can we agree what we really want?

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Can we agree what we really want? Solving the problem of business requirements Anthony Lewis Managing Consultant – End to End Consulting

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Slides for the talk on business requirements I gave at Project Challenge 22/03/12

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Page 1: Can we agree what we really want?

Can we agree what we really want? ""

Solving the problem of business requirements"

Anthony Lewis Managing Consultant – End to End Consulting

Page 2: Can we agree what we really want?

"The Statistics of Failure*  

The top three issues… are:"•  Business Process Alignment"•  Requirements management"•  Overspends"

* Understanding the sources of IS Project Failure, McManus & Wood-Harper, 2007

Management factors account for 65% of project failures"•  Poor leadership in project delivery"•  Poor stakeholder communication / management"•  Insufficient management support"

Technical factors account for 35% of project failures"•  Inappropriate / ill defined software requirements"•  Inappropriate technical design  

Page 3: Can we agree what we really want?

"ʻBetter Business Requirementsʼ *  

Q: What is the single biggest thing that would improve the "quality of your organisation's requirements?"

A: "ʻEarlier buy in from the clientʼ""ʻA greater understanding by senior users of what they "were signing up to.ʼ""ʻLinking requirements to an existing problem and "perceived benefitsʼ"

*Project Magazine – May 2011

Q: What is the most important factor in project success?"A: "ʻSenior sponsorshipʼ"

"ʻInvolvement of end usersʼ""ʻQuality of requirementsʼ"""

Page 4: Can we agree what we really want?

What does it mean?  

Page 5: Can we agree what we really want?

"“Methodology becomes a fetish, a procedure used with pathological rigidity for its own sake, not as a means to an end."Used in this way, methodology provides relief against anxiety; it insulates the practitioner from risks and uncertainties of real engagement with people and problems.”  

The Fetish of Technique: methodology as a social defence, Wastell, 1996

Page 6: Can we agree what we really want?

Over the Waterfall  

Requirements  

Design  

Implementa2on  

Verifica2on  

Maintenance  

Page 7: Can we agree what we really want?

"An iterative approach""

Think  

Design  Build  

Test  

Page 8: Can we agree what we really want?

Translating whatʼs in our heads  

Page 9: Can we agree what we really want?

Commanderʼs Intent  

No campaign plan survives first contact with the enemy "! ! ! ! ! !Carl von Clausewitz"

"•  Hereʼs what I think we face"•  Hereʼs what I think we should do"•  Hereʼs why"•  Hereʼs what we need to keep our eye on"•  Tell me what you think""Karl Wick, 1983*"

* from Sources of Power, Gary Klein, 1999

Page 10: Can we agree what we really want?

System  X  

12

3?

1 Terry registers on behalf of Bob

2 Bob receives confirmation email

3 Bob clicks on confirmation email and is registered

? Terry doesn’t get an email, and is not registered

“A problem well-defined is a problem half-solved.”"" " " " "Charles Kettering  

Page 11: Can we agree what we really want?

Why  

What  

How  

Who  

When  

The project funnel  

Mandate  

Requirements    

Resources  

Plan    

Scope  

Page 12: Can we agree what we really want?

Self-­‐    Actualisa2on  

Why  

What  Physiological  needs  

Safety  needs  

Social  /  emo2onal  needs  

Aesthe2c  &  cogni2ve  needs  

Who  

How  

Which becomes…  

A Theory of Human Motivation, Abraham Maslow, 1943

Page 13: Can we agree what we really want?

Knowledge + Understanding = Meaning  

Page 14: Can we agree what we really want?

Anthony Lewis [email protected] razorlabs.co.uk/blog @anthony__lewis