Software Process and Measurement Cast

Software Process and Measurement Cast 784 features our interview with Michaele Gardner and Brian Hackerson. We talk about their Agile Best Self Initiative. We also, and perhaps more importantly, discuss being in control of yourself so you can truly deliver value to those around you. As we start to close out 2023 it is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how you can be your best self. Michaele Gardner started out as a counselor at an emergency crisis line. Clients were too messy: clear inputs did not lead to predetermined outputs. So she moved into the world of IT and has not looked back. Becoming a developer on an XP team brought together her interests in psychology, flow, teamwork and problem solving. She quickly realized that many teams (and organizations) poured their hearts and souls into projects that added little value. Her next natural step was to help engineers and organizations understand business value at a micro and macro level. At all levels, Michaele loves giving change agents tools to define their own "why" and stay emotionally resilient. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaele-gardner-0829205/ Brian R. Hackerson is the co-creator of the Agile Best Self mindset, the VP of People Operations and Enterprise Agile Consultant at Scrum Inc. An innovator at the intersection of Agile practices and personal development, Brian has revolutionized team engagement and performance in various leadership roles. His approach uniquely blends professional growth with personal empowerment, embodying his belief in the transformative power of aligning individual journeys with Agile principles. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhackerson/ Agile Best Self: https://agilebestself.com/ Re-Read Saturday News Chapter 11 of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't is titled Saving The El Faro. In this final chapter, the author could have just as easily reimagined the outcomes of the Pinto design or the Deepwater Horizon disasters. The theme throughout the book is that Industrial-age thinking fails more often in the age of Knowledge Work. My final thoughts on this book? Not to put too fine a point on it, this is Marquet's most important book yet. Use the links below to read all of my final thoughts on Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't and to catch up on previous installments. Week 1: Logistics, Introduction, Foreword – https://bit.ly/3sTqyu3 Week 2: El Faro – https://bit.ly/3RnkUue Week 3: The New Playbook – https://bit.ly/3Llgmki Week 4: Control the Clock – https://bit.ly/45UFp5Z Week 5: Collaborate – https://bit.ly/3PzFiXI Week 6: Commit – https://bit.ly/46DMmsF Week 7: Complete – https://bit.ly/47aTDQe Week 8: Improve – https://bit.ly/3FMT1Vw Week 9: Connect – https://bit.ly/3QW05Wj Week 10: Applying – https://bit.ly/3ufAq1K Week 11: Red-Blue Operating System – https://bit.ly/3SQLuNb Week 12: Saving The El Faro - https://bit.ly/3R8PIgw Next week we begin the READ (my first time) of Actionable Agile Metrics Volume II, Advanced Topics in Predictability; which is available at LeanPub. We re-read Volume I in 2018 (link to the first installment) that book was life changing…I am looking forward to Volume II. Learn to Solve IT's Dirtiest Secret! Work input, which includes prioritization and sequencing, is how work gets to an organization or team. If you get it wrong you are throwing time and money away. Simply put, poor work intake means "no agile for you". Jeremy Willets and I have written Managing Work Intake tackling the topic that JRoss Publishing will publish in January 2024. In support of the book, we are building a live, workshop-based course for anyone involved in deciding on what work gets completed! This includes Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Project Managers, Program Managers, and Portfolio Managers - lots of people are involved which is part of the problem! The workshop will cover why work intake is the biggest challenge to teams and organizations today. Attendees will also learn what to do to solve this challenge. This cohort-based course will combine very short lectures, discussions, and exercises. It will provide space to learn and share with peers. We're using a survey to build a waitlist for the first cohort – link below. We will use the list to alert you when the workshop is available. https://bit.ly/3MdmvQa Next SPaMCAST As we celebrate the impending publication of Managing Work Intake (it is going to the printers very soon) I will continue the discussion of work intake scenarios that bedevil teams and organizations. Controlling work entry is controlling WIP which helps us be our best selves. We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault bringing his Evolutionary Agilist Column to the cast!

Software Process and Measurement Cast 783 tackles a classic work intake problem, "Do you have the authority to ask for this work?" Work input processes need to vet more than just requirements. We also have a visit from Jon M Quigley. Jon and I discussed taking control of your personal growth. It is not your organization's responsibility. Re-Read Saturday News Chapter 10 of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't is titled, The Red-Blue Operating System. Marquet starts this chapter with the cautionary tale of the Ford Pinto. The chapter highlights the outcome of the industrial approach to leadership going wrong. My wife had a Pinto when we first started dating. It was our only car and we both remember waiting for it to be recalled, even as we drove to work every morning. We discussed the potential of the fuel tank exploding. What we were oblivious to was the reason for the problem. The failure of leadership and the failure of the decision-making model literally sentenced people to death to achieve a goal. Previous installments of our re-read of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't (buy a copy)! Week 1: Logistics, Introduction, Foreword – https://bit.ly/3sTqyu3 Week 2: El Faro – https://bit.ly/3RnkUue Week 3: The New Playbook – https://bit.ly/3Llgmki Week 4: Control the Clock – https://bit.ly/45UFp5Z Week 5: Collaborate – https://bit.ly/3PzFiXI Week 6: Commit - https://bit.ly/46DMmsF Week 7: Complete - https://bit.ly/47aTDQe Week 8: Improve - https://bit.ly/3FMT1Vw Week 9: Connect - https://bit.ly/3QW05Wj Week 10: Applying - https://bit.ly/3ufAq1K Week 11: Red-Blue Operating System - https://bit.ly/3SQLuNb Learn to Solve IT's Dirtiest Secret! Work input, which includes prioritization and sequencing, is how work gets to an organization or team. If you get it wrong you are throwing time and money away. Simply put, poor work intake means no agile for you. Jeremy Willets and I have written Managing Work Intake tackling the topic that JRoss Publishing will publish in January 2024. In support of the book, we are building a live, workshop-based course for anyone involved in deciding on what work gets completed! This includes Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Project Managers, Program Managers, and Portfolio Managers - lots of people are involved which is part of the problem! The workshop will cover why work intake is the biggest challenge to teams and organizations today. Attendees will also learn what to do to solve this challenge. This cohort-based course will combine very short lectures, discussions, and exercises. It will provide space to learn and share with peers. We're using a survey to build a waitlist for the first cohort – link below. We will use the list to alert you when the workshop is available. https://bit.ly/3MdmvQa Next SPaMCAST Software Process and Measurement Cast 784 will feature our interview with Michaele Gardner and Brian Hackerson. We talked about Agile Best Self and being in control of our agile.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 782 features our conversation with Govind Balu on the importance of data and the concept of data transformations. Data represents the gold rush of the 21st Century! Govind Balu is a visionary entrepreneur and experienced executive with a strong background in leveraging data and AI to drive business growth across different industries. As the Founder and CEO of QuaXigma, he spearheads the company's vision to transform organizations into data-driven enterprises. Govind observed that small and medium businesses struggle to effectively extract value from data and are unable to compete in a landscape where larger organizations more effectively leverage AI. Motivated to make data and AI easily accessible to SMBs, Govind founded QuaXigma with a clear mission to develop and deliver solutions that deliver business value by focusing on innovation, customer satisfaction, and strategic consulting. Govind's LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/govindbalu Email: balugovind01@gmail.com Company Website: https://www.quaxigma.com/ Re-Read Saturday News In Chapter 9 of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't, Marquet provides several examples of using the new plays. As a reminder, the plays in the new playbook are: Control The Clock Collaborate Commit Complete Improve Connect Each play is powerful; however, the combination of the plays is where the real power is. For example, controlling the clock — calling a pause — allows a person or team time to think. During that pause, if they surface issues that are addressed the post-industrial plays of collaboration and improving are in evidence. Leveraging short iterations so that work can be demonstrated and inspected combines the control the clock, complete, and connect plays. Iterative planning, a hallmark of agile, combines control the clock and commit plays. Use the links below to explore more of the re-read. Previous installments of our re-read of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't (buy a copy)! Week 1: Logistics, Introduction, Foreword – https://bit.ly/3sTqyu3 Week 2: El Faro – https://bit.ly/3RnkUue Week 3: The New Playbook – https://bit.ly/3Llgmki Week 4: Control the Clock – https://bit.ly/45UFp5Z Week 5: Collaborate – https://bit.ly/3PzFiXI Week 6: Commit - https://bit.ly/46DMmsF Week 7: Complete - https://bit.ly/47aTDQe Week 8: Improve - https://bit.ly/3FMT1Vw Week 9: Connect - https://bit.ly/3QW05Wj Week 10: Applying - https://bit.ly/3ufAq1K Learn to Solve IT's Dirtiest Secret! Work input, which includes prioritization and sequencing, is how work gets to an organization or team. If you get it wrong you are throwing time and money away. Simply put, poor work intake means no agile for you. Jeremy Willets and I have written Managing Work Intake tackling the topic that JRoss Publishing will publish in January 2024. In support of the book, we are building a live, workshop-based course for anyone involved in deciding on what work gets completed! This includes Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Project Managers, Program Managers, and Portfolio Managers - lots of people are involved which is part of the problem! The workshop will cover why work intake is the biggest challenge to teams and organizations today. Attendees will also learn what to do to solve this challenge. This cohort-based course will combine very short lectures, discussions, and exercises. It will provide space to learn and share with peers. We're using a survey to build a waitlist for the first cohort – link below. We will use the list to alert you when the workshop is available. https://bit.ly/3MdmvQa Next SPaMCAST Software Process and Measurement Cast 783 will tackle a classic work intake problem, "Did I forget to tell you, the requirements changed?" What happens when you don't have a clear line to the business to get feedback as you are doing work? Often you get to do things over and over and maybe over again. We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault bringing his Evolutionary Agilist Coumn to the cast!

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 781 begins with a discussion of prioritization and sequencing. These two ideas often get conflated. Work might be important but if it has predecessors and successors it will require sequencing. You can't deploy a new piece of hardware unless you have it. The acquisition of the equipment comes before deployment. Not letting teams control or have input into sequencing has consequences. Let us discuss avoiding those negative outcomes. We also have a visit from Keis Kostaqi who returns with her You Are Not Alone column. Keis and I discuss the new Scrum Master that gets thrown to the wolves. Get a coach or risk being eaten? Re-Read Saturday News Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't Chapter 8 is titled, The Enabling Play: Connect. This Chapter begins with the story of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The disaster may have been avoided if a single button had been pushed. The button went unpushed until it was too late because the person did not have permission. Marquet states "How is it that a person could be more afraid of pushing a button without permission, than dying in a fiery explosion?" Hierarchy above all is a power play from the Industrial Age, a play that remains entrenched in corporate life. Fear supported by steep hierarchies, distorts common sense in environments with a strong culture of control and compliance. Previous installments of our re-read of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't (buy a copy)! Week 1: Logistics, Introduction, Foreword – https://bit.ly/3sTqyu3 Week 2: El Faro – https://bit.ly/3RnkUue Week 3: The New Playbook – https://bit.ly/3Llgmki Week 4: Control the Clock – https://bit.ly/45UFp5Z Week 5: Collaborate – https://bit.ly/3PzFiXI Week 6: Commit - https://bit.ly/46DMmsF Week 7: Complete - https://bit.ly/47aTDQe Week 8: Improve - https://bit.ly/3FMT1Vw Week 9: Connect - https://bit.ly/3QW05Wj Learn to Solve IT's Dirtiest Secret! Work input, which includes prioritization and sequencing, is how work gets to an organization or team. If you get it wrong you are throwing time and money away. Simply put, poor work intake means no agile for you. Jeremy Willets and I have written Managing Work Intake tackling the topic that JRoss Publishing will publish in January 2024. In support of the book, we are building a live, workshop-based course for anyone involved in deciding on what work gets completed! This includes Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Project Managers, Program Managers, and Portfolio Managers - there are a lot of people involved and that is part of the problem! The workshop will cover why work intake is the biggest challenge to teams and organizations today. Attendees will also learn what to do to solve this challenge. This cohort-based course will combine very short lectures, discussions, and exercises. It will provide space to learn and share with peers. We're using a survey to build a waitlist for the first cohort – link below. We will use the list to alert you when the workshop is available. Link to Survey! https://bit.ly/3MdmvQa Next SPaMCAST Software Process and Measurement Cast 782 will feature our interview with Govind Balu. We will discuss the importance of data and how organizations are tackling data transformations.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 780 features our interview with Billie Johnson. Our discussion focuses on the role of delivering outcomes and values using agile teams. We also discussed her book, Mastering Business Analysis Standard Practices: Seven Steps to the Next Level of Competency which she co-authored with Kelley Burns. Re-Read Saturday News The improve play is one of the most powerful aspects of Marquet's suggested framework. Improve is chapter 7 of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't. Improve is a time for stepping back from the pressure of getting stuff done to consider whether you are doing the right thing, right. We have spoken about the need to pause, reflect, and replan periodically – this is the heart of the Improve play. Previous installments of our re-read of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't (buy a copy)! Week 1: Logistics, Introduction, Foreword – https://bit.ly/3sTqyu3 Week 2: El Faro – https://bit.ly/3RnkUue Week 3: The New Playbook – https://bit.ly/3Llgmki Week 4: Control the Clock – https://bit.ly/45UFp5Z Week 5: Collaborate – https://bit.ly/3PzFiXI Week 6: Commit - https://bit.ly/46DMmsF Week 7: Complete - https://bit.ly/47aTDQe Week 8: Improve - https://bit.ly/3FMT1Vw Learn to Solve IT's Dirtiest Secret! Work input is how work gets to an organization or team. If you get it wrong you are throwing time and money away. SImply put, poor work intake means no agile for you. Jeremy Willets and I have written a book tackling the topic that will be published by JRoss Publishing in January 2024. In support of the book we are building a live, cohort-based course for Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Project Managers, Program Managers, and Portfolio Managers on taming work intake. The cohort will cover why work intake is the biggest challenge to teams and organizations today. Attendees will also learn what to do to solve this challenge. We've held workshops on this topic at conferences. We even have a book coming out in January on this topic. This cohort-based course will combine very short lectures, discussions, and exercises. It will provide space to learn and share with peers. We're using this survey to build a waitlist for the first cohort: https://bit.ly/3MdmvQa Next SPaMCAST Software Process and Measurement Cast 781 wrestles with whether overprioritization's impact extends beyond poor leadership to bad products. Just because you have a prioritized backlog does not ensure delivering value. We will also have a visit from Keis Kostaqi who returns with her You Are Not Alone column.

Software Process and Measurement Cast 779 wrestles with the question, When prioritization involves overly detailed or excessive control over how someone accomplishes their tasks or when it impedes an employee's ability to make their own decisions it becomes micromanagement. Let's explore and look for a path to healing. We will also have a visit from Susan Parente and her Not A Scrumdamentalist column. Susan talks about her impending sabbatical and why taking a pause can be powerful. Re-Read Saturday News Complete is the next chapter in Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't. This concept suggests breaking goals into smaller chunks with pauses to think and replan between each. Another solution to over-prioritization and micromanagement. Previous installments of our re-read of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't (buy a copy)! Week 1: Logistics, Introduction, Foreword – https://bit.ly/3sTqyu3 Week 2: El Faro – https://bit.ly/3RnkUue Week 3: The New Playbook – https://bit.ly/3Llgmki Week 4: Control the Clock – https://bit.ly/45UFp5Z Week 5: Collaborate – https://bit.ly/3PzFiXI Week 6: Commit - https://bit.ly/46DMmsF Week 7: Complete - https://bit.ly/47aTDQe A Call to Action! Jeremy Willets and I are building a live, cohort-based course for Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Project Managers, Program Managers, and Portfolio Managers on taming work intake. I wanted to see if you'd be up for sharing it with folks who would find it valuable. The cohort will cover why work intake is the biggest challenge to teams and organizations today. Attendees will also learn what to do to solve this challenge. We've held workshops on this topic at conferences. We even have a book coming out in January on this topic. This cohort-based course will combine very short lectures, discussions, and exercises. It will provide space to learn and share with peers. We're using this survey to build a waitlist for the first cohort: https://bit.ly/3MdmvQa Next SPaMCAST The Software Process and Measurement Cast 780 will feature our interview with Billie Johnson. We will discuss her book, Mastering Business Analysis Standard Practices: Seven Steps to the Next Level of Competency which she co-authored with Kelley Burns. We also talked about using business analysis to power agile teams.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 778 marks our return from Iceland. WICKED trip, great country, great people! We return with our interview with Bill Fox. Bill and I discussed his new book, Charting A New Odyssey, transformation, dialog, listening, and leadership. The many conversations Bill and I have had over the years leave me in a better place. Bill states, "I believe that the great leaders and companies in the 21st century will go on a Forward Thinking journey and be built from the inside out.' The world has shifted, and new rules apply. It used to be that you would win by managing change, following best practices, working harder, or even smarter. It was the age of Industrial Thinking and people as profit-producing units. Bill's LinkedIn Profile linkedin.com/in/billfoxstrategy Websites forwardthinkingworkplaces.com (Company) billfox.co (Personal) spaceb.co (Blog) Email bill@billfox.co Re-Read Saturday News This week in our re-read of L. David Marquet's, Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't, Leaving Bluework Behind: Commit. Whether you classify thinking as System Two thinking or bluework, at some point you have to cross the barrier from contemplation to doing. Chapter Five focuses on reducing the barrier between thinking and action. The process that bridges that barrier is commitment. The author begins the chapter by making the distinction between commitment and coercion. Previous installments of our re-read of Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't (buy a copy)! Week 1: Logistics, Introduction, Foreword – https://bit.ly/3sTqyu3 Week 2: El Faro – https://bit.ly/3RnkUue Week 3: The New Playbook – https://bit.ly/3Llgmki Week 4: Control the Clock – https://bit.ly/45UFp5Z Week 5: Collaborate – https://bit.ly/3PzFiXI Week 6: Commit - https://bit.ly/46DMmsF Next SPaMCAST The Software Process and Measurement Cast 779 will wrestle with the question, when is prioritization micro-management? The answer is not straightforward but often can be yes. We will also have a visit from Susan Parente and her Not A Scrumdamentalist column.

This week we are on our annual holiday. We are toiling away editing audio and doing voice exercises to bring you new and exciting content and will be back next week! In the SPaMCAST 777 we re-release SPaMCAST 486 - Daniel S Vacanti, Actionable Agile Metrics. The idea of flow metrics has fundamentally changed my perspective on how to use metrics. I have to thank Mr. Vacanti for starting me on the path. Enjoy the interview. The original inroducion - SPaMCAST 486 features our interview with Daniel S. Vacanti. Mr. Vacanti is the author of Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability: An Introduction. We discussed the concepts in the book, answered a question from Steven Adams, and talked about his new book. It was great to talk about a book with the author after the re-read.

We are on our annual holiday and will return with new programs on October 22nd. This week in the SPaMCAST 776 from our archives we feature SPaMCAST 641 - The Agile Coaching Code of Ethics, A Conversation With Shane Hastie and Craig Smith. The show was originally aired on March 7, 2021. I still think the ethics initiative is one of the most important things I have been involved with professionally. Enjoy the discussion. Read more (you really should) at https://www.agilealliance.org/agilecoachingethics/ The original inroducion - In the podcast this week, we discuss the Agile Coaching Code of Ethics and the process of building an ethical foundation. Shane Hastie and Craig Smith have been leading the effort to craft a useful Agile Coaching Code of Ethics for the past year. These two thought leaders have helped to pull together a diverse group of coaches, and then guide that herd of cats to create a new force to guide agile coaches of all stripes.

We are on our annual holiday and will return with new programs on October 22nd. The Software Process and Measurement Cast 775 is a re-release of SPaMCAST 635 - Practical Ways to Manage, A Conversation with Johanna Rothman. The show was originally released on January 24, 2021. It was one of the SPaMCAST's many anniversary editions. Enjoy our conversation The original introduction - Cue the music . . . Happy Birthday, Software Process and Measurement Cast! Today we begin year 15 with a visit from Johanna Rothman. We talked about her THREE new books: Practical Ways to Manage Yourself: Modern Management Made Easy, Book 1 https://amzn.to/2LXKkiQ Practical Ways to Lead & Serve (Manage) Others: Modern Management Made Easy, Book 2 - https://amzn.to/39Viwnj Practical Ways to Lead an Innovative Organization: Modern Management Made Easy, Book 3 - https://amzn.to/3qS90Z3 We of course covered more ground. For example about 2/3rds of the way through we talked about why the word experiment is a dirty word in most organizations. This is a longer interview, but when I grow up I want to be just like Johanna (I am serious). See all her books, blogs, and other resources at jrothman.com and createadaptablelife.com.