Troubleshooting Agile

The discussion dives into the pitfalls of rigid Agile practices, drawing a parallel with failed hospital checklists. A debate unfolds around whether there's a one-size-fits-all recipe for Agile, highlighting the need for internal commitment and improvement. Historical reflections on Agile principles showcase their evolution in extreme programming. The conversation advocates for flexibility and innovation, emphasizing the importance of adapting Agile methods to fit unique contexts while contrasting new approaches like Shape Up with traditional frameworks.

Troubleshooting Checklists Checklists are a great way to capture learning in any organisation, but sometimes they don't work - why not? A recent study of hospitals with varying levels of success in adopting checklists helps us reflect on similar adoption challenges for agile methods. SHOW LINKS: - Checklist article from Nature: https://www.nature.com/news/hospital-checklists-are-meant-to-save-lives-so-why-do-they-often-fail-1.18057 - Agile principle 12 on reflection and improvement: https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/12-principles-behind-the-agile-manifesto/ - Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto: http://atulgawande.com/book/the-checklist-manifesto/ - Ignaz Semmelweis, promoter of hand-washing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis *** We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

Our first interview ever! We welcome to the studio Chris Clearfield, co-author of Meltdown, a book all about system failure and the reasons for it. Chris explains ideas like tight coupling (not the OO kind!) and system complexity, and we explore how they apply to technical debt and bug prioritisation. We get to hear some of the best stories from the book as well, including the hedge fund that lost £500m in 45 minutes, and we learn about failcake and pre-mortem analysis. GUEST LINKS: - Chris's site: https://www.chrisclearfield.com - Chris's twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisClearfield - Book site: http://meltdownbook.net - Take the quiz: http://quiz.rethinkrisk.net/quiz/ - Book video preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wi8KA4I34s&feature=youtu.be SHOW LINKS: - Psychohistory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychohistory_(fictional) - Normal Accidents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Accidents - John Allspaw: https://www.kitchensoap.com/about-me/ - Just Culture book: https://sidneydekker.com/just-culture/ - Dunbar’s number: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number - Amy Edmondson, Teaming: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teaming-Organizations-Innovate-Compete-Knowledge/dp/078797093X - Jon Ronson So You've Been Publicly Shamed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_You%27ve_Been_Publicly_Shamed - Gary Klein, Pre-Mortem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-mortem

Our first interview ever! We welcome to the studio Chris Clearfield, co-author of Meltdown, a book all about system failure and the reasons for it. Chris explains ideas like tight coupling (not the OO kind!) and system complexity, and we explore how they apply to technical debt and bug prioritisation. We get to hear some of the best stories from the book as well, including the hedge fund that lost £500m in 45 minutes, and we learn about failcake and pre-mortem analysis. GUEST LINKS: - Chris's site: https://www.chrisclearfield.com - Chris's twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisClearfield - Book site: http://meltdownbook.net - Take the quiz: http://quiz.rethinkrisk.net/quiz/ - Book video preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wi8KA4I34s&feature=youtu.be SHOW LINKS: - Psychohistory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychohistory_(fictional) - Normal Accidents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Accidents - John Allspaw: https://www.kitchensoap.com/about-me/ - Just Culture book: https://sidneydekker.com/just-culture/ - Dunbar’s number: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number - Amy Edmondson, Teaming: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teaming-Organizations-Innovate-Compete-Knowledge/dp/078797093X - Jon Ronson So You've Been Publicly Shamed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_You%27ve_Been_Publicly_Shamed - Gary Klein, Pre-Mortem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-mortem *** We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

Our first interview ever! We welcome to the studio Chris Clearfield, co-author of Meltdown, a book all about system failure and the reasons for it. Chris explains ideas like tight coupling (not the OO kind!) and system complexity, and we explore how they apply to technical debt and bug prioritisation. We get to hear some of the best stories from the book as well, including the hedge fund that lost £500m in 45 minutes, and we learn about failcake and pre-mortem analysis. GUEST LINKS: - Chris's site: https://www.chrisclearfield.com - Chris's twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisClearfield - Book site: http://meltdownbook.net - Take the quiz: http://quiz.rethinkrisk.net/quiz/ - Book video preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wi8KA4I34s&feature=youtu.be SHOW LINKS: - Psychohistory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychohistory_(fictional) - Normal Accidents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Accidents - John Allspaw: https://www.kitchensoap.com/about-me/ - Just Culture book: https://sidneydekker.com/just-culture/ - Dunbar’s number: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number - Amy Edmondson, Teaming: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teaming-Organizations-Innovate-Compete-Knowledge/dp/078797093X - Jon Ronson So You've Been Publicly Shamed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_You%27ve_Been_Publicly_Shamed - Gary Klein, Pre-Mortem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-mortem *** We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

Our first interview ever! We welcome to the studio Chris Clearfield, co-author of Meltdown, a book all about system failure and the reasons for it. Chris explains ideas like tight coupling (not the OO kind!) and system complexity, and we explore how they apply to technical debt and bug prioritisation. We get to hear some of the best stories from the book as well, including the hedge fund that lost £500m in 45 minutes, and we learn about failcake and pre-mortem analysis. GUEST LINKS: - Chris's site: https://www.chrisclearfield.com - Chris's twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisClearfield - Book site: http://meltdownbook.net - Take the quiz: http://quiz.rethinkrisk.net/quiz/ - Book video preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wi8KA4I34s&feature=youtu.be SHOW LINKS: - Psychohistory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychohistory_(fictional) - Normal Accidents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Accidents - John Allspaw: https://www.kitchensoap.com/about-me/ - Just Culture book: https://sidneydekker.com/just-culture/ - Dunbar’s number: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number - Amy Edmondson, Teaming: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teaming-Organizations-Innovate-Compete-Knowledge/dp/078797093X - Jon Ronson So You've Been Publicly Shamed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_You%27ve_Been_Publicly_Shamed - Gary Klein, Pre-Mortem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-mortem *** We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel discuss the history of “software for humans”, the agile, lean, and devops movements. No links this week as the book deadline looms, but feel free to ask us if you can’t find a reference. Normal service will resume shortly! *** We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

A listener question about running a Troubleshooting Agile study group inspires advice on keeping your learning from becoming lunchtime entertainment, as well as surprisingly relevant stories about a pottery class, a management seminar, and the Israeli military. SHOW LINKS: - Joel's tweet requesting advice on his study group: https://twitter.com/joelchippindale/status/1143137854278840321 - Our series on the twelve agile principles: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/the-importance-of-the-agile-principles - Pottery story from Art & Fear: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0961454733/ via https://stratechery.com/2015/buzzfeed-important-news-organization-world/ - Joel Spolsky on Fire and Motion: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/ - Reg Revans on action and learning: http://actionlearning.academy/benefits.html *** We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

The engineers know the project is in terrible trouble, but the executives think it's going great. This "greenshifting" anti-pattern occurs at NASA, software companies, and everywhere in between. We tell a few related stories, including a fable, and suggest methods that might work to counteract the greenshifting tendency in your organisation. SHOW LINKS: - "The Mushroom Song" by Steve Savitsky: http://steve.savitzky.net/Songs/mushroom/ - The SNAFU Principle (communication fable) from the Jargon File: http://skeptictank.org/files//cowtext/jargn10.htm - Appendix F on the Challenger disaster, by Richard Feynman: https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/docs/rogers-commission/Appendix-F.txt - Scott Ambler on Greenshifting: https://www.drdobbs.com/dr-dobbs-agile-newsletter/191600661 - Alistair Cockburn on information radiators: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=24486&ranMID=24808 - Brian Marick on lava lamps as build status indicators: https://gist.github.com/marick/3ec112bc38b2af267e15 *** We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

You can invest a lot of your time in making your software delivery predictable (a la NASA) or in making your team productive (a la early stage startups). Which is best? We introduce the idea of a "tilted slider" to explain this tradeoff, and the "gravity" that pulls you toward predictability even when it may not be the best emphasis. And as usual, we have stories of effective and ineffective action from our own experiences. SHOW LINKS: - Cowboy coding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_coding *** We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2