Software Process And Measurement Cast

SPaMCAST 600, yes 600, features my interview with Sandy Mamoli.  We talked about teams and the book she co-authored, Creating Great Teams: How Self-Selection Lets People Excel. Sandy’s unique perspective as a world-class athlete and Agile Coach allows her to deliver options about forming teams you didn’t know you had!  Sandy Mamoli Agile advisor, coach, and author Sandy Mamoli is a former Olympian, international keynote speaker, and author of „Creating Great Teams – How Self-Selection Lets People Excel“. From working with global enterprises in Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Copenhagen to being one of New Zealand’s leading coaches, she brings her practical flair and passionate advocacy for all things Agile to businesses around the world. She has a master’s degree in artificial intelligence and knows quite a lot about Agile.  Twitter: @smamol Website: https://nomad8.com/   Re-Read Saturday News  This is our last installment of our re-read of Crucial Conversations: Tools For Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edit

SPaMCAST 599 will feature my conversation with Steve Tendon. Steve and I talked about his Tameflow books, the genesis of the framework, the Theory of Constraints, and of course Herbie. Steve provides several profound pieces of wisdom for increasing value. Re-Read Saturday News  This week we complete the content portion of our Re-read with Chapter 11 and the Afterword of  Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler.  Next week we will have a few words to wrap-up this book and warp into the next book in the series. The envelope please . . . the next book we will re-read is Steve Tendon and Daniel Doiron’s Tame Your Work Flow. The top three books (Tame Your Work Flow, Great Big Agile, and Fixing Your Scrum) in the pool got more votes than all of the other books we have re-read over the past year. Therefore, my intent is to do something radical: declare that I will read all three of the top three books in order. This should take us through

SPaMCAST 598 features our essay titled, Recognizing A Toxic Meeting Culture. Just because you are meeting remotely doesn’t mean meeting culture has been reset. Now even more than when we are all together, getting meeting culture right is critical to maximizing communication.  We will also return to the QA Corner with Jeremy Berriault. Jeremy and I talked about continuous learning.  Our discussion was taped earlier this year; it was a different time. I left the references to excitement about the new year in the comments to show how fast the world can change. And it can change again! Re-Read Saturday News  This week we tackle Chapter 10 of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler. The subtitle for this chapter is ‘Advice for tough cases.’  In my considered opinion, nothing ever goes perfectly to plan. All conversations are a mixture of things that you’ve run through your head to prepare and parts that are off-script. Having a wide ran

The SPaMCAST 597 features a special panel of leaders discussing working from home now and after the initial reaction to being remote has worn off. One of the important points that we discussed was the need to make space for intentional serendipity. The panel is composed of Paul Laberge, Susan Parente, John Voris, Jo Ann Sweeney, and your host.  Panelist Bios Jo Ann Sweeney FCIM FIIC MCIPR is an engagement and communication consultant. Typically, she acts as change management lead on complex programmes, facilitating development of effective engagement, training, and communication strategies and then assisting as the strategies are implemented. Clients value her deep understanding of audiences. Jo Ann is known for clarifying the complex and for persuading key stakeholders to get involved and actively support change. You are welcome to download a complimentary copy of Jo Ann’s guide How to Explain Change in 8 Easy Steps at https://freeguide.explaining-change.com/ Contact Jo Ann at jo.ann@sweeneycomms.com John

The SPaMCAST 596 features our interview with Tom Henricksen. Tom brings the industry the DevOps and the Agile Online Summits and is an active thought leader in the agile community.  We talked about how events like his Summits foster learning and sharpening the saw. Tom suggests that tuning your skills and capabilities has never been more important as the economy struggles to get going again. Web: https://www.devopsonlinesummit.com/2020 Web: myitcareercoach.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhenricksen/ Twitter: @TomHenricksen  Re-Read Saturday News  This week we tackle Chapter 8 of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler. Arguably the feel of this re-read to date has had a bit of book report feel. Since this is a first read of the book for me, consuming what I have read has tended to be a reflection of how I process concepts. We have approximately 3 weeks left, do you have ideas for the next book?   Chapter 8 builds on

Join us to hear great ideas from industry leaders while they share their stories about CMMC, Agile, Transformation, Culture, CMMI V2.0, High Performance, and more! All from the comfort of your couch! Attendance is limited to 100 people, so register today - only $99! Keynote: Ty Schieber, Chairman CMMC Accreditation Body Keynote: Jim Bouchard, The Sensei Leader 16 of your favorite speakers throughout the day - live and virtual! http://www.ideafest2020.org/

The SPaMCAST 595 features our interview with Vladimir Khorikov. Vladimir and I geeked out on unit testing and his new book, Unit Testing Principles, Practices, and Patterns. Our conversations covered the gamut with a discussion of writing from first principles, understanding and tuning the signal-to-noise ratio in unit testing, and tests that are better at proving the negative than the positive.  Vladimir Khorikov is a software engineer and author of several popular Pluralsight courses. He has been professionally involved in software development for over 15 years, including mentoring teams on the ins and outs of unit testing. He's also the founder of the Enterprise Craftsmanship blog, where he reaches 500 thousand software developers yearly. He started as an adviser on general programming topics, but lately shifted his focus to unit testing with a central message of teaching software developers how to make unit testing painless. The biggest advantage of his teaching style, and the one students often praise,

The DevOps Online Summit 2020 is an online event for DevOps professionals. We will have interviews with DevOps leaders and Ask Me Anything sessions. So wherever you are in the world you can attend these online sessions. It will start Monday, April 20, 2020, and run through Friday, April 24, 2020. I am looking forward to getting my DevOps geek on and hope to virtually see you at xx to the Summit. Check out Tom Henricksen’s audio call to action. Then visit and register for this year’s DevOps Online Summit at https://bit.ly/2UQaupf I am looking forward to getting my DevOps geek on and hope to virtually see you at the Summit. Check out Tom Henricksen’s audio call to action. Then visit and register for this year’s DevOps Online Summit at https://bit.ly/2UQaupf The SPaMCAST is proud to be a media sponsor. 

The SPaMCAST 594 features our interview with Dennis Lewis.  Mr. Lewis, author of Behold the Cryptopreneurs, and I talked about how blockchain and cryptocurrencies are changing all types of software development. Dennis provides great advice for technologists and entrepreneurs that is immediately actionable (without violating social distancing). Dennis is a seasoned digital storyteller and ICO marketing specialist with a proven track record in both Europe and the United States. He has successfully led to market and exited multiple startup companies, and prides himself on his ability to make complex projects easy to understand and relatable. In a marketing landscape increasingly obsessed with shiny objects and overly complicated sales funnels, Dennis still believes that the key to any successful marketing campaign are the words on the page.  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennishlewis/ Cryptoreneurs Club: https://cryptopreneurs.club/ Behold the Cryptopreneurs: https://amzn.to/3aM9hor  Re-Read Saturday Ne

The SPaMCAST 593 features my interview with Scott Crabtree. Happiness at work might sound squishy, but happiness has rigorous science behind it. Simply put, happiness yields better outcomes both in terms of value delivered and our own perception of our value.   Scott Crabtree helps people apply science to thrive at work. After earning a degree in cognitive science from Vassar College, he went on to lead the design and development of video games and other software. He discovered the science of thriving (positive psychology and other brain sciences) in 2003 and immediately became a passionate student and teacher of that research. He resigned his senior leadership position at Intel in 2011 to found Happy Brain Science. When not presenting the science of thriving at work, Scott enjoys playing music and getting into the Oregon wilderness, especially with his wife and two daughters. Contact Information LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sccrabtree/ Happy Brain Science:  www.happybrainscience.com    Re-Read Saturd

The SPaMCAST 592 features my interview with Shelisa Bainbridge. We talked about human-centered design and the impact of design on the development process. This approach is core to understanding what the customer wants in a way that influences every line of code.  We also talked about how organizations adopt agile and women in agile.  Shelisa is a Senior Business Coach with more than 20 years of experience working with some of Canada’s most notable brands.   Through her various corporate experiences, Shelisa has come to understand the exponential power that ‘human connection’ has on a company’s bottom line, and the support that businesses need to attain exceptional results through brand loyalty and unwavering internal team trust and collaboration. Shelisa is the Head of Human Centered Delivery (HCD) at one of Toronto’s top Agile Consulting and Coaching groups, Agile by Design. HCD is a complete flow that combines Design Thinking, Agile, User Experience(UX), and validated learning. Shelisa B. helps to arm team

The SPaMCAST 591 is a very special podcast.  On the 18th of March, I convened a panel of luminaries to discuss how they were supporting and working with remote teams. I recorded both the audio and video, today I am releasing the audio version.  The panel for this show was   Jeff Dalton jeff@broadswordsolutions.com  Amy McDonough Amy.McDonough@spr.com  Sandeep Koorse Sandeep@koorse.com  Christopher Hurney    Christopherhurney@gmail.com And myself! tcagley@tomcagley.com  We kept the session short but full of practical advice! Next SPaMCAST We will be back with the video soon AND back on Sunday our interview with Shelisa Bainbridge.

The SPaMCAST 590 features my interview with Nancy Kastl. Nancy and I discussed testing and the future of the testing profession. The future of testing is not cut and dry; in the short run more automation and in the long-term more codeless testing and AI might replace entry-level testers. An eye-opening interview! Nancy’s Bio: Nancy Kastl is an accomplished professional with over thirty-five years of experience as a consultant, facilitator, and instructor in software quality and testing. As an entrepreneur and consultant, she brings her expertise in strategic planning, quality management, software testing, process re-engineering, and measurement to every engagement.  As the executive director of SPR’s Testing Services, she provides thought leadership to clients, formulates solutions to their needs, and provides daily guidance and oversight to SPRs on-shore testing team in Chicago. She is the founder and President of the Chicago Quality Assurance Association. Nancy is a frequent conference speaker and served a

The SPaMCAST 589 features our essay on using clean language to refine requirements. Clean Language’s pedigree is from psychotherapy and has found a home in coaching. It is also a valuable tool for discovering information about work products. As product managers, product owners, and stakeholders interact with the world and then describe a set of wants and needs they use metaphors. Clean language helps us unpack those metaphors. We also have a visit from Susan Parente who brings her Not A Scrumdamentalist Column to the podcast. Susan delivers thoughts and ideas about virtual agile.  Reach out to Susan at parente@s3-tec.com.  Re-Read Saturday News  This week we tackle Chapter 2 of  Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler. Chapter 2, titled Mastering Crucial Conversations: The Power of Dialogue. The chapter begins with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. that highlights the problem with staying silent. “Our lives begin to end the day w

The SPaMCAST 588 features our interview with Susie Palmer-Trew and Peter Taylor.  We discussed their new book Project Management: It's All Bollocks!  It was great to meet Susie and renew our conversation with Peter. We talked about the assumptions that the profession of project management makes and why we should challenge those assumptions. The episode has the subtitle (you will discover it ½ way through the interview)  Susie Palmer-Trew is an award-winning project professional and Director of Change at The Open University, enabling others to get shit done in a world tied up in red tape. She is the co-creator of the #LetsChangeChange movement, avid risk-taker and professional trouble maker. Contact Susie on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/susie-palmer-trew-13108646)  Peter Taylor is author of the Amazon number 1 bestselling project management book, The Lazy Project Manager, and professional speaker, having given 350 lectures around the world in over 25 countries. He has been described as ‘perhaps the most entertai

For SPaMCAST 587 we are going to break cadence and feature another interview. Ryan Ripley, Todd Miller and I discussed their new book Fixing Your Scrum: Practical Solutions to Common Scrum Problems. We discussed how to define broken scrum processes. Ryan and Todd make the point that Scrum is so much more than a checklist of practices to follow, yet that's exactly how many organizations practice it. Todd’s Bio Todd is a Professional Scrum Trainer for Scrum.org and VP of the Agile Innovation Practice at Itero Group, LLC. He has professional experience as a Scrum Master, Product Owner, Developer, and Agile coach on a variety of technical and creative projects across a multitude of industries. He presently coaches and trains enterprises and teams across the United States on the Scrum framework, enterprise Agile transformation, and professional software development. Ryan’s Bio: A professional Scrum trainer with Scrum.org, Ryan Ripley has experience as a software developer, manager, director, and ScrumMaster at v

The SPaMCAST 586 features our interview with Jeff Dalton. We talked about his book Great Big Agile and the Agile Performance Holarchy. One of the topics we explored in this podcast is the relationship between being a professional musician and a software developer. Jeff brings his wisdom and humor to the podcast again to help listeners learn from high-performance agile organizations! Note: At 23:50 ish in this Podcast Jeff and I begin an exchange on the difference between the attributes needed to be an agile leader and those needed to climb the corporate ladder. The discussion is a profound truth that rarely is discussed or is suppressed. I would like to hear your thoughts! Jeff last visited the podcast on SPaMCAST 512.  Jeff Dalton is Chief Evangelist at AgileCxO.org, a Research and Development organization that studies agile leadership. He is a technology executive with over 30 years of experience as a CTO, CIO, VP of Product Development, and for that past fifteen years has been CEO of Broadsword and AgileCx

The SPaMCAST 585 features an intimate conversation between Jon M Quigley, Susan Parente, and myself. We discussed experimentation, learning, and a deep dive into whether agile transformations do enough to prepare technical teams to get the maximum value from agile.  Contact Susan at parente.s3@gmail.com Contact Jon at Jon.Quigley@valuetransform.com  Business Agility Conference is sponsoring SPaMCAST!   Dates: March 11-12, 2020 Location: New York City, 117 West 46th Street URL: http://bit.ly/2SmOJMS  Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount. The Business Agility Conference is an intense 2-day event focusing on the future of business, focusing on customer centricity, employee engagement, organization design, product innovation, and next-gen leadership. The Conference is bringing together some of the greatest speakers and practitioners of business agility to share their experiences and the benefits their organizations have gained from exploring new and agile practices.  This is the first, and origin

SPaMCAST 584, the first interview of our 14th year of the SPaMCAST, features our interview with Allan Kelly. We discussed his new book, The Art of Agile Product Ownership: A Guide for Product Managers, Business Analysts, and Entrepreneurs. The role of a product owner is hard and often misunderstood.  Allan offers practical advice on sorting the role out. Allan’s Bio Allan has pioneered techniques such as Value Poker, Time-Value Profiles and Retrospective Dialogue Sheets. He is the author of seven books including "Continuous Digital", "Little Book of Requirements and User Stories" and his latest book is "Art of Agile Product Ownership." When not writing Allan consults and coaches, helping companies embrace the agile and digital world, and teams to improve their performance. Links: Me: www.allankelly.net Blog: www.allankelly.net/blog Retrospective cards: www.dialoguesheets.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/allankellynet Business Agility Conference is sponsoring this Podcast!   Dates: March 11-12, 2020 Location:

Happy Birthday to the Software Process and Measurement Cast. SPaMCAST 583 marks the beginning of the Podcast’s 14th year!  The first podcast of year 14 features a three-way discussion between Susan Parente, Anthony Mersino, and myself. We discussed the pros and cons of hybridizing agile frameworks. Hybridizing agile approaches is a lightning rod concept in many circles. Susan, Anthony and I have different experiences and opinions on the topic. The conversation was spirited. Business Agility Conference is sponsoring this Podcast!   Dates: March 11-12, 2020 Location: New York City, 117 West 46th Street URL: http://bit.ly/2SmOJMS  Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount!  The Business Agility Conference is an intense 2-day event focusing on the future of business, focusing on customer centricity, employee engagement, organization design, product innovation, and next-gen leadership. The Conference is bringing together some of the greatest speakers and practitioners of business agility to share their