A couple of weeks ago I attended an interesting conference. One of the speakers told the story of how the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London had reduced the number of mistakes during surgery and the following handoff between different hospital units. While watching a Formula One race on TV two doctors were inspired - Could standardized choreography used by pit stop teams in Formula One be used to reduce the number of mistakes when transferring patients in hospitals? The short answer -- yes. I suggest you read the full article on learning from Formula One here: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06318/738252-114.stm

The story made me wonder. If hospitals can improve safety and speed by learning from Formula One teams, could the software industry do the same? I realize we don't really have the same degree of physical movement that other industries have - but there is something more to that story. I think what it really shows, is that if you foster an environment of process innovation, and strives for excellence in safety and speed, magic can actually happen

I did some Google-based research and found out that in NASCAR racing, teams have gone from 16 seconds pit stops being good, to 12-13 seconds pit stops being what is expected, during a 10 year period. That is a pretty significant improvement. I think it is quite likely that 10 years from now, the software industry can look back and witness similar improvements - primarily based on the Agile/Lean transformations that are taking place right now.

I think everyone wishes to be part of a team that pushes the limit of what is possible in their domain -- I know I do

By Sune Gynthersen