Tag: antipattern

Silo thinking

Many of us already experienced this silo mentality in larger organisations, which are often stuck in a ‘command and control’ culture and mindset. Silo thinking in organizations refers to a mindset where departments or teams work in isolation, prioritizing their own goals over the collective objectives of the company. This can lead to poor communication,…
Net negative producing developer

This blog post is about an anti pattern – and on top contains another anti pattern in itself (in my opinion). So what is a net negative producing developer? Originally described by G. Gordon Schulmeyer in the early 90’s, it’s basically a member of a (software) team whose contributions to a project result in more…
Multi project myth

This insight is another classic fallacy. Jerry Weinberg wrote in his book “Quality Software Management: Systems Thinking” about the fact that the more parallel projects lead to less overall performance! While it may seem intuitive to tackle several projects at once to maximize output, the reality is that spreading resources too thin can lead to…
Sharpen the saw

Steven Covey describe in his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” about the necessity of “sharpen the saw” from time to time. He wrote this in the eighties of the century, so almost half a decade ago.Still, this habit turned out to be essential for any agile approach, which manifests in the “inspect…
Hey Joe

No, it’s not about the famous Jimi Hendrix song 🙂 The “Hey Joe” antipattern is a term used in software development to describe a situation where a team member is constantly interrupted with questions, requests, or updates by their colleagues, often referred to as “Hey Joe” moments. This pattern can lead to decreased productivity, frustration,…
NIH

Have you ever heard of the “Not Invented Here” (NIH) syndrome? Maybe not explicetely, but you might experienced with a team of juniors. NIH refers to the tendency to reject ideas, solutions, or technologies that originate from outside our own organization or team. This mindset can hinder our ability to collaborate effectively and limit our…
Adding people to a late project …

… makes the project even later.” This insight by Fred Brooks , published in his book “The mythical man month” is now almost 50 years old. And still this fact is so often ignored or even denied – and it’s truth is unfolding on and on again. There are several reasons behind this fact, here…
Design by committee

“a camel is a horse designed by a committee” Let’s talk about involving everyone in design decisions. While getting input is valuable, too many cooks can spoil the broth. Imagine we’re designing a new login screen for the app. In a “design by committee” scenario, everyone throws in ideas. One person wants a bright splash…
Cargo Cult

Deep in the emerald jungles of a remote Pacific island, a tribe lived in harmony with their natural world. Their lives revolved around fishing, hunting, and honoring their ancestors. But one fateful day, a colossal metal bird filled the sky, casting a shadow over their village. It was a military cargo plane, delivering supplies to…
HiPPO

A high performance team relies heavily on balanced and adaptable decision making process. Therefore, it is important to avoid prioritising the opinions or decisions of the highest-ranking individual based solely on their salary or seniority. Instead, organisations should consider data-driven insights and diverse viewpoints to make informed decisions. The ‘Highest Paid Person’s Opinion’ (HiPPO) antipattern…