Cut off everything unnecessary: who is actually the source of tasks in Agile projects

– How do you manage to create such magnificent statues? “I take a block of marble and cut off everything unnecessary from it,” said Michelangelo Buonarotti back in the 16th century.

In the last post, I expressed several thoughts about why one should not overuse unique technologies and a long research phase in any business-driven project. Despite the clearly provocative style of the article, I was surprised by how many people were deeply offended. “Unprecedented nonsense,” they wrote, “I would never work under your leadership,” “Another manager will pass on PR for himself,” if you cut out the obscene comments.

It’s funny that all these people, after personal communication with everyone, changed their point of view to the exact opposite. Around the 30th comment on Facebook, they were already writing “yes, I would love to read your blog in my spare time,” sharing their experiences and points of view. As you would expect, people simply accumulated resentment towards moronic managers, stupid tasks and boring projects, and saw an opportunity to take it all out on the author.

But we digress. So who really sets the tasks in modern projects? Who decides what should be done and what should not be done?

A novice manager will tell you: the tasks are set by the Customer. Clearly, he pays the money and calls the tune.

No. Anyone who has ever been in the customer’s shoes will sigh and say: “damn it, I’m ready to set tasks, but if only someone could tell me in time what my project really needs at each current moment in time in order to bring results as efficiently as possible.” The customer really does not know and cannot know where to lead the project, so he will always rush from side to side, intuitively and experimentally feeling the path to a bright future. Let him be on the captain's bridge, but don't expect him to take the helm.

slightly more advanced manager will say differently: tasks are set by consumers. It is necessary to collect their opinions and realize their basic needs.

Also no. If you are not Yandex or Google, and do not actually have millions of samples or market analysis in similar numbers, most likely this idea will slide into a stupid public questionnaire “what would you like to see in our product.” Even if you try your best and try to combine all the requirements, in reality, most likely your public questionnaire will turn into a shithole in the style of “these morons still haven’t implemented feature X” (in the new style: “they haven’t implemented my pull request"). And your project will suffer the fate of the 401st Moskvich, whose previous 400 were unable to leave the factory gates.

What to do?

Remember how you did a project not to order, but actually for yourself. For entertainment, for friends or acquaintances, for a general get-together, for an alternative source of income. I’ll try to guess: you quickly sketched out a general prototype out of shit and sticks, constantly telling yourself: “this is where we need to improve, this is where we need to improve later, and we also need to do this thing.”

If you are a disciplined person, then you wrote down every such thought in notes. After some time, strangers and complete strangers became involved in your project, and your notes began to be replenished with things that these people need to solve their problems, and for which they are willing to pay. But at the same time, it won’t even occur to you to write down an idea that you don’t like or that seems simply crazy.

So who sets the goals in an Agile project?

The answer is simple: the tasks are set by your project itself. Neither the Customer, nor market research, nor technical specifications, nor a fashionable backlog or wishlist will give you milligrams of that valuable information that arises in the flow of work “here we need to do this kind of thing.”

Therefore, neither the development of new technologies nor the long “tool research phase” will tell you the simple truths that your working prototype will tell you. The faster you assemble a working prototype and throw it into the cold waters of reality, the faster you will really understand what is going on, what tasks you face and what problems you will have to solve.

Over the course of your life, you've probably written or read hundreds of Technical Specifications. You have faced fatal problems hundreds of times during the deployment and launch of a project, when all deadlines are overdue, and every hour is worth its weight in gold, and every mistake threatens millions of losses. The recipe is simple: take any technical specification and move the “Deploy and launch the project” item to the first place. You can't even imagine how your life will change.

Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.

I am a mentor in IT projects. This means that if you are an owner or manager, I can help you take your business to new heights. Put things in order, understand the team’s motivation, implement tools and achieve specific goals. I don’t teach you how to do business, I just help you get around the generously scattered rakes on your way. To learn more.

Author Grigoriy DobryakovPosted on 04/27/201323/05/2013Categories Management

How did Occam's razor come about and what does it mean?

Occam's razor is Occam's razor rule.
Merriam-Webster in Science and Philosophy, according to which, from several possible, equally complete explanations of something, the simplest one should be chosen. The Lifehacker Telegram channel contains only the best texts about technology, relationships, sports, cinema and much more. Subscribe!

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Also, according to this principle, any new phenomenon can be described using already known terms and concepts. That’s why Occam’s razor is often called Occam’s razor. Britannica the law of economy or frugality.

This principle is applied in many disciplines, such as religion, physics, medicine and more. However, in science, Occam's razor is not a hard and fast rule, but rather a recommendation or algorithm for action under certain conditions.

The most well known is the following formulation of Occam's razor. Britannica:

Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.

That is, the principle suggests cutting off everything unnecessary - hence the word “razor” in the name. The second part of the term comes from the name of the 14th century English Franciscan monk William of Ockham Smirnov G. A. Ockham, William. New Philosophical Encyclopedia (1285–1347/49).

He studied at Oxford and taught philosophy for several years at the school of Franciscan monks. Occam was later accused of heresy and until the end of his life he hid from the church court in Munich at the court of the German emperor, an opponent of the pope, Louis IV of Bavaria.

Ockham, by the way, is not a surname, but the name of a small village in Surrey where the theologian lived. So it is correct to say William of Occam.

Do not think that it was Occam who created the “razor”. The idea of the advantage of simple solutions existed Amnuel P. Don't cut yourself with Occam's razor. Science and life since the time of Aristotle. The law of economy itself was formulated by theologians Durand de Saint-Poursin and John Duns Scotus as Occam's razor. Britannica before Occam. And Scott’s ideas were completely influenced by Smirnov G. A. Occam, William. The New Philosophical Encyclopedia had a serious influence on his views.

However, it was Ockham who became one of the most ardent adherents of the law of frugality. The monk refused to accept the fuzzy, in his opinion, logic of his contemporaries - medieval philosopher-theologians. He sought to separate knowledge from faith. For example, he denied accidents and generalizing concepts, and also tried to prove that everything happens according to the will of God.

Based on this, Ockham proposed “not to multiply entities,” although in the form we know, he did not use this phrase in any of his works.

It is believed that Occam's razor is a reformulation of the law of sufficient reason. According to him, only a proven statement can be considered true.

This zealous adherence to the idea of \u200b\u200bcutting off everything unnecessary inspired Occam's razor. Britannica 19th century Scottish philosopher William Hamilton created the modern name for the principle. It became popular, although before that, for several centuries, the law of economy had no connection with the name of Ockham.

Isaac Newton, Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein and many other scientists later presented their interpretations of his idea.

AND BUSINESS IN THIS PLAN IS THE REAL QUINTESSENCE OF LIFE

Michelangelo Buonarroti was once asked how he created his ingenious sculptures. He answered simply: “I take a stone and cut off everything unnecessary.”

The ability to “cut off the unnecessary” is invaluable not only in sculpture, but also in business.

We are talking about precision in actions!

The whole human life is structured in such a way that the things that “need”, “worth” or “would like” to be done in it are an order of magnitude greater than reality allows.

And business in this regard is the real quintessence of life.

The abundance of things to do, tasks, directions is the main enemy of any project. It is fundamentally important to highlight the main thing and cut off everything unnecessary. Many experts say that out of 100 movements that you want to make at the start of a project, usually a maximum of 3 are productive.

And here “maximizing the efficiency of using your time” comes to your aid - focusing. Your task is to make sure that you only need to do one or two actions - leading to results. Elena Masolova, member of the board of directors, co-founder of the DarBeri project:

“Focus on key, critical tasks that will bring 80% of the results. A startup needs to make a lot of mistakes quickly and cheaply in order to ultimately find the best business model and the best arguments for customers. The key words are fast and cheap, that is, if something doesn’t work, try knocking on these doors a couple of times, but then give up and switch to other tasks. The main resource of an entrepreneur is not money, but the time and efforts of people.”

StrengthsFinder:

“...people who can focus can determine the direction of movement, follow it, and make adjustments as necessary to stay on track. They prioritize first, then act.” How to develop the skill of precision? To do this, you need to generally train your brain and build the right regime for it.

There are several basic recommendations:

- get enough sleep; lack of sleep affects your accuracy and makes you distracted;

- exercise; the general tone of the body affects memory and concentration;

- eliminate distractions - especially social networks;

— develop a clear work schedule;

- take regular short breaks;

- wake up at the same time (great concentration training);

— keep email closed and check on a schedule or on demand;

— after solving small problems, take short breaks, after solving large ones, take long breaks;

— if possible, work with headphones;

- read books, preferably printed ones;

- work to calm, unobtrusive music;

— clearly structure your projects into small sequential tasks; even plan your day in blocks.

There is no secret that would teach you accuracy in one moment. You need a routine and constant training.

This will require some effort, but the result will pay off handsomely! All in your hands!

Alexey Voronin shared his thoughts with you. If you liked or found this or another article useful, write about it in the comments.

Why not everything is important

You've probably heard of the Pareto principle, which states that 20% of the effort provides 80% of the result. American quality specialist Joseph Juran dug even deeper and came up with the “law of vital small things.” He argues that the quality of any product can be greatly improved by correcting just a few small issues.

This approach is applicable in other areas. For example, investor Warren Buffett uses it: he invests money in a minimum number of companies, but chooses only those in whose profitability he is confident.

Buffett realized that it is impossible to make hundreds of correct investment decisions, because each of them needs to be thought about long and carefully. Therefore, an entrepreneur invests heavily, but only where it is truly profitable. Now 90% of Buffett's investments are directed to companies, the number of which is slightly more than 10.

How to determine the main thing

Filmmaker and writer Nora Ephron had a knack for finding the essence in a sea of information. She developed this skill at the start of her career, when she worked as a journalist. But Efron learned the main lesson about how to search for meaning at school.

One day, her teacher gave the whole class the task of writing the first sentence of a story they would hear. The text went something like this: “The principal of Beverly Hills High School announced today that the entire faculty will be sent to Sacramento next Thursday to participate in a colloquium...” And then a list of what will happen at this meeting and who else will participate.

Courses on the topic:

Sales

Public performance

Dmitry Buzovsky, Public speaking expert with 14 years of experience

HR and recruiting

Strategic Recruitment

Oksana Ognevaya, Head of Recruitment & Management Practice at Jooble

The students wrote different introductions, but they all had the same gist: the school teachers were leaving next Thursday. The students were partly right, but the meaning of what was said was different - there would be no lessons next Thursday.

In life, everything is similar: it is important not just to list facts, but to get to the bottom of things and understand what they really mean.

Rules that guide an essentialist leader

#1. Pickiness when hiring people

The nonessentialist hires employees impulsively and thoughtlessly, and then waits until the last minute when the time comes to say goodbye to them.

An essentialist is more scrupulous: he can search for employees for months, sifting through mountains of resumes until he finds “the one.” And he fires immediately if a person slows down the development of the company.

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#2. Directness in statements

A non-essentialist may convey his thoughts in a veiled manner, especially if they concern criticism or unpleasant news.

The essentialist, on the contrary, speaks firmly and directly. He says what he thinks is necessary and tries to convey his ideas so that everyone understands them equally.

clenched fist

What is the result? Thanks to the implementation of the anti-crisis algorithm, the company will have a flat structure with a powerful manager, as well as significantly enhanced forms of security and control. Loyal team members will control all production and do it “according to the laws of war.” All together they are a clenched fist, which is the only condition for survival and development.

Agree, the idea is simple. You just need to cut off everything unnecessary, compress the structure and find rational meaning in everything. After all, a systemic crisis is primarily a consequence of the loss of meaning by staff and managers.

Author: Alexandra Kochetkova, Professor of the Department of Business and Business Administration at the Institute of Business and Business Administration of the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation. Published 10/12/10.

How to cut off excess

Giving up unnecessary things is as difficult as getting rid of things that haven’t been worn for years. Remember the last time you were cleaning out your closet, you came across a jacket that you hadn’t worn for a long time, and you thought: “It’s a pity to throw it away, maybe it will come in handy.” It’s also not easy for us to refuse meetings - “we need to go, what if something interesting happens.”

Greg McKeon writes that this happens because we become fixated on a sense of ownership. Research shows that people often undervalue what doesn't belong to them, but greatly exaggerate the importance of their belongings. Even when they are not quite “their own”.

How to be a minimalist in life and work

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Nobel Prize winner in economics Daniel Kahneman conducted an experiment. He gathered a group of people and gave half of the participants coffee cups, which had to be “sold” to the rest of the subjects.

It turned out that the “owners” of the cups wanted to get at least $5 for them, and the “buyers” did not agree to pay more than $2.75. That is, the very fact of owning an item forced the “owners” to inflate its value and made it difficult to part with it.

To get rid of such attachment, you need to look at the thing and ask yourself: “How much would you buy it for if you didn’t own it?” When it comes to a conditional meeting, the question may be: “What are you willing to give up in order to participate in this event?”

Cut off all the unnecessary stuff: who really is the source of tasks in Agile projects

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