The 80/20 rule as it applies to task completion: 80% of the work takes 20% of the time. If you have a project that seems, to you, to be “nearly done,” you aren’t actually even halfway finished. That remaining “20%” will take 4 times again as much as the time you’ve already spent.
There is no such thing as “just a quick thing you should be able to bang out in, like, 2 minutes.” Nothing meaningful, anyway. I cannot count the number of projects that I’ve worked on which had completely unrealistic assessments of complexity.
This is not a condemnation of Agile. It is, however, a clarification for the 80% of people who don’t get it, who think that “Agile” means “it’s ok to constantly and quickly switch directions completely.”
It’s not. Agile means, “We accept that we’re unlikely to get the whole big project vision right at the beginning. Therefore, we recognize that things that are simple on the surface often hide great complexity, and we refuse to try to do anything beyond a completely self-contained sub-process in a given development cycle. We would rather do something simple that adds a tiny bit of real value today than something complex that might add value someday.”
In other words, do one thing at a time.
Hi Mark,
great blog! I really like the “MBA a day”! you are presenting a lot of concepts and ideas that I have been researching and thinking about. It is great for somebody who does not have a business background, such as myself, but would like to look into the topic. I like your writing style too, clear and concise. I also like that you not only summarize the knowledge you gained over those last years, but you give it a personal twist. I like the ethical/ moral component you give it. It seems you would be a pleasant person to do business with.
thanks for the blog,
-kosta
Awesome! Glad you like! Let me know if there are any other specific things you’d like to hear about, or items that could use some more explanation.