This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz by Laurent Bossavit. Original Post: Problem-picking patterns Feed Title: Incipient(thoughts) Feed URL: http://bossavit.com/thoughts/index.rdf Feed Description: You're in a maze of twisty little decisions, all alike. You're in a maze of twisty little decisions, all different. Latest Agile Buzz Posts Latest Agile Buzz Posts by Laurent Bossavit Latest Posts From Incipient(thoughts)

In complex situations, such as software projects and the teams that work on them, there's never such a thing as "the problem". The sense that something is wrong may be the start of a break with routine - the start of a problem-solving process.

In the course of such a process, you will end up with an inventory of things that work well (say, the team socializes well, and has no excessive schedule pressure imposed on it), things that don't work that well (estimation accuracy isn't so great, coding standards are rarely complied with, and you get too many bugs for your liking), and things that really worry you (losing customers, say).

There are a variety of opinions as to where you should start. These are what I call problem-picking patterns. Off the top of my head:

• Low Hanging Fruit, aka Small Wins: start with the easiest problems to solve. Pros: boosts morale, starts a cycle of action and reflection. Cons: may not address core issues.


• Dedication Test: often the underlying problem is that people don't want to change. Change something, anything, even if it doesn't actually solve a problem. Pros: detects resistance to change. Cons: detects resistance to change (you may not want to face the realization that people don't actually want your help).


• Vital Few, aka Worst Problem First: usually, one or two big problems out of a hundred are at the root of most of the team's troubles. Pick those for greatest effect. Pros: highest possible impact. Cons: it may not be easy to determine which problem is actually the worst, especially in crises where everybody will be making lots of noise about every problem.


• N Birds With One Stone: problems form a complex web; any given thing you can do (more testing, more teamwork, etc.) is a solution to many problems. Pick whatever is a solution to the greatest number of problems. Pros: quicker to partially solve some of the problems. Cons: solving a little bit of every problem might not be what the situation requires - sometimes you need to nail down a few, completely.


• Reinforce What Works: don't focus on problems at all, but find out what the team knows that works, and get them to do more of that. The behaviours that cause the problem will fade in the background. Pros: nobody likes a critic. Cons: requires great skill at facilitation.

Are there others ?