Risks
Much of the content of Risk-First is a collection of Risks as Patterns.
Here, we’re going to take you through the various types of Risk you will face on every software project.
In Thinking Risk-First, we saw how Lean Software Development owed its existence to production-line manufacturing techniques developed at Toyota. And we saw that the Waterfall approach originally came from engineering. If Risk-First is anything, it’s about applying the techniques of Risk Management to the discipline of Software Development (there’s nothing new under the sun, after all).
One key activity of Risk Management we haven’t discussed yet is categorizing risks. So, this track of Risk-First is all about developing categories of risks for use in Software Development.
Outcomes
After reading this section of Risk-First, hopefully you will:
- Appreciate the different kinds of risk you face on software projects, and how to identify them.
- Learn a Pattern Language: that is, a vocabulary of terms which you can use for discussing these risks with colleagues.
- Know the main actions you can take to handle each type of risk.
Category: Risks
A Pattern Language
Explanation of how Risk-First comprises a pattern language of risk patterns for use in software projects.
The Risk Landscape
An introduction to the risks faced by software projects.
Feature Risk
Risks you face when providing features for your clients.
Communication Risk
Risks due to the difficulty of communicating with other entities, be they people, software, processes etc.
Complexity Risk
Risks caused by the weight of complexity in the systems we create, and their resistance to change and comprehension.
Dependency Risk
Risks faced by depending on something else, e.g. an event, process, person, piece of software or an organisation.
Scarcity Risk
Scarcity Risk is about quantities of a dependency, and specifically, not having enough.
Deadline Risk
Risks due to coordinating via imposed deadlines.
Software Dependency Risk
Specific dependency risks due to relying on software.
Process Risk
Risks due to the following a particular protocol of communication with a dependency, which may not work out the way we want.
Boundary Risk
Risk due to the choices we make around dependencies, and the limitations they place on our ability to change.
Agency Risk
Explanation of Agency Risk and ways to mitigate it through monitoring, security and goal alignment.
Coordination Risk
Risks that a group of agents cannot work together and their behaviour devolves into competition.
Operational Risk
Risks of losses or reputational damage caused by failing processes or real-world events.
Staging and Classifying
Making sense of risks faced by software projects.
Glossary of Risk Types
List of all types of risk discussed in Risk-First.
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