Re: Re: Six Sigma and XP Estimation / Planning

Hi Eric,

Eric Maass wrote:


> Bill, Thanks for the introduction.

You're welcome.  Thanks for joining us!

> I have to admit that I'm a
> complete novice in terms of XP, and I wonder if someone can
> help me with either a brief overview of XP and Extreme
> Customering, or perhaps a tutorial on it that I might be able to
> access on the web.

Saw you acknowledge receipt of the link from Charlie.  It's a good one.
I'll tackle the question about XP / XC.

> I don't even understand yet the relationship between XP and
> Extreme Customering - whether these are synonyms, or whether
> Extreme Customering is part of XP or vice versa.

eXtreme Programming (XP) defines a basic division of decision-making
responsibility between the technical side and the business side of a
software project.  You'll find this in the overview Charlie sent you.  I
became interested in XP more from the business perspective than from the
technical perspective.  The thing that really got my attention was something
Kent Beck told me about the project (called C3) where XP was "born."
Basically, Kent was called in to fix a big project that had big problems;
over budget, over schedule, etc.  I've got a PM / testing background in
large organizations and have a history of being called in to that kind of
projects.  Not a single one has been a pleasant experience, due mostly to
the fact that all have had an emotionally dysfunctional team component by
the time I arrived.  What I found most exciting about XP was the social /
cultural / organizational aspects that fixed not just a broken project but a
broken project *team.*

The XP list  (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/extremeprogramming ) was (is) a
high-volume, mostly hands-on, how-to, technical discussion of XP.
Business-side topics tend to get lost there.  I formed the eXtreme
Customering (XC) list to provide a dedicated place to talk about the
business-side of XP, specifically the obstacles / challenges / opportunities
of XP practices being adopted in large IT organizations.  The folks I work
for / with are most often one level down from the CxO level.  I'm
discovering ways here on XC to communicate about XP and how it relates to
their problems / perspectives.  Charlie recently recognized a need for a
third conversation that's kind of in-between XP and XC and has just recently
started a great list called xpAdoption
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xpadoption).  It's focus (jump in here
Charlie) is evolving but an important part of it, from my perspective,
revolves around a coalescence of the XP "brand."  Most, if not everyone,
here belongs to all three lists.

> I look forward to discussing the possible convergence of Six
> Sigma and Extreme Customering and/or XP, and I hope you will
> be patient with me as I try to gain familiarity with the concepts
> and terminology of XP.

The initial convergence, if it happens, will be between Six Sigma and XP.
XC does not exist as a set of practices, although that may develop over
time.  The question about estimating is an initial one (hope you can stick
around ;-) ).  I'm very much interested in learning more about how Six Sigma
has been / is being applied to business functions like Sales / Marketing and
Finance vis-a-vis a question about whether or not a set of XC
(business-side) practices makes any sense.  Thank you again for joining us!

Best regards,
Bill



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