Troubleshooting Agile

Our friends at CITCON help us think about why we feel like we're covering the same agile lessons over and over, like breaking epics down into very small stories. An analogy to teaching long division turns out to be surprisingly helpful. - CITCON: https://citconf.com/ - Moore, Crossing the Chasm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm - Chris Matts, community of needs: https://snowbirdcollaboratory.org/community-of-needs/ - Alistair Cockburn: https://alistair.cockburn.us/ Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

We describe some data scientists we know who are stuck in a tricky bind - why won't others in their organisation listen to their insights? This is the "Last Mile" problem of data science, for which we recommend (surprise!) building relationships through better conversations. - Last Mile problem of Data Science: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/07/23/solving-the-last-mile-problem-for-data-science-project-success/ - Devops Enterprise Forum: https://itrevolution.com/forum-paper-downloads/ - High Agency: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1276956836856393728?lang=en Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

"We'll keep an eye on it". "It's on our backlog." "It's on our tech debt list". These are all examples of voodoo charms, reassuring phrases that make you feel better but don't create real change. We suggest several ways to overcome the real fear behind your use of the voodoo charm. SHOW LINKS: - public pronouncements don’t work: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/culturing-science/new-years-resolution/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

Squirrel tells a dramatic story about preparing for a meeting under huge pressure, and we discuss how valuable it is to have a solid relationship to build on when negotiating over something as important as survival of your startup. SHOW LINKS: - Your first 30 Days as an Agile Manager: https://xebia.com/academy/en/training/first-30-days-agile-manager --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

Vasco Duarte, master of Scrum, issues a call to arms for all scrum masters: you have nothing to lose but your estimates and feature factories! Noted Scrum sceptic Squirrel questions Vasco vigorously on what Scrum Masters do and discovers that Vasco's view of the role is very different from the traditional one. SHOW LINKS: - Vasco: http://softwaredevelopmenttoday.com/ , https://scrum-master-toolbox.org/ - Scrum Master Summit: https://scrummastersummit.org - No Estimates book: https://oikosofyseries.com/no-estimates-book-order --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Vasco Duarte, master of Scrum, issues a call to arms for all scrum masters: you have nothing to lose but your estimates and feature factories! Noted Scrum sceptic Squirrel questions Vasco vigorously on what Scrum Masters do and discovers that Vasco's view of the role is very different from the traditional one. SHOW LINKS: - Vasco: http://softwaredevelopmenttoday.com/ , https://scrum-master-toolbox.org/ - Scrum Master Summit: https://scrummastersummit.org - No Estimates book: https://oikosofyseries.com/no-estimates-book-order --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Alan Weiss has written over 60 books on consulting and advocates a no-holds-barred approach, "the martial arts of language", to business problems. He eats difficult conversations for breakfast! We find out why language controls business, how us engineers can drive strategy by emphasizing results and not technology , and what tough love is and why it's so effective. SHOW LINKS: - Alan Weiss: https://alanweiss.com - Business as a Second Language workshop: https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/bsl/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

In the second of a two-part series, Johan Abildskov of Eficode has a conversation with Jeffrey and Squirrel about tools for using conversations to implement agile and DevOps methods, including Test-Driven Development for People (aka the Ladder of Inference). SHOW LINKS: - Eficode: https://www.eficode.com/ - TDD for People: https://www.douglassquirrel.com/how-i-work.html --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

In the first of a two-part series, Johan Abildskov of Eficode has a conversation with Jeffrey and Squirrel about culture, transparency, curiosity, and how to use all three to adopt DevOps methods successfully. Special addition: a video version of today's podcast! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6c8qIJUdwo SHOW LINKS: - Eficode: https://www.eficode.com/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

We discuss two very different stories about leaders that communicate a cultural message pithily and clearly, and reflect on why these stories were effective and how all of us can communicate culture in this way. SHOW LINKS: - Steve Jobs aquarium story: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/10/in-praise-of-bad-steve/246242/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

If your boss isn't helping like you think she should, maybe she's not from Mars, but actually trying to give you more autonomy. We reflect on this in light of real-world coaching stories. SHOW LINKS: - Situational Leadership: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situational_leadership_theory --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

A reader asks whether following the "bad idea" advice from last episode can lead to an unrecoverable local maximum, sentencing the team to endless patches and obscure bugs. Squirrel and Jeffrey have different takes on this based on their ancient greybeard stories. SHOW LINKS: - The Power of a Bad Idea episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/the-power-of-a-bad-idea - Local maximum: https://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/functions-maxima-minima.html - The Strangler Fig Application: https://martinfowler.com/bliki/StranglerFigApplication.html --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

Drawing lessons from Squirrel's driving test experiences, we explore why making a cultural or process change that's intentionally suboptimal can be surprisingly valuable. SHOW LINKS: - Driving Lessons episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/driving-lessons - Cynefin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework - Kaizen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen - Toyota Kata: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Kata --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

We start with a listener question on roles in an agile team, but quickly divert to Squirrel's "driftwood theory" of hiring and role specification, which turns out to be based on effective conversations and flexible problem solving (what a surprise!) SHOW LINKS: - We're the Aliens episode: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/blog/we're-the-aliens-three-ways-to-seek-safety/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

How giving work to your boss positions you as the driving force, not the bottleneck—and more methods and mindset shifts to change the perception "gee, that tech team sure is slow". SHOW LINKS: - Squirrel's workshop on “Decoding Tech Talk”: https://www.douglassquirrel.com/resources.html - Nudge book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_(book) - Radiate Intent, Elizabeth Ayer: https://medium.com/@ElizAyer/dont-ask-forgiveness-radiate-intent-d36fd22393a3 - Art of Action, Stephen Bungay: https://www.stephenbungay.com/Books.ink --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

We discover that we've given opposing advice about asking "Why" questions—including in our chapter on the Why Conversation! It turns out that a big factor in the success or failure of a "why" is your intent, and that (as usual) greater transparency can avoid misunderstandings and help you find new options. SHOW LINKS: - Never Split the Difference: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26156469-never-split-the-difference - Yes, And - https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/blog/yes-and/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

Jeffrey tells us stories about three ways agile teams deal with uncertainty: seeking cover by looking to a single source of truth, or seeking similar cover by following a process, or seeking true psychological safety through conversations. We analyse why the first two often don't work and why the third is so threatening to adopt. SHOW LINKS: - Psychological safety: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhoLuui9gX8 - Argyris on defensive routines: http://www.clevelandconsultinggroup.com/articles/theories-in-action.php - Apollo 13 scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry55--J4_VQ - Westrum cultures: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1765804/pdf/v013p0ii22.pdf --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

The fabulous Johanna Rothman, author of 18 books on tech and management, joins us for part II to describe what modern management is and how empathy, safety, and purpose can motivate and inspire your agile team. SHOW LINKS: - Johanna: jrothman.com , createadaptablelife.com - Behind Closed Doors: https://www.jrothman.com/books/behind-closed-doors-secrets-of-great-management/ - Modern Management Made Easy: https://leanpub.com/b/modernmanagementmadeeasy - Bob Sutton on friction: https://www.bobsutton.net/friction-project/ - Lindsay Holmwood on management as a career change: https://fractio.nl/2014/09/19/not-a-promotion-a-career-change/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

The fabulous Johanna Rothman, author of 18 books on tech and management, joins us to describe what modern management is and how empathy, safety, and purpose can motivate and inspire your agile team. SHOW LINKS: - Johanna: jrothman.com , createadaptablelife.com - Behind Closed Doors: https://www.jrothman.com/books/behind-closed-doors-secrets-of-great-management/ - Modern Management Made Easy: https://leanpub.com/b/modernmanagementmadeeasy - Bob Sutton on friction: https://www.bobsutton.net/friction-project/ - Lindsay Holmwood on management as a career change: https://fractio.nl/2014/09/19/not-a-promotion-a-career-change/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

After last week's episode on ahas in 2020, we describe what we're planning to do to help people do the work, move faster, and be productive. SHOW LINKS - 2020 Ahas episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/our-biggest-a-has-of-2020 - London Organisational Learning Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/London-Action-Science-Meetup/ - Episode on Conversational Dojos: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/conversational-dojos - Round Tuit: https://www.quantumenterprises.co.uk/roundtuit/traditional_round_tuits.htm Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com