
Competing On The Basis Of Speed - _pius
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5105910452864283694
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shalmanese
I'm always slightly skeptical when people try and apply the lean process to
software development. On the surface, there seems to be some nice analogies
and you can kind of pretend that a unit test in software is the same as a unit
test in manufacturing but the analogy quickly breaks down if you look at it
more closely.

The correct analogy is not manufacturing == programming, it's design ==
programming && manufacturing == compiling. Lean manufacturing, as applied
literally to software is to ensure that the output of your compiler contains
no errant bits and 100% of software companies are in full compliance with
lean. Software is probably the closest industry to achieving an actual six
sigma defect rate.

However, applying lean principles to software development makes about as much
sense as applying it to research & development. Nothing is ever consistent,
nothing ever remains the same. Every compilation is the result of some change.

Are the general suggestions given in this video sensible advice? Sure, for the
most part. But it seems more crammed to fit into a lean framework post-hoc
than derived from genuinely lean principles.

