will direct the project. The framework should be optimized for your needs. As any methodology, Scrum is here to help you achieving business results, you should NOT be in ANY CASE the slave of Scrum.
B. The leader will need to get a formal buy-in on the process from the following parties (in this specific order) : (1) his task force members (2) his management (3) the customer (4) the 3rd parties
C. Mapping the interfaces/interactions between your new internal processes and the external world (customer, 3rd parties, etc...)
D. Be ready for change! Review your internal processes at the end of every sprint/iteration.
You need to ask the correct questions (and be honest): What can I learn from the way this iteration was handled? What may be the best way to achieve the next business objective? Should I add fast tracks in parallel to my sprints to be better prepared for the next next iteration? etc...
Comments are welcome.
As a bonus, please find embedded an excellent video from the Scrum Guru, Ken Schwaber, founder of the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance. This video is from Google Tech Talks of September '06 :
Laptop Production Line - Panasonic case study - Optical Validation
I've read a very interesting article on businessmobile.fr explaining the acceptance testing performed on the ToughBook Panasonic Laptops across the production line.
In my current job, I'm indirectly involved in the production process of Smart Card, Set-Top-Box and other CE devices, but thanks to this article, I've learned about a validation method I didn't know about (BTW - it could really be that this technic is broadly used in the CE manufacturing area, but it was new for me): Optical Validation. This technic is to "scan" the actual newly produced complete PCB and compare it to the designed blueprint (schematics) of this product. This step helps discovering any missing part in the newly produced product.
