Emacs gushing, and secondary product development wastes
We take another look at how to use Emacs more, and we learn about the things that slow down software product development projects, despite hard work.
Once again I feel like I have to excuse the lack of engagement from my end lately. I still have a lot going on and I hope it lightens up one or two months from now.
New articles
Using Emacs More
This article contains two tips on Emacs-based applications (Magit, calc) that you might want to try even if you aren't planning on using Emacs for anything else, and also some explanation for why I like using Emacs for even more things!
Full article (2–5 minute read): Using Emacs More
Flashcard of the week
In the world of lean manufacturing, we talk about waste as something takes effort but does not enhance the product. These are things that make us work harder, but our output still slows down.
Typical manufacturing wastes are unnecessary movements, waiting, overprocessing, defects, inventory. Some claim overproduction is the master waste that leads to all other wastes.
Allen Ward has his own spin on lean for product development, and identifies two primary wastes: handoff and scatter. We have discussed handoff before, and scatter may come in the future. However, Ward also lists four secondary wastes, which may be caused by the primary wastes.
Which are the four secondary wastes?
I don't expect you to guess which wastes Ward has latched on to, so we'll dive straight into the answer:
Useless information, waiting, discarded knowledge, wishful thinking.
Additional explanation:
- Useless information is when we are fed, or being asked to feed someone else, with information that does not improve the product. Status reports, meaningless documentation, irrelevant requirements, etc. This is often caused by handoff.
- Waiting is when we have to stop working because something else needs to happen first. This is often caused by handoff – if we could take responsibility from start to finish, we wouldn't have to wait.
- Discarded knowledge is when we have information that will be relevant in the future, but it doesn't make it into the future. This is often caused by scatter, which causes us to fail to record what matters in a way that is usable.
- Wishful thinking is probably a specific form of scatter, where development proceeds according to someone's fantasy rather than the actual conditions on the ground.
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