"Outside-in thinking complements any approach your teams may be taking to the actual implementation of software, but it changes how you measure success. A successful outside-in team does a lot of learning and not much speculation." —Tom Poppendieck Build Software That Delivers Maximum Business Value to Every Key StakeholderImagine your ideal development project. It will deliver exactly what your clients need. It will achieve broad, rapid, enthusiastic adoption. And it will be designed and built by a productive, high-morale team of expert software professionals. Using this book's breakthrough "outside-in" approach to software development, your next project can be that ideal project. In Outside-in Software Development, two of IBM's most respected software leaders, Carl Kessler and John Sweitzer, show you how to identify the stakeholders who'll determine your project's real value, shape every decision around their real needs, and deliver software that achieves broad, rapid, enthusiastic adoption. The authors present an end-to-end framework and practical implementation techniques any development team can quickly benefit from, regardless of project type or scope. Using their proven approach, you can improve the effectiveness of every client conversation, define priorities with greater visibility and clarity, and make sure all your code delivers maximum business value. Coverage includes Understanding your stakeholders and the organizational and business context they operate in Clarifying the short- and long-term stakeholder goals your project will satisfy More effectively mapping project expectations to outcomes Building more "consumable" software: systems that are easier to deploy, use, and support Continuously enhancing alignment with stakeholder goals Helping stakeholders manage ongoing change long after you've delivered your product Mastering the leadership techniques needed to drive outside-in development

Table of Contents:
Foreword xv Preface xvii Acknowledgments xxiiiAbout the Authors xxv Chapter 1 Introducing Outside-in Development 1 There may be challenges to overcome 2 Consider a different way of thinking about software product development 2 Consider some proven techniques as well 3 It takes a whole team to succeed 3 Understand your stakeholders 4 Understand organizational context 5 Make your products consumable 7 Align with your stakeholders' goals 7 Define success in your stakeholders' terms 8 Become an outside-in developer 9 The leader's role in outside-in development 9 Essential point: You can get started now 10 Chapter 2 Understanding Your Stakeholders 11 Introduction to stakeholder understanding 12 Identify the stakeholders 16 Understand the stakeholders' goals 18 The four stakeholder groups 23 Engage in dialog with stakeholders 31 Align client discussions with stakeholder goals 41 The leader's role in understanding your stakeholders 43 Essential points 44 Key terms 45 Chapter 3 Understanding Organizational Context 47 Introduction to organizational context 49 Handling diverse client requirements 59 Use organizational context to speak your stakeholders' language 60 The leader's role in using organizational context 68 Essential points 68 Key terms 68 Chapter 4 Making Products Consumable 71Introduction to product consumability 73 Identify consumability meta-tasks 78 Use a consumability score card to guide investments 82 Choose which consumability meta-tasks to emphasize 93 Allow more people to use your product 99 The leader's role in making products consumable 101 Essential points 102 Key terms 103 Chapter 5 Aligning with Stakeholder Goals 105 Introduction to stakeholder alignment 107 Focus dialog on what matters to stakeholders 108 Plan to have the capacity to stay aligned with your stakeholders 120 Minimize noise in your deliverables to improve stakeholder feedback 127 Help ensure quality 129 Rehearse for the success of your product 137 The leader's role in aligning with stakeholder goals 143 Essential points 144 Key terms 144 Chapter 6 Defining Success in Your Stakeholders' Terms 147Introduction to stakeholder success in production 148 Wave one: It is all about principal stakeholder success 150 Use what you learn from the first wave 157 Wave two: It is all about the long-term commitment to your clients 164 Wave three: Help your stakeholders deal with the old and the new 168 The leader's role in defining success 169 Essential points 170 Key terms 170 Chapter 7 Becoming an Outside-in Developer 173How to adopt outside-in development techniques 174 Insights into effective use of outside-in development 181 The leader's role in adopting outside-in development 196 Essential points 196 Key terms 197 Index 199