Troubleshooting Agile

This episode, we are at CITCON 2025, celebrating 400 episodes of Troubleshooting Agile. Join Squirrel and Jeffrey as they look back on the past 400 episodes, discuss how the podcast served as a tool to flesh out ideas for their book ‘Agile Conversations’ and what they would do differently in the past - or might do differently in the future! -------------------------------------------------- You'll...

Have you got Systems Thinking all wrong, like the author of an article we read that got Jeffrey all riled up? In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey explore how complex systems evolve, referencing real-world examples like water systems, Facebook, and healthcare.gov. Links: - Bradon's article (Jeffrey says don't read!): https://worksinprogress.co/issue/magical-systems-thinki...

To lead effectively, you need critical thinking and a willingness to engage in productive conflict. It turns out, so do scientists! In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the art of healthy intellectual disagreement, drawing insights from a scientist's critique. SHOW LINKS: - Strong Inference article: https://courses.cs.duke.edu/fall04/cps296.2/science_platt.html -...

Is being “nice” preventing you from being decent? In this episode, we are joined by guest Kevin Lucas to talk about “coaching out,” the importance of early communication and the balance between decency and obligation, all ideas taken from his new book, ‘Impact: How to Inspire, Align and Amplify Innovative Teams.’ SHOW LINKS: - Keith Lucas: https://keithvlucas.com/ - Keith's book: https://keithvluc...

Does embarrassment do you good? While most of us try to avoid it, we believe embarrassment can be a powerful motivator for teams. Join Squirrel and Jeffrey as they discuss how exposing teams to real-world pressures and public accountability can drive both performance and innovation. SHOW LINKS: - Squirrel's Newsletter: https://squirrelsquadron.com/newsletter.html - Unilateral Control: https://schw...

Do you jump into solutions before understanding the context? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss a better way to problem-solve, the concept of form-context fit and why a better output than predicted should be investigated rather than celebrated. SHOW LINKS: - Henrik's article: https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz/p/problem-solving - Christopher Alexander: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christop...

Are you prepared to blame yourself? In this episode, Jeffrey opens up about his failed startup, and, putting external factors aside, what he could have done better. Join us for ideas around self-blame, double-loop learning, and how personal responsibility can lead to positive change. SHOW LINKS: - Jenkins's thesis: https://hj.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:562610/FULLTEXT01.pdf - Double-loop lear...

Can having an ego be a good thing? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss how being egotistical can be a valuable trait and how to strike a balance between confident and humble. Tune in if you need help working out whether you need to bring more or less ego to work. SHOW LINKS: - Helpful Givers episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/disagreeable-givers - The Five Dysfunctions...

Would you appreciate someone talking while you were talking? It’s called "cooperative overlap,” it was introduced to us by a listener, and it’s used in some cultures to reinforce and show agreement with the speaker. Join Squirrel and Jeffrey for their second week talking about how you can use interruption to improve team collaboration, in this episode of Troubleshooting Agile. SHOW LINKS: - Cooper...

Can I just interrupt you there…? In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey interrupt each other more than usual to demonstrate how you can use “consensual” interruption as a way of giving immediate feedback, which can greatly improve learning speeds and information retention. SHOW LINKS: - Alan Weiss on Rhetorical Permission: https://jonathanstark.com/notes-on-million-dollar-m...

What can Whatsapp’s origin story teach us about adding business value - even when it doesn’t seem “fun”? Reflecting on two weeks' backpacking, Jeffrey introduces the concept of Type 1 and Type 2 fun and Squirrel ponders how you can apply the two methods of fun to different types of work in Agile teams. SHOW LINKS: - Types of Fun: https://www.rei.com/blog/climb/fun-scale - WhatsApp baked into "dumb...

What can the TV show House teach us about centralisation? In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about centralised communication, how it contributed to them first meeting and what to do when there’s an imbalance of expertise in the room. SHOW LINKS: - Peer Review article: https://defenderofthebasic.substack.com/p/we-know-how-to-fix-peer-review-part - CITCON: https://ci...

Death of the junior developer but long live the co-conspirator! In this re-worked bumper episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss two of their biggest takeaways from Citcon: the evolving role of AI in coding and how ‘co-conspirators’ have been pivotal in their careers and client work. SHOW LINKS: - CITCON London 2025: https://citconf.com/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find...

Are you being unFAIR with your information-sharing? In this episode, Jeffrey talks us through the F.A.I.R principles of scientific publishing and how they can be applied to software development. Learn why you should prioritise open, accessible information and what you can do to put it into practice. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Weirdly named blog: https://slimemoldtimemold.com/ - Peer review article: http...

Forget the elevator pitch, you need a “napkin strategy!” In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey explore the idea of using models instead of talking, which often leads to confusion and frustration. Find out how you can collaborate better with your team when you share explicit and visually mutable models. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Balsamiq's Draft mode: https://balsamiq.com/suppor...

Is demarcation stunting your business? In this episode, Squirrel tells us about how his 500-year-old house restoration reminded him of dealing with team members whose strict adherence to demarcation i.e. “That’s not my job!” led to mistakes, poor communication and lack of problem-solving - and why un-demarcation is the best route forward. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Demarcation: https://www.fordtransitio...

The search for ultimate truth has no place in an effective business! In this episode, Jeffrey and Squirrel explain how to detect when your team are stuck in the “rightness” trap and how to move from abstract debate to scientific experiments that help you discover what actually works. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Less Wrong: https://www.lesswrong.com/ - Less Online: https://less.online/ - Abor Summer Camp:...

With so many great reader emails recently Jeffrey and I haven’t got around to discussing CitCon on the podcast yet! This week we do just that, with Jeffrey’s reflections from discussions on the evolving role of AI in coding including Steve Yegge’s new article which revisits whether the ‘death’ of the junior developer will ultimately be a ‘revenge.’ Links: - Steve Yegge article: https://sourcegraph...

Do ‘Experts Have It Easy’? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss how experts and novices can overcome the empathy gap with rapid feedback, and breaking down complex problems into smaller steps to facilitate understanding. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Boyd Kane's article: https://boydkane.com/essays/experts - Gladwell, Blink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink:_The_Power_of_Thinking_Without_Thinki...

What is the true meaning of accountability? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey share a real-life story that illustrates how it’s often misunderstood. Listen now to learn why it's not about blame or punishment, but about 'rendering an account' - in other words, sharing reasoning and decisions transparently. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Previous episode on accountability: https://itrevolution.com/article...

What can perverse incentives teach us about software development? Join Squirrel and Jeffrey for a discussion on the importance of personal responsibility and the potential benefits of 'blameful' postmortems in driving accountability and improvement within organisations, in this episode of Troubleshooting Agile. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Tal's article: https://talyarkoni.org/blog/2018/10/02/no-its-not-t...

Is topgrading a controversial topic? It seems so. In this episode, Jeffrey and Squirrel revisit the theme of topgrading in recruitment, featured just two episodes ago. Join as they discuss a listener’s experience, the necessity for some structure in interviews and the benefits of learning from candidates' past experiences through stories. SHOW LINKS: - Topgrading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top...

Is shielding your team a sign of good leadership? On this episode, Jeffrey has been riled up by an episode of the podcast, Cortex, and wants to make a case against shielding, which he believes keeps teams disconnected from the reality of business conditions and leads to suboptimal results. SHOW LINKS: - Cortex podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cortex/id1001591696 - Dale Carnegie book:...

Is the use of threats to repel dishonest people a good idea? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about the “threat of reference check” and whether the benefits of reducing dishonesty outweigh the drawbacks of damaging trust. Get in touch to tell us what you think. SHOW LINKS: - Domain-Driven Design: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-driven_design - Big Book of Concepts:...

It's time to talk about commitment! Not engagement, which is insufficient to produce effective results. In this episode - a repost of a previous conversation - Squirrel and Jeffrey offer specific tools for effective commitments and tell a story about a company that created a pile of bones instead of a Walking Skeleton. You’ll hear lots of references to “the book.” That’s our book - Agile Conversat...