If automating you software deployment process is a ‘no-brainer’, why isn’t everyone doing it?

I’ve heard people say that the decision regarding whether to automate software deployments is a ‘no-brainer’; “Every software development team should have a fully automated deployment process”. It’s not even a debate. It’s a declaration. It’s all well and good making that bold statement, but in actual fact there are only a relatively small percentage […]

Create tangible retrospective actions

In my view, the drive to inspect and adapt is the most important concept to have been popularized by the agile software development movement. It’s an idea that got me hugely excited and engaged in the subject when I first came across it in 2005. This essence of this is that ‘we will always know […]

Releasing your software shouldn’t feel like visiting the dentist [Part 2]

In my previous post, I explained how leaving an extended period between releases of your software is just as risky an approach as forgoing regular dental check-ups. So if you bought that argument, it seems sensible to deploy pretty often, right? The problem is, and where the dental metaphor decays (sorry), is that software development […]

Releasing your software shouldn’t feel like visiting the dentist [Part 1]

As a project manager, the process of releasing software can be fraught with anxiety and dread. I can think about numerous times in my career where, in the shadow of an approaching release deadline, the thought of having to ship our application was akin to contemplating an imminent visit to the dentist. In fact, even […]

Be deliberate: why this blog exists

Welcome to my blog. My name is Chris, a agile project manager, development manager and agile coach based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. I work for a software company called Redgate – a purveyor of ingeniously simple software tools and services. My job is to lead agile software development teams; helping them to solve their own problems and do […]