I'm travelling (again) this week, so I'll be doing some Model-Glue work in the evenings. It's currently 5:55AM and I'm sitting in Raleigh-Durham Int'l, waiting for a 7:15AM flight.

Why am I so early?

It's because I follow a simple motto for a lot of things I do, something I picked up from a book entitled Bravo Two Zero, which documents the experience of a British SAS sergeant in the first Gulf War. The SAS (and, I imagine, loads of other military organizations) follow a principle called "The Seven P's":

Proper Planning and Preparation Prevent Piss Poor Performance

So, why am I so early?

First, the known: I live in a brand-new suburb that doesn't show up on maps, and I rely on a taxi to get here. I go through the same company, but drivers vary.

The unknown: as I just found out, implementations of the new TSA "no liquid" rules may vary. After I demonstrated that my glasses are, in fact, prescription and explained that I spend 8-10 hours a day staring at a computer, and I demonstrated use, they let me keep my ever-present eyedrops. That was a bit of a delay.

WTF does this have to do with software?

Have you ever dived in to a simple project, coding up a storm, just to later find out that one or two overlooked details are showstoppers? I have to plead guilty - with tools like MG:U and RoR, it's sometimes so much fun to code that I don't want to stop, open up Word, and document what I'm about to do.

However, it's also not good to go overboard with planning: an overblown discovery and planning phase can turn the requirements for a "simple four-week addon to our existing product" into a sixteen-volume tome that does nothing but firmly anchor a bookshelf to a forgotten corner of a product manager's office.

So how can we, as software developers, effectively apply the 7P's?

Recently, I've found that the most effective tools are Use Case documentation/diagrams, paper prototyping (you know, pencil + paper = GUI prototype), and Unit Testing. (TDD is my new favorite thing.)

Coming back to the airport, though, I'm really here so @#$23ing early because the cab company I use follows the 7P's as well. If you live in Raleigh/Durham, and need to get to the airport, I really recommend Rite Choice Transportation - the first time I used them, the driver gave himself an additional hour just to find my house, ended up needing and, and still picked me up exactly on time. I tipped him well, and all I have to do now is say my development and street name and he knows who it is and where I live.