New Team, New Rules

I have had my old coffee pot for years.  It uses a basket filter.  I grind my coffee beans right before brewing.  Over time I had figured out the proper amount of beans and the correct granularity of the grind.  The result was great coffee every time! :)

My wife recently got me a new coffee pot.  It is much nicer with features like a clock, timer and higher capacity pot.  The new machine uses #4 filters instead of the basket style filters.

So, I followed the instructions for doing the initial “cleaning” runs.  I went to make my first full pot of coffee and I used the amount of coffee and the granularity that I have been used to using.  Then I heard the sound of coffee on burner.  What?  The grounds had gotten up and around the filter and clogged the dispensing hole.  :(  I chalked it up to the shorter filter.

Tried another full pot on another day with a new improved bigger filter.  Similar result, grounds in my coffee.  No bueno!

Then it occurred to me, I was grinding finer than “drip” granularity and this was causing the problem.  Maybe the cone style basket doesn’t need as many grounds either.  I guess I’ll have to check the manual!

As always, I’m thinking of how do these lessons translate to software development?  To me, I pull away that we can’t use the same procedures we’ve always used when we have a new environment.  In this case the environment consisted of the coffee maker, water, filter, beans and grinder.  (Let’s not consider condiments!)  Change any of these critical components and you can’t expect the same results.

So, if your team changes, your management changes, the tools you use change, etcetera, expect that your process must change as well.