Idea Flow
Idea Flow
How to Measure the PAIN in Software Development
About the Book
Whether it's Agile or Waterfall, RUP or XP, the software story hasn't really changed. We start out with the best of intentions, trying not to repeat the mistakes of the past. We make a commitment to do things "the right way" this time.
Fast-forward to several years later, and we're sitting around a conference table discussing what went wrong. How did we accumulate so much technical debt? Should we rewrite the component? Scrap the entire system and start over? Or just deal with the problems and try to keep on going?
Despite our best efforts with Agile best practices, we get stuck in the software rewrite cycle. With such a clear vision of the practices for success, why do we still end up with an unmaintainable mess?
Our software problems are a reflection of our decision-making habits. We try to improve, but focus on the symptoms in the code, and never fix the decisions that are creating the mess in the first place. We try to explain the problems to leadership, but the business pressure never lets up -- we start over, but keep repeating the same mistakes.
So how do we turn our projects around?
We can't see the problems, but we experience their effects. Disruptions, test maintenance, confusing code, unfamiliar code, and collaboration problems -- they all have a direct impact on developer experience. What if we could make those problems visible?
Idea Flow Mapping is a technique for visualizing the flow of ideas between the developer and the software. Similar to how an EKG helps doctors diagnose heart problems, Idea Flow Maps help developers diagnose software problems.
Once we make the pain visible, improvement becomes a systematic data-driven process. We can:
1. Identify the biggest problems on our software projects
2. Make the case to management for improvement
3. Create a data-driven feedback loop to learn what works
4. Conquer even the hardest challenges on our software projects
With objective feedback on the consequences of our decisions, we can learn how to get better, faster.
About the Author
Table of Contents
-
-
1. Losing Faith in Best Practices
- 1.1 The Crisis
- 1.2 The Rewrite Cycle
- 1.3 The Origin of a Learning Framework
-
1. Losing Faith in Best Practices
-
I Visibility
-
2. Technical Debt is Not the Problem
- 2.1 More Questions Than Answers
- 2.2 An Alternative to Technical Debt
- 2.3 Idea Flow is a Conversation
- 2.4 Optimizing Developer Experience
-
3. Visibility Changes Everything
- 3.1 An EKG for Software Development
- 3.2 A Modern Diagnostic Tool
-
4. There’s No Shortcuts
- 4.1 The Perils of Test Automation
- 4.2 Understanding the Problems
- 4.3 The Deadline Effect
- 4.4 STOP Making Generalizations
-
5. Identify the Biggest Pains
- 5.1 Categorize the Friction
- 5.2 The Limits of our Brains
- 5.3 Analyzing the Data
- 5.4 Breaking Down the Pain
-
6. Start the Conversation
- 6.1 Getting a Feel for Conflicts
- 6.2 Handling Special Circumstances
- 6.3 Explain What’s Causing Friction
-
2. Technical Debt is Not the Problem
-
II Control
-
7. The Business Machine
- 7.1 The Path to Project Meltdown
- 7.2 The Lack of Control
-
8. The Power of Safety
- 8.1 Overcoming the Great Divide
- 8.2 Repairing the Broken Feedback Loops
- 8.3 Fixing the Machine
- 8.4 The Cycle of Safety
-
9. Refactor Your Organization
- 9.1 Refactor from the Point of Visibility
- 9.2 Be a Torchbearer
- 9.3 Make the Case for Partnership
-
10. The Idea Flow Factory
- 10.1 The Learning Organization
- 10.2 Remapping the Manufacturing Metaphor
- 10.3 Process Control
- 10.4 Supply Chain Optimization
-
11. The Problem to Solve
- 11.1 Why It Matters
- 11.2 The Strategy
- 11.3 Open Mastery
-
7. The Business Machine
The Leanpub 45-day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 45 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms
Do Well. Do Good.
Authors have earned$10,788,735writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub, earning 80% royalties while saving up to 25 million pounds of CO2 and up to 46,000 trees.
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
Free Updates. DRM Free.
If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).
Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers), EPUB (for phones and tablets) and MOBI (for Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them
Top Books
- #1
Aprendiendo Git
Miguel Angel Durán GarcíaGit no es complicado... ¡Si lo entiendes! 😜
¿Sientes que sabes usarlo porque has memorizado todos los comandos que necesitas? ¡Pero no entiendes qué hace cada cosa y por qué! Así es normal que, cuando exista un problema, te cueste resolverlo.
¡Con este libro vas a entender de una vez por todas todo lo que es Git y cómo sacarle provecho!
- #2
C++20
Rainer GrimmC++20 is the next big C++ standard after C++11. As C++11 did it, C++20 changes the way we program modern C++. This change is, in particular, due to the big four of C++20: ranges, coroutines, concepts, and modules.
- #3
Introducing EventStorming
Alberto BrandoliniThe deepest tutorial and explanation about EventStorming, straight from the inventor.
- #4
Rector - The Power of Automated Refactoring
Matthias Noback and Tomas VotrubaLearn how to automatically and continuously upgrade and improve your PHP code base
- #5
Atomic Kotlin
Bruce Eckel and Svetlana IsakovaFor both beginning and experienced programmers! From the author of the multi-award-winning Thinking in C++ and Thinking in Java and a Kotlin team member comes a book that breaks concepts into small, easy-to-digest "atoms," along with exercises supported by hints and solutions directly inside IntelliJ IDEA! Full support at www.AtomicKotlin.com.
- #6
Functional Programming Made Easier
Charles ScalfaniA Functional Programming book from beginner to advanced without skipping a single step along the way.
In my 40 years of programming, I've felt that programming books always let me down, especially Functional Programming books. So, I wrote the book I wish I had 5 years ago.
Functional Programming will never be easy, but it can be easier.
- #7
Ansible for DevOps
Jeff GeerlingAnsible is a simple, but powerful, server and configuration management tool. Learn to use Ansible effectively, whether you manage one server—or thousands.
- #8
On Java 8
Bruce EckelBy the author of "Thinking in Java," covering version 8 of the Java programming language. This book is intended for “dedicated beginners.” It doesn’t assume you know anything about programming and takes you through the material step-by-step. However, I assume you are able to figure things out. It’s not a “dummies” or “idiot’s” guide.
- #9
OpenIntro Statistics
David Diez, Christopher Barr, Mine Cetinkaya-Rundel, and OpenIntroA complete foundation for Statistics, also serving as a foundation for Data Science.
Leanpub revenue supports OpenIntro (US-based nonprofit) so we can provide free desk copies to teachers interested in using OpenIntro Statistics in the classroom and expand the project to support free textbooks in other subjects.
More resources: openintro.org.
- #10
Effective Kotlin
Marcin MoskałaEffective Kotlin summarizes the best practices and experiences of the Kotlin community, together with a deep explanation of some lesser-known Kotlin functionalities. All of the best practices are presented as simple rules with detailed explanations.
Top Bundles
- #1
CCIE Service Provider Ultimate Study Bundle
2 Books
Piotr Jablonski, Lukasz Bromirski, and Nick Russo have joined forces to deliver the only CCIE Service Provider training resource you'll ever need. This bundle contains a detailed and challenging collection of workbook labs, plus an extensively detailed technical reference guide. All of us have earned the CCIE Service Provider certification... - #2
Software Architecture for Developers: Volumes 1 & 2 - Technical leadership and communication
2 Books
"Software Architecture for Developers" is a practical and pragmatic guide to modern, lightweight software architecture, specifically aimed at developers. You'll learn:The essence of software architecture.Why the software architecture role should include coding, coaching and collaboration.The things that you really need to think about before... - #3
Modern C++ Collection
3 Books
Get All about Modern C++C++ Standard Library, including C++20Concurrency with Modern C++, including C++20C++20Each book has about 200 complete code examples. Updates are included. When I update one of the books, you immediately get the updated bundle. You can expect significant updates to each new C++ standard (C++23, C++26, .. ) and also... - #4
The Python Craftsman
3 Books
The Python Craftsman series comprises The Python Apprentice, The Python Journeyman, and The Python Master. The first book is primarily suitable for for programmers with some experience of programming in another language. If you don't have any experience with programming this book may be a bit daunting. You'll be learning not just a programming... - #6
"The C++ Standard Library" and "Concurrency with Modern C++"
2 Books
Get my books "The C++ Standard Library" and "Concurrency with Modern C++" in a bundle. The first book gives you the details you should know about the C++ standard library; the second one dives deeper into concurrency with modern C++. In sum, you get more than 600 pages full of modern C++ and about 250 source files presenting the standard library... - #7
10 Books Bundle - A New Career in Tech 🚀
10 Books
Do you want to create yourself a new and profitable skillset - in one year or less? Do you want to position yourself on the right side of change finally? Do you want to work from home and set your own work schedule while choosing fun and interesting coding projects? Software developers and freelance developersearn six figuresin the US, according... - #9
Pattern-Oriented Memory Forensics and Malware Detection
2 Books
This training bundle for security engineers and researchers, malware and memory forensics analysts includes two accelerated training courses for Windows memory dump analysis using WinDbg. It is also useful for technical support and escalation engineers who analyze memory dumps from complex software environments and need to check for possible...
