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Lean Methodology

Lean Methodology is a subset of Agile Methodology and it meaningfully applies to both startups and software development. It can therefore be used to develop both businesses and products. By being fans of the Agile methodology, we must be interested in learning more about lean startup and lean software development.

The Lean Startup Concept

  • The idea upon which the lean startup concept is anchored revolves around avoiding the creation of a product that doesn’t work or that which is not needed by people. It is therefore advisable to find a problem worth solving first before building a business model around it.
  • Lean startup is a perfect fit for entrepreneurs and startups that are still seeking out a business model or product that generate genuine value. However, larger organizations can still use it if they can be flexible while responding quickly to new information and listening to customer needs.
  • In the lean startup model, entrepreneurs will summarize untested hypotheses (basically their guesses) instead of a solid business plan and this is referred to as business model canvas. The BMC is a diagram of how the company creates value for itself and the customers.

Why Lean is a Good Option for Software Development

In software development, the lean concept is dedicated to the reduction of errors and time wasting while maximizing education and efficiency. Lean is a good option for software development because of the following reasons.
  • It encourages learning. This is achieved through training sessions, group meetings, comprehensive code reviews and documentation, pair programming, creation of a Wiki database among others.
  • It eliminates waste as the lean philosophy states that anything that don’t add value to the customer is a waste.
  • Enables fast delivery since with rapid technology evolution, it is the fastest product that survive and not the biggest. However, the product must not have major defects.
  • The Lean process empowers the team as it emphasizes on finding good people and letting them to do their job while paying attention to their concerns.
  • Allows for late decision making by letting programmers to keep their options open for as long as possible
  • It builds integrity by ensuring the production of high-quality code through pair programming, continual test-driven development, and creating small modules of code and automating them when possible.
  • It also offers a vision for big picture as all the goals and mini-goals have to be attained with the whole concept of the project in mind.

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