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  12. <title>Alex Kassabov</title>
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  26. <title>Alex Kassabov</title>
  27. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com</link>
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  32. <title>Danze &#8211; Great customer service</title>
  33. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/danze-great-customer-service/</link>
  34. <comments>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/danze-great-customer-service/#comments</comments>
  36. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex]]></dc:creator>
  37. <pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:23:16 +0000</pubDate>
  38. <category><![CDATA[Customer Service]]></category>
  39. <category><![CDATA[D455158]]></category>
  40. <category><![CDATA[Danze]]></category>
  41. <guid isPermaLink="false">http://alexkassabov.com/?p=1131</guid>
  42.  
  43. <description><![CDATA[One of the things I always like to write about is great customer service, those unexpected moments of absolute excellence that surprise you and tend to make you a customer for life.  This time, the award for amazing customer service goes to Danze, a popular faucet maker. Several years ago we remodeled the kitchen and [&#8230;]]]></description>
  44. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the things I always like to write about is great customer service, those unexpected moments of absolute excellence that surprise you and tend to make you a customer for life.  This time, the award for amazing customer service goes to Danze, a popular faucet maker.</p>
  45. <p><a href="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/d455158.jpg" target="_blank"><img data-attachment-id="1132" data-permalink="https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/danze-great-customer-service/d455158/" data-orig-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/d455158.jpg" data-orig-size="490,435" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Kodak ProBack&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1141238789&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.033333333333333&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="D455158" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/d455158.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/d455158.jpg?w=468" class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1132" style="border:0;" alt="D455158" src="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/d455158.jpg?w=150&#038;h=133" width="150" height="133" srcset="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/d455158.jpg?w=150 150w, https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/d455158.jpg?w=300 300w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a>Several years ago we remodeled the kitchen and bought a new Danze faucet, <a href="http://www.danze.com/single-handle-pre-rinse-kitchen-faucet/d455158/">D455158</a>.  (A quick disclaimer: I did not pay the MSRP. You can get one for a lot less elsewhere.)  It was new then and now, 5 years later, one little part broke.  The little aerator screen disintegrated and fell apart.  Unfortunately, Danze used a special little screen that cannot be replaced with a generic 2-dollar Ace brand one.  This screen served as the aerator and also as the base for the spring mechanism that switches faucet from spray to stream.  These screens weren&#8217;t even sold online and the only way to replace that one little piece was to buy the whole spray head for around 50 bucks.  I decided to call Danze.</p>
  46. <p>I called Danze to see if they had any better options for me.  The customer service guy was a little brusque when he took down my information and listened to my explanation of the problem.  He then confirmed my address, told me that the replacement part will arrive on Tuesday and hung up before I even got a chance to inquire about a form of payment.</p>
  47. <p>I was pretty excited thinking that I just scored a free aerator screen.  Imagine my surprise when on Tuesday I discovered an entire 50-dollar spray head in the mail.</p>
  48. <p>Now, I don&#8217;t know if there was an official recall notice on these spray heads or if the customer service rep was just feeling extra generous that day.  But when a company stands behind their product and so effortlessly fixes a problem 5 years after the product was purchased, that&#8217;s a great customer experience.  Don&#8217;t know when again I will need to replace a faucet in my house, but odds are good that I&#8217;ll be looking at Danze again.</p>
  49. <p>&nbsp;</p>
  50. ]]></content:encoded>
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  53. <slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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  58. <media:title type="html">Alex</media:title>
  59. </media:content>
  60.  
  61. <media:content url="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/d455158.jpg?w=150" medium="image">
  62. <media:title type="html">D455158</media:title>
  63. </media:content>
  64. </item>
  65. <item>
  66. <title>What do you call a blog that&#8217;s updated once a year?</title>
  67. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/what-do-you-call-a-blog-thats-updated-once-a-year/</link>
  68. <comments>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/what-do-you-call-a-blog-thats-updated-once-a-year/#comments</comments>
  70. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex]]></dc:creator>
  71. <pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:59:13 +0000</pubDate>
  72. <category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
  73. <category><![CDATA[Alex Kassabov]]></category>
  74. <category><![CDATA[alexkassabov.com]]></category>
  75. <category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
  76. <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
  77. <guid isPermaLink="false">http://alexkassabov.com/?p=1121</guid>
  78.  
  79. <description><![CDATA[Answer&#8230;… AlexKassabov.com   A few days ago I was talking blogging with a coworker and a friend.  We both lamented the difficulties of blogging, how hard it is to write good content, and how hard it is to make time to keep one&#8217;s blog regularly updated.  And we both have let our blogs to stagnate lately.  So [&#8230;]]]></description>
  80. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!--?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?--> Answer&#8230;… <a href="http://alexkassabov.com/">AlexKassabov.com</a>  <img class="alignright" alt="" src="https://i0.wp.com/s51.radikal.ru/i134/1301/75/178c6c48a7af.jpg" width="191" height="288" /></p>
  81. <p><span style="font-family:Helvetica;">A few days ago I was talking blogging with a coworker and a friend.  We both lamented the difficulties of blogging, how hard it is to write good content, and how hard it is to make time to keep one&#8217;s blog regularly updated.  And we both have let our blogs to stagnate lately.  So then and there I vowed to resurrect my blog, to dust off my old friend, to start blogging again.  </span></p>
  82. <p><span style="font-family:Helvetica;">A few days went by. Then a whole weekend.  And I still didn&#8217;t find time to write anything.</span></p>
  83. <p><span style="font-family:Helvetica;">Then, on Monday night, I get a one-liner email from another friend.  </span></p>
  84. <p><span style="font-family:Helvetica;">&#8220;</span>What do you call a blog that&#8217;s updated once a year?  Answer&#8230;… <a href="http://alexkassabov.com/">AlexKassabov.com</a>&#8221;</p>
  85. <p>How&#8217;s that for a coincidence? if that&#8217;s not a sign to start writing again, I don&#8217;t know what is.</p>
  86. <p>So, hello there, my old friend.  It&#8217;s time to blow the dust off, find the next empty page and… write something meaningful.</p>
  87. ]]></content:encoded>
  89. <wfw:commentRss>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/what-do-you-call-a-blog-thats-updated-once-a-year/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  90. <slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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  95. <media:title type="html">Alex</media:title>
  96. </media:content>
  97.  
  98. <media:content url="http://s51.radikal.ru/i134/1301/75/178c6c48a7af.jpg" medium="image" />
  99. </item>
  100. <item>
  101. <title>The MoSCoW principle</title>
  102. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/the-moscow-principle/</link>
  103. <comments>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/the-moscow-principle/#comments</comments>
  105. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex]]></dc:creator>
  106. <pubDate>Thu, 03 May 2012 14:28:51 +0000</pubDate>
  107. <category><![CDATA[Consulting]]></category>
  108. <category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>
  109. <category><![CDATA[agile]]></category>
  110. <category><![CDATA[estimating]]></category>
  111. <category><![CDATA[Moscow principle]]></category>
  112. <category><![CDATA[prioritizing]]></category>
  113. <category><![CDATA[projects]]></category>
  114. <guid isPermaLink="false">http://alexkassabov.com/?p=1112</guid>
  115.  
  116. <description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve always wanted to write a spy novel: a handsome spy hero, a gorgeous girl, a foreign location in the heart of an evil empire, enemies outwitted and defeated. But most of all &#8212; an attention grabbing, instantly captivating title.  Unfortunately, this is not one of those posts.  Maybe, when I cross into the myth-filled [&#8230;]]]></description>
  117. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!--?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?--><img data-attachment-id="1113" data-permalink="https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/the-moscow-principle/russia_moscow/" data-orig-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/russia_moscow.jpg" data-orig-size="440,330" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="Russia &#8211; Moscow" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/russia_moscow.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/russia_moscow.jpg?w=440" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1113" style="border-style:initial;border-color:initial;border-width:0;" title="Russia - Moscow" src="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/russia_moscow.jpg?w=150&#038;h=112" alt="" width="150" height="112" srcset="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/russia_moscow.jpg?w=150 150w, https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/russia_moscow.jpg?w=300 300w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />I&#8217;ve always wanted to write a spy novel: a handsome spy hero, a gorgeous girl, a foreign location in the heart of an evil empire, enemies outwitted and defeated. But most of all &#8212; an attention grabbing, instantly captivating title.  Unfortunately, this is not one of those posts.  Maybe, when I cross into the myth-filled middle age, suffering a mid-life crisis, I&#8217;ll throw all caution to the wind, retreat to a secluded location and pen my critically acclaimed literary debut.  Until then, back to the real world of project management and Agile.</p>
  118. <p>The MoSCoW principle is a clever acronym that can help manage project scope and customer&#8217;s expectations.  It stands for features that you</p>
  119. <div>
  120. <ul>
  121. <li>Must have</li>
  122. <li>Should have</li>
  123. <li>Could have and</li>
  124. <li>Will not have (would be nice, but don&#8217;t count on it).</li>
  125. </ul>
  126. </div>
  127. <div>
  128. <p>The MoSCow principle is the difference between a project focused on fulfilling a contract and a project focused on delivering business value.</p>
  129. <div>
  130. <p>In a contract-based project every requirement is a Must-have.  There is no prioritization, no compromise.  You might as well figure out the order in which you will tackle the contract&#8217;s objectives, build out your WBS and your Gantt chart, and get to it.</p>
  131. <div>
  132. <p>A business value oriented project is driven by the MoSCoW principle. (Or at least it should be.) Out of al the features and requirements of the project, generally 50 &#8211; 60% will fall into the Must-have category.  Maybe another 20 &#8211; 25% will become the Should-have features.  And the rest &#8212; you have to work with the client to figure out what they could get and what will either become phase 2 of the project, or will not be done at all.</p>
  133. <div>
  134. <p>Figuring it all out and setting these priorities is not a simple task.  In fact, figuring out the last 15 &#8211; 20% of the could-haves and will-not-haves could be very painful and even politically charged, but&#8230; absolutely essential.</p>
  135. <div>
  136. <p>What could help in the process is to assign business value to each feature.  By itself, every feature is important and carries a high business value.  The true value of a particular feature can only be understood in comparison.  When you look at what is essential for your project to generate revenue, deciding between the must-haves and the could-haves becomes a little bit easier.</p>
  137. <div></div>
  138. <div></div>
  139. <div></div>
  140. <div></div>
  141. </div>
  142. </div>
  143. </div>
  144. </div>
  145. </div>
  146. ]]></content:encoded>
  148. <wfw:commentRss>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/the-moscow-principle/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  149. <slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
  153. <media:content url="https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/3c361fd16725eff1f527e2dcb98f132b62dee9952806b166f2a86068b4cf45a9?s=96&#38;d=wavatar" medium="image">
  154. <media:title type="html">Alex</media:title>
  155. </media:content>
  156.  
  157. <media:content url="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/russia_moscow.jpg?w=150" medium="image">
  158. <media:title type="html">Russia - Moscow</media:title>
  159. </media:content>
  160. </item>
  161. <item>
  162. <title>Working on features with no value &#8211; frustrating</title>
  163. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/working-on-features-with-no-value-frustrating/</link>
  164. <comments>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/working-on-features-with-no-value-frustrating/#comments</comments>
  166. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex]]></dc:creator>
  167. <pubDate>Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:17:16 +0000</pubDate>
  168. <category><![CDATA[Consulting]]></category>
  169. <category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>
  170. <category><![CDATA[agile]]></category>
  171. <category><![CDATA[productivity]]></category>
  172. <category><![CDATA[startup]]></category>
  173. <guid isPermaLink="false">http://alexkassabov.com/?p=1109</guid>
  174.  
  175. <description><![CDATA[Few things on a project are as frustrating as being forced to work on a feature that adds no value to the immediate goal of releasing a product. When project managers who are new to product development confuse product ship date with the project deadline, you end up being forced to deliver features that will [&#8230;]]]></description>
  176. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Few things on a project are as frustrating as being forced to work on a feature that adds no value to the immediate goal of releasing a product. When project managers who are new to product development confuse product ship date with the project deadline, you end up being forced to deliver features that will not be used for weeks or even months to come. Perhaps, not ever. That&#8217;s when you sit staring, with a twitch in your eye, at the most basic story. Those &#8220;I&#8217;d rather be &lt;fill in the blank&gt;&#8221; license plate holders immediately come to mind.</p>
  177. <p>As a startup, perhaps, you harbor visions of grandeur, thinking of the time when you&#8217;ll be a billion-dollar company employing several hundred people in your back-office operations. But on day one, month one, even month two or three &#8212; you are not. Building features and interfaces designed to make the lives of your potential future employees easier is probably not the best use of one&#8217;s time when you&#8217;re close to launch and your current employee count is at zero.</p>
  178. <p>Focus on your product. Make sure it is appealing and easy to use. Make sure that it will attract that first million-dollar customer and will enable him to do business with you. And if in the mean time your initial staff of employees has to jump through a couple of hoops and push a few too many buttons to service this million-dollar customer, well &#8212; attribute that to growing pains.</p>
  179. <p>&nbsp;</p>
  180. <p>&nbsp;</p>
  181. <p>&nbsp;</p>
  182. ]]></content:encoded>
  184. <wfw:commentRss>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/working-on-features-with-no-value-frustrating/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  185. <slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
  189. <media:content url="https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/3c361fd16725eff1f527e2dcb98f132b62dee9952806b166f2a86068b4cf45a9?s=96&#38;d=wavatar" medium="image">
  190. <media:title type="html">Alex</media:title>
  191. </media:content>
  192. </item>
  193. <item>
  194. <title>Mr. Potato Head of Agile or How to fill a box</title>
  195. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/mr-potato-head-of-agile-or-how-to-fill-a-box/</link>
  196. <comments>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/mr-potato-head-of-agile-or-how-to-fill-a-box/#comments</comments>
  198. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex]]></dc:creator>
  199. <pubDate>Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:12:23 +0000</pubDate>
  200. <category><![CDATA[Consulting]]></category>
  201. <category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>
  202. <category><![CDATA[agile]]></category>
  203. <category><![CDATA[projects]]></category>
  204. <guid isPermaLink="false">http://alexkassabov.com/?p=1104</guid>
  205.  
  206. <description><![CDATA[In the Downtown Disney Marketplace there&#8217;s a store called Once Upon a Toy. One of the areas inside of the store sells various loose Mr. Potato Head parts: Disney themed parts, Star War themed parts, Halloween parts &#8212; almost anything you can imagine. Some parts, like the eyeballs, are small. Other parts, like the arms, [&#8230;]]]></description>
  207. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img data-attachment-id="1105" data-permalink="https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/mr-potato-head-of-agile-or-how-to-fill-a-box/once_upon_a_toy_build_your_own_mr_potato_head/" data-orig-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/once_upon_a_toy_build_your_own_mr_potato_head.jpg" data-orig-size="300,400" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="Build your own Mr. Potato Head" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/once_upon_a_toy_build_your_own_mr_potato_head.jpg?w=225" data-large-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/once_upon_a_toy_build_your_own_mr_potato_head.jpg?w=300" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1105" style="border-style:initial;border-color:initial;border-width:0;" title="Build your own Mr. Potato Head" src="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/once_upon_a_toy_build_your_own_mr_potato_head.jpg?w=112&#038;h=150" alt="" width="112" height="150" srcset="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/once_upon_a_toy_build_your_own_mr_potato_head.jpg?w=112 112w, https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/once_upon_a_toy_build_your_own_mr_potato_head.jpg?w=224 224w" sizes="(max-width: 112px) 100vw, 112px" />In the Downtown Disney Marketplace there&#8217;s a store called <em>Once Upon a Toy</em>. One of the areas inside of the store sells various loose Mr. Potato Head parts: Disney themed parts, Star War themed parts, Halloween parts &#8212; almost anything you can imagine. Some parts, like the eyeballs, are small. Other parts, like the arms, are larger. And yet others, like the hats and the shoes, are large. They sell parts by a box: pick up an empty cardboard box, fill it with whatever parts strike your fancy, and, as long the box closes, it is $20.</p>
  208. <p>A kid let loose to pick his own parts may grab a few of the larger pieces, the hats and such, put them in a box and find out that there is no more room for anything else. So for 20 bucks, that kid may get 6 different parts. This is what the store hopes you will do.</p>
  209. <p>A seasoned or a frugal shopper will approach the problem with a little more sophistication, strategically picking a mix of small, medium and large parts to optimize the box space. This shopper may end up with a mix of about a dozen parts or more. Not exactly what the store wants, but I&#8217;m sure they still make money.</p>
  210. <p>The other day, a client, new to Agile, asked me for help to understand the concept of estimating in points and how to translate story points to hours / dollars &#8212; a common request. As I was thinking about a good way to explain points, I remembered my Disney World trips. The analogy of the Mr. Potato Head box is what makes translating points into dollars tricky. How much an Agile team accomplishes in a week, how many stories and points you get for your 20 dollars, it all depends on the level of the team&#8217;s sophistication, on their velocity.</p>
  211. <p>Think of the user stories as loose Mr. Potato Head parts each worth 1, 3 or 5 points (depending on the size) and of a sprint as one cardboard box. A sprint, just like the box, can hold a finite number of parts (user stories), resulting in a finite number of points. Exactly how many depends on your teams&#8217; ability to optimize the box space &#8212; the team&#8217;s velocity. Early in the process, they probably can only figure out how to put 6 pirate hats (5 points each) into the box, accomplishing 30 points. As they get smarter and start figuring things out, they may realize that if, instead of a pirate hat for 5 points, they get 2 medium arms (each worth 3 points), they can actually complete more. And because of the shape of the arms, 2 arms leave even some room for 2 more eyeballs (1 point each) for a total of 8 points now. So suddenly, instead of 30 points, you are getting 33 points in one box.</p>
  212. <p>Unfortunately, there may come a sprint when you really want that tall and pointy Mickey&#8217;s Wizard hat, which takes up much of the box, leaving very little room for anything else. Some sprints you win, some sprints you lose. At the end of the day, your box of a sprint still costs you 20 dollars, regardless of how many parts you manage to walk away with. And if you&#8217;re really concerned with how much each size part cost after all, just look at the average velocity. But only after a healthy number of good, clean boxes of parts.</p>
  213. <p>Number of hours in a sprint divided by the average sprint velocity should give you the number of hours per story point.</p>
  214. <p>What do you think? Does this analogy work?</p>
  215. <p>&nbsp;</p>
  216. <p>&nbsp;</p>
  217. ]]></content:encoded>
  219. <wfw:commentRss>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/mr-potato-head-of-agile-or-how-to-fill-a-box/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  220. <slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
  224. <media:content url="https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/3c361fd16725eff1f527e2dcb98f132b62dee9952806b166f2a86068b4cf45a9?s=96&#38;d=wavatar" medium="image">
  225. <media:title type="html">Alex</media:title>
  226. </media:content>
  227.  
  228. <media:content url="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/once_upon_a_toy_build_your_own_mr_potato_head.jpg?w=112" medium="image">
  229. <media:title type="html">Build your own Mr. Potato Head</media:title>
  230. </media:content>
  231. </item>
  232. <item>
  233. <title>eBooks are our faceless friends</title>
  234. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/ebooks-are-our-faceless-friends/</link>
  235. <comments>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/ebooks-are-our-faceless-friends/#comments</comments>
  237. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex]]></dc:creator>
  238. <pubDate>Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:49:39 +0000</pubDate>
  239. <category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
  240. <category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
  241. <category><![CDATA[e-book reader]]></category>
  242. <category><![CDATA[e-books]]></category>
  243. <category><![CDATA[ebooks]]></category>
  244. <category><![CDATA[Kindle]]></category>
  245. <category><![CDATA[Reading]]></category>
  246. <guid isPermaLink="false">http://alexkassabov.com/?p=1089</guid>
  247.  
  248. <description><![CDATA[I love my Kindle. I&#8217;ve read probably a hundred books on it and will definitely read many hundreds more. I love everything about it: the convenience factor, the screen, the storage space, the form factor &#8212; everything. I&#8217;ve read about a hundred books, but, if it wasn&#8217;t for Shelfari, I probably wouldn&#8217;t remember reading half [&#8230;]]]></description>
  249. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align:left;">I love my Kindle. I&#8217;ve read probably a hundred books on it and will definitely read many hundreds more. I love everything about it: the convenience factor, the screen, the storage space, the form factor &#8212; everything.</p>
  250. <p style="text-align:center;"><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="1093" data-permalink="https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/ebooks-are-our-faceless-friends/icon_kindle/" data-orig-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/icon_kindle.jpg" data-orig-size="256,256" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="Kindle" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/icon_kindle.jpg?w=256" data-large-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/icon_kindle.jpg?w=256" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-1093 aligncenter" style="border-style:initial;border-color:initial;border-width:0;" title="Kindle" src="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/icon_kindle.jpg?w=150&#038;h=150" alt=""   srcset="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/icon_kindle.jpg?w=150 150w, https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/icon_kindle.jpg?w=100 100w, https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/icon_kindle.jpg?w=200 200w" sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" /></p>
  251. <p>I&#8217;ve read about a hundred books, but, if it wasn&#8217;t for Shelfari, I probably wouldn&#8217;t remember reading half of them. Not what the book is about, but the very fact that I&#8217;ve read this book. If I were browsing library shelves and happened to pick up some of the books I&#8217;ve read, I wouldn&#8217;t recognize them. Why is that?</p>
  252. <p>The familiar and easily recognizable form factor of a Kindle makes the experience of reading one book virtually <a href="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/faceless-man.jpg"><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="1091" data-permalink="https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/ebooks-are-our-faceless-friends/faceless-man/" data-orig-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/faceless-man.jpg" data-orig-size="500,500" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="faceless-man" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/faceless-man.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/faceless-man.jpg?w=468" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1091" style="border-style:initial;border-color:initial;border-width:0;" title="faceless-man" src="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/faceless-man.jpg?w=150&#038;h=150" alt=""   srcset="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/faceless-man.jpg?w=150 150w, https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/faceless-man.jpg?w=100 100w, https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/faceless-man.jpg?w=200 200w" sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" /></a>indistinguishable from reading any other. You may be reading a Lincoln biography, The Three Musketeers or the Holly Bible &#8212; nothing, absolutely nothing, changes. It&#8217;s the same black device with the same screen and the same black-on-white print. There are no pictures; the weight, the size, or the font of the book never changes. All those memory hooks that allow us to remember and distinguish things are missing. The books that you&#8217;re reading simply have no face. It&#8217;s like meeting a hundred faceless men at a cocktail party and having them tell you their name and their life story. You may remember the stories, but good luck telling which story belongs to who.</p>
  253. <p>The same thing happens when I try to remember a specific paragraph or illustration from a book. The way memory, at least my memory, works, I remember that this specific paragraph was somewhere in the last third of the book, it was after this illustration but before that diagram, it was at the bottom of a page that had some other distinguishable sentences on it. I might have even highlighted it. In other words, finding something in a physical book is possible by just leafing through pages and setting off memory triggers. In an ebook all of that is missing: you can&#8217;t open a book in its last third and leaf through the pages to find something. You have to rely on the search feature, but you have to know what you&#8217;re searching for in the first place.</p>
  254. <p>(Of course, there&#8217;s the highlight feature of a Kindle, but unless you make just a few highlights in a given book, finding a particular highlight is also not so straight forward.)</p>
  255. <p>I find that using ebooks forces me to give up the natural way I remember things. It is forcing me to devise new ways, which don&#8217;t feel right and, frankly, don&#8217;t work for me. I&#8217;m yet to come up with a system for consuming all those highlights I made in all those Kindle books. I&#8217;ve tried importing my highlights and organizing them somehow in Evernote, but that, once again, forces me to have to remember what I&#8217;m looking for in the first place. I&#8217;m considering starting a good old notebook of handwritten notes. Seems like too much work though.</p>
  256. <p>What do you do? Do you have a system for remembering or finding things in ebooks?</p>
  257. ]]></content:encoded>
  259. <wfw:commentRss>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/ebooks-are-our-faceless-friends/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  260. <slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
  264. <media:content url="https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/3c361fd16725eff1f527e2dcb98f132b62dee9952806b166f2a86068b4cf45a9?s=96&#38;d=wavatar" medium="image">
  265. <media:title type="html">Alex</media:title>
  266. </media:content>
  267.  
  268. <media:content url="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/icon_kindle.jpg?w=150" medium="image">
  269. <media:title type="html">Kindle</media:title>
  270. </media:content>
  271.  
  272. <media:content url="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/faceless-man.jpg?w=150" medium="image">
  273. <media:title type="html">faceless-man</media:title>
  274. </media:content>
  275. </item>
  276. <item>
  277. <title>Agile does not mean fast</title>
  278. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/agile-does-not-mean-fast/</link>
  279. <comments>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/agile-does-not-mean-fast/#comments</comments>
  281. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex]]></dc:creator>
  282. <pubDate>Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:11:16 +0000</pubDate>
  283. <category><![CDATA[Consulting]]></category>
  284. <category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>
  285. <category><![CDATA[agile]]></category>
  286. <category><![CDATA[projects]]></category>
  287. <category><![CDATA[waterfall]]></category>
  288. <guid isPermaLink="false">http://alexkassabov.com/?p=1085</guid>
  289.  
  290. <description><![CDATA[When people think of Agile, what drives customers&#8217; interest in Agile is thinking that Agile will enable them to get projects don&#8217;t faster and cheaper than the classic project management. But that is not always the case.   Agile is not synonymous with fast. The dictionary defines &#8220;agile&#8221; as &#8220;able to move quickly and easily&#8221;. [&#8230;]]]></description>
  291. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When people think of Agile, what drives customers&#8217; interest in Agile is thinking that Agile will enable them to get projects don&#8217;t faster and cheaper than the classic project management. But that is not always the case.  <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="1086" data-permalink="https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/agile-does-not-mean-fast/rockinroad1/" data-orig-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/rockinroad1.jpg" data-orig-size="500,375" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="RockInRoad" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/rockinroad1.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/rockinroad1.jpg?w=468" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1086" title="RockInRoad" src="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/rockinroad1.jpg?w=150&#038;h=112" alt="" width="150" height="112" srcset="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/rockinroad1.jpg?w=150 150w, https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/rockinroad1.jpg?w=300 300w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></p>
  292. <p>Agile is not synonymous with fast. The dictionary defines &#8220;agile&#8221; as &#8220;able to move quickly and easily&#8221;. An Agile team is one that can quickly and easily react to changes in project&#8217;s requirements and new ideas as the project takes shape in front of the customer. If you think of a project as a road trip from point A (start of the project) to point B (delivery of the project), an Agile team is the one that doesn&#8217;t get slowed down or thrown off course by road construction, avalanches or collapsed bridges. Agile teams don&#8217;t blindly follow the GPS. If the <a title="GPS leads tourists into the ocean" href="http://news.yahoo.com/gps-tracking-disaster-japanese-tourists-drive-straight-pacific-172043575--abc-news.html" target="_blank">GPS is leading them straight into the ocean</a>, they can adjust their course quickly enough to not slow down the project. They don&#8217;t need to stop or even return back home and plan a different route.</p>
  293. <p>But all that does not imply that they will get to their destination faster than anyone else. It just means that they will get to their destination, no matter the obstacles along the way.</p>
  294. <p>Such agility, however, comes at a cost. The overall trip may end up taking longer than what the GPS originally promised you because it didn&#8217;t know about the missing bridge ahead. And it may even cost more: you might need to bring an extra person with you, someone who knows the roads well. But you will get to your destination and with great road trip stories to tell.</p>
  295. <p>&nbsp;</p>
  296. ]]></content:encoded>
  298. <wfw:commentRss>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/agile-does-not-mean-fast/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  299. <slash:comments>36</slash:comments>
  303. <media:content url="https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/3c361fd16725eff1f527e2dcb98f132b62dee9952806b166f2a86068b4cf45a9?s=96&#38;d=wavatar" medium="image">
  304. <media:title type="html">Alex</media:title>
  305. </media:content>
  306.  
  307. <media:content url="https://kassabov.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/rockinroad1.jpg?w=150" medium="image">
  308. <media:title type="html">RockInRoad</media:title>
  309. </media:content>
  310. </item>
  311. <item>
  312. <title>I&#8217;m baaaack! On the road again</title>
  313. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/im-baaaack-on-the-road-again/</link>
  314. <comments>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/im-baaaack-on-the-road-again/#comments</comments>
  316. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex]]></dc:creator>
  317. <pubDate>Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:21:09 +0000</pubDate>
  318. <category><![CDATA[Cycling]]></category>
  319. <category><![CDATA[Bicycling]]></category>
  320. <category><![CDATA[Biking]]></category>
  321. <category><![CDATA[Chicago]]></category>
  322. <category><![CDATA[Road bike]]></category>
  323. <guid isPermaLink="false">http://alexkassabov.com/?p=1081</guid>
  324.  
  325. <description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m baaack! On the road again. I know it&#8217;s the wrong song, but it my head I sound like Aerosmith singing &#8220;Back in the Saddle&#8221;. 60 degrees in early March in Chicago, weekend &#8212; I&#8217;m riding! Get that bike out of the basement; dust off my helmet and the riding glasses; and let&#8217;s see whether [&#8230;]]]></description>
  326. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m baaack! On the road again.</p>
  327. <p>I know it&#8217;s the wrong song, but it my head I sound like Aerosmith singing &#8220;Back in the Saddle&#8221;.</p>
  328. <iframe class="youtube-player" width="468" height="264" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uIPS4LyveJs?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
  329. <p>60 degrees in early March in Chicago, weekend &#8212; I&#8217;m riding! Get that bike out of the basement; dust off my helmet and the riding glasses; and let&#8217;s see whether all this riding on rollers is going to pay off.</p>
  330. <p>First of all, no amount of indoor training can truly prepare you for the road. No matter how fit and strong you think you are, the road is hard. When you&#8217;re going 20+ miles per hour and spinning at 80+ RPM in your largest chainring, it is likely not the months of off-season training paying off, it&#8217;s the wind in your back. Unfortunately, you only realize this when you turn around and that wind hits you in the face.</p>
  331. <p>Second, it still is early March in Chicago. Going out in shorts and a short sleeved jersey with just a t-shirt underneath may not have been the best idea. When the sun is behind clouds and that wind is in your face, it is bloody cold.</p>
  332. <p>And lastly, I missed my kung-fu movies and definitely did not miss suburban drivers and unchained dogs.</p>
  333. <p>But nothing can take away the joy of actually being outside, on the road, watching the empty brown fields and bare trees fly by. And, all joking aside, the off-season training really does pay off. Even on this first ride of the year, you feel stronger and better prepared than you would have been otherwise. You can actually enjoy the ride as opposed to struggling through it and cursing all those rich winter-time foods.</p>
  334. <p>So here&#8217;s to a great start of another riding season.</p>
  335. <p>&nbsp;</p>
  336. <p>&nbsp;</p>
  337. ]]></content:encoded>
  339. <wfw:commentRss>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/im-baaaack-on-the-road-again/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  340. <slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
  344. <media:content url="https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/3c361fd16725eff1f527e2dcb98f132b62dee9952806b166f2a86068b4cf45a9?s=96&#38;d=wavatar" medium="image">
  345. <media:title type="html">Alex</media:title>
  346. </media:content>
  347. </item>
  348. <item>
  349. <title>The cost of Agile</title>
  350. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/the-cost-of-agile/</link>
  351. <comments>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/the-cost-of-agile/#comments</comments>
  353. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex]]></dc:creator>
  354. <pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:21:07 +0000</pubDate>
  355. <category><![CDATA[Consulting]]></category>
  356. <category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>
  357. <category><![CDATA[agile]]></category>
  358. <category><![CDATA[projects]]></category>
  359. <category><![CDATA[waterfall]]></category>
  360. <guid isPermaLink="false">http://alexkassabov.com/?p=1077</guid>
  361.  
  362. <description><![CDATA[&#160; A lot of customers want to run their projects Agile. Agile is hot, sexy and all the cool kids are doing it. But when your customer asks you to run their project Agile, do they really know what they are getting into? Everybody likes the advantages of Agile: the daily stand-ups, the working product [&#8230;]]]></description>
  363. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
  364. <p>A lot of customers want to run their projects Agile. Agile is hot, sexy and all the cool kids are doing it.</p>
  365. <p>But when your customer asks you to run their project Agile, do they really know what they are getting into?</p>
  366. <p>Everybody likes the advantages of Agile: the daily stand-ups, the working product at the end of every iteration, the team working on features that add value. But there is a cost and a time commitment that is not always expected or understood.</p>
  367. <p>An Agile project runs on user stories. &#8220;As a website admin, I want to Create a new user&#8221;. &#8220;As a new user, I want to Register on the site&#8221;. &#8220;As a user, I want to Sign up for a course&#8221;. A well crafted Agile story is made up of acceptance criteria that defines all the business rules behind the story. If a user wants to sign up for a course, what are the rules? Can they select any course? Can they select more than one course? Can they select a course that has already started? Can they select a course that starts tomorrow and it is 9 PM today? Can they sign up if they are currently enrolled in another course? What if the current course ends before the other one begins? And so on and so forth.</p>
  368. <p>Somebody has to define all these stories and think trough all these scenarios. That somebody is your customer. In an Agile project, no longer can they simply work with you through the analysis phase, wait for you to write up the spec document, approve the spec and walk away awaiting the first demo milestone. In an Agile project, the customer has to be involved a lot more, almost every step of the way as stories are being written. Are they willing to make that commitment?</p>
  369. <p>The other side of user stories is that somebody actually has to write them. A business analyst or an architect has to work with the customer to think through all the scenarios and to capture them into stories that will then feed the development team. Depending on the size of the team, there may need to be multiple authors. 1 author should be able to keep up with a team of 2 &#8211; 3 developers. But once the team grows to 4, 5 or more, the developers will generally consume stories faster than 1 author can write them. And considering that the story author wants to stay at least 1, if not 2 sprints ahead of the developers, story writing becomes a full time job, which will add to the cost of the project.</p>
  370. <p>So when a customer asks you to run their project as Agile, make sure they understand what&#8217;s involved. Start your project with an education session on what it means to do an Agile project, explain the time commitment on their part and the additional cost to the project. And if at the end they still want to do it, make them sign something, an Agile manifesto of sorts.</p>
  371. <p>&nbsp;</p>
  372. ]]></content:encoded>
  374. <wfw:commentRss>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/the-cost-of-agile/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  375. <slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
  379. <media:content url="https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/3c361fd16725eff1f527e2dcb98f132b62dee9952806b166f2a86068b4cf45a9?s=96&#38;d=wavatar" medium="image">
  380. <media:title type="html">Alex</media:title>
  381. </media:content>
  382. </item>
  383. <item>
  384. <title>Agile or waterfall</title>
  385. <link>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/agile-or-waterfall/</link>
  386. <comments>https://kassabov.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/agile-or-waterfall/#comments</comments>
  388. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex]]></dc:creator>
  389. <pubDate>Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:20:36 +0000</pubDate>
  390. <category><![CDATA[Consulting]]></category>
  391. <category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>
  392. <category><![CDATA[agile]]></category>
  393. <category><![CDATA[projects]]></category>
  394. <category><![CDATA[waterfall]]></category>
  395. <guid isPermaLink="false">http://alexkassabov.com/?p=1074</guid>
  396.  
  397. <description><![CDATA[Coke or Pepsi? Miller or Bud? Mac or PC? Agile or Waterfall? When a consulting company embarks on a project, what is a better methodology to use: Agile or the traditional Waterfall? What projects lend themselves better to one or the other? Waterfall methodology seems to work better when a project presents a known problem [&#8230;]]]></description>
  398. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Coke or Pepsi? Miller or Bud? Mac or PC? Agile or Waterfall?</p>
  399. <p>When a consulting company embarks on a project, what is a better methodology to use: Agile or the traditional Waterfall? What projects lend themselves better to one or the other?</p>
  400. <p>Waterfall methodology seems to work better when a project presents a known problem with a known solution. Upgrading a server, creating a time-off system, or building a submarine &#8212; all are projects that are better executed by the waterfall approach. You know the problem, you know how to solve it, chances are you&#8217;ve solved it before and probably more than once. Each project will have a defined scope, a set of requirements that must be met in order for the project to be completed: the server must be upgraded to the new version, the time off system must allow employees submit leave requests, and the submarine, well, the submarine, must submerge. There&#8217;s little room for creativity, in fact, creativity may be bad &#8212; a creative approach may cause the submarine to sink or the leave request to violate HR policies.</p>
  401. <p>Unexpected problems may certainly arise in each project, but nothing that would require you to completely change your approach. Nothing that a good PM can&#8217;t deal with.</p>
  402. <p>The Agile methodology, on the other hand, seems to be better suited to that creative approach. You know the problem, but you don&#8217;t know how to solve it. Building a system to allow employees take advantage of a new benefit and trade unused time off for cash or for cash donations to charity may be an example of such project, especially when the HR policy around this benefit is still being defined. Such project would not have a defined scope or a set of requirements. The requirements are going to be defined throughout the project as it is being built and features are starting to take shape, sparking new ideas and new features.</p>
  403. <p>But there&#8217;s a caveat. The business owner, the client needs to know what they are getting into it and agree that their project is going to be an Agile project, a creative process focused on delivering business value rather than fulfilling a set of requirements from a contract.</p>
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