Engineering Culture by InfoQ

Shane Hastie, InfoQ Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Sara Bayless Da Costa, visual storyteller and design thinking evangelist at Fjord. Bayless Da Costa gave a talk at QCon San Francisco on Rapid Prototyping Methods. They spoke about prototyping, collaborative design, designing for new interfaces and new skills that designers need in order to be successful with new technologies. Why listen to this podcast: - The importance of taking a collaborative design approach with multiple roles involved – design is not just done by designers - Design and development work well together to deliver an exceptional customer experience - The importance of empathy when understanding people’s needsVisual storytelling is a powerful way to convey messages and inform good decision making - Evergreen needs – human needs have not fundamentally changed, but the way we solve them is constantly evolving - Designers need new and different skills to be effective in this new world Notes and links can be found on: http://bit.ly/2kkWzT1 6m:40s - The value and importance of visual story-telling 7m:55s - The “hero’s journey” story of product creation to solve real problems for real users 8m:28s - Story telling is important across the entire design and development process 9m:17s - Contrasting the current story with the future story of the customer experience 9m:40s - Storyboarding as a technique for sketching the end-to-end customer experience 9m:53s - Creating a video from customer interviews to understand and communicate their story More on this: Quick scan our curated show notes on InfoQ. http://bit.ly/2kkWzT1 You can also subscribe to the InfoQ newsletter to receive weekly updates on the hottest topics from professional software development. bit.ly/24x3IVq

In this podcast Shane Hastie, InfoQ Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Alexandre Freire Kawakami, a Director at Industrial Logic about his talk Enabling Awesome Engineering Teams, the ideas behind Modern Agile and the importance of feedback loops and real usage data for product development. Why listen to this podcast: - Overview of his talk on enabling awesome engineering teamsThe contradiction between values-driven and process-driven change - Modern Agile is designed to help people and organisations get over the process obsession - Working software is not enough – achieving better outcomes for customers is what’s important - By having analytics and usage data available we can learn what works and what doesn’t and make better decisions Notes and links can be found on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/2j2usrx 6m:15s - Modern agile is about a community sharing ideas and stories about working towards four principles: Deliver value continuously Make people awesome Experiment and learn rapidly Make safety a prerequisite 6m:40s - Some techniques which can help achieve these values, depending on the culture fit 7m:25s - The benefits of single piece flow 8m:10s - The importance of safety to make experimentation and learning possible 9m:40s - It’s about building a community- not selling ideas 9m:55s - Some practices which can be taught 10m:22s - Not all organisations want to change at the same rate and to the same extent, and that’s OK Quick scan our curated show notes on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/2j2usrx You can also subscribe to the InfoQ newsletter to receive weekly updates on the hottest topics from professional software development. bit.ly/2cMnjfW

In this podcast recorded at QCon San Francisco 2016, Shane Hastie, InfoQ Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Mitch Shepard founder of WiRL about her talk at QCon and the challenges around gender diversity in the tech workforce. Why listen to this podcast: - Gender diversity and women leaving tech roles is a real and serious problem - There are compelling reasons to have a more diverse workplace – both ethical and bottom line results - “It’s nobody’s fault, but it is everybody’s problem” - There are physiological differences between the male and female brains - Don’t assume anything about anyone because of who they are or any characteristic they may have – we are all different Notes and links can be found on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/2jodKmn 4m:34s - “It’s nobody’s fault, but it is everybody’s problem” 4m:49s - There is strong, systematic bias which gives men an advantage which goes long and deep 5m:09s - Things driving the recognition of the issue at a personal level are often related to leaders who see the issue and are driven by an extreme sense of fairness, and seeing the women they care about impeded in their career growth 6m:14s - The business case for diversity is compelling – businesses who have a higher percentage of women leaders than the average consistently achieve better financial performance Quick scan our curated show notes on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/2jodKmn You can also subscribe to the InfoQ newsletter to receive weekly updates on the hottest topics from professional software development. bit.ly/2cMnjfW

This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences. In this podcast Shane Hastie, InfoQ Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke with Douglas Talbot, Head of Organisational Effectiveness for Ocado Technology, about the challenges and opportunities involved in creating a culture of innovation and agility in “a technology company that also does retail”. Why listen to this podcast: - Differences in the way IT is approached in different parts of the worldApplying ideas from agile, lean and Kanban to making business smarter by looking beyond process and practices to the people factors that make a difference to organisational outcomes - Looking beyond the “latest consultancy model of choice” and taking an evidence-based approach to understand what really drives motivation and behavioural change in teams - Leadership is a game of providing clarity of vision and allowing teams to be self-organising and empowered - Cultural change is not really possible without commitment from the very topTop talent wants to work in places where there is a great culture, so culture becomes a competitive advantage Notes and links can be found on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/2hQ5Kdg 8m:35s - Diverse backgrounds of the organisational effectiveness group 9m:05s - Engaging a behavioural economist and an organisational psychologist to ensure there is an understanding of the evidence around group dynamics and motivation 9m:25s - Looking beyond the “latest consultancy model of choice” and taking an evidence-based approach to understand what really drives motivation and behavioural change in teams 10m:10s - Examples of evidence found and changes made Quick scan our curated show notes on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/2hQ5Kdg You can also subscribe to the InfoQ newsletter to receive weekly updates on the hottest topics from professional software development. bit.ly/2cMnjfW

This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences. In this podcast recorded at QCon San Francisco 2016, Shane Hastie, InfoQ Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Amber Case, Cyborg Anthropologist. Case explains why VR is an important step along the way to Augmented Reality, how technology needs to fit in with social norms, and why calm technology is so important. Why listen to this podcast: - We are all cyborgs now - There is a clear sequence for a technology to be accepted in society, and trying to leapfrog the steps results in failure - The value of calm technology to overcome the shock of so many devices competing for our attention in different ways - The importance of security and safety in the always connected technology world - The risks, downfalls and benefits of technology in human lives Notes and links can be found on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/amber-case 1m:40s - Starting with VR to create new experiences and use them to learn about the potential of the new technologies 2m:00s - The importance of starting with a technology that fits in with the current social norms and expand slowly into new frontiers 2m:10s - The hype and excitement around AR made us forget the normal order – get VR working well first then move on to AR 2m:55s - The value of games as a way to socialise the new technologies Quick scan our curated show notes on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/amber-case You can also subscribe to the InfoQ newsletter to receive weekly updates on the hottest topics from professional software development. bit.ly/2cMnjfW

This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences. In this podcast, recorded at Agile 2016, Shane Hastie, InfoQ Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Michael de la Maza and David Benz about their minibook Why Agile Works, which is available at InfoQ.com. Why listen to this podcast: - In a startup you have to use an Agile approach – it just makes sense - It’s easy to teach practices, but with a foundation in the core values of agile then practice drive adoption of agile can be hell - There has been a recent resurgence in the recognition of the importance of the values - This can be a way to explain agile approaches to executives - Cutting through dysfunction requires addressing culture and assumptions Notes and links can be found on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/why-agile-works 7m:30s - The book has lots of dimensions and plenty of examples of why values matter, and how they make a difference 7m:50s - The audience includes managers who want to adopt a value-driven approach 8m:05s - It is for people who want to deepen their level of consciousness about the agile values, not just add another practice to their toolkit 8m:35s - This is a book to help explain agile approaches to executives 9m:20s - Key message: integrity and consistency. 9m:45s - The impact of practices which are at odds with corporate values Quick scan our curated show notes on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/why-agile-works You can also subscribe to the InfoQ newsletter to receive weekly updates on the hottest topics from professional software development. bit.ly/2cMnjfW

This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences. In this podcast recorded at the Agile 2016 conference, Shane Hastie, InfoQ Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, talks to five of the leading minds of Agile Management: Steve Denning, Ray Arell, Todd Little, Hendrik Esser and Steve Holyer. They explore the question “Is agile still agile?”, look at the challenges around agile development and product management, and what is needed for large scale agile transformation. Why listen to this podcast: - Agile is a mindset, not a set of processes or practices - The risks and dangers of packaged implementation of “agile” using process checkboxes without understanding why - Agile adoption is hard – simple but not easy - When agile practices are adopted for the wrong reasons it causes stress levels to go up and drives unsustainable behavioursIt’s not “twice the work in half the time”; it should be about twice the value with half the work - The Scrum role of Product Owner is broken - Product management is the hardest part of product development, irrespective of the development approachIn a complex world your only chance for survival is learning Notes and links can be found on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/2g2hWuR 4m:15s - Some teams can benefit from checkbox, packaged implementations of agility as a starting point but they must be able to evolve. 4m:30s - Agility is a journey – you need to be agile in mindset, based around continuous improvement. 4m:40s - The most agile teams are the ones who continually inspect and adapt their practices to work most effectively for their context. 5m:00s - Checkbox teams who follow every one of the practices without knowing why are unable to improve and are not effective. 5m:15s - It’s about understanding and getting to the heart of why – for your process and for your product. 5m:30s - The checkbox process is easy for companies to measure and doing so drives bad behaviour. Quick scan our curated show notes on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/2g2hWuR You can also subscribe to the InfoQ newsletter to receive weekly updates on the hottest topics from professional software development. bit.ly/2cMnjfW

This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences. In this podcast, Shane Hastie, InfoQ Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, talks to Melissa Perri, a UX and Product Management expert and founder of Produx Labs. Why listen to this podcast: - Put value first – it’s not about building more stuff but making sure we build the right thing for the right people - Product ownership is about optimising value for the organisation - Managers need to understand their role in product management - Identify outcomes and define pirate metrics for success - Empower teams to achieve the outcomes, not deliver features Notes and links can be found on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/melissa-perri 3m:45s Management should communicate the metrics and goals to the product owner and let them work with the delivery team(s) to figure out how to achieve them 4m:20s Product owners told to make decisions but not actually empowered to do so 4m:35s Focus on training the managers on what they need to do to effectively support product ownership and how to communicate clear boundaries and goals 5m:20s A product strategy is not a plan 5m:55s Common approach is for managers to define the features and roadmap instead of identifying and communicating the goals, and trust the teams to figure out the best way to achieve the goals Quick scan our curated show notes on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/melissa-perri You can also subscribe to the InfoQ newsletter to receive weekly updates on the hottest topics from professional software development. http://bit.ly/2cMnjfW

This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences. In this podcast, Shane Hastie, InfoQ Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, talks to David Hussman, founder and “The Dude” from DevJam and CardBoard It!, a tool for story mapping. Why listen to this podcast: - Put value first – it’s not about building more stuff but making sure we build the right thing for the right people - Dude’s Law: Value = Why / How - Identify the impact that a product needs to make on someone’s life - Constrain complexity using thin slicing and “minimum viable learning” - Have an intentional discovery-delivery cadence to speed up the learning cycles – design and delivery sprints tightly coupled - “Done” is not enough – value is only delivered when the item has been validated with real customers - Validation can happen in both discovery and delivery Notes and links can be found on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/2eegjYf - 1m 41s Introducing “Dude’s Law”: Value = Why divided by How. - 3m 05s Think about the intent, not the process, when looking at product development. - 3m 17s Focus on Product over Process and finding the intent, identifying the impact that the product will have. - 3m 30s Large “transformations” are often never-ending and not very successful; successful products come from finding the thing that impacts someone – that makes someone’s life better. More on this: Quick scan our curated show notes on InfoQ. http://bit.ly/2eegjYf You can also subscribe to the InfoQ newsletter to receive weekly updates on the hottest topics from professional software development. http://bit.ly/2cMnjfW

This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences. In this podcast, Shane Hastie, InfoQ Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, talks to Phil Brock, Rebecca Parsons, Paul Hammond and Victor Hugo about the state of the Agile Alliance, new initiatives being worked on around the world and the future of agility in the workplace. Why listen to this podcast: - The Agile 2016 conference was the largest ever with nearly 2500 people attending - The Agile Alliance is spreading around the world with events and through affiliates - The Agile Alliance has responded to the criticism about the main conference having less technical content and ran a Technical Conference in 2016 with another scheduled for 2017, as well as having technically focused initiatives which are exploring new technical practices in response to the changing technical landscape - Member driven initiatives are receiving more focus and more funding to engage the agile community The Agile Alliance website has a large repository of content which is freely available to the global agile community, and more is constantly being produced Notes and links can be found on InfoQ: http://bit.ly/2dDB01f - 4m 55s The Agile Alliance is spreading into parts of the world beyond North America with affiliates and with events in different countries. - 5m 05s Victor talks about the Agile Europe and Agile Brazil conferences. - 6m 09s The value of having an Affiliate in Brazil is about providing a structure and support for the large Agile Brazil conference as well as providing a vehicle to support the growth of a healthy agile community in Brazil - 7m 25s There are a variety of Initiatives which the Alliance supports. These are ways for the community to get involved and to propose ideas for areas they want to see the Alliance working in. There are three types of initiatives the Alliance supports More on this: Quick scan our curated show notes on InfoQ. http://bit.ly/2dDB01f You can also subscribe to the InfoQ newsletter to receive weekly updates on the hottest topics from professional software development. http://bit.ly/2cMnjfW