How to Create an Empathy Map in Google Docs
Posted by David Bland in agile, bmgen, empathy map on April 28, 2012
An Empathy Map is an easy to use, lightweight tool for anyone interested in an alternative to Personas. Created by the folks over at XPLANE, it is quickly gathering popularity due to it being mentioned in Business Model Generation. While Empathy Maps are available in .pdf form, I couldn’t help but feel that people could [...]
Should You TDD Your MVP?
Posted by David Bland in agile, lean on March 25, 2012
Should you use Test Driven Development when creating your Minimum Viable Product?
At first glance, it seems like quite the conundrum.
Agile engineering principles strive for a test first approach, but if I don’t know who my customer is how can I determine what the quality should be?
My current line of thinking is this:
If you are using Test Driven Development to create your Minimum Viable Product, then it is more likely a Minimum Product.
A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the smallest batch of work you can complete to gain the most learning about your customers. It may or may not be code. If you are mercilessly TDD’ing your product then it is probably much more than a fake door or concierge experiment. You’ve already committed to a feature or features that solve a customer problem.
TDD isn’t going to bring a lot to the table unless you are building out features.
So instead of asking whether or not you should TDD your MVP, perhaps you should be asking yourself if you’ve really validated the customer need for your value proposition. I would hope so, or you are adding the overhead of TDD to a Minimum Product that may not even be viable.
Hello, San Francisco
Posted by David Bland in announcements on March 7, 2012
As you may have noticed the posts “have been a slow” as of late. This is in part that I’m really, really busy but also because I’ve relocated to San Francisco. I’ll be spending time getting integrated into the local communities here shortly. So far it has been a whirlwind from BayALN to being scheduled [...]
Faces of Power in the Organization
Posted by David Bland in agile, enterprise on January 11, 2012
The lines between political science and organizational culture continue to blur. Those who venture into organizations need to become well versed in the dynamics of power. One such explanation of these dynamics that helps me stay oriented is Steven Lukes’ the “Three Faces of Power”.
Three Faces of Power
1. Decision Making – The power to make and implement decisions
2. Non-Decision Making – The power to set agendas and therefore limit what is even being discussed
3. Shaping Desires – The power to manipulate what people think they want
Lukes’ work is an extension of Max Weber’s Three Types of Authority, in which Lukes argues that Weber only focused on the first face of power, Decision Making… [Read More]
Candy Driven Development
Posted by David Bland in agile on December 5, 2011
Ever walk into the kitchen of a technology company? Chances are you’ll find a mind boggling supply of candy, snacks, treats and a variety of caffeinated drinks. One could just pass this off as the bad eating habits of pale geeks who go home after work and live in their parent’s basements, but I’m beginning to believe something deeper is at work here.
New research leads me to believe that we may be collectively suffering from ego depletion.
Ego depletion is the idea that self-control or willpower is an exhaustible resource that can be used up. Interestingly enough, sugar (or glucose) intake helps us prolong our ability to make decision after decision throughout the day.
Initially it sounds far fetched, until you think about all of the decisions you make throughout a work day and how they correlate with your sugar intake… [Read More]
