Software Process and Measurement Cast

SPaMCAST 485 features essay titled “A Simple Checklist for Choosing a Mentor.” Everyone needs a mentor, but they are hard to find, and even when you find someone willing they might not be the right person!  Enter: a checklist! In the second spot this week, Jeremy Berriault will bring his QA Corner to the cast. We will discuss trusting your team. Rounding out the cast, Kim Pries, the Software Sensei will return with the second part of his essay titled “Muddling Through.”

SPaMCAST 484 features our interview with Andriy Bas of UPTech.  Andriy and his partner have created a firm that has truly embraced the ideas of agile, Teal and holacracy to create a highly productive, collaborative and safe workspace. We discussed the impact of the environment on satisfaction, quality, and productivity.  We also discussed whether or not this type of approach works for all people.

SPaMCAST 483 will feature our essay on measuring the value delivered by agile. The essay begins: “Organizations and teams come to agile for a wide variety of reasons." Our second column features Steve Tendon who brings his Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance.  Today we complete our discussion of Chapter 21.   In our final column, Jon Quigley brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development column to the cast.  In this segment, we discuss Agile Culture.

Software Process and Measurement Cast 482 features our interview with Natalie Warnert.  We talked about the diversity of voice, thoughts and ideas and Women in Agile.  Developing ideas and solving problems is the reason for software development, project management, process improvement, business systems analysis -- just about everything in life is about solving problems.  Diversity helps us to generate better ideas and decisions.  

SPaMCAST 481 will feature our essay on the Life Cycle of A User Story.  A user story - a brief, simple requirement statement from the user’s perspective - tends to follow a loose life cycle.   The second column this week is from Kim Pries, the Software Sensei, Kim discusses using the Extended Backus-Naur Form. Last but not least, Jeremy Berriault brings his QA Corner to the cast.  In this entry, Jeremy discusses why QAs/testers should be given space to manage their own workflow.

SPaMCAST 480 features our interview with Paul Gibbons.  Paul and I had a wide-ranging discussion that began with his wonderful book The Science of Successful Organization Change (Buy a copy now and then enjoy the re-read we held on the Software Process and Measurement Cast blog), and led us to the broader conversation: that change is hard but it is even harder if we fall prey to magical thinking.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 479 features a recent essay on the difference between a coach and a mentor in the form of a simple checklist. Which do you need? Our second column features Steve Tendon who brings his Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban. Anchoring the cast is Jon M Quigley returning with his column, Alpha and Omega of Product Development.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 478 features our interview with Evan Leybourn.  Evan is back to discuss his new venture, The Business Agility Institute. Agile is not just for software anymore!

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 477 features our essay on silence.  Silence is a powerful tool to guide conversations and mine information from the stream of consciousness that flows around us.Trust me the podcast is not 30 minutes of silence! We will also have a column from Kim Pries, the Software Sensi.  Kim brings us part 1 of his essay, Muddling Through.   Gene Hughson of Form Follows Function anchors the cast.  He discusses his great article, “What Makes a Monolith Monolithic?”

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 476 features our interview with Kyle Siemens.  Kyle is CEO at Brightest. We discussed the case for certifications. The whole concept of certifications is a lightning rod for the excesses of agile and the Agile (big A) industry.  Mr. Siemens makes a strong argument for certification when done properly.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 475 features the majority of the SPaMCAST Crew in a round robin discussion.  The recording session covered three topics; however, today we tackle the first topic: Whether agile can be used in other parts of the business.  We will return to the next two topics in February!  Six people with strong opinions. It is a pretty amazing discussion.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 474 features our interview with Tom Henricksen.  Tom recently organized and executed the Agile Online Summit that I participated in.  We get behind the scene story about how the Summit came together and how it enhanced the Agile community!

SPaMCAST 473 features our essay on 6 Important Flow Metrics!  Getting the most value out of a process is important to any leader. We will also complete our discussion of part 3 (3 of 3) of chapter 20 of Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban  (buy a copy here).

SPaMCAST 472 features our interview with Mike Harris.  We discussed his new book, The Business Value of Software. We discussed the definition of value and why value matters! In reality, software development, enhancements, and maintenance that don’t deliver value are waste. Therefore it behoves all of us to understand value, how to recognize it, and how to measure it!

SPaMCAST 471 features our essay on the top 20 transformation killers.  Each transformation killer is a big deal. That said, forewarned is forearmed . . .hopefully? In the second spot, this week is Jeremy Berriault and the QA Corner!  Jeremy and I discussed involving testers in requirements.   In the third spot, Gene Hughson completes the cast by bringing a discussion of a recent missive, Systems Thinking Complicates Things.  Rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock and more!