WRECK-quirements

"We need to create use cases!"

"No we don't - a simple data diagram accompanied by some deployment flow charts will suffice"

"What are you smoking?!  You know we can't build anything without use cases!"

"Says you... it's all the same thing"

"Nuh-uh.  Where did you learn requirements?  Buddy Bill's Bait Barn and Systems Development?"

"I'm telling the project manager you said that."

"Go ahead.  I double dog dare ya."

And so the battle rages.  At some point early in the process (and I've had people nearly come to blows whether that should be during project initiation or project planning), requirements need to be defined.  On system projects, there is more than one way to skin a cat, so the question of approaching requirements can be especially painful for all involved (not to mention the poor, naked cat).

James Taylor posted some great comments on Southwest Airlines' attempt at a new reservation management system.  Seems as though nobody is immune to all of these issues.

I've never been much of a purist when it comes to systems requirements.  I'm a systems thinker and a process guy.  My belief is that, at a baseline, I'd like to see the following ("etc." is assumed for all):

• Outputs:  Reports, files, display screens, calculation outcomes
• Inputs:  Data fields, files, links, input screens
• Transformation:  How did you turn the inputs into outputs?
• Feedback:  How can you tell if the Inputs made good outputs (error and exception reporting)
• Process:  What did people have to do to interact with this system?  Workflows?
• Other:  platforms, systems, constraints, environments, capacity

But maybe I'm oversimplifying things again.  Never mind me.  You all just pretend I wasn't here and continue in your king-of-the-hill quest to prove that your approach is the right one.  Don't forget to schedule hours upon hours of meetings, bypass relevant decision making, play a lot of politics to get your way, and sabotage anybody who doesn't think like you.  No, no, I insist.  There's really no true deadline to this project anyway.  Any target dates currently communicated were the result of an executive's drunken stupor and are totally subject to change.  Please, take your time and be sure to utterly destroy all who don't agree with you.

Did I mention that I'm thankful that my current project has a group of people who generally get along, can come to consensus quickly, and don't argue over such petty things?  But then again, I'm sure yours does, too.

Technorati Tags: use cases, requirements, project planning, initiation, flow charts, data diagrams

The Complicity of Complexity

I was reading to my older daughter from a great book on "Arts and Crafts" movement architecture.  (What??  You don't read architectural books to your kindergartener?  Come on!  After all, Disney Princesses only go so far....)  We were talking about what generated interest in the movement.  It hit right on the heels of the gilded age, an era of Queen Anne Victorians, ornate with a lot of foo-foo stuff that the average person has no interest in (don't get me wrong, I like a good Victorian B&B as well as the next guy).  One of the quotes from the book seriously jumped out at me, from a man credited as a major influencer of the movement:

"Have nothing in your home that is not functional or that you do not believe to be beautiful."  --William Morris.

I looked around my house.  When you have a six-year-old and a toddler, it's easy to bypass that principle.  Blocks, toys, dolls, books... we'll just say that our current decorating style can best be described as "modern American child."  I'm in awe that an entire architectural movement was created on the premise of simplicity and functionality, yet the results were incredibly stunning.  Frank Lloyd Wright's creations take my breath away.

How often to we complicate our projects?  Because I teach college classes in project management, some people accuse me of being some kind of geeky methodologist who loves to impose unnecessary project rigor.  Those who have actually worked with me know better.  I despise complexity.  As I near the end of my fourth decade on this whirling ball of a planet, I find myself craving simplicity first and foremost... let me clarify that, effective and purposeful simplicity.  Patti Digh is my favorite all-time blogospheric philosopher (I've also had the immense privilege of meeting her in person, and she is even more delightful than her cyber-presence).  Her May 8th post on Ockham's Razor is simple brilliance:

Ockham's Razor is a logical principle attributed to the mediaeval philosopher William of Ockham, a principle stating that one should not make more assumptions than the minimum needed. It’s often called the “principle of parsimony,”usually interpreted to mean something like "the simpler the explanation, the better" or "don't multiply hypotheses unnecessarily." It underlies all scientific modeling and theory building, admonishing us to choose the simplest from a set of otherwise equivalent models of possible solutions. In any given model, Ockham's razor helps us to "shave off" those concepts, variables or constructs that are not really needed to explain the phenomenon.

In creating your project requirements, your project infrastructure, your plans or status, and your project org chart, don't force your project stakeholders to comply with difficult and complex concepts just to make an executive happy, or keep an auditor off your back.  Identify those items which make it more complex than it needs to be, and just get rid of them.  We build in assumptions, traditions, and sacred cows to the point where it seems nothing can be accomplished on our projects.  Let a kindergartener read it.  If they don't get it, you've probably made it too hard.  Ask yourself:

• Does this add value?
• Is it functional?
• Will those using the project solution get excited about it?
• Do I believe in it?

Like the Arts and Crafts movement, something really beautiful can be built if we just keep it simple.

Technorati Tags: Arts and Crafts, William Morris, Frank Lloyd Wright, Architecture, Requirements, Project Management, Patti Digh, Ockham's Razor

Pass The Tin Cup (and some thinking)

It's that time when all project managers take a deep breath and plunge forward into the unknown:  the project initiation stage.  That nebulous black hole where your project really isn't a project yet... it's more of a crawling idea.  The point where a business case needs to be built around the idea to see if it's strong enough to survive in the organization as a project.

The issue I hear from many of my project manager friends during the initiation phase (and sometimes into the planning phase) is that there is insufficient funding to move the project forward.

Ah, but therein lies the rub.  That lack of money in the initiation phase can be a blessing.  Twyla Tharp, originator of the broadway hit, Movin' Out, mentions the old adage in her book, The Creative Habit:  "Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they give unlimited resources."  She shares a great story about a time when she was handed the opportunity to choreograph a dance in the best of circumstances:  the top performance facility, the best dancers, the dream orchestra, ideal custume and lighting geniuses... all financed and underwritten to her desire.  The final result?  Well, let's just say she admits it wasn't her best work.  When we're given too much too soon, it undermines our creativity, our ingenuity, our resourcefulness, and our "street smarts."  The budget replaces the brain as the chief asset.  Some of the best projects launched have been on shoe string budgets because they have required more moxie than money.  Think of some of the most ingenious product launches... those that rocked our world.  Many were created by new companies with nothing... others by dying companies with nothing to lose.

Thought:  Before you blame the budget, how about pulling everybody into a room and passing the "mental tin cup" - see where that gets you on your next business case.

Technorati Tags: Business Case, Ingenuity, Innovation, Project Funding, Twyla Tharp, Movin Out, The Creative Habit