SPaMCAST 543 - Value Chain, Solution Architects, Essays and Discussions

SPaMCAST 543 features our essay on value chains. In this essay, we tackle the mixed up world of Value Chains, Values Streams and Process Maps. This isn't a vocabulary test but mixing the words up can cause a mess. Let's solve the problem. As a reminder - I am doing a workshop on value chains at QAI Quest 2019 (May 13 - 19 in Chicago). Do you need a discount? Register at www.qaiQuest2019 using the code Speaker10. Let me know and we will do a hangout with Jeremy and myself! In the SPAMCAST 543, Gene Hughson's returns with a new entry in his Form Follows Function column. Gene and I are beginning what turned out to be a three column set on solution architects. Today we begin by discussing just what the heck is a solution architect is and does! Re-Read Saturday News These days, every time I start a new book I am reminded that once upon a time I did not read the introduction or front matter in books. I suspect there are things I still don't know or only learned about from the school of wandering into doors at night because of my choice, When I originally read Thinking, Fast and Slow I was still in the habit of not reading introductions. The introduction discusses how the ideas that became the book were developed by Kahneman and his longtime co-contributor, Amos Tversky (Tversky died before they probably would have jointly won the Noble Prize). Kahneman describes the book as a "book about the biases of intuition." Topics in the introduction include life, death, bias, heuristics, and behavioral economics. If you do not have a favorite, dog-eared copy of Thinking, Fast and Slow please buy a copy. Using the links in this blog entry helps support the blog and its alter-ego, The Software Process and Measurement Cast. Buy a copy on Amazon, Its time to get reading! This week's installment: Week 1: Logistics and Introduction - http://bit.ly/2UL4D6h Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 544 will feature our interview with Jeppe Hedaa. We will discuss his new book, Nucleon: The Missing Formula That Measures Your IT Development Team's Performance. Jeppe provides evidence and a framework that suggests that there are predictable factors that drive performance in IT organizations. Tough and interesting ideas are on the menu when we talk about Nucleon!