The Retrospective
Sprint number (Some unthinkably large number)
Duration: November 2012 to April 2013
Intro:
Not strictly part of a retrospective, but we are Agile here
so we adapt to stakeholder needs.
I have just spent a week on holiday for the first time in
more than 12 months. It was a wonderful holiday to a stunning part of the
world. I spent time with my kids, explored rain-forests and saw a crocodile or
two.
I did not engage in work, even though I noted emails flying
past my inbox, but, I did dream about work every single night. This indicates an
overdue need for a personal and professional retrospective
Things that went well;
- I learned how to uncover the size of a hidden technical backlog and plan sprints around it.
- I learned how to share knowledge, quickly and without lecturing
- I learned how deliver less than desirable news
- I got to meet and work with a number of interesting and deeply intelligent human beings
- I learned how to set up and administer Jira and Greenhopper like a boss
- I delivered what I said I would deliver, when I said I would deliver it
- I didn't hide and I took responsibility for my actions when I got it wrong
- I submitted all my study assignments and scored respectably for them
- I didn't neglect my family quite as much as I could have
- I discovered my family are more self-sufficient than I thought
Opportunities for
Improvement;
- Do better due diligence ALWAYS
- Correct, detailed requirements are really really important, but the details about how they are shared and recorded is not.
- Leadership is not given it is always taken, but “followship” must be given freely
- Yes assumptions do make an “Ass out of U and Me”
Critical Outcomes;
- I learned SO MUCH, I discovered that I am capable of doing so much more than I thought I could
- I handled situations I had never come across before (because I had to)
- I reaffirmed for myself, what I really want to do and more importantly, what I do not want to do
- I care about doing what I do well, not just the technical practical side of being a BA or a PO but both; I think/know that I can be a better BA if I use Agile methodologies. Either, by itself is not enough and never will be
- I want to make beautiful, usable software, but in the best possible way.
- I want to really;
- understand how this can best be done; and
- teach others how to do it
- Transfer from my current professional doctorate to a PhD
- Find a job which pays the bills, but doesn't follow me on holiday
- Write the darn PhD
- Find a nice university where I can research this stuff, write about it, talk about it and teach it; without starving in the process
- Finish seeing my kids through high school first
