Troubleshooting Agile

Were we wrong about systems thinking? In the first episode of a three-part series, Squirrel and Jeffrey revisit the contentious discussion around system thinking and their reaction to an article by Ed Braden. They hear from listeners, as well as Ed himself, emphasizing the importance of precise language and shared understanding. Links: - Ed Bradon's article: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/magical-systems-thinking/ - Ed's reply on Twitter: https://x.com/EdBradon/status/1971266284990976361 - Previous episode/rant: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/someone-is-wrong-on-the-internet-about-systems-thinking - Shape Up episodes: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/ryan-singer-on-basecamp-and-shape-up-part-i https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/ryan-singer-on-basecamp-and-shape-up-part-ii https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/ryan-singer-on-basecamp-and-shape-up-part-iii -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus ou

This episode, we are at CITCON 2025, answering listeners’ questions live. Join Squirrel, Jeffrey and our live audience as we discuss integrating tools from methodologies beyond Agile, borrowing practices from different domains such as CBT, Lean Manufacturing, and strategic selling, and Squirrel’s spontaneous approach for solving problems. Links: - David Burns: https://feelinggood.com/list-of-feeling-good-podcasts/ - CBT: https://beckinstitute.org/ - Shu Ha Ri: https://www.pluralsight.com/tech-blog/shu-ha-ri/ - Red Green Refactor: https://www.jamesshore.com/v2/blog/2005/red-green-refactor - Boy Scout Rule: https://medium.com/engineering-managers-journal/the-boy-scout-rule-for-better-code-e6ffda090902 - MCP: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/ - Thinking, Fast and Slow: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/114683/thinking-fast-and-slow-by-daniel-kahneman/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversation

This episode, we are at CITCON 2025, celebrating 400 episodes of Troubleshooting Agile. Tune in to this episode as Squirrel and Jeffrey look back on the past 400 episodes, discuss how the podcast served as a tool to flesh out ideas for their book ‘Agile Conversations’ and what they would do differently in the past - or might do differently in the future! -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, aut

Have you got Systems Thinking all wrong, like the author of an article we read that got Jeffrey all riled up? In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey explore how complex systems evolve, referencing real-world examples like water systems, Facebook, and healthcare.gov. Links: - Bradon's article (Jeffrey says don't read!): https://worksinprogress.co/issue/magical-systems-thinking/ - Bradon's self-responses on X: https://x.com/EdBradon/status/1966470317288616342 - Gall's Law: https://www.driverlesscrocodile.com/processes-ways-to-get-stuff-done/systems-thinking-galls-law/ - How Big Things Get Done: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/61327449-how-big-things-get-done - Thinking in Systems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking_In_Systems:_A_Primer -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: e

To lead effectively, you need critical thinking and a willingness to engage in productive conflict. It turns out, so do scientists! In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the art of healthy intellectual disagreement, drawing insights from a scientist's critique. SHOW LINKS: - Strong Inference article: https://courses.cs.duke.edu/fall04/cps296.2/science_platt.html - Related episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/religion-and-science - CITCON conference: https://citconf.com/london2025/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management throu

Is being “nice” preventing you from being decent? In this episode, we are joined by guest Kevin Lucas to talk about “coaching out,” the importance of early communication and the balance between decency and obligation, all ideas taken from his new book, ‘Impact: How to Inspire, Align and Amplify Innovative Teams.’ SHOW LINKS: - Keith Lucas: https://keithvlucas.com/ - Keith's book: https://keithvlucas.com/writing/impact/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organ

Does embarrassment do you good? While most of us try to avoid it, we believe embarrassment can be a powerful motivator for teams. Join Squirrel and Jeffrey as they discuss how exposing teams to real-world pressures and public accountability can drive both performance and innovation. SHOW LINKS: - Squirrel's Newsletter: https://squirrelsquadron.com/newsletter.html - Unilateral Control: https://schwarzassociates.com/how-unilateral-control-undermines-team-results-and-relationships-2/ - Learning War: https://trenthone.com/learning-war/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management th

Do you jump into solutions before understanding the context? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss a better way to problem-solve, the concept of form-context fit and why a better output than predicted should be investigated rather than celebrated. SHOW LINKS: - Henrik's article: https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz/p/problem-solving - Christopher Alexander: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Alexander - Admiral Rickover: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyman_G._Rickover - CITCON: https://citconf.com/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversat

Are you prepared to blame yourself? In this episode, Jeffrey opens up about his failed startup, and, putting external factors aside, what he could have done better. Join us for ideas around self-blame, double-loop learning, and how personal responsibility can lead to positive change. SHOW LINKS: - Jenkins's thesis: https://hj.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:562610/FULLTEXT01.pdf - Double-loop learning; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-loop_learning - CVS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concurrent_Versions_System -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult c

Can having an ego be a good thing? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss how being egotistical can be a valuable trait and how to strike a balance between confident and humble. Tune in if you need help working out whether you need to bring more or less ego to work. SHOW LINKS: - Helpful Givers episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/disagreeable-givers - The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Dysfunctions_of_a_Team - CITCON: https://citconf.com/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Ove

Would you appreciate someone talking while you were talking? It’s called "cooperative overlap,” it was introduced to us by a listener, and it’s used in some cultures to reinforce and show agreement with the speaker. Join Squirrel and Jeffrey for their second week talking about how you can use interruption to improve team collaboration, in this episode of Troubleshooting Agile. SHOW LINKS: - Cooperative Overlap article: https://www.anildash.com/2021/09/26/cooperative_overlap/ - Eight Behaviors for Smarter Teams: https://cdn.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/917018/Eight-Behaviors-for-Smarter-Teams-2.pdf -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces a

Can I just interrupt you there…? In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey interrupt each other more than usual to demonstrate how you can use “consensual” interruption as a way of giving immediate feedback, which can greatly improve learning speeds and information retention. SHOW LINKS: - Alan Weiss on Rhetorical Permission: https://jonathanstark.com/notes-on-million-dollar-maverick - CITCON Woking: https://citconf.com/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for g

What can Whatsapp’s origin story teach us about adding business value - even when it doesn’t seem “fun”? Reflecting on two weeks' backpacking, Jeffrey introduces the concept of Type 1 and Type 2 fun and Squirrel ponders how you can apply the two methods of fun to different types of work in Agile teams. SHOW LINKS: - Types of Fun: https://www.rei.com/blog/climb/fun-scale - WhatsApp baked into "dumb" phones: https://www.wired.com/story/nokia-asha-500-502-and-503-hands-on/?utm_source=chatgpt.com -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a dec

What can the TV show House teach us about centralisation? In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about centralised communication, how it contributed to them first meeting and what to do when there’s an imbalance of expertise in the room. SHOW LINKS: - Peer Review article: https://defenderofthebasic.substack.com/p/we-know-how-to-fix-peer-review-part - CITCON: https://citconf.com/london2025/ - Cynefin: https://thecynefin.co/about-us/about-cynefin-framework/ - Situational Leadership: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situational_leadership_theory -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied a

Death of the junior developer but long live the co-conspirator! In this re-worked bumper episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss two of their biggest takeaways from Citcon: the evolving role of AI in coding and how ‘co-conspirators’ have been pivotal in their careers and client work. SHOW LINKS: - CITCON London 2025: https://citconf.com/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote spea

Are you being unFAIR with your information-sharing? In this episode, Jeffrey talks us through the F.A.I.R principles of scientific publishing and how they can be applied to software development. Learn why you should prioritise open, accessible information and what you can do to put it into practice. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Weirdly named blog: https://slimemoldtimemold.com/ - Peer review article: https://defenderofthebasic.substack.com/p/we-know-how-to-fix-peer-review-part - Linus's Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus's_law -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through

Forget the elevator pitch, you need a “napkin strategy!” In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey explore the idea of using models instead of talking, which often leads to confusion and frustration. Find out how you can collaborate better with your team when you share explicit and visually mutable models. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Balsamiq's Draft mode: https://balsamiq.com/support/docs/wireframing/editor-overview/project-properties/ - Previous episode on religion and science: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/religion-and-science -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised

Is demarcation stunting your business? In this episode, Squirrel tells us about how his 500-year-old house restoration reminded him of dealing with team members whose strict adherence to demarcation i.e. “That’s not my job!” led to mistakes, poor communication and lack of problem-solving - and why un-demarcation is the best route forward. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Demarcation: https://www.fordtransition.org.uk/stories/trade-unions-at-ford/demarcation - Psychological safety: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_safety - Seven Habits book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined force

The search for ultimate truth has no place in an effective business! In this episode, Jeffrey and Squirrel explain how to detect when your team are stuck in the “rightness” trap and how to move from abstract debate to scientific experiments that help you discover what actually works. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Less Wrong: https://www.lesswrong.com/ - Less Online: https://less.online/ - Abor Summer Camp: https://www.arborsummer.camp/ - Manifest: https://manifest.is/ - Driftwood hiring episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/driftwood-vs-planks-agile-team-roles-and-skills - Socratic Dialogues: https://dn790004.ca.archive.org/0/items/PlatoDialogues/Plato_dialogues.pdf -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About

With so many great reader emails recently Jeffrey and I haven’t got around to discussing CitCon on the podcast yet! This week we do just that, with Jeffrey’s reflections from discussions on the evolving role of AI in coding including Steve Yegge’s new article which revisits whether the ‘death’ of the junior developer will ultimately be a ‘revenge.’ Links: - Steve Yegge article: https://sourcegraph.com/blog/revenge-of-the-junior-developer - Jevon's Paradox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Ove