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Launching The Hawkins Compendium with the Batch Cycle (Sprint/Iteration) Planning and Tracking Guide

For well over a decade, clients and colleagues have asked that I publish some of my guidance and training on all things Product Development so they could make use of it.

I am happy to announce the launch of The Hawkins Compendium, a curation of material I have developed over the years while leading development teams and organizations to greater levels of productivity and collaboration.

Drawing of a box labeled "The Thing" with The Myth of Commoditized Excellence written above it

The Myth of Commoditized Excellence

When we learn new things from grappling with problems, it is natural for us to want to share those learnings with others, in hopes that they will face similar challenges with less of a struggle.

How do those well-intended new ideas so often evolve into movements that seem to lose their way, and at times do more harm than good?

In the course of observing and at times being involved in this phenomenon, I sought to understand what I saw happening time and again. Almost a decade ago, I arrived at an explanation that I named The Myth of Commoditized Excellence. What follows are the steps that can lead down this unfortunate path.

What should your development process provide?

Four Outcomes of Effective Development Process

Have you ever wondered why your team is using its current development process?

If you’re the person facilitating the process, have you ever been asked “Why are we doing things this way?” and found yourself unable to articulate anything beyond process mechanics?

For me, an effective development process is meant to provide four key outcomes beyond merely delivering work. I expect these outcomes irrespective of the methodology, framework, or tools being used. My focus here is team-level development process, but the outcomes certainly scale to the organizational level.

The Discipline Deficit

I consult with all sorts of companies looking to adopt elements of process and practice from the Agile/Lean offerings. Whether it’s Scrum, Test-Driven Development, User Stories, Test Automation, Continuous Integration, Agile Estimation and Planning, Sprint Planning, or Sprint Retrospective facilitation, one challenge pervades across most… Read More »The Discipline Deficit