How do we apply the Lean principle of Defer Commitment in a fast-paced software project?

All answers to this question.

The best way to sell "Last Responsible Moment" to leadership is to frame it as "Risk Mitigation." Explain that making a decision too early, when we have the least amount of information, is actually the riskiest path. Use the concept of "Real Options" to show that by keeping a decision open, you are buying time to gather data from MVPs or prototypes. For a roadmap, provide "Themes" and "Outcomes" rather than specific features. This gives the stakeholders a sense of direction without locking the engineering team into a specific technical implementation that might turn out to be wrong for the scale.

   Answered 2024-07-09 by Mary Collins

Are you finding that your team feels anxious when things aren't "decided," and how do you maintain a sense of progress while keeping those options open for later?

   Answered 2024-07-11 by Laura Nelson

• It definitely creates some tension, Laura. We manage it by being very clear about which decisions are deferred and why. We use a "Decision Log" that lists the triggers that will force us to make the choice. For example, "We will choose our database provider once we finish the performance spike in Sprint 3." This shows we have a plan for the decision, which usually calms the team's anxiety and keeps the stakeholders off our backs for a few weeks.

     Commented 2024-07-12 by Kevin Wright

We use "Set-Based Design" from Lean. We explore multiple solutions in parallel for a short time before narrowing it down, which makes the final decision much more robust.

   Answered 2024-07-13 by Charles Baker

• Charles is spot on. Exploring two or three paths simultaneously for a week is much better than committing to one and realizing three weeks later that it’s a dead end.

     Commented 2024-07-14 by Thomas Higgins