Software Process And Measurement Cast

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 522 features the return of Jeff Anderson.  Jeff returns to discuss scaling agile and getting to a minimum viable product. Many teams and organizations struggle with the concepts of scaling and getting to an MVP, Jeff provides advice for not going crazy! Jeff’s Bio Jeff is the President of Agile by Design.  Over the last decade, Jeff has played a leadership role on a large number of enterprise-scale agile transformations, providing program management, operating model design and change-management services. Jeff frequently blogs about and presents on lean and agile adoption, and is the author of The Lean Change Method, which guides organizations through the application of lean startup techniques. His mission in life: to help knowledge workers be awesome at what they do. LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasjeffreyandersontwin/ Website:  http://agilebydesign.com/ Twitter: @thomasjeffrey Re-Read Saturday News The Software Process and Measurement Cast and Blog cre

SPaMCAST 521 features our essay on user stories and legacy code.  A common question is how user stories can be developed for legacy code or for problems that crop up in production.  The implication is that creating user stories is too hard when dealing with legacy code changes or too slow when dealing with production problems.  User stories are a core tenet for most agile approaches and have a lot of value. This week we also have a visit from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries!  Kim talks about training in a column titled, “Software Catechism.” Can you help keep the podcast growing? Here are some ideas: Tell a friend about the cast. Tweet or post about the cast.  Every mention helps. Review the podcast wherever you get the cast. Pitch a column to me. You are cool enough to be listening; you deserve to be heard. Sponsor an episode (text or call me to talk about the idea). Listen. Whether you do one or all six, being here is a big deal to everyone that helps get the podcast and blog together. Thank you! Re-Read

SPaMCAST 520 features our interview with Doc Norton. We talked about his new book Escape Velocity, measurement, and why velocity isn’t generally a good measure for teams. By the time teams get to a point where story point velocity is consistent and predictable, they will have better tools that have fewer negative side effects. Doc’s Bio Doc Norton is passionate about working with teams to improve delivery and building great organizations. Once a dedicated code slinger, Doc has turned his energy toward helping teams, departments, and companies work better together in the pursuit of better software. Working with a wide range of companies such as Groupon, Nationwide Insurance, Belly, and JaTango, Doc has applied tenants of agile, lean, systems thinking, and servant leadership to develop highly effective cultures and drastically improve their ability to deliver valuable software and products. A Pluralsight Author, Clean Coders contributor, frequent blogger, international keynote speaker and coach, in his spare ti

SPaMCAST 519 features our essay on a code of ethics for agile coaches. A code of ethics is a compilation of ethical principles brought together into a framework. Most professions have a code of ethics that guide their behaviors, typically guided by an association that provides credentials. I think it is time to discuss a code of ethics for agile coaches. We also have a visit from Susan Parente, with her Not A Scrumdamentalist column.  Susan discusses how to become an agilist. It is not as easy as learning any individual set of methods and techniques. One of the places to find Susan is at S3 Technologies, LLC. I know I promised a visit from Jon M. Quigley, but I had a minor problem with the drive and did not get the column into production soon enough to make the deadline.   Interested in supporting the podcast? Here are some ideas: Tell a friend (or better yet listen to the podcast with them) about the cast. Tweet or post about the cast.  Every mention helps. Review the podcast wherever you get the cast. Pitc

SPaMCAST 518 features our interview with Rebecca Staton-Reinstein.  We discussed leadership, the difference between leadership and management, coaching versus mentoring and who should own your improvement program.  Rebecca and I have known each other for years and I have always enjoyed her wisdom and pragmatic advice. She really delivers the goods. Rebecca’s bio: REBECCA STATON-REINSTEIN, Ph.D. is the president of Advantage Leadership, Inc. Where she works with companies around the world that want strategic leaders and engaged employees to increase bottom- and top-line results and delight customers. Clients achieve their goals through strategic planning and leadership, management, team, and organizational development. Rebecca’s team works with clients to craft customized, successful solutions to their complex business issues in all economic sectors. Rebecca’s says, “Our mission is your success.” For over 25 years, Rebecca has contributed improved organizational value as a leader, manager, technologist, keynot

SPaMCAST 517 is very different from my original plan -- and pretty cool if I do say so my self.  This week I spoke at ISMA 16 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I was originally scheduled to open the session, however, the translators were two hours late. The Portuguese speaking speakers were moved earlier so that the conference could get started.  During my wait, I discovered that I could record sessions on my iPhone, therefore, the SPaMCAST 517 is a recording of my talk, titled Product Owners In Agile – The Really Hard Role! If you would like a copy of the slides please email me at SPaMCASTinfo@gmail.com .   Note:  There is a bit of noise in the audio, shirt pockets might not be the best recording platforms.   Re-Read Saturday NewsToday we continue our journey through Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018).   Today we tackle chapters one and two. They are titled, “A Purposeful Life” and “Gluebot.”  I have not changed the estimate of 20 to 25 weeks,

SPaMCAST 516 features our interview with Nishi Grover Garg.  Nishi and I started by discussing the major differences in agile and non-agile testing and ended with a discussion of agile pods. This is a wonderfully idea-rich interview. Note:  I am recording part of this episode remotely from a hotel in Brazil! Nishi’s Bio: Nishi is a Consulting Agile and Software testing trainer. With a decade of experience working in an Agile environment in different product-based companies, she has had a chance to work in all stages of software testing life cycle from a White box, Black box to Automation testing and Usability testing. Having now extended it to her full-time job, Nishi is a coach, trainer, and mentor in areas of Agile and software testing, specializing in conducting QA Induction boot-camps, ISTQB workshops, DevOps Foundation and Selenium Automation courses. She is certified by Agile Testing Alliance (ATA) as a CP-DOF, CP-SAT, CP-AAT, CP-MAT and by ISTQB as a Foundation and Advanced Test Analyst and likes to ke

SPaMCAST 515 features our essay on transformation and agile metrics. Whether you like the word transformation or not, many in the process improvement and agile communities help to facilitate change. Involvement in any non-trivial change effort requires resources, people, support and the expenditure of political capital. Metrics are tools for getting the people and resources you need. We also feature a visit from the Software Sensi.  Mr. Pries weights in on defining “what is quality”.  Kim mixes theory and practice to make a profound statement. Anchoring the cast this week is Gene Hughson.  Gene writes at the Form Follows Function blog. This week we talk about a piece titled, Dependency Management – Anti-Patterns as Art from The Daily WTF.  It really is art --  but really a visualization of anti-patterns at the same time. Re-Read Saturday News This week we conclude our re-read of The Checklist Manifesto with a few final thoughts and notes and a restatement of a checklist for a checklist that Stephen Adams co

SPaMCAST 514 features our interview with John Clapham. John and I talked DevOps, people, agile, and how all those pieces fit together coherently or not. John even quoted Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. This is a big, fun, informative interview! John Clapham is an experienced coach, trainer, and consultant, specializing in DevOps and Agile.  He helps teams to build great products, creating environments and systems which are effective, productive and enjoyable to work in. Often this means introducing Scrum, or developing a deeper understanding of the method and it's principles.  John draws on broad experience as an engineer and lead, he has built web and enterprise applications in government, publishing, telecommunications, commerce, defense and public sector arenas. Twitter:  @johnC_bristol Web: http://www.cotelic.co.uk/   Re-Read Saturday News This week we tackle Chapter 9 of The Checklist Manifesto.  The Save is the final chapter in the book.  Next week we will discuss our final thoughts and decide on t

SPaMCAST 513 features a second essay on reciprocity.  One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn is that some people on a team are passengers and others play different, more involved, roles. Being a passenger long-term on a team or in an organization is a form of rent-seeking and is not valued highly by others. We also have columns from Susan Parente (I Am Not a Scrumdamentalist) and Jeremy Berriault (QA Corner).  Susan provides a spirited discussion of self-directed teams in agile.  It is a myth that agile teams just get to do what they want. One of the places to find Susan is at S3 Technologies, LLC. Rounding out the cast is this month’s installment of the QA Corner.   Jeremy discusses one of thorniest facts of life for a tester -- hard deadlines. Re-Read Saturday News This week we tackle Chapter 8, titled The Hero In The Age of Checklists.  Heroes are a big deal; pick up any newspaper and you will see how much the cult of hero is celebrated.  Checklists and methods are viewed by many as diminishing the

SPaMCAST 512 marks the return of Jeff Dalton.  Jeff and I talked about the CMMI Version 2.0 and the Agile Performance Holarchy.  The CMMI is often maligned as promoting anti-agile behaviors. Jeff makes the case that Version 2.0 promotes agile.  We dive into the Agile Performance Holarchy during the second half of the interview. The Agile Performance Holarchy provides technology leaders with a model to guide agile adoption.   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 AgileCxO. He is an executive agile coach, agile assessor, and instructor, a regular conference speaker, and author of both "The Agile Performance Holarchy: An Operating System for Agile Leaders" and "The Guide to Scrum and CMMI: Improving Agile Performance with CMMI." In his spare time, Jeff is an instrumen

SPaMCAST 511 features our essay on reciprocity.  Reciprocal agreements are part of working and playing well with others that we begin learning on the playground and then bring to the office with us. There are many types of reciprocal agreements in a typical agile project. Entries in the Reciprocity theme: Reciprocity and Reciprocal Agreements In Action - https://bit.ly/2MbxIP3 Five Reciprocal Agreements In Agile https://bit.ly/2MguslE Reciprocity or Manipulation? Seven Simple Questions - https://bit.ly/2CDotIa Negative and Unhealthy Reciprocity - https://bit.ly/2oZRp3v Our second column features Kim Pries, the Software Sensei.  Kim discusses the use and impact of domain-specific languages.  The Software Sensei provides sage advice! The final column this week introduces the Software Process and Measurement Cast listeners to Sandeep Koorse. Sandeep delivers advice on an innovative approach to ensure retrospectives deliver value.  Reach out to Sandeep at sandeep@koorse.com Re-Read Saturday News We have four or

We are doing something special in SPaMCAST 510.  Over the past couple of years we have talked to Steve Tendon and Wolfram Müller about their book, Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban. Today as part of our conversation Steve and Wolfram shine a light on some of the finer points in the book! They also share how they became collaborations on the book.  Remember to buy a copy and support the authors and the podcast https://amzn.to/2MOxbXY .     Wolfram’s Bio Founder & Principal Consultant at Speed4Projects.net and VISTEM, Wolfram brings 25 years‘ experience as a Consulting Executive, IT Project Portfolio and Project Manager, Process Engineer, and Software Engineer. As head of the PMO at 1&1 Internet AG, he led 40 project managers in the delivery of 500 projects, innovating industry-leading methods, to drive unprecedented improvements in speed and reliability across the portfolio. He has published over 20 articles and books on ‘Critical

SPaMCAST 509 will feature our essay discussing if you can demonstrate incomplete work.  My knee-jerk reaction is no...or maybe heck no, but knee-jerk reactions are not always right. Blog entries in the what happens to incomplete work theme: Frequently Asked Questions: The Sprint Is Over, What Do I Do With Incomplete Stories? https://bit.ly/2P9mm09 Frequently Asked Questions: Can I Demo Work That Isn’t Done - https://bit.ly/2wfJzXv Frequently Asked Questions: Can I Resize A Story If It Is Harder Than We Thought? - https://bit.ly/2MvkB0a Frequently Asked Questions: When Can I Demo Work That Isn’t Done https://bit.ly/2PCs0Zz   We will also hear from Gene Hughson (Form Follows Function). Gene talks Architects!  Gene and I discussed his essay, So what exactly does an Architect do? Contact Gene on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/genehughson/ Bringing the cast home this week is Jon M. Quigley.  Jon brings his marvelous Alpha and Omega of Product Development to the cast this week in order to discuss the ro

SPaMCAST 508 features our interview with Vasco Duarte!  Vasco and I discuss vision and product owners. The product owner role is crucial. To be effective, the product owner must be able to articulate a vision for the product they champion. Vasco Duarte’s Bio in his own words: I want to transform product development organizations into product business organizations. I do that by focusing the work of the product development teams on the end-to-end life-cycle of their products. From Concept to Cash and Back! Currently a Managing Partner at Oikosofy. Product Manager, Scrum Master, Project Manager, Director, Agile Coach are only some of the roles that I've taken in software development organizations. Having worked in the software industry since 1997, and Agile practitioner since 2004. I've worked in small, medium and large software organizations as an Agile Coach or leader in agile adoption at those organizations. I was one of the leaders and catalysts of Agile methods and Agile culture adoption at Avira, Nokia, a

SPaMCAST 507 opens with our essay on consensus decision making. Consensus decision-making techniques are used by almost every team. The process of getting to a decision or solution that the whole team can at least live will make sure that everyone on the team has a seat at the table and that team builds both majority and minority views into the deliberation process. Want to read about consensus decision making?    6 Step Framework for Consensus Decision Making - https://bit.ly/2OZj5kF Consensus Decision-Making Revisited - https://bit.ly/2B2uJrT Life Cycle of Consensus Decision Making - https://bit.ly/2B3bgri Consensus Decision Making Forever – Sometimes - https://bit.ly/2OY21vk   In our second column, Susan Parente brings her I Am Not a Scrumdamentalist column to the podcast.  In this installment, Susan talks about the myths of agile and how falling into the traps that the myths create affect the delivery of value. Jeremy Berriault (QA Corner) anchors the cast this week with a discussion of what happens w

SPaMCAST 506 - Distributed Agile Teams, an Interview With Mark KilbySPaMCAST 506 features our interview with Mark Kilby.  Mark and I explored distributed agile teams. Agile in distributed environments is doable, but it isn’t easy. Mark provides guidance and advice. Mark recently co-authored From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams with Johanna Rothman (LeanPub). Mark’s bio and contact information: MARK KILBY has cultivated more distributed, dispersed, and virtual teams than colocated teams for more than two decades. Currently, Mark serves as an agile coach with Sonatype, a “remote first” software development company focusing on automation of software supply chains. Previously, Mark led agile transformations, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Mark also cultivates dispersed communities, such as Agile Orlando, Agile Florida, VirtualTeamTalk.com, and the Agile Alliance Community Group Support initiative.  Mark’s book, From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams, is co-authored with Johanna Rot

SPaMCAST 505 features our recent essay titled, Coaching: Six Modes of Operation. On the surface, coaching is a fairly simple role. A coach has six basic modes of operation.  But…if you peel back the layers just a little bit you will find that coaching is part art and part science. In the second spot of this week's magazine have the penultimate session of our read of Steve Tendon and Wolfram Müller’s Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach.   I have moved things around a bit and complete this edition of the SPaMCAST with an essay on servant leadership from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries.  Regardless of how you define servant leadership, I think we would all agree that good leadership is critical. Re-Read Saturday News This week we begin the read of The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along). The version of the book we are reading is published by Metropolitan Books, 2009 and is the 22nd printing. The book has nine chapters and with ack

SPaMCAST 504 features our interview with Gerie Owen.  Gerie and I discussed continuous testing, DevOps, and testing in an agile culture! We worked through big ideas that can have a big impact on how you work and deliver value immediately. Gerie Owen is the VP of Knowledge and Innovation at QualiTest. Gerie Owen represents the QualiTest team at the client site and manages the offshore team’s test activities including the development of an automated regression test suite. Gerie manages large, complex projects involving multiple applications, coordinates test teams across multiple time zones and delivers high-quality projects on time and within budget. Gerie is also a Certified Scrum Master, Conference Presenter and Author on Testing and Test management topics. She enjoys mentoring new QA Leads and brings a cohesive team approach to testing.  Gerie is the author of many articles on testing and is currently writing a series on the Brave New Worlds of testing. She chooses her presentation topics based on her testi

SPaMCAST 503 features our essay “Culture: The Knife’s Edge of Change.”  I have often heard the line, culture eats change for breakfast. Culture, culture, culture – the success of every change that is considered or implemented balances on the knife edge of culture. Aligning cultures so that change is possible requires seeing the differences and then minimizing enough of those differences to allow change to happen. We also have an installment of the Alpha and Omega of Product Development with Jon M Quigley.  In this installment of Jon’s wonderful column, we discuss the muda of underutilizing people.    We conclude with a visit with Gene Hughson.  We discuss an entry from his Form Follows Function Blog tilted,  “When asked for the time, don’t explain how your watch works”. Communication between the user and technical domains is fraught with difficulties. A problem? As Gene always says,  “exactly!” Re-Read Saturday News We will complete our re-read of Turn The Ship Around next week with a few final thoughts.  T