Defining your own process
Because every project and every team is different, when you work on a TSP team you will define your own processes. Rather than starting from scratch, however you will have a family of proven TSP processes to build on. You will also have the experience gained from using the PSP processes in this book. The first step in preparing you to be on a TSP team is learning how to use an efficient personal process like the PSP. This chapter defines the initial process you will use for the first exercise in this book. In subsequent chapters, this process will be enhanced with new techniques and methods.
When you define your personal process, abstract tasks become structured and subject to analysis. Unit you define the tasks in sufficient detail, how every, you will not be able to improve. For example, it is hard to reason about a vaguely defined design process. Once you separate the design work into defined steps, however, you can understand the various elements of design work and see how they relate. To use a sports analogy, when people start weight lifting they think about building work on specific muscles; the deltoids, pecs, and abs. the clearer the focus, the better they can improve in each area. A precise process will help you to focus on the most promising areas for personal improvement.