#11: We need to talk about Culture

Better ROI from Software Development

In the last five episodes I've introduced a number of terms to help us move away from the traditional software development practices.

In episode 6, I introduced the Minimum Viable Product as a way to rethink our traditional ideas of waterfall style software projects. I recommend using MVP as a way to approach the traditional problems of unknown benefits, unknown costs and unknown risks.

In episode 7, I introduced Lean as a backup to the mind set behind Minimum Viable Product. Lean's strong manufacturing pedigree stands out as a proven method of reducing waste, delivering faster throughput and ultimately value to the customer.

In episode 8, I introduce Agile as a complementary mind set to back up Minimum Viable Product. I introduced the Agile Manifest; the commitment behind much of the work in the Agile movement since 2001. I showed how the manifestos recommendations aligned with Lean and MVP.

In episode 9, I introduced the Cloud as a key enabled to support the adoption of Minimum Viable Product, Lean and Agile. I talked about the value that the flexibility of the Cloud can provide - along with the potentially market changing opportunities made available by initiative services the Cloud makes available.

And in the last episode, episode 10, I introduced DevOps as a set of practices and process that build on a Lean & Agile heritage. I also introduced the State of DevOps report as providing evidence that DevOps is helping organisations meet and exceed their goals.

In this episode, I want to take a step back and address some of cultural issues that these episodes generate.