G E T T I N G P R E D I C TA B L E .

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Know Your Elephants: What Elephants Teach Us

About Software Development, Part 1
By Alan Smith, Business Analyst

The Blind Man and The Elephant

So there’s a treasure trove of stories and metaphors that revolve around elephants, and lately in my work with Geneca, I
keep on running into elephants.

One of my favorite elephant stories that I’ve been coming back to lately comes from several sources in Eastern Philosophy:
The Blind Man and the Elephant. In this story, several blind men encounter an elephant. One touches the ear and says the
elephant is like a hand fan. Another touches the trunk and says the elephant is the branch of a tree. The one who touches
the leg believes the elephant is a pillar and the one touching the tail believes the elephant is a rope.

This metaphor tells us that different people with different roles and perspectives will have different ideas of what the
“whole” is. This reminds us that on projects, since each person can’t see the whole, we have to have good communication
with each other to understand what the whole really is. And this leads me to the next metaphor that I keep running into:

Getting in the Elephant Habit

When I listened to “Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch, a Professor who had cancer and was delivering the last and most
important lecture of his life, I was struck by the technique he used to address the most anxiety-producing topic in the room.
What he said was: “My dad always told me, when there is an elephant in the room, introduce them.” Then, he goes on to
talk about the fact that he has cancer, which everyone knows, but nobody wants to talk about.

To deliver software predictably means to always be introducing the elephants in the room. When there are things that
everyone in the room knows about, but no one wants to discuss – politics, friction between team members, risks, difficult
decisions no one wants to make -- it is our duty as the predictable partner to introduce these elephants.

One of the best practices of predictable software delivery means that we are speaking the same language as our client,
apples to apples, oranges to oranges. Because we are the predictable partner, and because we believe in the best
practices of predictable software delivery, we need to step up and introduce the elephants in the room, even if it is difficult
and perhaps risky to do so.

I’ve noticed that the first time you introduce an elephant in the room, it is not well received. It is as though you have
disturbed a social norm. It makes people uncomfortable. Often the first elephant I’ve introduced is the friction between
two members of a team. Everybody has noticed it, but everyone has consciously or subconsciously decided to accept this
friction that negatively affects the team, rather than face the uncomfortable moment of calling it out.

What I’ve found is that after introducing the first elephant, the second becomes easier. After the second, the third is
expected. After the third, people have adapted to this behavior, and even begin to call out elephants they see. It becomes a
habit, a part of the team culture. And having a team culture of calling out the issues rather than sweeping them under the
rug is what being a Predictable Partner is all about.

Next week, I’ll talk about what we can learn from elephant behavior and how that can be applied to software development.

So, how good is your team with calling out the elephants?

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About the Author

Alan Smith, Business Analyst

Alan Smith is a Business Analyst at custom software development firm, www.Geneca.com. He has experience leading
requirements sessions in the E-commerce and Health Care domains. Alan can be contacted at alan.smith@geneca.com.

About Geneca
Chicago-based custom software development firm, Geneca, helps its clients meet their business challenges by bringing
predictability to the software development process. Getting PredictableSM, Geneca’s pioneering approach to Requirements
Definition and Management, has an outstanding success rate in helping its clients drive clear business alignment by
identifying project objectives and success criteria. Learn more about Getting PredictableSM and Geneca’s other software
services at www.geneca.com.

This blog was originally posted on www.gettingpredictable.com on November 29, 2010. Visit www.gettingpredictable.com
for more information and to engage in the conversation.

Geneca Headquarters Voice: 630 599-0900 General: info@geneca.com

1815 S. Meyers Road, Fax: 630 599-0908 Sales: sales@geneca.com
Suite 950 Toll Free: 877 436-3224 Careers: jobs@geneca.com
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 www.geneca.com Press: press@geneca.com

© 2010. Geneca LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 G E T T I N G P R E D I C TA B L E . C O M

Know Your Elephants: Everything I Know About

Software Development I Learned from Elephants, Part 2
By Alan Smith, Business Analyst

The Swiss Army Knife of the Animal Kingdom

Last week, I talked about the importance of introducing the elephants in the room. So now that we have the elephant in the
room, let’s examine it and see what we can learn from elephant behavior and how we can apply it to software development.
The irony of the “elephant in the room” metaphor is that it suggests that elephants are these large, bulky creatures that are
imposing and not dynamic. In fact, elephants are one of the most versatile mammals on this planet. The elephant’s trunk is
used to tear up food, so the elephant can digest it. It is a hand that can grasp objects, a means of drinking without having to
bend over , and a way of spraying mud on themselves to protect their skin from the sun. It is even used as a tool for social
interactions, to enhance their highly developed sense of smell, and to defend themselves from predators.

To deliver software predictably, we need to become dynamic, adaptable creatures as well. As the speed of technology
gets faster and faster, we’re going to have to give up the idea of just doing one or two things really, really well. We’ll have
to be like the elephants’ trunk: Knowing the foundation of coding, but not married to any single language. We’ll need to
understand the best practices of project management, but be flexible in our methodology and apply the best methodology
to the best practice. We will need to master requirements facilitation, but have many different tools to gather requirements
and to custom fit the requirements process to the appropriate projects.

Even We Can Become Extinct

If we are rigid and only do things one way, technology will pass us by and we’ll become extinct. However, if we are
adaptable with our tools, practices, and methodologies, we’ll continue to evolve to meet the demands of business using the
best the current technology has to offer.

In the past, the slower speed of technology may have meant that a method and tool would be useful for many years. In the
fast pace of technology today, it is never the case that we can say that any idea, method, or tool works every time. We need
to be constantly transforming ourselves, our ideas, method and tools to confront new challenges.

We may come to find more and more that projects are changed or canceled once we have gained momentum. Perhaps
what made business sense when we started the project no longer makes sense due to new technology which has changed
the marketplace. Rather than letting this disturb our equilibrium, we should begin to develop habits that allow us to shift
rapidly and be adaptable to such change. Those in technology who can rapidly adapt will excel in tomorrow’s marketplace.

Being flexible and adaptable isn’t easy. It requires us to constantly let go of things that we know as true. Something may
have worked for us before, but it may not work now. Or perhaps we have a perfect tool in mind for the job, but our client
has a tool they like more. We have to let go of what has worked in the past for what it will take to accomplish the challenge
before us.

And Maybe Dumbo Wasn’t That Far Off Base

One last thing we can learn from elephants is to use our big ears. Disney’s portrayal of Dumbo, the elephant with ears big
as wings, wasn’t that far off base: Elephants have huge ears and an exceptional power of hearing.

As a predictable partner, we also need to always be using our ears. Not just to listen to what our clients are saying, but to
really understand the meaning of what they are saying.

We can do this by maintaining a curiosity with our clients and what unique strengths and issues they have. Listening is a
good first step, but when we are curious about our clients’ strengths and issues, then we have motivation to not just hear,
but to understand.

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Also, using our ears helps ensure that we are speaking the same language. It ensures that we are talking apples to apples
and oranges to oranges. Our active listening helps our clients to know that they are being heard.

So next time you pop in the Disney classic about the elephant with the big ears, take note. Just like the underdog
elephant who learned to fly, we can also use our ears to help us find success with our teams and clients.

About the Author

Alan Smith, Business Analyst

Alan Smith is a Business Analyst at custom software development firm, www.Geneca.com. He has experience leading
requirements sessions in the E-commerce and Health Care domains. Alan can be contacted at alan.smith@geneca.com.

About Geneca
Chicago-based custom software development firm, Geneca, helps its clients meet their business challenges by bringing
predictability to the software development process. Getting PredictableSM, Geneca’s pioneering approach to Requirements
Definition and Management, has an outstanding success rate in helping its clients drive clear business alignment by
identifying project objectives and success criteria. Learn more about Getting PredictableSM and Geneca’s other software
services at www.geneca.com.

This blog was originally posted on www.gettingpredictable.com on December 6, 2010. Visit www.gettingpredictable.com
for more information and to engage in the conversation.

Geneca Headquarters Voice: 630 599-0900 General: info@geneca.com

1815 S. Meyers Road, Fax: 630 599-0908 Sales: sales@geneca.com
Suite 950 Toll Free: 877 436-3224 Careers: jobs@geneca.com
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 www.geneca.com Press: press@geneca.com

© 2010. Geneca LLC. All Rights Reserved.