Social engineering and small words

Social networks and the ‘small word’ network theory show an aggregation pattern based on emergency in many different systems.
In particular, we see how these systems tend to cluster around hubs creating strong and redundant links. This is true inside each ‘small word’ inside a network.
Weak links connect these clusters in more ‘random’ way adding to the system a great speed of navigation: two elements in such a network are linked by a SMALL number of hops (small if compared with the number of nodes and links).
I was wondering if this theory is applied in high performance computing discipline.
PierG

Baby steps

Splitting activities into baby steps it's a best practice I see applyed around not only in the 'agile world'.
Small, achiveble, measurable tasks can bring you to success and let you celebrate step by step.
PierG

Glossary

KPI = Key Performance Indicator
SLA = Service Level Agreement
BU = Business Unit
IMAC = Install Move And Change

PierG

Requests list

I was discussing with another sw dev leader about the need to track all requests.
My counterpart is stating that tracking requests that you will never do (because you'll never have time to do that, because they are at VERY LOW priority, ...) is useless and give a bad feedback to the user (you never do what I ask).
He says that for every request you should meet and try to understand better: if you and the client agree that the think 'is a request', then you add to your tracking system.
On the contrary I say that FIRST I track the request, then the client put all his requests in priority, IF and only IF 'that' request will be topmost and we are going to attack it, in that moment (planning game) we analyze it and see if and how it has to be done.
Please note that we are talking about a request rate > # developers per day.
Feedback?
PierG
P.S. I’ m following an agile methodology, he is not but … I’d like to have feedback regardless the moethodolody you use.

Ecco un elenco di libri che vorrei leggere quest'anno.

Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know About How Artists Work
Adaptive Software Development - Jim Highsmith
A Complex Adaptive Systems Model of Organisation Change - K.J Dooley
Thriving on Chaos : Handbook for a Management Revolution - Tom Peters
Critical Chain, Goldratt, Eliyahu
Thinking For a Change: Putting the TOC Thinking Processes to Use - Lisa J. Scheinkopf
Universal Principles of Design : 100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach Through Design - William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler
The effective executive - Peter F. Drucker
Never Eat Alone : And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time - Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity - David Allen

I think there are many links between social software theory and chaos theory (in the area of emerging systems).

Social software deal, among other things, with a sw that is able to 'change' itself in a way to follow users nees. Tha actual approach is viceversa: usually if you want to get good results from a piece of software you need to use it in a way "it likes".

Emerging chaos deal with organized structures 'emerging' (in some way "violating" thermodinamic theory, entrpoy ...) from an unorganized context. This is used, for example, as a driver in some agile sw development methods (like eXtreme Programming) where no 'ex ante' architectural analyis is done. Under certain 'forces', the best and simpler architecture grows during the sw life cycle.

I think that a sw that can cope exactly with each user need, is a software in which the inner and outer structure is not ready 'out of the box' but emerges during the usage.

Agile management - articles

Have a look: http://www.cio.com/archive/081504/index.html