Quality Without Heroics

Quality without Heroics

Jason Yip, jcyip@thoughtworks.com

Kristan Vingrys, kvingrys@thoughtworks.com

Questions

•! Is it so uncommon for things to work that when they

finally do, you break out in celebration?

•! Do you frequently burn the midnight oil and rely on

heroic efforts to get a system into production?

•! If we had a distribution of your customer experiences,

where would zero raised defects lie? A worthy goal? Or

is it even within the realm of possibility?

•! Quality can reduce costs. –! “When people and organizations focus primarily on quality, defined

by the following ratio

quality tends to increase and costs fall over time.” W. Edwards Deming’s philosophy

•! Your customers are publicly praising the quality of your product or service. Complete fantasy?

•! What can you do right now to apply these concepts to the software development context that don't require any more resources then you currently have.

Why should I care?

What is Quality?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kb35/349762358/

“Quality is a customer determination, not an

engineer's determination, not a marketing

determination, or a general management determination. It is based upon the customer's actual

experience with the product or service, measured

against his/her requirements - stated or unstated,

conscious or merely sensed - and always represents

a moving target.”

-- Armand V. Feigenbaum

Where are you on the Quality curve?

Haven’t I heard all this before?

In 1912, Frederick Winslow Taylor is

brought before a House of

Representatives Special Committee to

discuss the moral implications of his

new task management system.

The 4 main principles of the Taylor system

1.! Scientific task design –! ‘develop a science for each element of a man's work, which replaces the old rule

of thumb method‘

2.! Scientific selection •! 'scientifically select and then train, teach and develop the workman, whereas in

the past he chose his own work and trained himself as best he could'.

3.! Management-worker co-operation •! ‘heartily co-operate with the men so as to insure all of the work being done in

accordance with the principles of the science which has been developed'.

4.! Equal division of work –! 'There is a an almost equal division of the work and the responsibility between

the management and the workmen. The management take over all the work for which they are better fitted than the workmen, while in the past almost all of the work and the greater part of the responsibility were thrown upon the men.'

“The new way is to teach and

help your men as you would

a brother; try to teach him

the best way and show him

the easiest way to do his

work.”

-- Frederick Winslow Taylor

“I can say, without the

slightest hesitation, that the

science of handling pig-iron

is so great that the man who

is ... physically able to

handle pig-iron and is

sufficiently phlegmatic and

stupid to choose this for his

occupation is rarely able to

comprehend the science of

handling pig-iron.”

-- Frederick Winslow Taylor

“We will win, and you will lose. You cannot do anything

because your failure is an internal disease. Your

companies are based on Taylor’s principles. Worse, your

heads are Taylorized, too. You firmly believe that sound

management means executives on the one side and

workers on the other, on the one side men who think and

on the other side men who only work.”

-- Konusuke Matsushita

In 1950, the Union

of Japanese

Scientists and

Engineers invites

Dr. William

Edwards Deming

to lecture in

Japan.

Quality = Results of work

Total costs

Costs Quality

Total costs

Not minimising waste

Ignoring unnecessary rework

Taking staff for granted

Not rapidly resolving disputes Not noticing lack of improvement

Total costs

Minimise waste

Amplify Learning

Engage Staff

Effective conflict resolution Continuous improvement

Costs Quality

Plan Do Check Act

Dr. Kaoru

Ishikawa was

active in the

integration

and expansion

of these

concepts into

actual practice

Quality is too important to leave in the

hands of specialists

How do we encourage an

atmosphere of problem-solving?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sloth_rider/392367929/

The Ishikawa or Fishbone diagram

Quality Circles

Quality Circles are about developing a

problem-solving culture, not just the

specific results

Shigeo Shingo

was most well

known for his

writings about

the Toyota

Production

System

Statistical methods detect errors too late

in the process

Instead, identify underlying causes to

produce preventative measures

Mistake-proofing or poka yoke

Jidoka – Automation with a human touch

Summary of things that work

1.! Quality is a customer determination

2.! Problem solving should be systematic and iterative ->

continuous improvement

3.! Quality is too important to leave in the hands of

specialists – quality experts on one side and workers on

the other side doesn’t work

4.! Mistake-proof with good engineering and process

improvement

5.! Stop-the-line when problems are detected rather than

wait for end of line inspection

Quality Lesson

•! Quality is a customer

determination

•! Contextual Inquiry

•! Onsite Customer

•! Acceptance Driven

Development

•! Frequent and regular

showcases

•! Iterative user testing

Applied Today

•! Problem solving should

be systematic and

iterative -> continuous improvement

•! Daily Stand Up

•! Retrospectives

Quality Lesson Applied Today

•! Mistake proof with good

engineering and process

improvement

•! Develop deep technical

expertise

•! Go beyond “How can this

be tested?” to “How can I

design this such that this

type of problem can’t

occur?”

•! Quality is too important to

leave in the hands of

specialists - quality experts on one side and

workers on the other side

doesn’t work

•! Enable all team members

to test

•! Requirements as tests

•! Stop-the-line when

problems are detected

rather than wait for end of line inspection

•! Continuous integration

and testing

•! Build pipelines

Summary

•! There is no silver bullet.

•! Some practices are ways to help achieve a concept, but

they are not the only way.

•! Just implementing the practice without embracing the

concept will not improve quality.

“There is no substitute for knowledge.”

– W. Edwards Deming

Quality Without Heroics

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