Troubleshooting Agile

Squirrel and Jeffrey explore their different reasons for recommending that you remove the word "need" from your vocabulary. SHOW LINKS: - “Need” tweet: https://twitter.com/douglassquirrel/status/1445683926983340037 - Correct vs useful episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/correct-vs-useful --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

A listener asks about conditions where ringfencing might make sense, and we explore the differences among ringfencing, focus, and empowerment. SHOW LINKS: - Listener question: https://twitter.com/DeliverItCast/status/1443304167313915907 - Ringfencing episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/the-ringfencing-trap - The Goal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal_(novel) --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Jeffrey tells the story of his team writing code that gives incorrect but still useful results, and we reflect on why it can be hard to choose to "pay to learn". SHOW LINKS: - Thinking, Fast and Slow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow - Worse is Better: https://dreamsongs.com/WorseIsBetter.html --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel helps teams split their work into tiny "slices" they can release daily or weekly, and finds that the biggest obstacle is all the things that developers think they know about users, many of which they have to first unlearn. SHOW LINKS: - Original tweet: https://twitter.com/douglassquirrel/status/1435602671306674176 - Falsehoods programmers believe about names: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/ - Elephant carpaccio: https://alistair.cockburn.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Elephant-Carpaccio-exercise-instructions.pdf - Will Rogers: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/11/18/know-trouble/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel tells stories of clients whose attempt to ringfence developers on certain tasks ended badly, and we explore why hiding from a difficult conversation with "dedicated" engineers doesn't work. SHOW LINKS: - Original tweet: https://twitter.com/douglassquirrel/status/1435602662796537861 - https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/solving-the-problem-of-siloed-it-in-organizations/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

We discuss making radical change in an organisation by violating its norms in use and producing productive conflict. SHOW LINKS: - How Should the Company Decide?: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-should-the-company-decide --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

We consider the dynamics—or perhaps statics!—of an organisation that is stuck running the same agile processes or following an unchanging strategy, even though it isn't providing any improvement, and consider why an organisation might get stuck in this way. SHOW LINKS: - Double-Loop Learning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-loop_learning --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

We discuss why daily delivery via "elephant carpaccio"—already challenging for engineers—is doubly difficult for designers, and what to do about it. SHOW LINKS: - Elephant Carpaccio: https://alistair.cockburn.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Elephant-Carpaccio-exercise-instructions.pdf --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

A listener asks how to find a great company to work for, and Jeffrey and Squirrel share a few opinionated, biased heuristics for discovering great environments to work in. SHOW LINKS: - CITCON conferences: https://citconf.com/ - DevopsDays: https://devopsdays.org/ - DOES conference: https://events.itrevolution.com - Joel Test: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/08/09/the-joel-test-12-steps-to-better-code/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel and Jeffrey trade stories about coaching people who feel trapped by a decision seemingly outside their control—and how a recursive question can help unlock more options and a better result. SHOW LINKS: - Unilateral control: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-i - Mutual learning: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/mutual-learning-model-part-one - Eight behaviors: https://cdn.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/917018/Eight-Behaviors-for-Smarter-Teams-2.pdf - Drive by Daniel Pink: https://www.danpink.com/books/drive/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Continuing our discussion of codewords as a signal of intimacy, we look at how team cohesion changes as a team grows or shrinks, and how you can anticipate this and retain positive cultural elements as your team evolves. SHOW LINKS: - Alistair Cockburn communication graph: p. 6 of https://alistair.cockburn.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/A-concise-theory-of-software-development-in-pictures.pdf - Missing Affordances of Remote Work episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/missing-affordances-for-remote-working - Transcript: https://agileconversations.com/blog/growth-loss-emojis/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://agileconversations.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel explains how a telephone emoji helped a coaching client and we discover how codewords help build trust. SHOW LINKS: - Code words tweet: https://twitter.com/douglassquirrel/status/1421016370850971650 - Alistair Cockburn communication graph: p. 6 of https://alistair.cockburn.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/A-concise-theory-of-software-development-in-pictures.pdf - Schwarz, Eight Behaviours for Smarter Teams: https://cdn.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/917018/Eight-Behaviors-for-Smarter-Teams-2.pdf -Transcript: https://agileconversations.com/blog/codewords-and-confidants/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

If you're already struggling to hit targets, don't add more! Recommendations for improving performance without overcomplication. SHOW LINKS: - Tilted slider: p. 139 of https://itrevolution.com/agile-conversations/ - Metrics tweet: https://twitter.com/douglassquirrel/status/1418149716584501254 - Transcript: https://agileconversations.com/blog/dont-add-more-metrics/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel rants about matrix management and then Jeffrey calms him down by describing self-managing team structures that work better. They agree that multiplying responsibilities and separating them from the place where the work happens is a bad idea. SHOW LINKS: - How Shirt / What Shirt episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/the-two-shirt-solution-for-agile-chaos - Transcript: https://agileconversations.com/blog/tech-lead-team-lead/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel tweets about isolated data-science teams, and Jeffrey tells stories of close collaboration between engineers and data scientists, even pairing! SHOW LINKS: - Squirrel's tweet: https://twitter.com/douglassquirrel/status/1411980591617163267 - DataOps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DataOps - Patrick Debois: http://www.jedi.be/ - Transcript: https://agileconversations.com/blog/datasciops/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel and Jeffrey shock a leader they're coaching by telling him to aim to increase complaints. It turns out that Amy Edmondson, ALCOA, and Toyota all agree with this seemingly counterintuitive advice. SHOW LINKS: - Amy Edmondson, Teaming: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7023600-teaming - Andon light: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_light - Toyota Kata: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mrother/Homepage.html - Paul O’Neill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_H._O%27Neill - Idealcast episode 7: The Topography of Problems and the Importance of Distributed Problem Solving (Part 2) : https://itrevolution.com/the-idealcast-episode-7/ - Invite to the Agile Conversations Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/agile-conversations/shared_invite/zt-nuw1f84n-62CQworE~PpuR7WOUCZp4g --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Our old friend Chris Clearfield explains how he helps leaders identify and fix overwhelmingly complicated organisational problems. SHOW LINKS: - Chris’s workshop: https://pages.chrisclearfield.com/webinar/?sc_ref=55TfdIkc52FEI1EH - Chris’s email, site, and podcast: [email protected] , https://www.chrisclearfield.com/ , https://www.chrisclearfield.com/podcast - Meltdown: https://www.meltdownbook.net/ - Previous episode with Chris: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/meltdown-part-i - Cynefin framework: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Jeffrey and Squirrel show you how to use "paradoxical agenda-setting" to help ensure a team or organisation is really committed—or to find out why commitment would be a very bad idea! - Invite to the Agile Conversations Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/agile-conversations/shared_invite/zt-nuw1f84n-62CQworE~PpuR7WOUCZp4g - Paradoxical Agenda-Setting: https://feelinggood.com/tag/paradoxical-agenda-setting/ - Chris Clearfield: https://www.chrisclearfield.com/podcast - The Uncanny Valley of a Functional Organization: https://stratechery.com/2013/the-uncanny-valley-of-a-functional-organization/ - Collaboration Theater: https://twitter.com/Grundlefleck/status/1398282369577230336 --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel tells the story of an exec who operates at warp speed and leaves his director of technology behind in his wake. How can we best handle these rapid-fire questions and instant decisions? We have concrete suggestions for being productive and successful when your style doesn't match that of a stakeholder. SHOW LINKS: - Burying the lede: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bury_the_lede --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel tells the story of a conversation that took a sudden difficult turn, and we discuss methods like the Disarming Technique for handling surprises like this effectively. SHOW LINKS: - Roger Schwarz, Eight Behaviours for Smarter Teams: https://www.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/917018/Eight-Behaviors-for-Smarter-Teams-2.pdf - David Burns, the Disarming Technique: https://feelinggood.com/2017/12/11/066-five-secrets-training-the-disarming-technique/ - Finnish Agile Circle: https://www.meetup.com/Agile-Finland-Helsinki-Coaching-Circle/ - London Organisational Learning Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/London-Action-Science-Meetup/ --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

A listener asks us about why social hierarchy and popularity norms matter so much in team discussions. We riff on a number of ideas this inspires including the Tyranny of Structurelessness and the Core Protocols. - Tyranny of Structurelessness article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyranny_of_Structurelessness - Project Aristotle (Google study): https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html?smid=pl-share - Core Protocols: https://liveingreatness.com/files/core-protocols-3.03.html - Liberating Structures: https://www.liberatingstructures.com - Six Thinking Hats: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Thinking_Hats - Google Re:Work: https://rework.withgoogle.com/ - Schwarz, Skilled Facilitator: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221980.The_Skilled_Facilitator ---- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

At #citcon Virtual 2021, Andy Parker makes the case that Fredrick Taylor, whom we sometimes like to bash as the father of the feature factory, created the foundation of our work as software teams. - CITCON: https://citconf.com/ - Fredrick Taylor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Winslow_Taylor - Previous Fredrick Taylor episode: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/blog/in-praise-of-taylor/ - Productive Workplaces Revisited: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1268463.Productive_Workplaces_Revisited - Cynefin framework: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We describe our big ahas of a weird and somehow still educational year, including insights on productivity, deliberate practise, and speed of change. SHOW LINKS - Software Factory to Feature Factory episode: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/blog/software-factory-to-feature-factory/ - London Organisational Learning Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/London-Action-Science-Meetup/ - Blog post on Conversational Dojos: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/blog/conversational-dojos/ Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel and Jeffrey deconstruct the defensive reasoning behind planning 110% of velocity in each sprint. Hidden conversations and assumptions abound, including the perception that this is normal, that the team will do more as a result, and that we know what 110% is in the first place. SHOW LINKS: - Slack book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123715.Slack Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel tells the story of a client who was asked an impossible question about agile team productivity, and we explore why such impossible questions are actually valuable and worth investigating with curiosity. SHOW LINKS: - Kobayashi Maru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobayashi_Maru - Mu: http://www.jargon.net/jargonfile/m/mu.html https://wiki.c2.com/?MuAnswer --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

A listener asks us to explain the link between "normalisation of deviance" and fear. Using examples like an agile team dropping its retrospectives, or NASA launching the Space Shuttle in too-cold conditions, we illustrate how being afraid can drive a group away from its espoused norms and toward dangerous alternatives, and conversely how you can use examples of "normalised deviance" to find and mitigate hidden fears. SHOW LINKS: - Idealcast with Gene Kim: https://itrevolution.com/the-idealcast-episode-14/ - Mitigating fears through expressing emotion on an oil rig: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/17/482203447/invisibilia-how-learning-to-be-vulnerable-can-make-life-safer - The Fear Conversation chapter discussion: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/blog/fear-the-original-sin-of-unproductive-conversations/ - Previous episode on normalisation of deviance: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/overcoming-normalisation-of-deviance --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

Squirrel tells the story of an agile team faced with seemingly irresistible demands, and describes how switching to the "Yes, And" stance (originating from improvisational theatre) helped them find a solution that worked for everyone. SHOW LINKS: - "Yes, And" in improv and brainstorming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_and… - CTO Craft: How to Talk with Your CEO and Other Mysteries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwg-x5X3450 - Dr. Burns's Disarming Technique: https://feelinggood.com/tag/disarming-technique/ - Our MIT Sloan Management Review article on the Walled Garden: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/solving-the-problem-of-siloed-it-in-organizations/ - Nonviolent communication: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolent_Communication - Six thinking hats: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Thinking_Hats --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

We look at two elements - Collaboration and Reflection - of the Heart of Agile approach developed by our friend Alistair Cockburn, and illustrate how conscious and attentive listening and reflection on emotions make a big difference for agile teams. SHOW LINKS: - Motherhood and Apple Pie: https://hotidioms.com/2012/02/21/motherhood-and-apple-pie/ - Collaboration Cards: https://www.collaborationcards.com , https://web.archive.org/web/20170621140230/http://alistair.cockburn.us/Collaboration+Cards - Collaboration Cards article: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/702523/26767147/1451886700677/201601-Cockburn.pdf?token=oTGZ9syVsnh4d%2BtW8ggVolCglEM%3D - Collaboration Cards course: https://www.heartofagile.academy/courses/using-collaboration-cards - Shu Ha Ri: https://martinfowler.com/bliki/ShuHaRi.html - Thanks for the Feedback: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18114120-thanks-for-the-feedback - Previous episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/alistair-cockburn-heart-of-the-heart-of-agile --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

We look at two elements - Collaboration and Reflection - of the Heart of Agile approach developed by our friend Alistair Cockburn, and illustrate how conscious and attentive listening and reflection on emotions make a big difference for agile teams. SHOW LINKS: - Heart of Agile tweet: https://twitter.com/TotherAlistair/status/1312407646364991489 - Alistair Cockburn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_Cockburn - Conversational Dojo kit: https://itrevolution.com/build-agile-conversations-with-conversational-dojo-webinar/ - Active Listening: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_listening - London NVC Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Nonviolent-Communication-NVC-London/ - London Organisational Learning Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/London-Action-Science-Meetup/ - Ladder of Inference: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/a-sense-of-security-gained-lost - Above the Line: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/walking-the-line-emotional-unawareness --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]

We are joined by the wise and thoughtful Misha Glouberman, who organises Internet cocktail parties and better, more human-friendly meetings for organisations and teams—and the two turn out to have a lot in common. SHOW LINKS: - Misha: http://www.mishaglouberman.com - Trampoline Hall: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/trampoline-hall/id1190668782?mt=2 - Internet Cocktail Party Instructions: https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-run-a-zoom-cocktail-party-and-have-better-classes-conferences-and-meetings-too-dc2c5b58f8be - Gather.town: https://gather.town/ - CITCON: https://citconf.com --- Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list! We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us at [email protected]