SW development / Agile SCRUM quotes

Ziv’s Law: Software Development is Inherently Unpredictable

Humphrey’s Law: Users Do Not Know What They Want Until They See Working Software

Conway’s Law: The Structure of the Organization Will Be Embedded in the Code

Wegner’s lemma: an interactive system can never be fully specified nor can it ever be fully tested

Langdon’s lemma: software evolves more rapidly as it approaches chaotic regions (taking care not to spill over into chaos)

Liz Taylor knows it...

 Andy Warhol wrote : "What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.........." The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again)

Innovation Quotes: expert wisdom

From: "1486 ...so many centuries after the Creation it is unlikely that anyone could find hitherto unknown lands of any value.

Committee advising King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain regarding a proposal by Christopher Columbus."

To:"1981 640K ought to be enough for anybody.

Bill Gates"

Incorrect predictions @ wikipedia

Famous Authoritative Pronouncements


"The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is a novelty - a fad" A banker advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co.

"If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have asked for a faster horse." Henry Ford

"Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." Darryl F. Zanuck

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" Harry M. Warner, Warner Bros Pictures, 1927

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." Charles H. Duell was the commissioner of the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1899 (seems to be apocryphal, but anyway...)

Singin' in the Rain - A film about Innovation

"Singin' in the Rain" is a film about innovation. The possibility to synchronize sound with images in the 1920's was a major overhaul for Hollywood film industry.



During the film.

We can see how people react to innovation when a "talkie" is presented during a private event. A quote excerpted from that time: "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" Harry M. Warner, Warner Bros Pictures, 1927

Don Lockwood is able to adapt to this new environment while Lina Lamont, who is good looking but features an awful high pitched voice, cannot do it.

OK, Innovation is here, but the 1st version of the talkie is awful. Then the participants find a way to really take advantage of this new technology by recording sound and film separately and then post synchronizing both afterwards. "Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety-nine percent perspiration." Thomas Edison

There are also several brainstorming sessions. "To have a great idea, have a lot of them." Thomas Edison

Then a final battle occurs between the "voice" and the "image" that do not come from the same person anymore. Innovation triggers new challenges.

By the way, it's really a great film...

Innovation Quotes: Selecting the right innovation

“Don't confuse the art of the possible with the art of the profitable.” David Tansley

"To have a great idea, have a lot of them." Thomas Edison

“We are surrounded by engineers' folleys: too many technical solutions still looking for problems to solve.” David Tansley

All models are false but some models are useful

George E. P. Box said:"All models are false but some models are useful..."


My CMMI related white papers.

Innovation Quotes: Brainstorming

"The problem is never to get innovative ideas in your mind , but how to get the old ones out."

"We can believe that we know where the world should go. But unless we're in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There's no substitute for innovation, of course, but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either." Steve Ballmer

"My innovation involved taking an idea from the telecommunications and banking industries, and applying that idea to transportation business." Frederick W. Smith

"The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him." Jose Ortega y Gasset

"But an innovation, to grow organically from within, has to be based on an intact tradition, so our idea is to bring together musicians who represent all these traditions, in workshops, festivals, and concerts, to see how we can connect with each other in music." Yo-Yo Ma

"The mind ought to sometimes be diverted that it may return the better to thinking." Phaedrus

"Don't try to come up with the proper answers ; target coming up with good questions." Stanford professor Bill Lazier

"Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction." – Pablo Picasso

Innovation Quotes: Setting an innovation friendly environment

"Innovation comes from the producer - not from the customer." W. Edwards Deming

"We need a positive economic agenda that invests in the innovation and growth that will create jobs for middle class families and ensure that America remains the world leader." Rick Larsen

"This is the nature of genius, to be able to grasp the knowable even when noone else recognizes that it is present." Deepak Chopra

"The innovation point is the pivotal moment when talented and motivated people seek the opportunity to act on their ideas and dreams." W. Arthur Porter

"The greatest obstacle to innovation in organizations is the unwillingness to let go of yesterday's successes, and to free up resources that no longer contribute to results." P.Duckler

"The achievement of excellence can only occur if the organization promotes a culture of creative dissatisfaction." Lawrence Miller

"Human societies vary in lots of independent factors affecting their openness to innovation." Jared Diamond

"Innovation is this amazing intersection between someone's imagination and the reality in which they live. The problem is, many companies don't have great imagination, but their view of reality tells them that it's impossible to do what they imagine." Ron Johnson

"Mindless habitual behavior is the enemy of innovation." Rosabeth Moss Kanter

"Ideas, like young wine, should be put in storage and taken up again only after they have been allowed to ferment and to ripen." Richard Strauss

"It is the responsibility of leadership to provide opportunity, and the responsibility of individuals to contribute." William Pollard

“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat”

"The only thing that makes people and organizations great is their willingness to be not great along the way. The desire to fail on the way to reaching a bigger goal is the untold secret of success" Seth Godin

“Orville Wright did not have a pilot’s license.” Gordon MacKenzie

Innovation Quotes: Where does innovation come from?

"The problem is never to get innovative ideas in your mind , but how to get the old ones out."

"The things we fear most in organizations: fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances are the primary sources of creativity." Margaret J. Wheatley

"This is the nature of genius, to be able to grasp the knowable even when noone else recognizes that it is present." Deepak Chopra

"The innovation point is the pivotal moment when talented and motivated people seek the opportunity to act on their ideas and dreams." W. Arthur Porter

"We can believe that we know where the world should go. But unless we're in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There's no substitute for innovation, of course, but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either." Steve Ballmer

"I consider high-speed data transmission an invention that became a major innovation. It changed the way we all communicate." Dean Kamen

"Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable." William Pollard

"My innovation involved taking an idea from the telecommunications and banking industries, and applying that idea to transportation business." Frederick W. Smith

"The Chinese word weiji translated as 'crisis' is often said to be composed of the characters for 'danger' and 'opportunity'."

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” Charles R. Swindoll

Innovation Quotes: Why should we innovate?

"Change before you have to." Jack Welch

"The winner is the chef who takes the same ingredients as everyone else and produces the best results." Edward de Bono

"You can only win the ‘war’ with ideas, not with spending cuts." Klaus Kleinfeld, President and CEO, Siemens AG

"Innovation is the central issue in economic prosperity." Michael Porter

"Innovation comes from the producer - not from the customer." W. Edwards Deming

"We are a party of innovation. We do not reject our traditions, but we are willing to adapt to changing circumstances, when change we must. We are willing to suffer the discomfort of change in order to achieve a better future." Barbara Jordans

"We need a positive economic agenda that invests in the innovation and growth that will create jobs for middle class families and ensure that America remains the world leader." Rick Larsen

"Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow." William Pollard

"If all you're trying to do is essentially the same thing as your rivals, then it's unlikely that you'll be very successful." Michael Porter

"innovation is the technological pre-condition for growth." Eric Schmidt (Google CEO)

Innovation Quotes: What is Innovation?

"Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety-nine percent perspiration." Thomas Edison

"Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things." Theodore Levitt

"Innovation is the process of turning ideas into manufacturable and marketable form." Watts Humprey

"To turn really interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into a company that can continue to innovate for years, it requires a lot of disciplines." Steve Jobs

"Innovation is not the product of logical thought, although the result is tied to logical structure." Albert Einstein

"Business has only two functions - marketing and innovation." Milan Kundera

"Innovation is the whim of an elite before it becomes a need of the public." Ludwig von Mises

“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat”

“If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative.” Woody Allen

"True innovation is based on the recognition that a business concept represents a dozen or so design variables, all of which need to be constantly revisited and constantly challenged" Gary Hamel

"Think of invention as the laying of an egg, innovation as the laying, incubating and hatching." Gordon Graham

"Innovation is the process or result of combining previously separate ideas or technologies in useful and valuable ways" Karl Long