Troubleshooting Agile

We continue our series responding to Martin Fowler's State of Agile 2018 speech. This week we look at Fowler's second claim - that agile software development has forgotten that it's about software, and that technical excellence in practises like refactoring, testing, and architecting should be (but isn't) central to discussions of good agile practise. We agree with Fowler and go even further, argu...

Martin Fowler gives us lots to chew on in the form of a speech on the state of agile software development in 2018. We start a series responding to Fowler by examining the Agile Industrial Complex - proponents of the "one true way" of agile development and out-of-the-box methodologies - and why Squirrel thinks the buyers and sellers of these "solutions" are doomed to failure by their "Theory X" cul...

A listener asks us how we reconcile the perceived conflict between learning and design - if you're iterating fast, how can you also build solid, scalable architecture? With examples from OO and Domain-Driven Design, we describe how early agile adopters addressed this issue (and how the meaning of "design" has evolved), and then make suggestions for modern teams. SHOW LINKS: - Elephant Carpaccio: h...

Once you have a bunch of great ideas from your reflection, how can you make sure you and your team actually use what you've learnt? We illustrate several variations on one of our favourite learning-capture methods, the humble checklist - including self-improving lists and an idea that survived ten years by migrating among multiple checklist formats, from wiki page to slackbot. SHOW LINKS: - The Ch...

We continue our mini-series on how to learn by considering ways to realise your learning - that is, how to convert what you've learnt (say, from a retrospective) into changed behaviour. We discuss how and why to create pre-planned actions in response to situations where you'd like to do better, for instance software outages or suspiciously optimistic delivery dates. SHOW LINKS: - Feynman on the Ch...

Second of two episodes on reflection. We often say that learning is horrible and suggest you do it anyway - but how exactly can you learn? We use a model from Chris Argyris - single-loop and double-loop learning - and concentrate today on the double-loop style, which you might want to try if you want to radically change your thinking and try something completely new (which might or might not work!...

First of two episodes on reflection. We often say that learning is horrible and suggest you do it anyway - but how exactly can you learn? We use a model from Chris Argyris - single-loop and double-loop learning - and concentrate today on the single-loop style, most appropriate for gradual improvement of a particular metric or characteristic. SHOW LINKS: - Argyris on single- and double-loop learnin...

We have a look at Jason Palmer's "You Don't Need Standup" with a mutual learning, curious attitude. What can we learn from Jason? What information does he have that we don't? Where do we agree with him? We conclude that indeed some teams may be better off without standups - see Fred George's Programmer Anarchy for example - but before embarking on the experiment, it's worth asking "how will I know...

A few more thoughts on alignment, inspired by a list of "XP Mistakes" from the great J. B. Rainsberger. We look at some of the antipatterns and lessons learnt and, as usual, tell a few of our own stories about mistakes we've made and observed. SHOW LINKS: - XP, My Greatest Misses: https://blog.jbrains.ca/permalink/xp-my-greatest-misses - CITCON: http://citconf.com/ - "Are you frustrated? It's prob...

The final episode of our mini-series on achieving alignment. We list five different objections we hear to the goals or process of alignment, and suggest ways to address them. We also tell a success story based on achieving alignment. SHOW LINKS: - Theory X and Theory Y: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_X_and_Theory_Y - Alistair Cockburn's mutiny koan: https://staging.cockburn.us/self-organizat...

Episode 3 of our mini-series on achieving alignment. This week, we finally explain some methods for aligning with your team, your boss, or your peers. Methods include Test-Driven Development for People (aka the Ladder of Inference) and a creative use of the two-column case study. Next time - questions from listeners and common concerns we hear when moving to alignment. SHOW LINKS: - Chris Argyris...

Our next instalment on alignment as a tool for agile success. If alignment is as valuable as we claimed in the previous episode, why doesn't every organisation have it? We use ideas from Dr. David Burns to classify resistance to alignment into "outcome" and "process" resistance, then give examples of each and tell a story about a startup where the founders are (according to them) totally aligned,...

Today, the first instalment of a little series on a big problem affecting agile teams: alignment. What does it mean when your team or company isn't aligned? How does misalignment show itself and what effects does it have on your progress? Jeffrey and Squirrel describe four different alignment patterns and tell real-life stories about the woes of misaligned teams. Future episodes in the series will...

How do you provide focus and drive for a team using kanban? There's no natural "sprint" unit to hang a goal on, it seems. Jeffrey and Squirrel answer this listener question and explain how to create a product narrative, avoid the feature factory, and start with "Why"? SHOW LINKS: - Kanban book: https://www.amazon.com/Kanban-Successful-Evolutionary-Technology-Business/dp/0984521402 - When Kanban Fa...

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel address a common frustration: "With all these retrospectives and planning games, when do we actually get some work done?" They cover single and double loop learning, the mundanity of excellence, and how to avoid learning in two distinct ways. SHOW LINKS: - J-curve / Satir Change Model: https://stevenmsmith.com/ar-satir-change-model/ - Mundanity of Excellence: https:...

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel answer a question from CruiseControl founder Paul Julius about what agile practises they've left behind. Surprising answers include iterations, predictability, and planning. SHOW LINKS: - PJ: http://www.pauljulius.com/ - Abnormally terminating a sprint - https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/making-the-decision-to-abnormally-terminate-a-sprint - Kanban: https://...

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel help a listener with the role of design and architecture in an agile team. The answer involves arcane-sounding but fun concepts like elephant carpaccio, evolutionary design, and YAGNI. SHOW LINKS: - YAGNI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_aren%27t_gonna_need_it - Elephant Carpaccio: http://alistair.cockburn.us/elephant+carpaccio - Evolutionary Design: https://marti...

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel look at how to learn new skills in your agile team or elsewhere, and recommend frequent failure as a useful heuristic. SHOW LINKS: - Graham Lee blog post: https://www.sicpers.info/2018/02/to-become-a-beginner-first-become-an-expert/ - No True Scotsman fallacy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman - TDD (Test-Driven Development): https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel describe some of the methods they used to improve their own skills in implementing and troubleshooting agile methods. They describe techniques from rubber ducking to doppelgängers. Enjoy! SHOW LINKS: - CITCON: http://citconf.com - Breakfast with Squirrel: http://douglassquirrel.com - Communities of Needs and Solutions: https://theitriskmanager.wordpress.com/2015/04/...

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel discuss how to avoid blame - adopting a frame of ownership or problem-solving is a useful concrete action to try to achieve this - and tell a story about replacing one problem with a much bigger one to achieve team improvement. SHOW LINKS: - The 12 Agile Principles: http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html - Alex Hudson blog post on blame: https://www.alexhudson.co...

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel each tell a story about how teams they've worked with handled deadlines. SHOW LINKS: - The 12 Agile Principles: http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html - Theory X and Theory Y: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_X_and_Theory_Y - Burndown charts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_down_chart *** We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas or feedback you have regarding...

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel are on the road at CITCON Vienna, interviewing Lydia Tripp about her journey through a wide variety of agile software development teams and her evolving approach to improving delivery and quality. SHOW LINKS: -The 12 Agile Principles: http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html -CITCON: http://citconf.com/ -Extreme Programming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_pr...

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel are on the road at CITCON Vienna, interviewing participants about how they use agile techniques and principles outside development. SHOW LINKS: -The 12 Agile Principles: http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html -CITCON: http://citconf.com/ -London Organisational Learning Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/London-Action-Science-Meetup/ *** We'd love to hear any th...

In this week's podcast we move on to the final Agile Principle, number 12: "At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly." The hard truth is that learning is horrible. It means coming face to face with your own inadequacies, and challenging them. Consequently, mustering up the motivation to learn is too easily and too oft...

This week we take a short break from the Agile Principles to discuss The Squirrel Test - 12 questions to help founders improve their scale-up company's performance. We also find out if Squirrel, in creating the test, has practiced what he's preached regarding the agile principles. Has he produced working software? Sought early feedback? Kept it simple? Made the most of face-to-face communication?...