Software Process And Measurement Cast

I am on vacation for a two weeks and could not leave you without some Monday morning mind candy, therefore, we are doing two very special shows this week and next.  This week I have included the responses to the “if you could fix any two (or sometimes just one) things” question I ask at the end every interview from the three most downloaded interviews of 2013.  The top three and one extra were:: SPaMCAST 224 featured Mike Burrows. Mike focused his wishes on: Changes agents need to take their role as change agents seriously. Delay is expensive. Link: http://spamcast.libsyn.com/s-pa-mcast-224-mike-burrows-kanban-values   SPaMCAST 246 featured Tobias Mayer. Tobias focused his wish on: People, not management or consultants, need to own scrum. (One wish was enough for Tobias) Link: http://spamcast.libsyn.com/s-pa-mcast-246-tobias-mayer-t-he-people-s-scrum   SPaMCAST 270 featured Alan Shalloway.  Alan focused his two wishes on: Everyone needs to acknowledge there are laws of software development. Assuming that

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Chris Nurre.  Chris is a developer and Agile Coach extraordinaire. We explored the role of an Agile coach from the point of view of someone that is actively involved in delivering code, both technically and as a change agent. Chris likes to keep his bio short and sweet: Chris is an Agile coach, Apple developer and Clevelander. Co-organizer of Cleveland Agile Group #CleAG Chris’s contact data:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-nurre/4/322/22bTwitter: http://twitter.com/cnurreEmail: chris@atinytribe.com 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 is in full swing. This week we tackle the essay titled “The Whole and the Parts”! Check out the new installme

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast includes two columns.  The first is our essay on software measurement. When we measure we are sending an explicit message about what is important to the organization, and therefore sending an explicit signal about how we expect people to act. Remember the old adage, “you get what you measure.” Our second column this week is from Gene Hughson and his Form Follows Function blog. In this installment Gene throws down the gauntlet to ask the questions, “Who needs architects?” Call to Action! For the remainder of September let’s try something a little different.  Forget about iTunes reviews, and tell a friend or a coworker about the Software Process and Measurement Cast. Let’s use word of mouth will help grow the audience for the podcast.  After all the SPaMCAST provides you with value, why keep it yourself?! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month is in full swing.  This week we tackle the essay titled “Sharp Tools”! Check

The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature interview with Steve Boronski. Steve and I had a great conversation about Agile and Prince2. The conversation focused on the new Prince2 Agile Project Management Best Practice extension to Prince2 and why the world needs another interpretation of Agile project management. Once you have listened to the SPaMCAST 360 revisit my first interview with Steve on SPaMCAST 184. Steve is a Project and Program Management professional with many years practical experience developed in both the public and private sectors. He specializes in IT enabled Business Change assisting many organizations to use a structured approach to their business changes, from Portfolio to Program and Project delivery mechanisms. Steve now spends most of his time travelling the world, training and consulting, helping people to learn and apply PRINCE2®, PRINCE2 Agile™, MSP® and P3O® all Best Practice Guidance freely available from the UK Cabinet Office for worldwide application. Contact I

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast features three columns.  The first our essay on Reviews and Inspections.  Reviews and inspections are a critical tool for improving quality and team effectiveness. Whether you are using Agile or classic techniques improving your reviews and inspections will directly increase the value you deliver. We also have a new entry in the QA Corner with Jeremy Berriault.  Jeremy and I discussed the value of independent QA. Anchoring the cast is a new installment from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries. Kim contrasts planned activities and improvisation in software development.  Kim builds on the differences in the two approaches to help teams to understand when to do either. Call to Action! For the remainder of September let’s try something a little different.  Forget about iTunes reviews and tell a friend or a coworker about the Software Process and Measurement Cast. Let’s use word of mouth will help grow the audience for the podcast.  After all the SPaMCAST provides you w

This week’s Software Process and Measurement features our interview with Julia Wester.  Julia is an Improvement Coach at LeanKit and writes the Every Kanban Blog.  Julia and I discussed the role of management in Agile. Is it time to throw out managers?  Julia’s perspectives is that management must play a constructive role in helping Agile teams deliver the most value. Julia espouses Lean principles and considers herself on an eternal journey to make teams as happy, effective and customer-value oriented as possible. As an Improvement Coach at LeanKit, she is excited to continue to learn and integrate Lean principles into efforts that help others tame the chaos of traditional organizations and streamline processes in order to make customers and teams more satisfied.         You can read more about Julia at her blog, Everyday Kanban Reach out to Julia on twitter @everydaykanban and visit LeanKit Call to Action! For the remainder of September let’s try something a little different.  Forget about iTunes reviews an

The Software Process and Measurement our essay on Mind Mapping. I view Mind Mapping as a great technique to stimulate creative thinking and organize ideas. Mind Mapping is one of my favorite tools.  Note:  this essay has a lot of visual examples, while there they are explained in the reading of the essay, I have also included them in a separate document for reference.  We also feature Steve Tendon’s column discussing the TameFlow methodology and Chapter 4 of his great book, Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance.  Steve and I discussed the impact of management’s profound understanding of knowledge work and that understandings impact on the delivery of value. Anchoring the cast will be Gene Hughson, returning with an entry from his Form Follows Function blog.  This week Gene discusses the ideas in his entry, “Who Needs Architects?”  Call to Action! For the remainder of August and September let’s try something a little different.  Forget about iTunes reviews and tell a friend or a coworker about the Softwa

The Software Process and Measurement 356 features our interview with Steve Turner.  Steve and I talked time management and email inbox tyranny! If you let your inbox and interruptions manage your day you will deliver less value than you should and feel far less in control than you could!  Steve’s Bio: With a background in technology and nearly 30 years of business expertise, Steve has spent the last eight years sharing technology and time management tools, techniques and tips with thousands of professionals across the country.  His speaking, training and coaching has helped many organizations increase the productivity of their employees. Steve has significant experience working with independent sales and marketing agencies. His proven ability to leverage technology (including desktops, laptops and mobile devices) is of great value to anyone in need of greater sales and/or productivity results. TurnerTime℠ is time management tools, techniques and tips to effectively manage e-mails, tasks and projects.   Contac

The week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast features three columns.  The first is our essay on Agile Success Factors.  We recently surveyed a group of people actively involved in the software development field.  In the essay we discuss the top ten (factors involved in successfully using Agile. This cast also includes a new entry in Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner.  Jeremy discussed the sticky topics of who owns QA (testing) and who owns quality. Jeremy’s take on ownership of testing and quality is thought provoking.  After listening we would like your take on the topic. In the third column, Kim Pries brings his popular Software Sensei column to bear on the prototypes and frameworks in software development. Kim explores the many of the different types of models that exist and discusses when and where they can be used. Call to Action! It is time to start building our fall and winter interview schedule.  Who would you like us to interview or is there a topic you want to hear discussed?  Please send us an email

The week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Allan Kelly.  We talked #NoProjects and having a focus of delivering a consistent flow of value.  The classic project framework causes us to focus on being on-time, on-budget and on-scope, but not on-value. If we don’t focus on delivering the maximum value we are doing both our customers and ourselves a great disservice.  Allan Kelly advises teams from many different companies and domains on adopting and deepening Agile practices and development in general. He specializes in working with software product companies and aligning products and processes with company strategy. When he is not with clients he writes far too much.  He holds BSc and MBA degrees, is the author of three books: "Xanpan - team centric Agile Software Development" (https://leanpub.com/xanpan), "Business Patterns for Software Developers" and “Changing Software Development: Learning to be Agile”. In addition he is the originator of Retrospective Dialogue Sheets (http

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast features three columns.  The first is our essay on learning styles.  Learning styles are useful to consider when you are trying to change the world or just and an organization.  While opposites might attract in poetry and sitcoms, however rarely do opposite learning styles work together well in teams without empathy and a dash of coaching. Therefore, the coach and teams need to have an inventory of learning styles on the team. Models and active evaluation against a model are tools to generate knowledge about teams so they can tune how they work to maximize effectiveness. Our second column features Gene Hughson bringing the ideas from his wonderful Form Follows Function Blog.  Gene talks about the topic of microservices. Gene challenges the idea that microservices are a silver bullet. We anchor this week’s SPaMCAST with Steve Tendon’s column discussing the TameFlow methodology and his great new book, Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance.   One of the top

Software Process and Measurement Cast 352 features our interview with Gil Broza.  We discussed Gil’s new book The Agile Mind-Set. Do you know what the Agile Mind-Set is or how to get one?  Gil’s new book explains the concept of the Agile Mind-Set and how you can find it in order to deliver more value! Gil Broza helps organizations, teams and individuals implement high-performance Agile principles and practices that work for them. His coaching and training clients – over 1,300 professionals in 40 companies – have delighted their customers, shipped working software on time, increased their productivity and decimated their software defects. Beyond teaching, Gil helps people overcome limiting habits, fears of change, blind spots and outdated beliefs, and reach higher levels of performance, confidence and accomplishment. Gil is the author of The Agile Mind-Set and The Human Side of Agile: How to Help Your Team Deliver. Gil has a M.Sc. in Computational Linguistics and a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Mathematics fro

Software Process and Measurement Cast 351 includes three columns.  The first is our essay on distributed Agile. What is distributed Agile? The phrase "distributed Agile" is often used indiscriminately; therefore definitions can cover a wide range of situations and evoke a wide range of emotions. A precise definition encompasses three concepts. The first is a team, project or program that is using Agile techniques. The second is geographic distribution describing where team members are located. The location of team members in a distributed team can range from being spread across a single building to members sprinkled across continents. Finally, the third is organizational distribution, meaning that teams can be comprised of members from different companies. No matter the definition, distributed Agile is different. The Software Sensei, Kim Pries dives into the Illusion of Control.  Kim reminds us to drop the egos before you start working and choose your weapons unemotionally! Jeremy Berriault brings a new insta

Software Process and Measurement Cast 350 features our interview with Arlene Minkiewicz. Arlene and I talked technical debt.  Our discussion included the definition of technical debt, a set of philosophies for technical debt and perhaps a few solutions. Regardless of philosophy or approach, a little technical debt goes a long way! Arlene F. Minkiewicz is the Chief Scientist at PRICE Systems, LLC with over 30 years of experience at PRICE building cost models.  She leads the cost research activity for TruePlanning, the suite of cost estimating products that PRICE provides.  She is a software measurement expert dedicated to finding creative solutions focused on helping make software development professionals successful.  She is widely published and speaks frequently on software related topics.  She has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University and an MS in Computer Science from Drexel University. Email: Arlene.Minkiewicz@PRICESystems.comTwiitter: @arleneminkWebsite:  www.pricesystems.com Call to Acti

To paraphrase Ed Sullivan, “We have a big, big show this week,” so we will keep the up front chit chat to a minimum.  First up is our essay on Agile Testing. Even if you are not a tester, understanding how testing flows in Agile projects is important to maximize value. Second, we have a new installment from Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner.  In this installment Jeremy talks about test cases.  More is not always the right answer. Anchoring the Cast is Steve Tendon’s column discussing the TameFlow methodology and his great new book, Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance. Call to Action! I have a challenge for the Software Process and Measurement Cast listeners for the next few weeks. I would like you to find one person that you think would like the podcast and introduce them to the cast. This might mean sending them the URL or teaching them how to download podcasts. If you like the podcast and think it is valuable they will be thankful to you for introducing them to the Software Process and Measurement Cast.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Woody Zuill.  We talked about the concept and controversy swirling around #NoEstimates. Even if the concept is a bridge too far for you, the conversation is important because we talked about why thinking and questioning is a critical survival technique. As Woody points out, it is important to peer past the “thou musts” to gain greater understanding of what you should be doing! Woody Zuill has been programming computers for 30+ years. Over the last 15+ years he has worked as an Agile Coach, Trainer, and Extreme Programmer and now works with Industrial Logic as a Trainer/Coach/Consultant for Agile and Lean software development. He believes code must be simple, clean, and maintainable to realize the Agile promise of Responding to Change.  Contact InformationMob Programming: http://mobprogramming.org/Blog: http://zuill.us/WoodyZuill/Twitter: https://twitter.com/woodyzuill Call to action! I have a challenge for the Software Process and Measureme

The Software Process and Measurement Cast includes three columns.  The first is our essay on managing Agile projects and teams. I often say project management is dead. That does not mean that the pressures that drive the need to manage work have gone away. In the end the “what” of project management is important because control, discipline and coordination are needed tools to deliver value; the journey toward Agile is the reframing of the “how” of project management. This week Gene Hughson returns with an entry from his Form Follows Function column.  Gene tackles the topic of whether the application of Conway’s Law makes microservices more of an organizational approach than an architecture.   After listening, check out Gene’s Form Follows Function blog! The third column in this SPaMCAST magazine is from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries.  Kim tackles hardcore testing.  Kim discusses the implications and uses of this aggressive type of testing in hardware, software and wetware. A great line up! Call to action! Re

The Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Jon M Quigley.  We discussed configuration management and his new book Configuration Management: Theory, Practice, and Application. Jon co-authored the book with Kim Robertson. Configuration management, the management and control of project deliverable, is one of the most critical practices anyone building a product, writing a piece of code or working on a project with more than one person involved must learn or face the consequences! Jon’s Bio: Jon M. Quigley PMP CTFL is a principal and founding member of Value Transformation, a product development training and cost improvement organization established in 2009, as well as being Electrical / Electronic Process Manager at Volvo Trucks North America.  Jon has an Engineering Degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and two Master Degrees from City University of Seattle.  Jon has nearly twenty five years of product development experience, ranging from embedded hardware and

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 345 features our essay on Cognitive Biases and two new columns. The essay on cognitive bias provides important tools for anyone that works on a team or interfaces with other people! A sample for the podcast: “The discussion of cognitive biases is not a theoretical exercise. Even a relatively simple process such as sprint planning in Scrum is influenced by the cognitive biases of the participants. Even the planning process itself is built to use cognitive biases like the anchor bias to help the team come to consensus efficiently. How all the members of the team perceive their environment and the work they commit to delivering will influence the probability of success, therefore, cognitive biases need to be understood and managed.” The first of the new columns is Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner.  Jeremy’s first QA Corner discusses root cause analysis and some errors that people make when doing root cause analysis. Jeremy, is a leader in the world of quality assurance an

Software Process and Measurement Cast 344 features our conversation with Susan Parente.  We talked about Agile risk management. Risk is not always discussed in polite Agile circles however Susan suggests that if you do not have a plan to address risk you are asking for pain for yourself and everyone around you. Susan’s Bio Susan Parente is a Principal Consultant at S3 Technologies, LLC and an Associate Professor at Post University. She is an author, mentor and teacher focused on project and risk management. Her experience is augmented by her Masters in Engineering Management with a focus in Marketing of Technology from George Washington University, DC, along with a number of professional certifications. Ms. Parente has 16+ years’ experience leading software and business development projects in the private and public sectors, including a decade of experience implementing IT projects for the DoD. Contact Data: Email: parente@s3-tec.com Phone: 203-307-5246 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanparente Risk