Even the best teams encounter costly, puzzling problems. Leaders and others concerned with improving software quality and team process often say they are going to address "the" root cause of such a problem. But is there only one root cause? How do you discover the cause or causes? And how do you ensure your fix doesn't cause more headaches than the original problem?
The five-whys method of root-cause analysis helps you effectively discover what went wrong and what to do about it. Douglas Squirrel, CTO of youDevise, Ltd. (
https://dev.youdevise.com ), will demonstrate how his team use this method to bring about continuous improvement in their software process.
Following a brief introduction to the five-whys method, heavily influenced by the ideas of Eric Ries (http://startuplessonslearned.com), we'll introduce a fun and slightly silly scenario that includes some problems amenable to root-cause analysis. Using the fishbowl method, a group of volunteers will perform the analysis with input from the rest of the audience. There will be plenty of time for questions!
Just a thought... If you're interested in this topic, and you are an agile developer, team lead or architect, you may also be interested in
Gojko Adzic's Hands-on Agile Acceptance Testing & Specification by Example with FitNesse Workshop . If you are a tester and want to learn about Practical Agile Testing,
Janet Gregory's Practical Agile Testing course may fit the bill!
