Process meltdown.

After our process meltdown. We've decided to dust ourselves down and try again. What I think we've done is retrospect ourselves into a corner. We used retrospectives to remove the barriers to our productivity but by reducing some of the ceremony somehow we have removed all structure. This combined with a change in personnel and the disruption of the Christmas period has resulted in a development process that is best described as sluggish anarchy.

Rushing Shu, Ha, Ri

We've decided to re-adopt scrum again. Why? I feel we started to run before we could walk. There is a phrase that has been picked up by the agile community, Shu, Ha, Ri. This phrase borrowed from Akido shows different stages of learning.

In the phase of Shu, the person tries to abide by the rules. She tries to learn all the principles and informations by heart. But she can't abide by all the rules while she is doing the practice. Her body(including her brain) starts to remember them bit by bit through repetitious practices. When the time comes she can internalize and abide by all the rules -- when Shu is achieved, Shu phase is finished and she enters into Ha phase.
In the phase of Ha, she tries to break the (old) rules. She tries to self-reflect on herself and her knowledge, and come up with anti-theses such as exceptions of the rules in the real world. But she can't break all the old rules while she is doing the practice. Her rules start to get more complete(or becomes more like "case-by-case") as the rules encompass exceptions bit by bit. When the time comes she can break all the rules and see the both sides of every rule (maybe substituting with a set of her own rules) -- when Ha is achieved, Ha phase is finished and she enters into Ri phase.
In the phase of Ri, she tries to leave the rules. She tries to get free from all the rules, and get into the state of no distinction, or into a new dimension. But she can't leave all the rules while she is doing the practice. Her body starts to forget them bit by bit through following natural laws and flows (or Tao). When the time comes she can leave all the rules -- when Ri is achieved, Ri phase is finished and she enters into a new dimension of Shu.

We feel that we tried to enter the Ha stage before mastering the Shu.

Learning to fail habitually

The one thing I don't like about scrum is it is a framework for exposing failure. This can be used as a positive but after a number of failed sprints your team can become demotivated. We kept on over committing on story points per iteration and rather than reduce we tried to combat low velocity by removing impediments. This became habitual. We were learning to accept loss as a norm.

Process rebirth

So today we've started the sprint with a much smaller number of points. The idea behind this is that we can achieve the goal. Hopefully this will make us feel better about the process and motivated to continue.

acceptance

We've been revisiting the Agile in a Flash cards at the daily stand-up. As a team that purports to follow agile priniciples I don't mind saying that we've lost our way a little bit. By removing the percieved hurdles that were preventing from producing faster we seem to have gone too far. The process is lacking any structure at the minute but with new members of the team comes fresh energy. It's time to pull our socks up. What the cards do is provide us a discussion point to focus on and retrospect over where we've come from and where we want to get too. Admitting this is the first stage. Doing something about it is the second stage.

Metrolink: Highlights from the passenger's charter

The top web search result for "Metrolink Complaints" brings back Passenger Charter last updated in 2008 it has some encouraging quotes. All emphasis is my own.

The vision behind the Metrolink system is to provide a safe, efficient environmentally friendly and reliable tram system for Greater Manchester that will integrate with other transport modes and fulfill the aspirations of the Passenger Transport Authority.

Advance information on planned disruptions to service will be made available as soon as practically possible in advance. Information will be prominently displayed at all stops. We will always endeavour to minimise passenger disruption to services.

We want all passengers to have a trouble free journey and therefore ask you to consider the needs of your fellow passengers at all times.

We will continue to aim for improved standards of punctuality and reliability. We will publish our reliability and punctuality figures set against agreed target levels at Metrolink stops every four weeks. These figures will be independently advised every year.

We will provide real time information about our services by means of public address systems and information screens.

How many of screens actually work?

We recognise that passengers want to know what is happening when things go wrong. Our staff on trams and on the Metrolink system will help by providing as much information as they can to passengers.

For comments or complaints regarding general operation, maintenance and cleanliness of the Metrolink system, passengers should contact Stagecoach’s Customer Service team. For issues relating to policy, for example fares and future Metrolink expansion, passengers should contact GMPTE’s Customer Relations department.

Note Stagecoach do not run the service anymore.

If you have a complaint, we want to find out what went wrong and put it right for the future.

Senior managers carefully monitor the number and type of comments we receive. We will use this information to improve our service in the future.

This is my favourite

We do our best to give you the service you have the right to expect. Our aim is to provide customer satisfaction by improving our services in response to your comments.

We will always do our best to satisfy all complaints. If you still wish to take the matter further you can refer it to your local Passenger Focus Group, an independent public body set up by the Government to protect the interests of Britain's rail passengers. They are funded by the Department for Transport but their independence is guaranteed by an act of Parliament. They use their knowledge to influence decisions on behalf of rail passengers and work with the rail industry, other passenger groups and government to secure journey improvements. The address for Passenger Focus in the area served by Metrolink is: Passenger Focus 9th Floor Store Street Manchester M1 2RP Tel: 0870 336 6095 Fax: 0161 244 5981