Software Process And Measurement Cast

Software Process and Measurement Cast 383 features our essay on peer reviews.  Peer reviews are a tool to remove defects before we need to either test them out or ask our customers to find them for us. While the data about the benefits of peer reviews is UNAMBIGUOUS, they are rarely practiced well and often turn into a blame apportionment tool.  The essay discusses how to do peer reviews, whether you are using Agile or not so that you get the benefits you expect! Our second segment is a visit to the QA Corner.  Jeremy Berriault discusses a piece of advice he got from a mentor that continues to pay dividends.  This installment of the QA Corner discusses how a QA leader can generate and leverage responsibility without formal authority.            Steve Tendon anchors this week’s SPaMCAST discussing Chapter 8 of Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban published J Ross. Chapter 8 is titled “Creating A Shared Vision At The Team Level

Software Process and Measurement Cast 382 features our interview with Ben Linders. Ben revisits the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss his recent series of articles on targeting, finding, and eradicating impediments. Ben discussed a platform for continuous process improvement that delivers continuously increasing value! Ben’s Bio: Ben Linders is an Independent Consultant in Agile, Lean, Quality and Continuous Improvement, based in The Netherlands. He is the author of Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives, Waardevolle Agile Retrospectives, What Drives Quality and Continuous Improvement. As an adviser, coach and trainer he helps organizations by ddeploying effective software development and management practices. He focuses on continuous improvement, collaboration and communication, and professional development, to deliver business value to customers. Ben is an active member of networks on Agile, Lean and Quality, and a frequent speaker and writer. He shares his experience in a bilingual blog (

Software Process and Measurement Cast 381 features our essay on Agile adoption.  Words are important. They can rally people to your banner or create barriers. Every word communicates information and intent. There has been a significant amount of energy spent discussing whether the phrase ‘Agile transformation’ delivers the right message. There is a suggestion that ‘adoption’ is a better term. We shall see! We will also have an entry from Gene Hughson’s Form Follows Function Blog. Gene will discuss his blog entry, Seductive Myths of Greenfield Development. Gene wrote “How often do we, or those around us, long for a chance to do things “from scratch”. The idea being, without the constraints of “legacy” code, we could do things “right”. While it’s a nice idea, it has no basis in reality.” The discussion built from there! And a visit from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries!  In the essay, Kim ruminates on the gender gap in computer science education leading to a gender gap in the industry. Re-Read Saturday News We co

Software Process and Measurement Cast 380 features our interview with Kim Robertson. Kim and I talked about big picture configuration management.  Without good configuration managements work, products, and programs often go wildly astray. Kim describes the a process that is as old a dirt . . . but WORKS and delivers value. We also discussed the book Kim co-authored with Jon M Quigley (Jon was interviewed in SPaMCAST 346) Configuration Management: Theory, Practice, and Application. Kims Bio Kim Robertson is a NDIA Certified Configuration Management (CM) practitioner, consultant, and trainer with over 30 years of experience in contracts, subcontracts, finance, systems engineering and configuration management. He has an advanced degree in organizational management with a government contracts specialty and is the co-author of Configuration Management: Theory Practice and Application. He can be reached at Kim.Robertson@ValueTransform.com If you are interested in the seed questions used to frame our interview ple

Software Process and Measurement Cast 379 features our short essay on the relationship between done and value. The essay is in response to a question from Anteneh Berhane.  Anteneh called me to ask one of the hardest questions I had ever been asked: Why doesn’t the definition of done include value? We will also have an entry of Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner.  Jeremy and I discussed test data, and why having a suite of test data that many projects can use is important for efficiency.  One question is who should bite the bullet and build the first iteration of any test data library? Steve Tendon completes this cast with a discussion of the next chapter in his book, Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban.  Chapter 7 is titled “Budgeting is Harmful.”  Steve hits classic budgeting head on, and provides options that improve flexibility and innovation. Remember to help grow the podcast by reviewing the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or y

We begin year 10 of the Software Process and Measurement Cast with our Interview with Evan Leybourn. Evan returns to the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss the "end to IT projects." We discussed the idea of #NoProject and continuous delivery, and whether this is just an “IT” thing or something that can encompass the entire business.  Evan’s views are informative and bit provocative.  I have not stopped thinking about the concepts we discussed since originally taping the interview. Evan last appeared on SPaMCAST 284 – Evan Leybourn, Directing The Agile Organization to discuss his book Directing the Agile Organization. Evan’s BioEvan pioneered the field of Agile Business Management; applying the successful concepts and practices from the Lean and Agile movements to corporate management. He keeps busy as a business leader, consultant, non-executive director, conference speaker, internationally published author and father. Evan has a passion for building effective and productive organizations, fille

In this week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature three columns.  our essay on empathy. Coaching is a key tool to help individuals and teams reach peak performance. One of the key attributes of a good coach is empathy. Critical to the understanding the role that empathy plays in coaching is understanding the definition of empathy. As a coach, if you can’t connect with those you are coaching you will not succeed. Let’s learn how to become more empathic.  Our second column features the return of the Software Sensei, Kim Pries.  Kim looks at how we might apply David Allen’s concepts for Getting Things Done (after the book of the same name). Please note the comments reflect the Software Sensei’s interpretation of how Allen’s work might be applied to software development. Anchoring the cast this week is Gene Hughson bringing an entry from the Form Follows Function Blog.  Today Gene discussed his essay, Changing Organizations Without Changing People.  Gene proclaims, “Changing culture is impossible

This week we are doing something special. Right after the New Year holiday, all of the regulars from the Software Process and Measurement Cast gathered virtually to discuss the topics we felt would be important in 2016.  The panel for the discussion was comprised of Jeremy Berriault (The QA Corner), Steve Tendon (The TameFlow Approach), Kim Pries (The Software Sensei), Gene Hughson (Form Follows Function) and myself. We had a lively discussion that included the topics of women in tech, microservices, capabilities, business/IT integration and a lot more.  Help grow the podcast by reviewing the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News We continue the re-read of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapt

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast opens with our essay on quality and measuring quality. Software quality is a simple phrase that is sometimes difficult to define. In SPaMCAST 374, Jerry Weinberg defined software quality as value. In our essay, we see how others have tackled the subject and add our perspective. Jeremy Berriault brings the QA Corner to the first SPaMCAST of 2016, discussing the sticky topic of estimating testing. Estimating has always been a hot button issue that only gets hotter when you add in testing.  Jeremy provides a number of pragmatic observations that can help reduce heat the topic generates. Wrapping up the cast, Steve Tendon discusses the topic of discovery driven planning from his book, Tame The Flow. Discovery driven planning is a set of ideas that recognizes that most decisions are made in situations that are full of uncertainty and complexity. We need new tools and mechanisms to avoid disaster. Help grow the podcast by reviewing the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher o

In this Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our interview with Gerald M. Weinberg. We discussed quality and the how quality is related to value.  A talk with Jerry is always profound; however, I must admit that Jerry’s humor caused me to laugh more times than I can count during our conversation. Gerald Weinberg is the author of more than 100 books, including the best-selling Secrets of Consulting, other non-fiction series, and the ever-popular Women of Power novels. He is a principal in the international consulting firm of Weinberg and Weinberg. The festschrift, The Gift of Time (Fiona Charles, ed.) honors his work for his 75th birthday. His websites may be found at http://www.geraldmweinberg.com and http://www.thewomenofpower.org. Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News We cont

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 373 features our essay #NotImplementedNoValue. The twelve principles that underpin the Agile Manifesto include several that link the concept of value to the delivery of working software. The focus on working software stems from one of the four values, “Working software over comprehensive documentation,” which is a reaction to projects and programs that seem to value reports and PowerPoint presentations more than putting software in the hands of users. For a typical IT organization that develops, enhances and maintains the software that the broader organization uses to do their ultimate business; value is only delivered when software can be used in production. We visit Gene Hughson’s Form Follows Function Blog!  Gene suggests that while most models have value, some models are can lead to poor decisions.  The punchline for the discussion is “Simple is good, but not when it’s too good to be true” Gene builds the case that we need to be cognizant of our biases when using

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 372 features our interview with Vasco Duarte. Vasco returns to the podcast to discuss his new book, #NoEstimates Book.  In the interview, Vasco and I discussed the underlying concepts behind #NoEstimates and how the concept has matured. If you are interested in project management, estimation and delivering value, the ideas that Vasco discusses will be both controversial and valuable. If we paraphrase Shakespeare, then Estimates or #NoEstimates has to be the question. Let’s answer it! Introducing Vasco: Vasco wants to transform product development organizations into product business organizations. He does 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! Vasco Duarte is currently a Managing Partner at Oikosofy. Product Manager, Scrum Master, Project Manager, Director, Agile Coach are only some of the roles that he has taken in software development organizations. Having worked in the

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 371 features our essay on Focus and the Pomodoro technique.  Focus might be just about the most important technique available for getting work done. Focus and attention are critical assets that need to be managed or we risk wasting time and energy. We will also include Steve Tendon discussing management’s role in a learning organization from his new book, Tame The Flow. Management needs to both facilitate and participate in a learning organization.  A learning organization is a critical success factor for engaging in a knowledge economy. Finally, we will anchor the cast with a visit to the QA Corner with Jeremy Berriault.  Jeremy and I discussed testing environments. Jeremy puts his stamp on the perennial discussion of whether all testing environments need to be production like. Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After a

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 370 features my discussion with Greger Wikstrand.  Greger and I discussed his article titled “Should you distrust Agile?” and other topics. Greger discussed why some people distrust Agile and whether you and your customers should also distrust Agile software development. After you listen to the podcast, read Greger’s blog on the topic. Greger Wikstrand, Ph.D. M.Sc. is a TOGAF 9 certified enterprise architect with an interest in e-heatlh, m-health and all things agile as well as processes, methods and tools. Greger Wikstrand works as a CTO at Capgemini where he alternates between enterprise advisory services, business development and working with thought leadership. Contact Blog: http://www.gregerwikstrand.com/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/gregerwikstrand Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 369 features our essay on stand-up meetings.  Stand-up meetings are a combination of tactical planning on steroids and the perfect start to a great day. Stand-up meetings are one the easiest Agile practices to adopt and often one the easiest to mess up. Also, this week features we have Kim Pries and his Software Sensei column.  Kim discusses what it takes to move toward mastery. Mastery implies more than just being good at any particular task. The Software Sensei provides a path forward. Gene Hughson brings the first of his discussions on the topic of #NoEstimates from his Form Follows Function blog! Specifically Gene provided a more detail and background on his essay #NoEstimates – Questions, Answers, and Credibility. Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturda

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 368 features our interview with Pedro Serrador. We discussed his research, paper, and presentation titled “Does Agile Work?” Pedro lays out his research on whether and not Agile really works. Pedro’s Bio The Software Process and Measurement Cast 368 features our interview with Pedro Serrador. We discussed his research, paper and presentation titled “Does Agile Work?” Pedro lays out his research on whether or not Agile really works. Pedro’s Bio: Pedro M. Serrador,  PMP, P.Eng., MBA, PhD is a writer and researcher on project management topics and owner of Serrador Project Management, a consultancy in Toronto, Canada He specializes in technically complex and high risk projects, vendor management engagements, and tailoring and implementing project management methodologies; he has worked on projects in the financial, telecommunications, utility, medical imaging, and simulations sectors for some of Canada's largest companies. His areas of research interest are project succe

The Software Process and Measurement Cast includes two columns this week.  The first is our essay: Scaled Agile Charters.  A scaled Agile charter is not just a thicker team charter because a scaled Agile project is not just a bigger Agile project. Scaled Agile charters need to be assembled part by part based on the needs of the project. This week’s essay provides a path to getting value from scaled Agile charters. The second column is a new installment of Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner! We discussed using communities of practice to spread testing knowledge. A community of practices is a wonderful tool to transfer knowledge and to generate a network among practitioners. Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month returns this week when we ta

The Software Process and Measurement Cast features my interview with Jeff Dalton.  Jeff returns to the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss the 12 attributes of successful Agile organizations. Jeff talks about the relatively small set of attributes that successful Agile organizations possess and exhibit. These attributes don’t occur by accident, but rather are a reflection of hard work and consistency of purpose.  We can all reflect and adopt these attributes in our pursuit of success. Jeff shows us how! Jeff’s Bio: Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword, a Certified Lead Appraiser, CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster and author of “agileCMMI,” Broadsword’s leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement, as well as many published articles and ebooks on performance innovation. Jeff has been selected Keynote Speaker at numerous conferences including the International Conference on CMMI in Lima, Peru, the PMI Great Lakes 2013 Symposium, the 2014 QUEST Conference and Expo, the CMMI SEP

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast includes three columns!  The first is our essay on Agile Project Charters.  Project charters, done correctly, can play an extremely important role in the initiation of projects. The essay lays out how Agile projects can get the benefit of a project charter, without the bloat and shelfware that often get attached to project charters. Software process and Measurement Cast 365 also features the return of the Software Sensei with a discussion of improvisation in software development. Kim Pries writes, “Many people think improvising means making things up, on the spot, without any advance preparation. I prefer a different definition: creating something special from whatever ordinary ingredients happen to be available. I would suggest we can go beyond this definition—good improvisation is a sign of mastery of one’s craft. Furthermore, truly great improvisation always involves ensembles (i.e., leave your ego at the door).” A powerful and important essay for anyone in

I am still on vacation (at least for a few more hours), and this week we have another mixtape for you. This week I have included the responses to the “if you could fix any two (or sometimes one) things” question I ask at the end every interview from the three most downloaded interviews of 2014. The top three were: SPaMCAST 302 featured Larry Maccherone. Larry’s two wishes were: That we unlearn the natural tendency to look at how a number can be gamed rather than how it can be used. That he had access to all data and infinite time to analyze the data. Listen to the whole interview with Larry! SPaMCAST 318 featured Rob Cross. Rob wished that: Organizations would realize it is not the tools rather it is the data that counts. Organizations need to change their culture to focus on security. Listen to the whole interview! SPaMCAST 310 featured the return of Mike Burrows.  Mike only had one wish this time: Development organizations need to embrace balance as a value. Mike made the list two years in a row! List