Being an OSS map-maker

Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems.”
Rene Descartes
.

On a recent project, I spent quite a lot of time thinking in terms of problem statements, then mapping them into solutions that could be broken down for assignment to lots of delivery teams – feeding their Agile backlogs.

On that assignment, like the multitude of OSS projects in the past, there has been very little repetition in the solutions. The people, org structure, platforms, timelines, objectives, etc all make for a highly unique solution each time. And high uniqueness doesn’t easily equate to repeatability. If there’s no repeatability, there’s no point building repeatable tools to improve efficiency. But repeatability is highly desirable for the purpose of reliability, continual improvement, economy of scale, etc.

However, if we look a step above the solution, above the use cases, above the challenges, we have key problem statements and they do tend to be more consistent (albeit still nuanced for each OSS). These problem statements might look something like:

  • We need to find a new vendor / solution to do X (where X is the real problem statement)
  • Realised risks have impacted us badly on past projects (so we need to minimise risk on our upcoming transformation)
  • We don’t get new products out to market fast enough to keep up with competitor Y and are losing market share to them
  • Our inability to resolve network faults quickly is causing customers to lose confidence in us
  • etc

It’s at this level that we begin to have more repeatability, so it’s at this level that it makes sense to create rules, frameworks, etc that are re-usable and refinable. You’ll find some of the frameworks I use under the Free Stuff menu above.

It seems that I’m an OSS map-maker by nature, wanting the take the journey but also map it out for re-use and refinement.

I’d love to hear whether it’s a common trait and inherent in many of you too. Similarly, I’d love to hear about how you seek out and create repeatability.

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