Software Process and Measurement Cast

Flow Load has a special place in flow metrics, it is a leading indicator of value delivery as exhibited in flow velocity (throughput) and flow time. We review one experiment and propose another. In the end, you either control work entry or it controls you. A quick advertisement: Controlling work entry requires preparation and knowledge building to establish a path to control work entry (magic wand...

This week Jeff Perry and I discussed learning how to consciously guide your technology career. We are all problem solvers, and Jeff provides a ton of hard-won advice. We also wrestled with the difference between a series of jobs and a career. Jeff's Bio: Jeff Perry is the founder of More Than Engineering and serves as a leadership and career coach for engineers and technology professionals. His in...

A funny thing happened on the way to the essay this week. I was distracted by feedback from a colleague on a workshop Jeremy Willets and I developed and delivered this week. We discuss why the phrase work entry describes how work gets to teams and organizations, and why "work intake" masks problems in the real world. We also have a visit from Susan Parente and her Not A Scrumdamentalist column. Th...

Today Jonathon Wright will shift us…right? After decades of listening to the mantra shift left, you probably think you are entering the twilight zone. Maybe, but not on our account! Jonathan and I talked about putting customers first, testing AI, quality, and leadership. Jonathon Wright is the Chief Technology Evangelist and heads up Solution Engineering (R&D) for Eggplant a Keysight Technologies...

Today's cast is a very short podcast. Over the past week, I spent an amazing week at Agile 2022. My goal was to be re-radicalized. I reconnected with friends, made new friends, learned a new set of personal pronouns (while not for me, they really work well), picked up a bunch of swag, learned a ton, got re-energized and re-radicalized, and got Covid19. I could have done without the latter. I will...

Jim Benson has a new book titled, The Collaboration Equation. Jim states that collaboration "is the base of the human condition, we need other people in order to live, but always seem to be at odds with each other." Jim also states that unless you are striving for improvement, you are unprofessional. I really like talking to Jim; Jim is a force of nature. Jim's career path has taken him through go...

This week we make a quick side trip. Earlier this week I was asked why I "did" the Re-read Saturday column. Today, I offer a short explanation and highlight the experiments I am running as part of our re-read of Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Adkins. We also have a visit from Jon M. Quigley. In this installment of his Alpha and Omega of Product Development, Jon and I discuss the role of the team le...

Daniel Doiron's new book Seeing Money Clearly challenges Agile Centers of Excellence to view decision-making through the lens of Throughput Accounting. Throughput Accounting is a lot of things: An accounting system, A financial application, A process of ongoing improvement (POOGI), and First and foremost, the decision-making arm of the Theory of Constraints. Daniel's Bio "I am the only CPA in the...

Definitions provide several benefits. The first is that once a definition for an object or concept is agreed upon, it is far easier to have a discussion without getting confused. A second and equally important benefit is that definitions provide a platform for establishing attributes that can be used to describe the object or idea. Attributes are critical because even with a definition we need to...

107 podcasts ago (just a little over two years ago) on SPAMCAST 601 I interviewed Brian Weaver of Torch. AI about leadership. Lots of things have happened since then, a pandemic, Europe in flames again and Torch. AI thriving. It was great to touch base with Brian to talk about how his perspective as a leader has changed. While not needed for this interview, I highly recommend listening to SPaMCAST...

In SPaMCAST 707 Susan Parente and I discuss the difference between leadership and management in her Not A Scrumdamentalist column. These two concepts are related but not the same. The votes are in! The next three books for Re-read Saturday are: Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Arkins https://amzn.to/38G0ZD3 Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coaching by Bob Galen https://amzn.to/3wJsbtS Team Topologies by...

SPaMCAST 706 features a conversation with Tom Henricksen. Tom makes a strong case that ignoring soft skills will limit your ability to deliver real value. Tom says, "Humans Are Hard, Code Is Easy." Tom's Bio: Tom Henricksen is a problem-solving technology professional. He has worked in various roles in technology for over twenty years. Tom has learned how to solve challenging issues in technology...

In the SPaMCAST 705 we stay with the basics and define the term flow. I recently listened to a conversation where the term flow was used 30ish times in 30 minutes. Each use of the term meant something different. Today we draw a line in the sand to improve communication. We also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault from the QA Corner. Jeremy and I discussed the mistaken belief that Scrum Master and C...

In the Software Process and Measurement Cast 704, we talk leadership with Stuart Leo Founder & CEO of Waymaker.io. One of the reasons I enjoy interviews is that I often stumble across great stories. Stuart's entrepreneurial origin story includes golf balls, icy Tasmanian lakes, and scuba divers -- I will remember this story until I die. Stuart is a global thinker in strategy, systems, and leadersh...

In the Software Process and Measurement Cast 703, we wrestle with one of the basics of agile. What is the power of making a commitment? Making and keeping commitments are core components of professional behavior. It is a promise to perform. Whether Agile or Waterfall, commitments are used to manage software projects. They are used to drive the behavior of teams. We also have a visit from Jon M Qui...

In SPaMCAST 702, Matthew Stibbe and I talk about the impact of leadership when building a technology-driven business. Mathew shared stories about learning to type, how he has reinvented himself numerous times, and why he blogs at https://geekboss.com/. Note: I have not edited out the parts of the interview just before I welcome Matthew to the podcast. Mr. Stibbe told a couple of very endearing sto...

With SPaMCAST 701 we go back to basics. Whether you call that quick meeting to coordinate the day the Daily Scrum, Stand-up, or a huddle is not material. Daily coordination is phenomenally powerful and useful unless it isn't. Just making teams meet without benefit is a really bad idea. What else can be done? We also have a visit from Tony Timbol with another installment from his Tell A Story Colum...

SPaMCAST 700 features our interview with Slater Victoroff. Slater suggests that what we think of as AI today will be overtaken by human-machine partnerships. He uses the metaphor of a bionic arm. AI is the future and that future is not very far away. Slater Victoroff is the Founder and CTO of indico data solutions, an Enterprise AI solution for unstructured content with an emphasis on text and NLP...

This week we feature our interview with Eric Daimler, PhD. Eric and I discussed how AI can unlock the potential of humanity. Dr. Eric Daimler is an authority in Artificial Intelligence with over 20 years of experience in the field as an entrepreneur, executive, investor, technologist, and policy advisor. Daimler has co-founded six technology companies that have done pioneering work in fields rangi...

This week Susan Parente and I had an extraordinary conversation about team leads in agile and leadership. In some cases, the role of a team leader is treated as if it were superfluous to requirements in other cases it is a tool to delegate work to people in an effort to subvert self-organization and when organizations get it right the role is a vehicle to unlocking the capabilities of teams. Conta...

This week we talked with Jardena London. We discussed her book Cultivating Transformations - A Leader's Guide to Connecting the Soulful and the Practical. Being soulful sounds fluffy, but isn't. It is critical for delivering lasting change. Jardena is a Business Transformation Consultant, Author, Keynote Speaker, and a Certified Facilitator of Dare to Lead; Brene Brown's groundbreaking training pr...

We began the Re-Read Saturday feature in 2014 with a re-read of John Kotter's classic Leading Change. The list of books we have re-read is quite long -- I am going to have to create a list. All that said, last week a person that regularly comments on the podcast indicated they really did not know what Re-Read Saturday was all about. So today to commemorate spring in the northern hemisphere (and th...

This week we talk to Julianna Lamb, co-founder and CTO at Stytch about agile in start-ups, hybrid working, how to keep a product backlog under control, grow a business in the early 2020's, and more. Julianna is the Co-Founder and CTO of Stytch, a platform for user infrastructure and passwordless authentication. She was previously a software engineer at Strava and Plaid and an early product hire at...

Organizational design often collides with getting work done; generating friction that causes all manner of problems. No one goes out of their way to make things difficult, however poor operating metaphors and one size fits all solutions are never optimal. There is a way for agile and team leaders to coexist, but can you take that path? Also this week, Jon M Quigley and his Alpha and Omega of Produ...

Today we speak with Prateek Joshi. Prateek and I talked about the definition of AI, machine learning, and an approach to using AI in the real world. AI is in your future and it won't be the Matrix or Skywarn (or will it). Prateek Joshi is the founder of Plutoshift and a published author of 13 books on AI. He has been featured in publications such as Forbes, CNBC, TechCrunch, and Bloomberg. You can...