Software Process And Measurement Cast

SPaMCAST 555 features our essay applying a simple filter to determine whether an interaction or event is collaborative. In this essay we put the simple four attribute model we introduced in SPaMCAST 554 to use.  Collaboration is an important tool, so let's recognize what is or isn’t collaboration and stop calling everything collaboration. We will also have a visit from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries. In this installment, Kim returns to the topic of lean software development.  In 2019, the concepts of lean and agile have become intertwined. Understanding concepts like waste is important for everyone involved in delivering value.   Re-Read Saturday News This week we dive into the availability heuristic.  The availability heuristic is useful for understanding what people believe and how they will act.  All leaders need to understand the impact of top of mind experiences on decision making and how to disrupt those biases; the availability heuristic is a tool for building that knowledge.  Remember, if you do not h

SPaMCAST 554 features our essay on the misuse of the word 'collaboration'. Collaboration is a hallmark of agile techniques, but people confuse collaboration with many other forms of interactions. When that happens everyone gets confused and disheartened. In order to stop the cycle, we identify four attributes to help recognize collaboration. We'll also hear from Gene Hughson who brings his Form Follows Function Column to the podcast.  In the second part of a three-part series on architects, Gene discusses the role of the solutions architect.  Part One can be found on SPaMCAST 543 - Value Chain, Solution Architects, Essays and Discussions Web Player and Show Notes: http://bit.ly/2L3tLku Re-Read Saturday News Today we dive into the concept of anchors and the impact of anchor bias. This is one of my favorite topics for understanding behaviors in negotiations. Negotiations are all around us whether you are discussing salary, buying a car, or wrestling with a request for an impossible due date.   Remember, if you

SPaMCAST 553 features our interview with Jim Benson.  Jim and I focused on prioritization and how prioritization can be a reflection of more deep-seated problems. One of the ideas Jim shares is that processes are the social contract for getting work done.  I really enjoy talking with Jim and think you will enjoy the conversation. During the close of the interview, Jim talks about Modus Cooperandi’s class on prioritization.  Jim has extended a discount code for listeners of the podcast for all of the MI classes. The code is SPAMCAST20 or you can use the link:   https://modusinstitute.com/p/me-what-do-i-do-next/?coupon_code=SPAMCAST20   Jim’s Bio: Jim’s career path has taken him through government agencies, Fortune 10 corporations, and start-ups. Through them all, his passion has remained consistent – applying new technologies to workgroups. In each case asking how they can be leveraged to collaborate and cooperate more effectively. Jim loves ideas, creation, and building opportunities. He loves working with

SPaMCAST 552 features our essay on the idea of “fit for purpose” and its impact on the definition of quality.  Even if you don’t deliver any defects, not being fit for purpose wipes quality off the board. BOOM! (Rather read the essay?  http://bit.ly/2wZxkxX) In the second spot this week, Jon M Quigley delivers with his Alpha and Omega of Product Development!  In this installment, Jon discusses the need to say no. A simple straight forward word that is nearly impossible to use in polite company. Re-Read Saturday News Today, two stories…ops, the wrong column…today we take on two chapters in our re-read of Thinking, Fast and Slow, chapters 8 and 9: How Judgment Happens and Answering An Easier Question. I would be interested in your feedback on the depth in this entry compared to previous entries. Remember, if you do not have a favorite, dog-eared copy of Thinking, Fast and Slow, please buy a copy.  Using the links in this blog entry helps support the blog and its alter-ego, The Software Process and Measurement C

SPaMCAST 551 features our interview with Michael (Mike) Lynn.  Mike and I talked about leadership and agile. Leadership is important any time two or more people get together to pursue a goal. Mike shares his expertise, experience, and wisdom to help shine a light on the relationship between agile and leadership.   Mike’s Bio Mike Lynn is a seasoned learning/leadership/organizational development professional with close to 30 years experience, including nine years with McKinsey and Company.  He provides executive coaching and custom consulting services, and is a principal of thoughtLEADERS, a global leadership development training firm offering a full menu of programs to help leaders think, communicate and succeed.  Mike has deep expertise and passion in structured executive thinking and decision-making as well as interpersonal success strategies (e.g., meeting leadership, tough conversations, coaching and feedback, presentation delivery, upward management, etc.)  His learning specialties are in the areas of ex

SPaMCAST 550 features our essay titled, Intertwining Conway’s Law And Agile. Conway’s Law trains a spotlight on how an organization’s structure impacts the product they ship. The “Law” states that the structure of a software product will mimic the structure of the organization that produces the software.  It can (and has) been said that you are shipping the “org structure.” How you are structured therefore is going to impact just how much agile you can achieve. We also visit the QA Corner with Jeremy Berriault.  Jeremy discusses the differences between test engineers and testers. We also tackle whether every person with the word test in their title should have the ability to code or script. Jeremy’s LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-berriault-mba/ I know this is not the show I promoted last week but my guest, Mike Lynn,  is out of pocket this week and wanted to around when the show went live. Not only am I agile, but I am also flexible therefore we are rearranging the lineup!   Re-Read Saturday Ne

SPaMCAST 549 features our essay Seven Issues Testers Experience Being Agile.  Recently I attended the QAI Quest Conference in Chicago, during the conference I got to talk with lots of people from across the development spectrum. From the conversations and workshops, I identified seven common threads that test and quality focused personal experience being or trying to be agile. In order to be agile, not just do agile, we need to tackle these seven issues We also have the completion of Susan Parente’s three-installment discussion of distributed agile.  In this installment of Not a Scrumdamentalist, Susan discusses tools and whether they are the hurdle some people make them out to be.   Re-Read Saturday News This week we re-read Chapter 6 of Thinking, Fast and Slow, Norms, Surprises, and Causes.  The chapter continues the deep dive into System 1 thinking. As noted before, System 1 thinking continually is active nearly all of the time making snap decisions based on associated that it has constructed. In Chapter 6

SPaMCAST 548 features our interview with Heidi Helfand.  Heidi and I discussed teams and her book Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams. Heidi challenges the conventional wisdom that in agile (or any walk of life) that you need to keep your teams "the same" in order to be successful. In short, there are no absolutes except for change. Heidi’s Bio Heidi Helfand is Director of Engineering Excellence at Procore Technologies, creators of cloud-based construction software. She is the author of the book Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams which challenges the notion that you need to keep your teams "the same" in order to be successful. Heidi was on the first team at two highly successful startups ñ ExpertCity, Inc. (acquired by Citrix) where she was on the teams that invented GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar and AppFolio, Inc., a SAAS property management software company. She is a co-active coach certified by the International Coach Federation (ICF). Buy the book!  https:/

SPaMCAST 547 returns to our standard staggered approach with a discussion of work entry.  The majority of work entry issues are caused by eight problems. The eight problems often occur in clusters and are a reflection of organizational culture.  Knowing that there are eight problems is useful so that you can do something about them! Also this week, Kim Pries, the software sensei is back and goes full curmudgeon.  Kim states ”After 40+ years of software work and lies, I get disgusted when I see yet another rehash of so-called tools that purport to do something valuable. The multi-colored risk analysis "tools" are essentially worthless. To date, I have never seen one of these catch or forestall idiocy on the part of a supplier or a customer. There's no fixing stupid!” Re-Read Saturday News This week we are re-reading Chapter 4 of Thinking, Fast and Slow, The Associative Machine.  This chapter begins a deeper dive into the nuances of system 1 thinking. If you do not have a favorite, dog-eared copy of Thinking,

SPaMCAST 546 features our interview with Michael Milutis. Michael and I talk about putting people back in charge of their careers. Michael provides advice that every listener can put to use immediately and in the long run. Michael’s Bio: Michael Milutis is an INFP and IT generalist committed to human capital development and continuous learning within a shifting technology landscape. He works with technology organizations from around the world to develop innovative learning cultures and he coaches individuals and teams so that they can develop continuously, grow personally, and realize their highest potential. Since 1997, Michael has worked in marketing, new business development, and L&D for Computer Aid, Inc (CAI), an international IT services and support firm. He is also the creator and director of CAI’s "Great IT Professional", an organization devoted to continuous learning and career development within the global IT community. Michael speaks around the world and his keynote presentations focus on digit

SPaMCAST 545 we have an interview with Cheryl Hammond, Jenny Tarwater, Faye Thompson, and Linda Podder.  We talk about Launching New Voices, Women in Agile, planned activities at Agile 2019 and more. There is a lot of good advice and ideas if you’re new to speaking or if you are a seasoned speaker. There is a call to action at the end of the interview. 2019 Women in Agile Conference site https://www.agilealliance.org/events/women-in-agile-2019/   Cheryl Hammond Cheryl Hammond, a.k.a. @bsktcase, has a couple of decades' experience as a software leader in the private and public sectors. She ran her team's successful adoption of Scrum-ban for a mission-critical regulatory compliance project under multi-agency state and federal government oversight, mentored former COBOL devs into true-believing unit-testing XP evangelists, and turned a threatened software product at risk of litigation into a lean, revenue-generating flagship offering in nine months, all of which leads her to believe that anything is possible. S

SPaMCAST 544 features our interview with Jeppe Hedaa.  Mr. Hedaa and I discuss his new book, Nucleon: The Missing Formula That Measures Your IT Development Team's Performance. Our discussion centers on the book but also touches on meritocracy and why you want top performers on a team. This is a wide-ranging interview with thought-provoking ideas as we talk about Nucleon! Jeppe’s bio: Jeppe Hedaa has been working with complex systems development for more than 30 years, serving the largest IT development departments. He is the CEO and owner of 7N, who is an agent for top 3% IT specialists. 7N has departments in the US, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, India and Denmark. In September 2018 he published the book "Nucleon: The missing formula that measures your IT department's performance", where he describes how to calculate a hard number for an IT team's performance that could best be compared to that of horsepower in a car. In the book, he also measures the factors that hold back an organization's d

SPaMCAST 543 features our essay on value chains.  In this essay, we tackle the mixed up world of Value Chains, Values Streams and Process Maps. This isn’t a vocabulary test but mixing the words up can cause a mess. Let's solve the problem. As a reminder - I am doing a workshop on value chains at QAI Quest 2019 (May 13 - 19 in Chicago). Do you need a discount?  Register at www.qaiQuest2019 using the code Speaker10. Let me know and we will do a hangout with Jeremy and myself! In the SPAMCAST 543, Gene Hughson’s returns with a new entry in his Form Follows Function column. Gene and I are beginning what turned out to be a three column set on solution architects. Today we begin by discussing just what the heck is a solution architect is and does! Re-Read Saturday News These days, every time I start a new book I am reminded that once upon a time I did not read the introduction or front matter in books.  I suspect there are things I still don’t know or only learned about from the school of wandering into doors at ni

SPaMCAST 542 features our interview with Kevin Rush. Mr. Rush has developed an innovative approach to facilitate sprint/iteration planning.  Kittens, exploding kittens, and fat cats are used to help teams probe whether the team understands the story and if the story is broken down well enough for the team to reduce the risk of failure.  All change agents talk about making changes at the team level but many fail to change how they work, Kevin suggests that experimenting with different approaches is eating our dog food. Way too many pet metaphors, but a great discussion. Kevin’s Bio Kevin is a certified Scrum Master and Agility Enablement leader at Hyland Software. Before coming to Hyland he worked as an innovation consultant and coach with for-profit and nonprofit organizations throughout Northeast Ohio. A graduate from DeVry University he spent time as Technology Coordinator for several local school districts before transitioning to ministry then back to tech! When he's not working with teams and organization

In SPaMCAST 541 we discuss using guardrails in decision making. Guardrails are a tool to ensure alignment with the organization’s goals and objectives and to keep people on the right path. Well-formed guardrails conform to five attributes that help teams and individuals make decisions. Our second segment features Jon M Quigley and his Alpha and Omega of Product Development column. Jon discusses reciprocal agreements and their impact of on teams and products. Re-Read Saturday News We continue our poll to decide on the next book in the Re-read Saturday Series. We will announce the next book on Saturday 13 April 2019.  Make your opinion known! What are you reading during our interregnum? Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 542 will feature our interview with Kevin Rush. Mr. Rush has developed an innovative approach for facilitating sprint planning.  Kittens, exploding kittens, and fat cats are used to help teams probe whether the team understands the story and if it is broken down well enough for the team.  Kevin is a Scrum

SPaMCAST 540 features our interview Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman. Johanna, Mark, and I discussed their new book, From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams, Collaborate to Deliver (Buy your copy here: https://amzn.to/2Omur23). Distributed agile teams are a fact of life; Johanna and Mark provide an extraordinary amount of wisdom for making distributed teams exceptional.    Johanna’s Bio Johanna Rothman, known as the “Pragmatic Manager,” provides frank advice for your tough problems. She helps leaders and teams see problems, resolve risks, and manage their product development. Johanna was the Agile 2009 conference chair and was the co-chair of the first edition of the Agile Practice Guide. Johanna is the author of 14 books that range from hiring, to project management, program management, project portfolio management, and management. Her most recent books are From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams (with Mark Kilby) and Create Your Successful Agile Project: Collaborate, Measure, Estimate, Deli

SPaMCAST 539 features our essay titled, Assessment and Continuous Process Improvement. Assessments and continuous process improvement are intertwined. Assessments being both a source of ideas and a tool to validate change and other experiments.  Other essays that have appeared on the SPaMCAST blog on agile assessments include: Assessment and Continuous Process Improvement - https://bit.ly/2UU8mdI Components Of A Solid Assessment Plan https://bit.ly/2YsHqnM Assessments: Being or DOing https://bit.ly/2HGOEiK An Assessment: A Mall Map For Change https://bit.ly/2TX8BbJ We will also have part 2 of Susan Parente’s discussions on distributed agile.  This week we will focus on tools. Susan reminds us that unless you spend time building trust and learning how to communicate, a tool won’t solve a communication problem. Re-Read Saturday News This week we conclude the re-read portion our tour through Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point by tackling both the conclusion and the afterword. The Tipping Point is a theory tha

SPaMCAST 538 features our interview with Ben Linders.  Ben and I talk about his new agile assessment game. Ben’s game and the book that supports the game provide teams and individuals with a tool for introspection and process improvement.  This is not Ben’s first visit to the podcast. Ben’s last visit was in November 2017 (SPaMCAST 470) to discuss what drives quality in software development. Ben Linders is an Independent Consultant in Agile, Lean, Quality, and Continuous Improvement, based in The Netherlands. Author of Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives, Waardevolle Agile Retrospectives, What Drives Quality and Continuous Improvement. Ben is the creator of the Agile Self-assessment Game. The book supporting the Self-assessment Game can be found at https://www.benlinders.com/the-agile-self-assessment-game/  As an adviser, coach, and trainer he helps organizations with deploying effective software development and management practices. He focuses on continuous improvement, collaboration and communicatio

SPaMCAST 537 features our essay on the use of assessments for agile efforts.  Assessments come under a wide variety of names: appraisals, health checks, audits or even assessments. These terms are commonly conflated.  Assessments are a tool to prove a point. The essay in the cast explores the myriad types and reasons for assessments. Rounding out the cast is the Software Sensei, Kim Pries.  Kim tackles physical security, including the wall (no politics included)! Re-Read Saturday News We continue our re-read of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Chapter Seven of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point is a case study.  Stop borrowing your best friends copy and buy a copy of the book for yourself!   Check out the current entry of Re-Read Saturday at www.tcagley.wordpress.com Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 538 features the return of Ben Linders.  Ben and I talk about his new agile assessment game.  Fitting based on this week’s essay!

SPaMCAST 536 features our interview with Dave Sohmer. Dave is an executive that has led two separate major agile transformations.  Mr. Sohmer provides an executive's perspective on the impact of adopting agile in two major financial institutions. The two very different companies took to two very different approaches to agile. Bio: Dave Sohmer is a technology and operations executive with over 25 years of experience.  He has spent many years in the code but has come to enjoy the people and process side of software almost as much.  Dave has built and led many development teams at scale at Northern Trust and Bank of America Merrill Lynch over the last 20 years. Over that time he has come to believe in the power of the team as the fundamental unit that unlocks business agility.  He has championed two large scale Lean Scrum transformations within the financial services sector and has come to appreciate that a healthy mix of Lean principles, Agile values, Scrum by the book, XP practices and common sense will radica