Software Process and Measurement Cast

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, 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 Cast. Buy a copy on Amazon, It's time to get reading! The installments: Week 1: Logistics and Introduction - http://bit.ly/2UL4D6h Week 2: The Characters Of The Story - http://bit.ly/2PwItyX Week 3: Attention and Effort - http://bit.ly/2H45x5A Week 4: The Lazy Controller - http://bit.ly/2LE3MQQ Week 5: The Associative Machine - http://bit.ly/2JQgp8I Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 548 will feature our interview with Heidi Helfand. Heidi and I discussed teams and her book Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams. It is time to challenge 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.

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 digital transformation, adapting to change, continuous learning, workforce engagement, corporate mindfulness, and human self-actualization. You can connect with him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmilutis Re-Read Saturday News This week we re-read Chapter 3 of Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. One of the core themes in this chapter is the concept of ego depletion. Ego depletion is a theory that self-control, as a form of system 2 thinking, draws from a finite pool of mental resources. When the pool is low, so is self-control. Whether the triggering mechanism is ego depletion or something else is not as important as the observable impact – when people are under mental stress they don't always make the most thoughtful decisions. 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 Cast. Buy a copy on Amazon, It's time to get reading! The installments: Week 1: Logistics and Introduction - http://bit.ly/2UL4D6h Week 2: The Characters Of The Story - http://bit.ly/2PwItyX Week 3: Attention and Effort - http://bit.ly/2H45x5A Week 4: The Lazy Controller - http://bit.ly/2LE3MQQ Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 547 will return to our standard staggered approach with an essay on work entry. The majority of work entry problems 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 when they can be recognized. We will also hear from Kim Pries, the Software Sensei!

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. She is not sorry for her many biases, including strong preferences for servant-style leadership and team-based, holistic problem-solving and a strong aversion to agile zealotry. Whether consulting or in-house, Cheryl endeavors to make life suck less for software delivery organizations and the humans who inhabit them. Faye Thompson With more than twenty years of project delivery experience, Faye Thompson is a consultant coach and scrum master. With a focus on an agile mindset and continuous improvement, Faye has had a positive impact in the financial services, healthcare, advertising, automotive and aviation industries. Passionate about using innovative solutions to drive business value, she supports workgroups as they transform themselves into highly engaged and energized teams. Faye enjoys serving on the board of directors for the Central Ohio Agile Association and as President of the Women in STEMM Alumni Society of The Ohio State University. She spends her free time volunteering as an emergency medical responder and public affairs coordinator for the American Red Cross. Jenny Tarwater Jenny Tarwater is an International Speaker, Agile Coach, and Trainer local to the Kansas City, Missouri area. Jenny has over 23 years of corporate experience bringing business teams, technical teams, and sponsors together to reliably deliver large-scale development projects with her disciplined approach of cultivating success and growth in people, process and products. Jenny has a passion for driving the adoption and understanding of Agile values, principles, and practices, and her endless motivation drives her involvement in cultivating the "small company startup culture" across organizations large and small. Jenny is a kinetic leader, partner, and consummate student who brings enthusiasm and awareness to projects and keeps teams focused and delivering success in rapidly evolving and dynamic environments. Linda Podder Linda Podder is a passionate learner and experienced Scrum Master at Hyland Software in Westlake, OH. She was instrumental in helping launch Hyland's first SAFe implementation and continues to work with additional SAFe programs as they launch. Linda loves encouraging her teams to explore, innovate, and celebrate their failures just as much as their successes. She is also passionate about empowering her teams to achieve technical excellence through Agile engineering practices. Outside of work, she loves to game with her family and take pictures of her fluffy black cats. Re-Read Saturday News Today we continue the re-read of Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. This week we re-read chapter 2. Chapter 2 tackles the relationship between effort, attention, and thinking slow. Thinking slow, system 2 thinking, requires effort. That effort must be marshaled and directed which requires attention. The more effort needed, the more attention needed. Attention is a finite resource, therefore, the more we spend on system 2 thinking, less attention available for everything else. A word of warning, don't do higher math while driving! 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 Cast. Buy a copy on Amazon, It's time to get reading! The installments: Week 1: Logistics and Introduction - http://bit.ly/2UL4D6h Week 2: The Characters Of The Story - http://bit.ly/2PwItyX Week 3: Attention and Effort - http://bit.ly/2H45x5A Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 546 will feature our interview with Michael Milutis. Michael and I talked 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.

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 delivery and identifies the most impactful areas for improvement. Our review of Nucleon: http://bit.ly/2XQvB9T Nucleon: https://www.nucleonformula.com/ 7N: https://www.7n.com/ Buy a copy of the book: https://amzn.to/2DNJBJZ 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! Re-Read Saturday News Today we continue the re-read of Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. This week we tackle chapter 1. The core of chapter 1 is the definition of fast and slow thinking. This is also known as system 1 and 2 thinking. These are the characters in Kahneman's book. Software development is a constant stream of choices and decisions, so determining which decisions can safely be driven by judgment and which require conscious choice is an important part of any process improvement or transformation. 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 Cast. Buy a copy on Amazon, It's time to get reading! This week's installment: Week 1: Logistics and Introduction - http://bit.ly/2UL4D6h Week 2: The Characters Of The Story - http://bit.ly/2PwItyX Next SPaMCAST We are going to veer off course a bit for SPaMCAST 545. By rights, 545 should be a magazine show with columns, discussion, and essays, however, on April 24th I had the great fortune to interview Cheryl Hammond, Jenny Tarwater, Faye Thompson, and Linda Podder. We discussed Launching New Voices, Women in Agile, planned activities at Agile 2019 and more. There is a time-sensitive call to action in the podcast next week.

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 night because of my choice, When I originally read Thinking, Fast and Slow I was still in the habit of not reading introductions. The introduction discusses how the ideas that became the book were developed by Kahneman and his longtime co-contributor, Amos Tversky (Tversky died before they probably would have jointly won the Noble Prize). Kahneman describes the book as a "book about the biases of intuition." Topics in the introduction include life, death, bias, heuristics, and behavioral economics. 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 Cast. Buy a copy on Amazon, Its time to get reading! This week's installment: Week 1: Logistics and Introduction - http://bit.ly/2UL4D6h Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 544 will feature our interview with Jeppe Hedaa. We will discuss his new book, Nucleon: The Missing Formula That Measures Your IT Development Team's Performance. Jeppe provides evidence and a framework that suggests that there are predictable factors that drive performance in IT organizations. Tough and interesting ideas are on the menu when we talk about Nucleon!

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 organizations he spends his time with his beautiful wife, Sondra, and their three beautiful daughters. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kezrush/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: Kezrush Re-Read Saturday News I am declaring the poll for the next book in the Re-read Saturday over. The results are: Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman 64.29% The Power of Habit - Charles Duhig 21.43% The Stuff of Thought - Steven Pinker 14.28% High Output Management - Andrew S. Grove 0% I am very surprised at the results; I added Thinking, Fast and Slow to round out the poll. My copy of the book is 500 pages and 38 chapters long and has a copyright of 2013. Next week we will discuss our approach to the re-read and dispense with the front matter (15-page introduction). I reference the book all of the time. My memory is that the book is crammed with ideas, I will need your help calling out the parts of the book that resonates with you. 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 Cast. Buy a copy on Amazon, Its time to get reading! Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 543 will feature our essay on value chains. We will tackle, Value Chains, Streams and Maps - What a Mess! 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! SPAMCAST 543 will include Gene Hughson's Form Follows Function column. Gene and I begin a three column set on solution architects. We start by discussing just what the heck is a solution architect is and does!

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 Master at Hyland Software.

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, Deliver. Read her blogs, email newsletter, and more information about her books at www.jrothman.com Mark Kilby Bio With over two decades of experience in agile principles and practices, Mark Kilby has cultivated more distributed and dispersed teams than collocated teams. He has consulted with organizations across many industries and coached teams, leaders, and organizations internally. Mark also co-founded a number of professional learning organizations such as Agile Orlando, Agile Florida, Virtual Team Talk, and the Agile Alliance Community Group Support Initiative among others. His easy-going style helps teams learn to collaborate and discover their path to success and sustainability. Mark shares his insights on distributed and agile teams in dozens of articles in multiple publications. Most of his latest ideas and developments can be found on www.markkilby.com Re-Read Saturday News We have been re-reading Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point over the past 10 weeks. When considering how I would wrap up the re-read I had to fight the urge to parrot back the findings Gladwell identified in the conclusion: a few people are critical and that people's biases matter. Real life intervened and I applied the ideas in the book! We need to choose the next book in the Re-read Saturday Series. Steven Adams has requested a referendum on the next book. Mr. Adams has always provided sage advice, therefore, a poll we will have! The poll will be open for two weeks. Vote for your two favorites. Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 541 will feature our essay on guardrails. We will 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. We will also have a visit from John M Quigley who brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development column to the podcast.

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 that viral change—epidemics, in Gladwell's word—can be caused and shaped by few actions and people. The Law of the Few tells us that connectors, mavens and salespeople can affect whether or not a concept, idea or movement moves across the tipping point and becomes an epidemic. Check out the current entry of Re-Read Saturday at www.tcagley.wordpress.com I have had several excellent suggestions for what to read next, right now the leader in the clubhouse is The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Thoughts? Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 540 will be a TREAT. My interview with Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman will be featured! We discussed their new book, From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams, Collaborate to Deliver (Buy your copy 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.

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 communication, and professional development, to deliver business value to customers. Ben is an active member of networks on Agile, Lean, and Quality, and a well-known speaker and author. He shares his experiences in abilingual blog (Dutch and English), as an editor for Culture and Methods at InfoQ, and as an expert in communities like Computable,Quora, DZone, and TechTarget. Follow him on Twitter: @BenLinders. Re-Read Saturday NewsWe continue our re-read of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Chapter 7 of Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point (remember to stop borrowing your best friend's copy and buy a copy of the book for yourself!), is another case study. This time we explore the ideas of how tipping points happen by considering teen suicides and smoking. We have two more weeks in this re-read. I would like your suggestions to help guide the next book. Check out the current entry of Re-Read Saturday at www.tcagley.wordpress.com Next SPaMCASTSPaMCAST 539 will feature 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. We will also have a visit from Susan Parente who brings her Not A Scrumdamentalist column to the podcast!

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 radically change your business's view of technology from misunderstood adversary to trusted partner. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidasohmer Email: [email protected] Re-Read Saturday News We continue our re-read of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Chapter Six of Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point continues the discussion of the role of context in approaching a tipping point. 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 537 will feature an essay on the use of assessments for agile efforts. Assessments come under a wide variety of names: appraisals, health checks, audit 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. We will also have a new column from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries.

SPaMCAST 535 features our essay spawned when I was asked to help a Scrum Master who said: "I messed up a scrum team, should I do kanban?" There is not a straightforward answer because regardless of the path forward there are people issues that need to be dealt with first. Also in this podcast, we have a visit from Susan Parente and her 'I am not a Scrumdamentalist' column. In this installment, Susan discusses distributed Agile. Agile on distributed teams is often discussed in hushed tones. Susan brings the topic out into the open and provides excellent advice. Re-Read Saturday News We continue our re-read of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Chapter Four of Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point begins the discussion of the role of context in approaching a tipping point. 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 536 will feature 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 led to two very different approaches to adopting agile.

SPaMCAST 534 features our interview with Al Shalloway. Al returns to the SPaMCAST after far too long. This week we discuss the trials and tribulations of scaling agile, and his passion about getting knowledge transfer right! I hope you have as good of a time listening to this interview as I had creating it. Bio Al Shalloway is the founder and CEO of Net Objectives. With 45 years of experience, Al is an industry thought leader in Lean, Kanban, product portfolio management, Scrum and agile design. He helps companies transition to Lean and Agile methods enterprise-wide as well teaches courses in these areas. Al is a former SAFe Program Consultant Trainer. Al has developed training and coaching methods for Lean-Agile that have helped Net Objectives' clients achieve long-term, sustainable productivity gains. He is a popular speaker at prestigious conferences worldwide. Website: https://www.netobjectives.com/ Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alshalloway/ Re-Read Saturday News This week we continue our re-read of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Chapter Three of Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point is a reminder of why this book continues to be important and useful. The density of ideas in this chapter is amazing. Stop borrowing your best friends copy and buy a copy of the book for yourself! Current entry: Week 4 - The Stickiness Factor - https://bit.ly/2GuSJ96 Previous entries Week 3 - The Law of the Few - https://bit.ly/2Buau46 Week 2 - The Three Rules of Epidemics - https://bit.ly/2DQnRNV Week 1 – Plans and Introduction -https://bit.ly/2S8PPwc Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 535 will feature an essay spawned when I was asked to help a Scrum Master who said: "I messed up a scrum team should I do kanban?" There is not a straightforward answer because regardless of the path forward there are people issues that need to be dealt with first. We will also have a visit from Susan Parente who brings her 'I am not a Scrumdamentalist' column to the cast!

SPaMCAST 533 features our essay titled, Can Agile (SAFe) Be Interfaced With Waterfall? The long answer is yes, but the short answer is yes, but try to find a way to avoid the self-inflicted complexity. If you can't avoid mixing and matching frameworks, there are paths to success you can leverage. Other essays in our series on interfacing SAFe and waterfall efforts include: Can Agile (SAFe) Be Interfaced With Waterfall? - https://bit.ly/2SLUmou Interfacing Agile (SAFe) With Waterfall? – Transparency - https://bit.ly/2MWNYFT Interfacing Agile (SAFe) With Waterfall? – Synchronization - https://bit.ly/2WVgLio Interfacing Agile (SAFe) With Waterfall? – Code - https://bit.ly/2I6eUUR This week we also have a quick visit from Tom Henricksen. Tom created the popular Online Agile Summit. Today he announces the DevOps Online Summit that will be held on April 8th through 11th. After you listen, check out the website! https://www.devopsonlinesummit.com/2019 Jeremy Berriault brings a new installment of the QA Corner (https://qacorner.blog/) to the cast this week. Jeremy leverages work by Simon Sinek and tackles the "why" of testing. Re-Read Saturday News This week we continue our re-read of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. In chapter two, Gladwell dives into the law of the few. There are three types of people that are important to pushing an idea up to and over a tipping point: connectors, mavens, and salespeople. All three are required. Remember to dust off your copy or buy a new copy and read along! Current entry: Week 3 - The Law of the Few - https://bit.ly/2Buau46 Previous entries Week 2 - The Three Rules of Epidemics - https://bit.ly/2DQnRNV Week 1 – Plans and Introduction -https://bit.ly/2S8PPwc Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 534 will feature our interview with Al Shalloway. Al returns to the SPaMCAST to discuss the trials and tribulations of scaling agile and his passion about getting knowledge transfer right!

SPaMCAST features our interview with Julia Wester. Julia returns to the cast to discuss spectrum thinking. Specturn thinking is an important tool in system thinking and required to address complexity. Even though using binary thinking is rarely the most effective path, it is rare to use spectrum thinking to address problems. Julia provides a path to more effective decision making. Julia's Bio Julia is a Co-Founder of Lagom Solutions and its Principal Consultant. Lagom Solutions is an outcome-focused consulting and product company. Julia leads the consulting side of Lagom Solutions. When working with customers, she leverages her 18 years of experience working in and managing high-performing teams at companies such as Turner Broadcasting, F5 Networks, and LeanKit. Julia is passionate about teaching others how to tame the chaos of everyday work by embracing transparency, continuous improvement, and a lagom mindset. She also loves talking about how management doesn't have to be a dirty word. Julia blogs at everydaykanban.com and tweets at @everydaykanban. Re-Read Saturday News This week we continue our re-read of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. In Chapter one, Gladwell suggests that there are three factors that impact whether an idea or product crosses a tipping point; they are the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. Chapter one introduces these concepts and presents real-life examples to illustrate the factors. Dust off your copy or buy a new copy. Current entry: Week 2 - The Three Rules of Epidemics - https://bit.ly/2DQnRNV Previous entries Week 1 – Plans and Introduction -https://bit.ly/2S8PPwc Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 533 will feature our essay titled, Can Agile (SAFe) Be Interfaced With Waterfall? The long answer is yes, but the short answer is closer to try to find a way to avoid the self-inflicted complexity. We will also hear from Jeremy Berriault. In this installment of the QA Corner, Jeremy tackles the "why" of testing.

SPaMCAST 531 features our essay on Balancing Control and Self-Organization to Avoid Heat Death. Control and self-organization represent a classic Goldilocks and the Three Bears problem. We discuss whether there is a solution. Interested in more on this topic? Other blog entries include: Balancing Control and Self-Organization to Avoid Heat Death -https://bit.ly/2UnzfGu Balancing of Autonomy with Alignment - https://bit.ly/2Sg1xFy VUCA, Heat Death and Gray Goo - https://bit.ly/2RhlGq8 In the second spot this week we hear from Jon M Quigley who brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development to the cast. Jon discusses the impact of cognitive biases on product development. Fighting biases is an important role for product owners and developers alike. The fight is rarely easy. Re-Read Saturday News This week we begin our re-read of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. We are re-reading this book because it is important for any person involved in leading or participating in change (this is all of us). Dust off your copy or buy a new copy. Current entry: Week 1 – Plans and Introduction -https://bit.ly/2S8PPwc Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 532 will feature our interview with Julia Wester. Julia returns to the cast to discuss her passion for the topic of spectrum thinking. Rarely is using binary thinking the most effective path; however, it is rare to use spectrum thinking to address problems. Julia provides a path to more effective decision making.

On January 18, 2007 show zero was posted. Show zero established the RSS feed and let me get some of the bugs out of our workflow. We begin year 13 next week. Thank you for being part of the Software Process and Measurement Cast. SPaMCAST 530 features our interview with Justin McPherson. Justin and I talked about the role of the enterprise architect in agile. Organizations struggle with the role of the architect as they embrace agile methods. However it is not all about agile, the multiple layers of architecture such as solution, application and enterprise add to the confusion and the perception that people need to jump through too many hoops. Justin's experience provides direction. Justin's LinkedIn Bio: Executive consultant with 25 years of experience in IT Strategy, Enterprise Architecture and Business Transformation leadership. Specializing in Establishing the Office of the Architect, Enterprise Architecture Design & Performance Management, Enterprise Architecture Platforms, Application Portfolio Optimization, Operating Model Frameworks, Business Transformation, Enterprise Risk Management and Information Security & Regulatory Compliance Contact Information LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/justinmcpherson Email: [email protected] Re-Read Saturday News Re-Read Saturday News I have been vacillating between an intense discussion of Bad Blood and a terse and blunt statement about Theranos. In the end, I took a middle path. If you want to dive into the detail again, grab the book and the follow our re-read through it. If you want the later, check final thoughts to get the bottom line! Remember that we will re-read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell next (get a copy). Next week we will lay out our approach to The Tipping Point. Current Entry: Week 13 - Final Thoughts - https://bit.ly/2sAnBMr Previous Entries: Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Week 6 - The miniLab - https://bit.ly/2rfmwJh Week 7 - Wellness Play - https://bit.ly/2rqUYk6 Week 8 - Who is LTC Shoemaker - https://bit.ly/2GkbWv0 Week 9 - Lightning a Fuisz and Ian Gibbons - https://bit.ly/2QR7poR Week 10 - Chiat\Day, Going Live and Unicorn - https://bit.ly/2SrRpGv Week 11: The Grandson, Fame and The Hippocratic Oath - https://bit.ly/2FfSwp3 Week 12 : Chapters 19 through Epilogue - https://bit.ly/2RoSYZ3 Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 531 will feature our essay on Balancing Control and Self-Organization to Avoid Heat Death. Control and self-organization represent a classic Goldilocks and the Three Bears problem. We discuss whether there is a solution. We will also have a visit from Gene Hughson or Jon M Quigley.

SPaMCAST 529 features our essay titled Habit and Commitment. We are still early enough in the year to be pursuing new beginnings and the New Year resolutions you made a few weeks ago. Commitment and habits can be positively interrelated. Commitment is being dedicated to a cause or activity. Habits reflect a more or less fixed routine. We also have a visit from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries. Kim discusses nonlinear and analog thinking. Kim's essay is a perfect counterpoint to Habit and Commitment Re-Read Saturday News I decided to complete the content portion of the re-read of Bad Blood this week. From a team-level perspective, I believe we can all recognize some if not all of the behaviors seen in Bad Blood, albeit on a far less sociopathic scale. If this were a business novel, it would be easy to assume that the behavior shown in the book is hyperbole used to make a grand point. In Theranos's case, the supporting reading I have done suggests the book is somewhat understated. Why do people take the abuse? Why is money the only thing that matters to some? Why do some people say yes to doing work they know is ethically wrong? I am not sure this book answers those questions nor do I think my analysis can shed light on the psychological rationale of individuals; however, next week we will wrap up our re-read by reflecting on the impact of Theranos like behavior at the team level. Remember that we will re-read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell next (get a copy soon). Current Entry: Week 12 : Chapters 19 through Epilogue - https://bit.ly/2RoSYZ3 Previous Entries: Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Week 6 - The miniLab - https://bit.ly/2rfmwJh Week 7 - Wellness Play - https://bit.ly/2rqUYk6 Week 8 - Who is LTC Shoemaker - https://bit.ly/2GkbWv0 Week 9 - Lightning a Fuisz and Ian Gibbons - https://bit.ly/2QR7poR Week 10 - Chiat\Day, Going Live and Unicorn - https://bit.ly/2SrRpGv Week 11: The Grandson, Fame and The Hippocratic Oath - https://bit.ly/2FfSwp3 Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 530 features our interview with Justin McPherson. Justin and I talked about the role of the enterprise architect in agile. Many organizations struggle to incorporate enterprise architecture into agile practices, Justin's experience provides direction.

SPaMCAST 528 features our interview with Allan Kelly. Allan makes his third appearance on the cast to talk about his book Continuous Digital (buy a copy!) and the state of agile. A great way to start the year! Allan's Bio: Allan Kelly helps companies large and small enhance their agility and boost their digital offering. Past clients include Virgin Atlantic, Qualcomm, The Bank of England, Reed Elsevier and many small innovative companies you've never heard of. He invented Value Poker, Time-Value Profiles and Retrospective Dialogue Sheets. He is the author of "Dear Customer, the truth about IT" and books including "Project Myopia", "Continuous Digital", "Xanpan" and "Business Patterns for Software Developers". His blog is at https://www.allankellyassociates.co.uk/blog/ and on twitter he is @allankellynet. Re-Read Saturday News My intent is to complete our re-read of Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup in three more weeks. The book has 24 chapters and an epilogue, therefore there will be two more weeks on the book and then a wrap-up. We will re-read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell next. This week we tackle three more chapters in which we learn money is thicker than blood (something I learned working in a department store during college), and that people with a moral basis for ethics always have a breaking point (something I have only had to tangentially face). Week 11: The Grandson, Fame and The Hippocratic Oath - https://bit.ly/2FfSwp3 Previous Entries: Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Week 6 - The miniLab - https://bit.ly/2rfmwJh Week 7 - Wellness Play - https://bit.ly/2rqUYk6 Week 8 - Who is LTC Shoemaker - https://bit.ly/2GkbWv0 Week 9 - Lightning a Fuisz and Ian Gibbons - https://bit.ly/2QR7poR Week 10 - Chiat\Day, Going Live and Unicorn - https://bit.ly/2SrRpGv Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 529 will feature an essay titled Habit and Commitment. Commitment and habits can be positively interrelated. Commitment is being dedicated to a cause or activity. Habits reflect a more or less fixed routine. We will also have a column from Kim Pries.

SPaMCAST 527, is our last podcast of 2018. We say goodbye to 2018 by talking about user story maps. User story maps are both versatile and an underused tool. Perhaps something that we can address in 2019? We also have a visit from Susan Parente. Susan brings her Not a Scrumdamentalist column to the cast to discuss agile risk management. Risk management is a requirement for any form of work. Why do some in the agile community feel it is not needed? Re-Read Saturday News We are re-reading Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018 – Buy a copy and read along). This week we move through three chapters. These three chapters continue to show the same pattern of abuse of the truth and employees that we have seen in other chapters. Arguably, conflating Theranos's mission with a religion (chapter 14) might take the story to a new level of crazy but it is only that, a new level. Week 10 - Chiat\Day, Going Live and Unicorn - https://bit.ly/2SrRpGv Previous Entries: Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Week 6 - The miniLab - https://bit.ly/2rfmwJh Week 7 - Wellness Play - https://bit.ly/2rqUYk6 Week 8 - Who is LTC Shoemaker - https://bit.ly/2GkbWv0 Week 9 - Lightning a Fuisz and Ian Gibbons - https://bit.ly/2QR7poR Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 528 rings in the new year with an interview with Allan Kelley. Allan makes his third appearance on the cast to talk about his book Continuous Digital and the state of agile. A great way to start the year!

SPaMCAST 526 features an interview with Freddie Clark. Mr. Clark is a tester and Scrum Master by day and video game entrepreneur in the evening. We had an in-depth conversation about using Scrum and other agile techniques in a lean startup environment. It is not the same as the standard corporate environment. Freddie's Bio Freddie hails from Cleveland, Ohio where he discovered an enthusiasm for games at an early age. When he was not forced to play outside, he was enjoying co-op games with his friends at home. This excitement led him to earn a degree in Game Design and Development at Rochester Institute of Technology. During his college career, Freddie found a passion for the production process, which he fostered through various experiences in this industry. More recently, Freddie has been exploring the world of Agile and independent game development, which he is using as he oversees the production and design of his new independent game studio, Misfitmakers. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @gwaanybyte Company Twitter: @misfitmakers Re-Read Saturday News We are re-reading Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018 – Buy a copy and read along). This week we tackle two related chapters. Over the course of the book to date, we have seen secrets and lies (hence the title), intellectual theft, poor diagnostics and careers being destroyed. This week we add a suicide to the hot mess that is Theranos. Week 9 - Lightning a Fuisz and Ian Gibbons - https://bit.ly/2QR7poR Previous Entries: Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Week 6 - The miniLab - https://bit.ly/2rfmwJh Week 7 - Wellness Play - https://bit.ly/2rqUYk6 Week 8 - Who is LTC Shoemaker - https://bit.ly/2GkbWv0 Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 527, our last podcast this year, will feature our essay revisiting user story maps. User story maps are a versatile tool. A tool that is underused -- we seek to rectify that situation. We will also have a column from Susan Parente!

SPaMCAST 525 continues our conversation about story points. Many teams find that story points are only a partially useful tool to facilitate the flow of work within a team. Today we will highlight a behavioral fix and talk RATS. We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault with a discussion from the QA Corner. Jeremey and I talked about how the concept of a minimum viable product (MVP) impacts testing. Check out Mr. Berriault's blog at https://qacorner.blog/ Re-Read Saturday News We are re-reading Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018 – Buy a copy and read along). Chapter 10 focuses on what when Hollywood makes a movie from Bad Blood will be a titanic battle between the indomitable Elizabeth and a career military officer, but what is really a struggle between right and wrong. Week 8 - Who is LTC Shoemaker - https://bit.ly/2GkbWv0 Previous Entries: Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Week 6 - The miniLab - https://bit.ly/2rfmwJh Week 7 - Wellness Play - https://bit.ly/2rqUYk6 Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 526 will feature an interview with Freddie Clark. Mr. Clark is a tester and Scrum Master by day and video game entrepreneur in the evening. We had a fun conversation about using Scrum in both environments, highlighting where they are the same and where they differ. Note: Freddie and I work together in our day jobs --I think the knowledge we have of each other helped the interview look more deeply at certain issues rather than keeping the discussion at surface levels.

SPaMCAST 524 features the return of Matt Heusser. Matt and I talk about the nuts and bolts of being a tester in today's software environment including agile testing. Matt and I had covered difficult areas that anyone that is interested in quality and risk needs to think about. Matt's bio: The Managing Director of Excelon Development and a member of the board of directors for the Association for Software Testing, Matt Heusser leads test training and change efforts while making as many contributions as he can to active projects. Learn more about Matt at www.xndev.com follow him on twitter at @mheusser or check out the testing show podcast on iTunes or online at https://www.qualitestgroup.com/resources/the-testing-show/ Re-Read Saturday News We are re-reading Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018 – Buy a copy and read along!). Chapter 9, titled Wellness Play, continues the focus on overpromising and the toxicity overpromising generates inside and outside Theranos. Week 7 - Wellness Play - https://bit.ly/2rqUYk6 Previous Entries: Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Week 6 - The miniLab - https://bit.ly/2rfmwJh Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 525 will continue the conversation on story points. Many teams find that story points are only a partially useful tool to facilitate the flow of work within a team. Can story points be fixed, or better yet can story points still be useful? We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault with a discussion from the QA Corner.

SPaMCAST 523 features our essay on story points. Story points were a tool designed to give teams a rough understanding of their flow of work. It was a great idea at the time, but that time has passed. Unfortunately, story points now are being used improperly creating more problems than they solve. In addition, Jon M Quigley brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development to the cast. In this installment, Jon discusses the risks of Centers of Excellence. They are another great idea that can and has been ill-used by many in the industry. Re-Read Saturday News We are back with Chapter 7 of Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018 – Buy a copy and read along!). Chapter 7, titled The miniLab, focuses on overpromising and continues to layer on toxicity to the Theranos story. Week 6 - The miniLab - https://bit.ly/2rfmwJh Previous Entries: Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 524 will feature our interview with Matt Heusser. Matt is the Managing Director of Excelon Development, speaker and podcaster. Matt and I talk about the nuts and bolts of testing and agile testing.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 522 features the return of Jeff Anderson. Jeff returns to discuss scaling agile and getting to a minimum viable product. Many teams and organizations struggle with the concepts of scaling and getting to an MVP, Jeff provides advice for not going crazy! Jeff's Bio Jeff is the President of Agile by Design. Over the last decade, Jeff has played a leadership role on a large number of enterprise-scale agile transformations, providing program management, operating model design and change-management services. Jeff frequently blogs about and presents on lean and agile adoption, and is the author of The Lean Change Method, which guides organizations through the application of lean startup techniques. His mission in life: to help knowledge workers be awesome at what they do. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasjeffreyandersontwin/ Website: http://agilebydesign.com/ Twitter: @thomasjeffrey Re-Read Saturday News The Software Process and Measurement Cast and Blog crew is still on the road this week. We will publish our thoughts on Chapter 7 next week. Please jump into the re-read of Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018 – Buy a copy and read along!). Previous Entries: Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 523 features our essay on Story Points. Story points are a tool to help teams manage their flow of work. Unfortunately, story points aren't always used properly and can create more problems than they solve. We will also hear from Jon Quigley who brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development to the cast.

SPaMCAST 521 features our essay on user stories and legacy code. A common question is how user stories can be developed for legacy code or for problems that crop up in production. The implication is that creating user stories is too hard when dealing with legacy code changes or too slow when dealing with production problems. User stories are a core tenet for most agile approaches and have a lot of value. This week we also have a visit from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries! Kim talks about training in a column titled, "Software Catechism." Can you help keep the podcast growing? Here are some ideas: Tell a friend about the cast. Tweet or post about the cast. Every mention helps. Review the podcast wherever you get the cast. Pitch a column to me. You are cool enough to be listening; you deserve to be heard. Sponsor an episode (text or call me to talk about the idea). Listen. Whether you do one or all six, being here is a big deal to everyone that helps get the podcast and blog together. Thank you! Re-Read Saturday News The Software Process and Measurement Cast and Blog crew is on the road this weekend so we are going to take a day off from our re-read of Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018 – Buy a copy and read along!) Today we re-visit an entry from 2013, In 2013 we ran a series titled "Motivational Sunday". In this entry, we talked about the relationship between commitment and habits. I have tweaked the works a little but the sentiments are no different. Habit and Commitment - https://bit.ly/2KbKq13 Previous Entries: Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 522 features the return of Jeff Anderson. Jeff returns to discuss getting to a minimum viable product. Many teams and organizations struggle with the concepts of an MVP, Jeff provides three ways to get to an MVP without going crazy!

SPaMCAST 520 features our interview with Doc Norton. We talked about his new book Escape Velocity, measurement, and why velocity isn't generally a good measure for teams. By the time teams get to a point where story point velocity is consistent and predictable, they will have better tools that have fewer negative side effects. Doc's Bio Doc Norton is passionate about working with teams to improve delivery and building great organizations. Once a dedicated code slinger, Doc has turned his energy toward helping teams, departments, and companies work better together in the pursuit of better software. Working with a wide range of companies such as Groupon, Nationwide Insurance, Belly, and JaTango, Doc has applied tenants of agile, lean, systems thinking, and servant leadership to develop highly effective cultures and drastically improve their ability to deliver valuable software and products. A Pluralsight Author, Clean Coders contributor, frequent blogger, international keynote speaker and coach, in his spare time, Doc has been working on his latest book, Escape Velocity: Better Metrics for Agile Teams. You can find his book on LeanPub at www.leanpub.com/EscapeVelocity Twitter: @DocOnDev Web: http://docondev.com/ Can you help keep the podcast growing? Here are some ideas: Tell a friend about the cast. Tweet or post about the cast. Every mention helps. Review the podcast wherever you get the cast. Pitch a column to me. You are cool enough to be listening; you deserve to be heard. Sponsor an episode (text or call me to talk about the idea). Listen. Whether you do one or all six, being here is a big deal to me. Thank you! Re-Read Saturday News This week we continue on our journey through Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018 – Buy a copy and read along!) Today we tackle a single chapter. Chapter 6, titled Sunny, introduces Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani to the story. Sunny, Holmes' live-in boyfriend (the stress on the live-in part is to shine a light on just how close Holmes was to Sunny), adds another layer of toxicity to the Theranos story. The toxicity feels extraordinary but is not that uncommon when teams break down. Current Entry: Week 5 -- Sunny - https://bit.ly/2AZ5tRq Past Entries! Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 521 will feature our essay on user stories and legacy code. A common question is how user stories can be developed for legacy code or for problems that crop up in production. The implication is that creating user stories is too hard when dealing with legacy code changes or too slow when dealing with production problems. User stories are a core tenet for most agile approaches. We will also have a visit from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries!

SPaMCAST 519 features our essay on a code of ethics for agile coaches. A code of ethics is a compilation of ethical principles brought together into a framework. Most professions have a code of ethics that guide their behaviors, typically guided by an association that provides credentials. I think it is time to discuss a code of ethics for agile coaches. We also have a visit from Susan Parente, with her Not A Scrumdamentalist column. Susan discusses how to become an agilist. It is not as easy as learning any individual set of methods and techniques. One of the places to find Susan is at S3 Technologies, LLC. I know I promised a visit from Jon M. Quigley, but I had a minor problem with the drive and did not get the column into production soon enough to make the deadline. Interested in supporting the podcast? Here are some ideas: Tell a friend (or better yet listen to the podcast with them) about the cast. Tweet or post about the cast. Every mention helps. Review the podcast wherever you get the cast. Pitch a column to me. You are cool enough to be listening, you deserve to be heard. Sponsor an episode (text or call me to talk about the idea - [email protected]). Listen. Whether you do one or all six, being there is a big deal to me. Thank you! Re-Read Saturday News This week we take a slight detour in our journey through Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018 – Buy a copy and read along!) As we have noted before, the book is at heart a cautionary tale; however, it is easy to pass the shenanigans (in private I might use stronger language) as confined to the boardroom, and therefore not something that can happen inside the boundaries of an agile team or in a department. Ahhhh, think again. To establish the basis for this brief respite we published a review of some of the common attributes of toxic organizations and toxic leaders. It would be easy to go through both of the lists and a find points in the first six chapters and tick the attributes off almost like you were watching a slow(ish)-motion train wreck. Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 4 -- A Reflection -https://bit.ly/2RA6AfT Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 520 will feature our interview with Doc Norton. We talked about measurement and why velocity isn't generally a good measure for teams.

SPaMCAST 518 features our interview with Rebecca Staton-Reinstein. We discussed leadership, the difference between leadership and management, coaching versus mentoring and who should own your improvement program. Rebecca and I have known each other for years and I have always enjoyed her wisdom and pragmatic advice. She really delivers the goods. Rebecca's bio: REBECCA STATON-REINSTEIN, Ph.D. is the president of Advantage Leadership, Inc. Where she works with companies around the world that want strategic leaders and engaged employees to increase bottom- and top-line results and delight customers. Clients achieve their goals through strategic planning and leadership, management, team, and organizational development. Rebecca's team works with clients to craft customized, successful solutions to their complex business issues in all economic sectors. Rebecca's says, "Our mission is your success." For over 25 years, Rebecca has contributed improved organizational value as a leader, manager, technologist, keynoter, educator, and consultant honored by organizations on four continents. She is a Ph.D. in organizational development, MBTI® Master Practitioner, a National Speakers Association Professional Member, St. Petersburg Engineering Academy Foreign Member, and Board of Directors Chairperson-Elect, Davie-Cooper City Chamber of Commerce. Contact Information: Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D., President Advantage Leadership, Inc. 320 S Flamingo Road, Suite 291, Pembroke Pines, FL 33027 [email protected] Phone: +305-606-9312 Web: http://www.AdvantageLeadership.com Amazon Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/RSRpage Join me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccastatonreinstein Re-Read Saturday News We continue our journey through Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018). Today based on the advice of Stephen Adams we tackle chapters three, four and five. The chapters are titled, "Apple Envy", "Goodbye East Paly" and "Childhood Neighbors." The chapters we cover this week paint a picture of a toxic culture full of deceit, naiveté, and vindictiveness; this will be a blockbuster movie someday. While Theranos sounds extraordinary, it isn't hard to find similar corporate train wrecks. Bad Blood needs to be read as a cautionary tale. Current Week: Week 3 -- Apple Envy, Goodbye East Paly and Childhood Neighbors - https://bit.ly/2zbOTeO Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Conferences and More! ITMPI Webinar Virtual October 31 Register Now: https://bit.ly/2zo8MAV Webinar: Agile, Where Agile Fears to Tread Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 519 will feature our essay on a code of ethics for agile coaches. I am also considering a call to action to begin banding together to support a code of ethics. We will also have a discussion with Jon M. Quigley.

SPaMCAST 517 is very different from my original plan -- and pretty cool if I do say so my self. This week I spoke at ISMA 16 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I was originally scheduled to open the session, however, the translators were two hours late. The Portuguese speaking speakers were moved earlier so that the conference could get started. During my wait, I discovered that I could record sessions on my iPhone, therefore, the SPaMCAST 517 is a recording of my talk, titled Product Owners In Agile – The Really Hard Role! If you would like a copy of the slides please email me at [email protected] . Note: There is a bit of noise in the audio, shirt pockets might not be the best recording platforms. Re-Read Saturday NewsToday we continue our journey through Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2018). Today we tackle chapters one and two. They are titled, "A Purposeful Life" and "Gluebot." I have not changed the estimate of 20 to 25 weeks, however, Stephen Adams has thrown down the gauntlet by suggesting we can do more than two chapters a week. We shall see! Links to the re-read! Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Week 2 -- A Purposeful Life and Gluebot - https://bit.ly/2RZANGh Conferences and More! ITMPI Webinar Virtual October 31 Register Now: https://bit.ly/2zo8MAV Webinar: Agile, Where Agile Fears to Tread Next SPaMCASTSPaMCAST 518 will feature our interview with Rebecca Staton-Reinstein. We talk leadership and the difference between a leader and a manager. You need both!

SPaMCAST 516 features our interview with Nishi Grover Garg. Nishi and I started by discussing the major differences in agile and non-agile testing and ended with a discussion of agile pods. This is a wonderfully idea-rich interview. Note: I am recording part of this episode remotely from a hotel in Brazil! Nishi's Bio: Nishi is a Consulting Agile and Software testing trainer. With a decade of experience working in an Agile environment in different product-based companies, she has had a chance to work in all stages of software testing life cycle from a White box, Black box to Automation testing and Usability testing. Having now extended it to her full-time job, Nishi is a coach, trainer, and mentor in areas of Agile and software testing, specializing in conducting QA Induction boot-camps, ISTQB workshops, DevOps Foundation and Selenium Automation courses. She is certified by Agile Testing Alliance (ATA) as a CP-DOF, CP-SAT, CP-AAT, CP-MAT and by ISTQB as a Foundation and Advanced Test Analyst and likes to keep updating her skills periodically. She is also a passionate freelance writer and contributes to many online forums about new topics of interest in the industry like Techwell community's AgileConnection.com, Stickyminds.com and many more. Check out her blog at www.testwithnishi.com to find her articles and catch up on her latest professional activities! Contact information: Blog: www.testwithnishi.com Email: [email protected] Re-Read Saturday News This week we begin our read of Bad Blood (buy your copy today https://amzn.to/2zTEgPq and support the blog and the author). Bad Blood is a new book for me, therefore a "read" rather than a re-read. We begin with the introductory material and a proposed plan for the read. Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2J1pY2t Conferences and More! ISMA 16 Sao Paulo, Brazil October 16 Register Now; https://bit.ly/2PXH8A5 Presentation: Product Owners In Agile – The Really Hard Role! ITMPI Webinar Virtual October 31 Register Now: https://bit.ly/2zo8MAV Webinar: Agile, Where Agile Fears to Tread Next SPaMCASTSPaMCAST 517 will feature our essay on a code of ethics for agile coaches. I am also considering a call to action to begin banding together to support a code of ethics. We will also have a discussion with Jon M. Quigley.

SPaMCAST 515 features our essay on transformation and agile metrics. Whether you like the word transformation or not, many in the process improvement and agile communities help to facilitate change. Involvement in any non-trivial change effort requires resources, people, support and the expenditure of political capital. Metrics are tools for getting the people and resources you need. We also feature a visit from the Software Sensi. Mr. Pries weights in on defining "what is quality". Kim mixes theory and practice to make a profound statement. Anchoring the cast this week is Gene Hughson. Gene writes at the Form Follows Function blog. This week we talk about a piece titled, Dependency Management – Anti-Patterns as Art from The Daily WTF. It really is art -- but really a visualization of anti-patterns at the same time. Re-Read Saturday News This week we conclude our re-read of The Checklist Manifesto with a few final thoughts and notes and a restatement of a checklist for a checklist that Stephen Adams contributed in the comments for Chapter 9 – they deserve more exposure. This is an excellent book that is very useful for anyone involved in worrying about whether work is done consistently. My punchline, "try using a checklist because they make sure our actions matter." I hope you enjoy the book as much as I do. Next week we will lay out the plan for our read of Bad Blood (buy your copy today https://amzn.to/2zTEgPq and support the blog and the author). Bad Blood is a new book for me, therefore a "read" rather than a re-read. All of the entries for our re-read of the Checklist Manifesto: Week 11 - Concluding Notes - https://bit.ly/2BZubSG Week 10 – The Save – https://bit.ly/2NdhaXA Week 9 – The Hero In The Age of Checklists – https://bit.ly/2PWu2TC Week 8 – The Fix – https://bit.ly/2NeKyBE Week 7 – The Checklist Factory – https://bit.ly/2wV3yu3 Week 6 – The First Try – https://bit.ly/2Q0PhVt Week 5 – The Idea – https://bit.ly/2yemZP0 Week 4 – The End Of The Master Builder – https://bit.ly/2BmIGBc Week 3 – The Checklist – https://bit.ly/2KMhVFR Week 2 – The Problem With Extreme Complexity – https://bit.ly/2AGZQZX Week 1 – Approach and Introduction – https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Conferences and More! Agile Online Summit 2018 Virtual October 8 - 12 https://www.agileonlinesummit.com/ Speaking on Agile Metrics! ISMA 16 Sao Paulo, Brazil October 16 Register Now; https://bit.ly/2PXH8A5 Presentation: Product Owners In Agile – The Really Hard Role! ITMPI Webinar Virtual October 31 Register Now: https://bit.ly/2zo8MAV Webinar: Agile, Where Agile Fears to Tread Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 516 will feature our interview with Nishi Garg. We started by discussing the major differences in agile and non-agile testing and ended with a discussion of agile pods. This is a wonderfully idea rich interview. Nishi blogs at testwithnishi

SPaMCAST 514 features our interview with John Clapham. John and I talked DevOps, people, agile, and how all those pieces fit together coherently or not. John even quoted Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. This is a big, fun, informative interview! John Clapham is an experienced coach, trainer, and consultant, specializing in DevOps and Agile. He helps teams to build great products, creating environments and systems which are effective, productive and enjoyable to work in. Often this means introducing Scrum, or developing a deeper understanding of the method and it's principles. John draws on broad experience as an engineer and lead, he has built web and enterprise applications in government, publishing, telecommunications, commerce, defense, and public sector arenas. Twitter: @johnC_bristol Web: http://www.cotelic.co.uk/ Re-Read Saturday News This week we tackle Chapter 9 of The Checklist Manifesto. The Save is the final chapter in the book. Next week we will discuss our final thoughts and decide on the next book. In chapter 9 Atul Gawande talks about his experiences with the surgical checklist he helped to create. The last chapter is a combination of emotion and evidence. Remember to buy a copy of The Checklist Manifesto and READ along! Current Installment: Week 10 - The Save - https://bit.ly/2NdhaXA Previous Installments: Week 9 - The Hero In The Age of Checklists - https://bit.ly/2PWu2TC Week 8 - The Fix - https://bit.ly/2NeKyBE Week 7 - The Checklist Factory - https://bit.ly/2wV3yu3 Week 6 - The First Try - https://bit.ly/2Q0PhVt Week 5 - The Idea - https://bit.ly/2PCs0Zz Week 4 - The End Of The Master Builder - https://bit.ly/2BmIGBc Week 3 – The Checklist - https://bit.ly/2KMhVFR Week 2 – The Problem With Extreme Complexity - https://bit.ly/2AGZQZX Week 1 - Approach and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Conferences and More! Agile Online Summit 2018 Virtual October 8 – 12 https://www.agileonlinesummit.com/ Speaking on Agile Metrics! ISMA 16 Sao Paulo, Brazil October 16 Register Now; https://bit.ly/2PXH8A5 Presentation: Product Owners In Agile – The Really Hard Role ITMPI Webinar Virtual October 31 Register Now: https://bit.ly/2zo8MAV Webinar: Agile, Where Agile Fears to Tread Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 515 will feature an essay on transformation and agile metrics. Whether you like the word transformation or not, many in the process improvement and agile communities help to facilitate change. Involvement in any non-trivial change effort requires resources, people, support and the expenditure of political capital. We will also hear from Kim Pries and Gene Hughson.

SPaMCAST 513 features a second essay on reciprocity. One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn is that some people on a team are passengers and others play different, more involved, roles. Being a passenger long-term on a team or in an organization is a form of rent-seeking and is not valued highly by others. We also have columns from Susan Parente (I Am Not a Scrumdamentalist) and Jeremy Berriault (QA Corner). Susan provides a spirited discussion of self-directed teams in agile. It is a myth that agile teams just get to do what they want. One of the places to find Susan is at S3 Technologies, LLC. Rounding out the cast is this month's installment of the QA Corner. Jeremy discusses one of the thorniest facts of life for a tester -- hard deadlines. Re-Read Saturday News This week we tackle Chapter 8, titled The Hero In The Age of Checklists. Heroes are a big deal; pick up any newspaper and you will see how much the cult of the hero is celebrated. Checklists and methods are viewed by many as diminishing the role of the hero which sows the seeds of resistance to change. What role does the hero play in a disciplined process? If the hero is core to how we view ourselves and our society, do tools like checklists run the risk of being met with hostility? Chapter 8 dives directly into the deep end to address these topics. We have two or three more weeks left in this re-read, which means it's time for the poll. Vote and be heard! Write-in candidates are welcome. [polldaddy poll=10114386] Remember to buy a copy of The Checklist Manifesto and READ along! Current Installment: Week 9 - The Hero In The Age of Checklists - https://bit.ly/2PWu2TC Previous Installments: Week 8 - The Fix - https://bit.ly/2NeKyBE Week 7 - The Checklist Factory - https://bit.ly/2wV3yu3 Week 6 - The First Try - https://bit.ly/2Q0PhVt Week 5 - The Idea - https://bit.ly/2PCs0Zz Week 4 - The End Of The Master Builder - https://bit.ly/2BmIGBc Week 3 – The Checklist - https://bit.ly/2KMhVFR Week 2 – The Problem With Extreme Complexity - https://bit.ly/2AGZQZX Week 1 - Approach and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Conferences and More! Agile Coach Camp 2018 Ann Arbor, Michigan. September 28 - 30 https://agilecoachcampus.com/ Participating Agile Online Summit 2018 Virtual October 8 - 12 https://www.agileonlinesummit.com/ Speaking on Agile Metrics! ISMA 16 Sao Paulo, Brazil October 16 Register Now; https://bit.ly/2PXH8A5 Presentation: Product Owners In Agile – The Really Hard Role ITMPI Webinar Virtual October 31 Register Now: https://bit.ly/2zo8MAV Webinar: Agile, Where Agile Fears to Tread Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 514 will feature our interview with John Clapham. John and I talked DevOps, people, agile, and how all those pieces fit together coherently or not. This a big, fun, informative interview!

SPaMCAST 512 marks the return of Jeff Dalton. Jeff and I talked about the CMMI Version 2.0 and the Agile Performance Holarchy. The CMMI is often maligned as promoting anti-agile behaviors. Jeff makes the case that Version 2.0 promotes agile. We dive into the Agile Performance Holarchy during the second half of the interview. The Agile Performance Holarchy provides technology leaders with a model to guide agile adoption. Jeff Dalton is Chief Evangelist at AgileCxO.org, a Research and Development organization that studies agile leadership. He is a technology executive with over 30 years of experience as a CTO, CIO, VP of Product Development, and for that past fifteen years has been CEO of Broadsword and AgileCxO. He is an executive agile coach, agile assessor, and instructor, a regular conference speaker, and author of both "The Agile Performance Holarchy: An Operating System for Agile Leaders" and "The Guide to Scrum and CMMI: Improving Agile Performance with CMMI." In his spare time, Jeff is an instrument-rated pilot and plays bass in a jazz band. He has degrees in music and computer science. Contact Jeff at: Agilecxo.org https://agilecxo.org/ Twitter: @cmmiappraiser Twitter: @agilecxo Re-Read Saturday News In week 8 of re-read of The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along) we read about building a usable checklist. In this chapter, Dr. Gawande puts all of the lessons learned in chapter 6 into action and tests the result. We have three or four more weeks left in this re-read, which means it is time to start soliciting ideas for the next book. To date, Sandeep Koorse has suggested Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit and Steven Adams has suggested Bad Blood – Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. What are your suggestions? I will run the poll in two weeks! Remember to buy a copy of The Checklist Manifesto and READ along! Current Installment: Week 8 - The Fix - https://bit.ly/2NeKyBE Previous Installments: Week 7 - The Checklist Factory - https://bit.ly/2wV3yu3 Week 6 - The First Try - https://bit.ly/2Q0PhVt Week 5 - The Idea - https://bit.ly/2PCs0Zz Week 4 - The End Of The Master Builder - https://bit.ly/2BmIGBc Week 3 – The Checklist - https://bit.ly/2KMhVFR Week 2 – The Problem With Extreme Complexity - https://bit.ly/2AGZQZX Week 1 - Approach and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 513 will feature one more entry on reciprocity. One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn is that some people on a team are passengers and others play different, more involved roles. Being a passenger long-term on a team or in an organization is a form of rent-seeking and is not valued highly by others. We will also have columns from Susan Parente (I Am Not a Scrumdamentalist) and Jeremy Berriault (QA Corner).

SPaMCAST 511 features our essay on reciprocity. Reciprocal agreements are part of working and playing well with others that we begin learning on the playground and then bring to the office with us. There are many types of reciprocal agreements in a typical agile project. Entries in the Reciprocity theme: Reciprocity and Reciprocal Agreements In Action - https://bit.ly/2MbxIP3 Five Reciprocal Agreements In Agile https://bit.ly/2MguslE Reciprocity or Manipulation? Seven Simple Questions - https://bit.ly/2CDotIa Negative and Unhealthy Reciprocity - https://bit.ly/2oZRp3v Our second column features Kim Pries, the Software Sensei. Kim discusses the use and impact of domain-specific languages. The Software Sensei provides sage advice! The final column this week introduces the Software Process and Measurement Cast listeners to Sandeep Koorse. Sandeep delivers advice on an innovative approach to ensure retrospectives deliver value. Reach out to Sandeep at [email protected] Re-Read Saturday News We have four or five more weeks left in this re-read, which means it is time to start soliciting ideas for the next book. Sandeep Koorse has suggested Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit (actually he referenced the book twice in his appearance on the SPaMCAST 511 which will be coming out tomorrow). What are your suggestions? In week 7 of re-read of The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along) we read about Atul's visit to the Checklist Factory. In this chapter, Dr. Gawande provides the reader with many of the basics needed to create valuable checklists. Current Installment: Week 7 - The Checklist Factory - https://bit.ly/2wV3yu3 Previous Installments: Week 6 - The First Try - https://bit.ly/2Q0PhVt Week 5 - The Idea - https://bit.ly/2PCs0Zz Week 4 - The End Of The Master Builder - https://bit.ly/2BmIGBc Week 3 – The Checklist - https://bit.ly/2KMhVFR Week 2 – The Problem With Extreme Complexity - https://bit.ly/2AGZQZX Week 1 - Approach and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 512 marks the return of Jeff Dalton. Jeff and I talked about the Agile Performance Holarchy. The Agile Performance Holarchy provides technology leaders with the guidance they need to model, evaluate, and improve agile performance.

We are doing something special in SPaMCAST 510. Over the past couple of years, we have talked to Steve Tendon and Wolfram Müller about their book, Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban. Today as part of our conversation Steve and Wolfram shine a light on some of the finer points in the book! They also share how they became collaborators on the book. Remember to buy a copy and support the authors and the podcast https://amzn.to/2MOxbXY . Wolfram's Bio Founder & Principal Consultant at Speed4Projects.net and VISTEM, Wolfram brings 25 years' experience as a Consulting Executive, IT Project Portfolio and Project Manager, Process Engineer, and Software Engineer. As head of the PMO at 1&1 Internet AG, he led 40 project managers in the delivery of 500 projects, innovating industry-leading methods, to drive unprecedented improvements in speed and reliability across the portfolio. He has published over 20 articles and books on 'Critical Chain', 'Agile', and 'Lean' and is a well-known speaker in Europe on how to achieve hyper-productive IT project portfolios based on the Theory of Constraints. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/wolfram-müller-12622714 Web: https://speed4projects.net/home/ (in German) Steve's Bio Steve is a senior executive management consultant, adviser, speaker and author. his research and consulting work focuses on the use of emerging technologies, and in particular Blockchain technologies, to improve business performance. In 2016 he acted as a Strategic Adviser for the Ministry of Economy, Investment and Small Business (MEIB) of the Maltese Government to increase the country's global competitiveness. Steve developed the vision of "Malta, the Blockchain Island" and authored Malta's "National Blockchain Strategy," which was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on April 2017. Steve is the creator of the TameFlow Approach. Web: https://tendon.net/ Twitter: @tendon Re-Read Saturday News In week 6 of re-read of The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along) we read about Atul's first try using a checklist to solve a big problem. The Chapter is titled The First Try. Let's just say it is a learning opportunity. Current Installment: Week 6 - The First Try - https://bit.ly/2Q0PhVt Previous Installments: Week 5 - The Idea - https://bit.ly/2PCs0Zz Week 4 - The End Of The Master Builder - https://bit.ly/2BmIGBc Week 3 – The Checklist - https://bit.ly/2KMhVFR Week 2 – The Problem With Extreme Complexity - https://bit.ly/2AGZQZX Week 1 - Approach and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 511 we will feature an essay on reciprocity. Reciprocity is a powerful tool, not just for coaches and agilists, but also for just about everyone that interacts with people. We will also have a column from Kim Pries, The Software Sensei.

SPaMCAST 509 will feature our essay discussing if you can demonstrate incomplete work. My knee-jerk reaction is no...or maybe heck no, but knee-jerk reactions are not always right. Blog entries in the what happens to incomplete work theme: Frequently Asked Questions: The Sprint Is Over, What Do I Do With Incomplete Stories? https://bit.ly/2P9mm09 Frequently Asked Questions: Can I Demo Work That Isn't Done - https://bit.ly/2wfJzXv Frequently Asked Questions: Can I Resize A Story If It Is Harder Than We Thought? - https://bit.ly/2MvkB0a Frequently Asked Questions: When Can I Demo Work That Isn't Done https://bit.ly/2PCs0Zz We will also hear from Gene Hughson (Form Follows Function). Gene talks Architects! Gene and I discussed his essay, So what exactly does an Architect do? Contact Gene on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/genehughson/ Bringing the cast home this week is Jon M. Quigley. Jon brings his marvelous Alpha and Omega of Product Development to the cast this week in order to discuss the root cause analysis. Process improvement is most effective when we diagnose the real problem rather than just a symptom. Re-Read Saturday News In week 5 of re-read of The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along) we tackle Chapter 4, The Idea. In Chapter 4 Gawande shows how checklists can help push decision-making outward, which empowers teams and makes them more responsive. Current Installment: Week 5 - The Idea - https://bit.ly/2PCs0Zz Previous Installments: Week 4 - The End Of The Master Builder - https://bit.ly/2BmIGBc Week 3 – The Checklist - https://bit.ly/2KMhVFR Week 2 – The Problem With Extreme Complexity - https://bit.ly/2AGZQZX Week 1 - Approach and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 510 is a special cast. Over the past year, we have talked to Steve Tendon and Wolfram Wolfram Müller about their book, Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban. Haven't bought it yet? https://amzn.to/2MOxbXY . In SPaMCAST 510 we get Steve and Wolfram on the same line, to sum up the finer points!

SPaMCAST 508 features our interview with Vasco Duarte! Vasco and I discuss vision and product owners. The product owner role is crucial. To be effective, the product owner must be able to articulate a vision for the product they champion. Vasco Duarte's Bio in his own words: I want to transform product development organizations into product business organizations. I do 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! Currently a Managing Partner at Oikosofy. Product Manager, Scrum Master, Project Manager, Director, Agile Coach are only some of the roles that I've taken in software development organizations. Having worked in the software industry since 1997, and Agile practitioner since 2004. I've worked in small, medium and large software organizations as an Agile Coach or leader in agile adoption at those organizations. I was one of the leaders and catalysts of Agile methods and Agile culture adoption at Avira, Nokia, and F-Secure. I host a daily podcast where I interview Scrum Masters about their daily challenges and insights: https://scrum-master-toolbox.org/ You can read more from me at my blog: http://SoftwareDevelopmentToday.com You can join me on twitter: @duarte_vasco Re-Read Saturday News In week 4 of re-read of The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along) we tackle Chapter 3, The End Of The Master Builder. In Chapter 3 Gawande identifies the scenarios in which checklists have an impact. Checklists provide value even in the most complicated scenarios. Current Installment: Week 4 - The End Of The Master Builder - https://bit.ly/2BmIGBc Previous Installments: Week 3 – The Checklist - https://bit.ly/2KMhVFR Week 2 – The Problem With Extreme Complexity - https://bit.ly/2AGZQZX Week 1 - Approach and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 509 will feature our essay discussing if you can demonstrate incomplete work. My knee-jerk reaction is no...or maybe heck no, but knee-jerk reactions are not always right. We will also hear from Gene Hughson (Form Follows Function) and Jon M. Quigley (Alpha and Omega of Product Development).

SPaMCAST 507 opens with our essay on consensus decision making. Consensus decision-making techniques are used by almost every team. The process of getting to a decision or solution that the whole team can at least live will make sure that everyone on the team has a seat at the table and that team builds both majority and minority views into the deliberation process. Want to read about consensus decision making? 6 Step Framework for Consensus Decision Making - https://bit.ly/2OZj5kF Consensus Decision-Making Revisited - https://bit.ly/2B2uJrT Life Cycle of Consensus Decision Making - https://bit.ly/2B3bgri Consensus Decision Making Forever – Sometimes - https://bit.ly/2OY21vk In our second column, Susan Parente brings her I Am Not a Scrumdamentalist column to the podcast. In this installment, Susan talks about the myths of agile and how falling into the traps that the myths create affect the delivery of value. Jeremy Berriault (QA Corner) anchors the cast this week with a discussion of what happens when you make bad decisions. Re-Read Saturday News It is week 3 of our re-read of The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along). Chapter 2 continues building the case for checklists to deal with complex and complicated environments. This chapter firmly pins down the idea that checklists save time, money and lives. Current Installment: Week 3 – The Checklist - https://bit.ly/2KMhVFR Previous Installments: Week 2 – The Problem With Extreme Complexity - https://bit.ly/2AGZQZX Week 1 - Approach and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 508 features the return of Vasco Duarte! Vasco and I discussed vision and product owners. The product owner role is crucial and to be effective the product owner must be able to articulate a vision for the product they champion.

SPaMCAST 506 features our interview with Mark Kilby. Mark and I explored distributed agile teams. Agile in distributed environments is doable, but it isn't easy. Mark provides guidance and advice. Mark recently co-authored From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams with Johanna Rothman (LeanPub). Mark's bio and contact information: MARK KILBY has cultivated more distributed, dispersed, and virtual teams than colocated teams for more than two decades. Currently, Mark serves as an agile coach with Sonatype, a "remote first" software development company focusing on automation of software supply chains. Previously, Mark led agile transformations, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Mark also cultivates dispersed communities, such as Agile Orlando, Agile Florida, VirtualTeamTalk.com, and the Agile Alliance Community Group Support initiative. Mark's book, From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams, is co-authored with Johanna Rothman and is available now via http://markkilby.com and https://leanpub.com/geographicallydistributedagileteams Twitter: @mkilby Linked In: linkedin.com/in/mkilby Re-Read Saturday News Week 2 of our re-read of The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along). Chapter 1 builds the case that the world we live in and the work that we do is very complex. Complexity creates the possibility for errors. Checklists are a tool to help avoid errors in complicated and complex environments. Current Installment: Current Installment: Week 2 – The Problem With Extreme Complexity - https://bit.ly/2AGZQZX Previous Installments: Week 1 - Approach and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 507 features our essay exploring consensus decision making. One of the primary decision-making techniques used in teams is consensus decision making. The power of consensus decision making is that it yields decisions that are the output of a process in which a team or group finds a solution that everyone can either actively support or live with. The process of getting to a decision or solution that the whole team can at least live will make sure that everyone on the team has a seat at the table and that team builds both majority and minority views into the deliberation process. Sounds simple, right? We will also have columns from Susan Parente (I Am Not a Scrumdamentalist) and Jeremy Berriault (QA Corner).

SPaMCAST 505 features our recent essay titled, Coaching: Six Modes of Operation. On the surface, coaching is a fairly simple role. A coach has six basic modes of operation. But…if you peel back the layers just a little bit you will find that coaching is part art and part science. In the second spot of this week's magazine have the penultimate session of our read of Steve Tendon and Wolfram Müller's Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach. I have moved things around a bit and complete this edition of the SPaMCAST with an essay on servant leadership from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries. Regardless of how you define servant leadership, I think we would all agree that good leadership is critical. Re-Read Saturday News This week we begin the read of The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along). The version of the book we are reading is published by Metropolitan Books, 2009 and is the 22nd printing. The book has nine chapters and with acknowledgments has 209 pages. My reading plan is one chapter per week, therefore, the re-read will span 11 weeks. Current Installment: Week 1 - Approach and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2LYi9Lv Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 506 will feature our interview with Mark Kilby. Mark and I discussed agile in distributed environments. Agile in distributed environments is doable but it isn't easy, Mark provides guidance and advice.

SPaMCAST 504 features our interview with Gerie Owen. Gerie and I discussed continuous testing, DevOps, and testing in an agile culture! We worked through big ideas that can have a big impact on how you work and deliver value immediately. Gerie Owen is the VP of Knowledge and Innovation at QualiTest. Gerie Owen represents the QualiTest team at the client site and manages the offshore team's test activities including the development of an automated regression test suite. Gerie manages large, complex projects involving multiple applications, coordinates test teams across multiple time zones and delivers high-quality projects on time and within budget. Gerie is also a Certified Scrum Master, Conference Presenter and Author on Testing and Test management topics. She enjoys mentoring new QA Leads and brings a cohesive team approach to testing. Gerie is the author of many articles on testing and is currently writing a series on the Brave New Worlds of testing. She chooses her presentation topics based on her testing and test management experiences, what she has learned from them and what she would like to learn to improve them. Web: https://www.qualitestgroup.com Blog: https://testinggirl.wordpress.com/about-gerie-owen/ Re-Read Saturday News Today we complete our re-read of Turn the Ship Around! with a few final thoughts. Next week we will begin The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along). Current Installment: Week 19: Final Thoughts! - https://bit.ly/2O4Pc21 Previous Installments: Week 18: A New Method of Resupplying and Ripples - https://bit.ly/2mgVFtI Week 17: Combat Effectiveness and Homecoming - https://bit.ly/2u3j8TI Week 16: A Dangerous Passage and Looking Ahead -https://bit.ly/2lIbslb Week 15: A Remembrance of War and Leadership at Every Level - https://bit.ly/2Imi5lS Week 14: Part IV and Under Way for Deployment - https://bit.ly/2tcXprb Week 13: Final Preparations - https://bit.ly/2t1OgSn Week 12: Underway for San Diego and All Present and Accounted For - https:/ /bit.ly/2J7AkRx Week 11: Mistakes Just Happen and We Learn - https://bit.ly/2IMZYL2 Week 10: A New Ship and We Have A Problem - https://bit.ly/2IUJ6RL Week 9: Up Scope! and "A New Ship" - https://bit.ly/2KfDZbS Week 8: Under Way on Nuclear Power and "I Intend To . . ." – https://bit.ly/2rnvkgxWeek 7: Change, In a Word and Welcome Aboard Sante Fe – https://bit.ly/2r5l1hk Week 6: I Relieve You - https://bit.ly/2F7C5ag Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 505 will feature our essay on coaching. How about a bit of nudge to improve your coaching? We will also have the penultimate session of our read of Steve Tendon and Wolfram Müller's Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach. We will wrap up with a visit from Susan Parente, who will bring her "Not a Scrumdamentalist" column to the cast!

SPaMCAST 503 features our essay "Culture: The Knife's Edge of Change." I have often heard the line, culture eats change for breakfast. Culture, culture, culture – the success of every change that is considered or implemented balances on the knife-edge of culture. Aligning cultures so that change is possible requires seeing the differences and then minimizing enough of those differences to allow change to happen. We also have an installment of the Alpha and Omega of Product Development with Jon M Quigley. In this installment of Jon's wonderful column, we discuss the muda of underutilizing people. We conclude with a visit with Gene Hughson. We discuss an entry from his Form Follows Function Blog tilted, "When asked for the time, don't explain how your watch works". Communication between the user and technical domains is fraught with difficulties. A problem? Gene always says, "exactly!" Re-Read Saturday News We will complete our re-read of Turn The Ship Around next week with a few final thoughts. The next book in the series will be The Checklist Manifesto (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along) by Atul Gawande. Today we complete re-reading the chapters in L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! Chapters 28, 29 and Afterthoughts complete Marquet's reflection on the leader-leader model and his journey of discovery. Current Installment: Week 18: A New Method of Resupplying and Ripples - https://bit.ly/2mgVFtI Previous Installments: Week 17: Combat Effectiveness and Homecoming - https://bit.ly/2u3j8TI Week 16: A Dangerous Passage and Looking Ahead -https://bit.ly/2lIbslb Week 15: A Remembrance of War and Leadership at Every Level - https://bit.ly/2Imi5lS Week 14: Part IV and Under Way for Deployment - https://bit.ly/2tcXprb Week 13: Final Preparations - https://bit.ly/2t1OgSn Week 12: Underway for San Diego and All Present and Accounted For - https:/ /bit.ly/2J7AkRx Week 11: Mistakes Just Happen and We Learn - https://bit.ly/2IMZYL2 Week 10: A New Ship and We Have A Problem - https://bit.ly/2IUJ6RL Week 9: Up Scope! and "A New Ship" - https://bit.ly/2KfDZbS Week 8: Under Way on Nuclear Power and "I Intend To . . ." – https://bit.ly/2rnvkgxWeek 7: Change, In a Word and Welcome Aboard Sante Fe – https://bit.ly/2r5l1hk Week 6: I Relieve You - https://bit.ly/2F7C5ag Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Next SPaMCASTSPaMCAST 504 features our interview with Gerie Owen. Gerie and I discussed continuous testing, DevOps and testing, and agile culture! We worked through big ideas that can have a big impact on how you work and deliver value immediately.

SPaMCAST 502 features our interview Marcus Hammarberg. Marcus returns to talk about his new book Salvation: The Bungsu Story (https://amzn.to/2u1ndYs). The story provides a real-life example of how agile can save the world — or at least part of it. This is one of the most important and inspirational interviews I have done. Marcus's bio: For 15 years Marcus Hammarberg has been doing agile and lean software development and helping others do it. He has worked in many different settings, from big banks and insurance companies to start-ups and within retail. At one big insurance company, the first agile team, started by Marcus, eventually spread to a lean initiative across the business. As a consultant, Marcus helps individuals, teams, and whole organizations improve their value delivery flow. Marcus is still a keen programmer and continues to practice and teach the concepts that helped him become a good programmer: TDD, Specification by example, functional programming and Node. Marcus is a keynote speaker and co-author of Kanban In Action, which has been translated into 5 languages across the globe. He has blogged since 2006 at www.marcusoft.net and spends his spare time playing euphonium in the Salvation Army band at Vasakåren, Stockholm. 2014-2015 Marcus moved to Indonesia with his family to work for the Salvation Army. Unexpectedly his previous experience with lean, agile and kanban was soon put to great use there too. This story is retold as it happened in his second book; Salvation: The Bungsu story FYI Marcus first appeared on SPaMCAST 414 https://bit.ly/2KZoxBN Twitter: @marcusoftnet Blog: www.marcusoft.net Re-Read Saturday News This week we are full ahead in our re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! Today we tackle two more chapters, 26 and 27, which are titled: Combat Effectiveness and Homecoming. The next book in the series will be The Checklist Manifesto (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along) by Atul Gawande. Current Installment: Week 17: Combat Effectiveness and Homecoming - https://bit.ly/2u3j8TI Previous Installments: Week 16: A Dangerous Passage and Looking Ahead -https://bit.ly/2lIbslb Week 15: A Remembrance of War and Leadership at Every Level - https://bit.ly/2Imi5lS Week 14: Part IV and Under Way for Deployment - https://bit.ly/2tcXprb Week 13: Final Preparations - https://bit.ly/2t1OgSn Week 12: Underway for San Diego and All Present and Accounted For - https:/ /bit.ly/2J7AkRx Week 11: Mistakes Just Happen and We Learn - https://bit.ly/2IMZYL2 Week 10: A New Ship and We Have A Problem - https://bit.ly/2IUJ6RL Week 9: Up Scope! and "A New Ship" - https://bit.ly/2KfDZbS Week 8: Under Way on Nuclear Power and "I Intend To . . ." – https://bit.ly/2rnvkgxWeek 7: Change, In a Word and Welcome Aboard Sante Fe – https://bit.ly/2r5l1hk Week 6: I Relieve You - https://bit.ly/2F7C5ag Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 503 will feature our essay "Culture: The Knife's Edge of Change." I have often heard the line, culture eats change for breakfast. Culture, culture, culture – the success of every change that is considered or implemented balances on the knife-edge of culture. Aligning cultures so that change is possible requires seeing the differences and then minimizing enough of those differences. We will also have columns from Gene Hughson and Jon M. Quigley.

SPaMCAST 501 features our essay on Agile Metrics. Progress is easy to visualize when we use the yardstick of calendar time. My wife and I spent 17 days in Europe. There are 177 shopping days until Christmas (as of July 1, 2018) — I expect presents this year. How long it takes to deliver a piece of work, in days, is something nearly every human can understand. Over the past few months, I have been cataloging questions I have heard. Well over 70% of work-related questions center on how long a piece of work will take and whether the answer to that question has value. Cycle time metrics are ways to generate answers to 'how long' questions in a manner that is valuable and predictable. Our second column features Jeremy Berriault. In the QA Corner, Jeremy and I discussed the idea of self-reliance rather than using third-party testing organizations. Or when you have to use third parties for testing, Jeremy provides advice on getting the most out of your third party. Anchoring the cast is Susan Parente. Susan discusses certification. There are tons of certifications and more appear every day. Susan provides advice on which ones are important and which are not! Re-Read Saturday News This week we are full ahead in our re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! We dive into chapters 24 and 25, which are titled: A Dangerous Passage and Looking Ahead. Pick the next book in the re-read series. I will cut the poll off on 2 July. Current Installment: Week 16: A Dangerous Passage and Looking Ahead -https://bit.ly/2lIbslb Previous Installments: Week 15: A Remembrance of War and Leadership at Every Level - https://bit.ly/2Imi5lS Week 14: Part IV and Under Way for Deployment - https://bit.ly/2tcXprb Week 13: Final Preparations - https://bit.ly/2t1OgSn Week 12: Underway for San Diego and All Present and Accounted For - https:/ /bit.ly/2J7AkRx Week 11: Mistakes Just Happen and We Learn - https://bit.ly/2IMZYL2 Week 10: A New Ship and We Have A Problem - https://bit.ly/2IUJ6RL Week 9: Up Scope! and "A New Ship" - https://bit.ly/2KfDZbS Week 8: Under Way on Nuclear Power and "I Intend To . . ." – https://bit.ly/2rnvkgxWeek 7: Change, In a Word and Welcome Aboard Sante Fe – https://bit.ly/2r5l1hk Week 6: I Relieve You - https://bit.ly/2F7C5ag Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 502 features our interview with Marcus Hammarberg. Marcus returns to talk about his new book Salvation: The Bunshu Story. The story provides a real-life example of how agile can save the world -- or at least part of it.

Show 500! SPaMCAST 001 went live on Sunday January 28, 2007 at 9:28 PM - it has been a great journey from then to now! The first interview was a two-parter with Will McKnight. Give it a listen at https://bit.ly/2lryNaC. Show 500, SPaMCAST 500, Episode 500, #500 (I will probably say that 500 more times this week) features our interview with Marcus Blankenship. Marcus and I talked teams and what makes a team good. We also discussed who owns the behaviors and values of a team. Team are core to most software development, enhancements, and maintenance. Understanding how teams work and how to make them work better makes ABSOLUTE sense. Marcus provides great thoughts and advice on agile teams. I am thrilled that Marcus joined the SPaMCAST family on show 500! Marcus helps CTO's fire-up their dev teams by creating an environment where everyone can fully participate in problem solving. He helps great engineers become the great leader that their team deserves. Links: Join Marcus's list for articles on leading developers: https://marcusblankenship.com/ Tech Leader Fortune Cookies: https://marcusblankenship.com/tech-leader-fortune-cookies Twitter: https://twitter.com/justzeros Medium: https://medium.com/@justzeros Book: Habits That Ruin Your Technical Team. Listeners of the podcast will receive 30% off with discount code SPAMCAST. Show: UNSTUCK: The Tech Leader Q&A Show - Live call-in show for technical managers every Friday at 10am Pacific. Re-Read Saturday News This week we are full ahead in our re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! We continue the story of the USSN Santa Fe with Chapters 22 and 23. These two chapters focus on how an organization's legacy can be used to shape deliberate actions and why principles have to be tied to behavior and decisions to be useful. Pick the next book in the re-read series. I will cut the poll off on 2 July. [polldaddy poll=10037032] Current Installment: Week 15: A Remembrance of War and Leadership at Every Level - https://bit.ly/2Imi5lS Previous Installments: Week 14: Part IV and Under Way for Deployment - https://bit.ly/2tcXprb Week 13: Final Preparations - https://bit.ly/2t1OgSn Week 12: Underway for San Diego and All Present and Accounted For - https:/ /bit.ly/2J7AkRx Week 11: Mistakes Just Happen and We Learn - https://bit.ly/2IMZYL2 Week 10: A New Ship and We Have A Problem - https://bit.ly/2IUJ6RL Week 9: Up Scope! and "A New Ship" - https://bit.ly/2KfDZbS Week 8: Under Way on Nuclear Power and "I Intend To . . ." – https://bit.ly/2rnvkgx Week 7: Change, In a Word and Welcome Aboard Sante Fe – https://bit.ly/2r5l1hk Week 6: I Relieve You - https://bit.ly/2F7C5ag Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 501 will feature our essay on Hard Questions and Agile Metrics. We will also have columns from Jeremy Berriault and Susan Parente!

SPaMCAST 499 will feature our essay on trust and coaching. Coaches are among most effective tools used to help teams improve. In SPaMCAST 496 – Sam Laing I highlighted the need for trust between a coach and the team or person they are coaching. Without trust, a coach will not be very effective. Two powerful and related tools! In the rocker, as they call it stock car racing is Wolfram Müller. Wolfram co-authored Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach with Steve Tendon. We talk about Chapter 23 titled Reliable Scrum and Reliable Kanban. Wolfram can be found on LinkedIn at https://bit.ly/2qXvgnw Anchoring the cast is the Software Sensei, Kim Pries. Kim discusses software safety. Tools and software languages can have a major impact on software safety and all of our lives depend on software these days! Re-Read Saturday News In week 14 of our re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! we begin Part IV of Turn The Ship Around and tackle chapter 21. The first three parts of the book bring the story to the beginning of the deployment of the Santa Fe. Part IV picks up from that point! Part I - Starting Over - This section profile why Marquet is frustrated with leader-follower model of leadership. Part II - Control - This section profiles the change and command and begins to layout Marquet's vision of a leader - leader model of leadership. This section delivers mechanisms for control in a leader - leader model. Part III - Competence - This section builds on the story of how the Santa Fe prepares for deployment and Marquet lays out mechanisms for building technical competence, the second leg of his leader-leader model. Part IV - Clarity - This section completes the leader - leader model, focusing on the third leg of the leader - leader model, clarity. What will be the next book? Options are Release It and The Checklist Manifesto. Both are great . . . thoughts? Current Installment: Week 14: Part IV and Under Way for Deployment - https://bit.ly/2tcXprb Previous Installments: Week 13: Final Preparations - https://bit.ly/2t1OgSn Week 12: Underway for San Diego and All Present and Accounted For - https://bit.ly/2J7AkRx Week 11: Mistakes Just Happen and We Learn - https://bit.ly/2IMZYL2 Week 10: A New Ship and We Have A Problem - https://bit.ly/2IUJ6RL Week 9: Up Scope! and "A New Ship" - https://bit.ly/2KfDZbS Week 8: Under Way on Nuclear Power and "I Intend To . . ." – https://bit.ly/2rnvkgxWeek 7: Change, In a Word and Welcome Aboard Sante Fe – https://bit.ly/2r5l1hk Week 6: I Relieve You - https://bit.ly/2F7C5ag Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 500 will feature our interview with Marcus Blankenship we talked teams and what makes a team good. We also discussed who owns the behaviors and values of a team.

SPaMCAST 498 features our interview John Kordyback. Agile is more than just Scrum or a bunch of values. Agile has a technical side that can't be ignored. This week, John and I have a wide-ranging conversation covering the technical side of agile, the impact of tools on principles, and the difference in agile approaches for systems of engagement and systems of record. Bio: John Kordyback is a Principal Consultant with ThoughtWorks leading technology transformations and applying lean principles within complex enterprises. He is a strong advocate for applying the lean delivery and operational practices found in the Devops and Evolutionary Architecture movements to gain more value from existing technology investments. John has worked in insurance, telecommunications, commodity and securities trading, high tech, energy, and the airline industries. Before his technology career, John worked as a researcher and practitioner for people with disabilities. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @jkordyback Re-Read Saturday News This week we tackle chapter 20 of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! (have you bought your copy?). Chapter 20 completes part 3 which has focused on competence and the run-up to the deployment of the Santa Fe. The title of this chapter is Final Preparations. We have six or seven weeks left – Steven Adams is pushing for the next book to be Release It, the other option is The Checklist Manifesto. Both are great . . . thoughts? Current Installment: Week 13: Final Preparations - https://bit.ly/2t1OgSn Previous Installments: Week 12: Underway for San Diego and All Present and Accounted For - https://bit.ly/2J7AkRx Week 11: Mistakes Just Happen and We Learn - https://bit.ly/2IMZYL2 Week 10: A New Ship and We Have A Problem - https://bit.ly/2IUJ6RL Week 9: Up Scope! and "A New Ship" - https://bit.ly/2KfDZbS Week 8: Under Way on Nuclear Power and "I Intend To . . ." – https://bit.ly/2rnvkgxWeek 7: Change, In a Word and Welcome Aboard Sante Fe – https://bit.ly/2r5l1hk Week 6: I Relieve You - https://bit.ly/2F7C5ag Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 499 will feature our essay on trust and coaching. Two powerful and related tools! We will also include the voices of Wolfram Müller and the Software Sensei, himself, Kim Pries!