Software Delivery Games - The 4x100 meter relay

Part of a series where we compare software development to the Olympic Games... just for the fun of it.

It's Olympic fever time and the 4x100 meters for men was a stunner! For those who are waiting for the highlight real, I will not tell you that Jamaica won right now, instead I will ask you to continue reading from the next paragraph... Jamaica Won! And in style. Well done.

Watching the race was fun, because there were a couple of teams and all of them came out of the last bend very smoothly and very much in contention. But there was never really a doubt in anyone's mind about who would win. Why is that?

It was because we all knew that Jamaica just dominates and that Bolt does not fail. It's because they had confidence in what they were doing.

What software companies and the winning teams have in common might be a hint for an okay software company to become a dominator.

1. The entrance

This is where you get the people to watch you. Jamaica came out bold - attitude saying "we know what we are here for". A lot of software development companies just say - we do software, whatever you throw at us, we'll try. Chances are with that attitude that you will stay in the race, but to lead it - you have to own it, and to own it - you have to be specific. The winners were there for one reason only - to win Olympic gold.

2. The start

This sets the tone for the race. It shows who will be challenging and who wants to set the pace. If you get behind in this leg, bringing it back is very difficult because you will be fighting to get back through all 4 legs. In the software development lifecycle (SDLC) of most companies this will probably include requirements gathering, architecture decisions and developer scheduling. The handover to the next leg is a nervous one. Nothing is established yet and there is no real sense of where the competition is at. Everything is still settling into place.

3. The second leg

In this leg you are handed a baton and you are either ahead or behind the rest. You cannot stop to change anything, the race is on and you need to do your very best to make up time or to keep the lead. This might be the developer working hard to code what's in the spec. In this handover the field separation normally becomes more visible - those infront gain lead and those behind might fall back further. 

4. The third leg

This is that quick one around the last bend. Tension is mounting and the crowd is on their feet. All focus is on setting up for that final handover to the main sprinter. And it is an important one (SDLC: dev and testing)- the crowd literally holds their breath to see if there will be a mishap or if the handover will be smooth.

5. The final sprint

One goal - Get across the finish line. If you are in the lead here, you need to keep it. If you are behind, run like the wind and try catch up in the remaining 80 meters. Final delivery is the only leg which secures a result and immediately it is known if the team is in the medals, or not. Very similar is the deployment, sign-off or switching on of software systems in this leg. The effects are known, rather quickly. Customers laugh or customers cry...

Common Principles

Across all the different legs, there are a couple of things which make the best the best:

1. Preparation (Know your stuff - know your industry)

If you are a runner, know how to run. If you are a developer know how to develop. If you are a manager. Know how to manage.

2. Smooth handovers (Teamwork with trust)

If any link in your SDLC fails, you will fail as a whole. Even the best can only recover from minor setbacks or mistakes. Have rigid rules to control these interactions. Two lines in which to do the handover. If teams know the boundaries, they normally know how to keep between them, optimally.

3. The best athletes in the business

You could put wrestlers on the track, chances are you would lose. (Nothing against wrestlers...). But good athletes will take you a long way, for many years.

You can only win if you have the best people, train them well and get them working together.

The Jamaicans have proven this over the last couple of years. They stuck to what worked for them when they found it. They did it over an over again. That is character, and that is why, even though no one knew for a fact that they would win again, they believed it and cheered for them.

Now would it not be cool if people could feel the same about your company...