AgileToolkit Podcast

Ken and I talk about his ATDD book.  This is a topic that has been gaining a lot of traction in agile teams.  Acceptance Test Driven Development is a technique that some teams are using to improve quality and collaboration between business, testing and development.  Enjoy, -bob payne

Come join us at AgileDC on October 26th 2011.  This not for profit regional conference aims to have a wide varieity of talks, networking, open space and is one of the few conferences to have a Government track alongside an Agile Engineering track. We are excited and hope to see you there. Get 15% off for being a podcast regular with this discount code: AgileDCPodcast More information at AgileDC.or...

Ken and I chat about the Product Owner roll and the complexity that can emerge when we ask too much of the product owner.  This has always been a key role and we have sometimes dode the project a disservice by focusing the PO on the needs of development.  This can sometimes create a situation where the PO is focused too much on User Stories and not enough on the product context and value.   It has...

Kelly Allen is one of the foremost experts on Edward Deming.  I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with him.  We wander from measurement, punishment by rewards, human factors in organizations and organizational development to education.  Kelly is an engaging speaker and conversationalist. I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I did. -bob payne

George and I discuss the finer points of appropriatly sizing User Stories to ensure that they can be delivered.  This is a fairly tricky process and is best figgured out by experimentation and ensuring that you have good examples. Enjoy Bob Payne

This has been sitting in the vault for a while.  The recording was not that great so please excuse the audio quality.  The content is great as I am speaking to Elisabeth Hendrickson.   Elizabeth has been a force in the agile community for 10 years now and she was recognized for that last year at Agile 2010 with the Gordon Pask award.   I finally caught up with her at ADP East 2010.  We talk about...

Another conversation with Michael and Lyssa.  This time we speak about their new enterprise the Agile Coaching Institute.  They have been bringing the skills of professional coaching to the agile space for a while now and they decided to mak a practice out of it.  I am excited about the tools and techniques they are bringing to the table.  They are always engaging and informitive to talk to. We we...

I speak with Drew about thier next generation of Sticky Minds.  Techwell.com launced recently and it is the successor to Sticky Minds.  We also discuss the Agile Development Practices West conference held in Las Vegas.   I am pleased to say that the Agile Toolkit Podcast is syndicated on techwell. Please enjoy Techwell and this podcast. -bob payne

George and I talk about the importance of driving concrete examples to ensure high quality stories through the Three Amigos Process.  This process goes hand in hand with Acceptance Test Driven Development (ATDD)   Teams using ATDD are showing improvements in defect rates and reducing missed "requirements" in the user stories.   Conversation is powerful Examples are Powerful Automated Tests are Pow...

I speak with Michael about the M word.  Yes Metrics and Agile teams have seemed to be at odds for a long time.  If you look at a large enough population of teams using many differing methods you can however glean information that is useful.  It turns out that on average Agile teams deliver on our goal of delivering higher quality software, predictably and without increasing costs.  There is a lot...

Johanna and I chat about the enterprise.  Again.  We talk about getting products out the door across teams to deliver value for your program. I am looking forward to chatting again with her this year.   This area of project and portfolio management is an area that has been the source of many questions in enterprise adoption.  It is an area that begs for "situationally specific" implementations. Ho...

Lyssa and I chat about her book Coaching Agile Teams, her work as a coaches coach and her passion for making the world better one coach at a time.  Lyssa and Michael Spayd have worked together and we discuss the Coaching Circles that they facillitate. I still want audio versions of these books so you too should email the publishers and let them know that people on the go want an audio version. Enj...

Michael and I chat about his work coaching coaces, facillitaton and coaching teams.  Michael has been on the podcast a number of times and I always find my conversations with him compelling.   Michael talks about his work with teams and some of the techniques he uses to create the appropriate environment for those teams to learn and step out on their own.   Enjoy Bob Payne  

Sanjiv and I both have enjoyed the work of Daniel Pink. His book Drive is a great read for agile coaches and practitioners alike.  Creating a Performance Management plan for knowledge workers can be a challenge in traditional organizations.  Hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I always enjoy working and talking with Sanjiv. -bob payne 

Ian and I discuss the internal development practices at Version One and some of the new features in V1.  The folks at V1 have always been involved in community and it was a pleasure to talk with Ian and participate in the Agile Palooza. Enjoy. -bob payne

  I talk with Dave Thomas about his keynote at Agile 2010.  During his keynote he put up a slide telling people that they would be refactored if if they tweeted or otherwise used the information about to be given. Sarcasm  is no longer appreciated in the land of the brave.  Maybe he gets a pass for being Canadian.  As always I love talking to one of the many "Dave Thomas" characters. -bob payne  

Come and join me at the Agile DC conference on October 22.  We have 3 tracks to choose from and lots of great speakers. Agile Essentials Agile in the Government and Enterprise Open Talks Track Use the discount code "agileToolkit" to get $20 off. Information here http://agiledc.org

Richard and I speak about the utilization of agile in the government.  Say it can't be done.  It is being done and in the most unlikely places.  Richard will be running the Agile Government Panel at the October 22, AgileDC conference.  If you are interested in this topic this talk and the conference visit us at http://AgileDC.org to register. Enjoy -bob payne

Jean and I discuss Lynchpin the recent book by Seth Godin.  We both enjoyed this book and found it to be a good guide for any agile change agent.  I especially like his ideas around Gift Culture. Not revolutionary but a good book.     Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Enjoy. -bob payne

Ryan talks about the acquisition of Agile Zen as an addition to the Rally family of agile tools.  I have not really spent much time with Ryan before this interview and I was excited to talk with him about his passion for giving. Enjoy - bob payne

I chatted with Payson Hall for the first time at ADP West.  We talked about the broken model of Fixed Price contracts and the challenges of working in the public sector with agile methods. Hope you enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed recording it. -bob payne

Dale and I chat in sunny Vegas.  We spoke about his presentations, training and our lives as consultants.  If you have not met Dale you should get yourself out to sunny California and attend his training in July. I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I enjoyed recording it. -bob

George and I discuss the reasons that we declare the index card the most valuable project management tool ever.  I know this is probably old news but we are constantly asked "Why Index Cards".   If you have never experienced a true project card wall it is time to "Kick it Old School". Enjoy -bob payne

George and I discuss the "Three Basic Things" that you need to understand to implement agile.  The "Three" theme never gets old.  Much is said about agile but I think George says it best. "Simple but not easy" -bob

Johanna and I discuss her new book Manage Your Project Portfolio. As usual I really enjoyed my conversation with Johanna.  We discuss the use of flow management in the realm of agile projects.  Flowing the work through stable agile teams is a technique that has been used successfully for years.  The biggest challenge to this process is yearly funding by project rather than a more incremental fundi...