Software Process and Measurement Cast

In the Software Process and Measurement Cast 703, we wrestle with one of the basics of agile. What is the power of making a commitment? Making and keeping commitments are core components of professional behavior. It is a promise to perform. Whether Agile or Waterfall, commitments are used to manage software projects. They are used to drive the behavior of teams. We also have a visit from Jon M Quigley who brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development column to the podcast. Re-read Saturday News Chapter 7 is one of my favorites in Why Limit WIP: We Are Drowning In Work. One of the chronic problems I help teams deal with is the perceived need to start everything that comes to them, generating huge amounts of WIP. Many of the items sit in an on-hold status until something else happens. The iron-willed self-discipline of starting is great at creating on-hold items and crap at getting work done. There is a gap in understanding the impact of the consequences. Remember to buy a copy and read along. Amazon Affiliate LInk: https://amzn.to/36Rq3p5 Previous Entries Week 1: Preface, Foreword, Introduction, and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3iDezbp Week 2: Processing and Memory – https://bit.ly/3qYR4yg Week 3: Completion - https://bit.ly/3usMiLm Week 4: Multitasking - https://bit.ly/37hUh5z Week 5: Context Switching - https://bit.ly/3K8KADF Week 6: Creating An Economy - https://bit.ly/3F1XKkZ Week 7: Healthy Constraints - https://bit.ly/3kM8xqh Week 8: Focus - https://bit.ly/3PkE0hg Next SPaMCAST In the SPaMCAST 704, we talk leadership with Stuart Leo Founder & CEO at Waymaker.io. Leadership is incredibly important and requires constant attention.

In SPaMCAST 702, Matthew Stibbe and I talk about the impact of leadership when building a technology-driven business. Mathew shared stories about learning to type, how he has reinvented himself numerous times, and why he blogs at https://geekboss.com/. Note: I have not edited out the parts of the interview just before I welcome Matthew to the podcast. Mr. Stibbe told a couple of very endearing stories that help set the tone for the entire interview. He agreed to allow me to share them. MATTHEW STIBBE is a serial entrepreneur, marketing maven, writer, pilot, and wine enthusiast. But not necessarily in that order. He created marketing strategies, content, and campaigns for clients including Microsoft, Google, LinkedIn, and HP and contributed to Wired, Forbes, and Popular Science. Currently, he is CEO at Articulate Marketing, a UK marketing agency specializing in the technology sector. Also, his geek credentials are strong. Previously, he was founder and CEO at Intelligent Games, a 70-person computer games company where he designed games for LEGO and produced two games based on Dune. Matthew also has his commercial pilots license and an advanced wine diploma. (Have you seen the film Somm? Like that!) At some point in the previous millennium, he studied history at Oxford University. These days, he blogs about modern management at www.geekboss. com, about marketing at www. articulatemarketing.com and wine at www.vincarta.com Re-read Saturday News This week, we talk about Healthy Constraints in Why Limit WIP: We Are Drowning In Work. Many years (think decades) ago a friend of mine, Danny Bailus, had a cool mini-bike. He rode it around our neighborhood in Howland, Ohio all summer. It was the third coolest (text me the first two) thing that held my attention that summer. That was until Danny decided that it did not go fast enough and removed the governor from the small engine. He removed the constraint from the system and the engine burned out. His father was not very happy, Danny was not very happy, and I was very happy I was not riding it when it happened. In this chapter, Mr. Benson discusses the difference between healthy and unhealthy constraints. Remember to buy a copy and read along. Amazon Affiliate LInk: https://amzn.to/36Rq3p5 Previous Entries Week 1: Preface, Foreword, Introduction, and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3iDezbp Week 2: Processing and Memory – https://bit.ly/3qYR4yg Week 3: Completion - https://bit.ly/3usMiLm Week 4: Multitasking - https://bit.ly/37hUh5z Week 5: Context Switching - https://bit.ly/3K8KADF Week 6: Creating An Economy - https://bit.ly/3F1XKkZ Week 7: Healthy Constraints - https://bit.ly/3kM8xqh Next SPaMCAST We continue on the basics with an essay on Teams and team design. We will also have a visit from Jon M Quigley who will regale us with tales of the Alpha and Omega of Product Development.

With SPaMCAST 701 we go back to basics. Whether you call that quick meeting to coordinate the day the Daily Scrum, Stand-up, or a huddle is not material. Daily coordination is phenomenally powerful and useful unless it isn't. Just making teams meet without benefit is a really bad idea. What else can be done? We also have a visit from Tony Timbol with another installment from his Tell A Story Column. In this installment, Tony discusses agile requirements. Getting work done in agile is not just user stories and a cloud of dust. Re-read Saturday News The chapter of Why Limit WIP: We Are Drowning In Work this week is titled, Creating An Economy. In the past decade, certain words have become toxic. Words like process, waterfall, and output have become taboo in certain corners of software-related industries. Add the word productivity to the mix and many people would grab torches and pitchforks. The vilification of these words (or any words – it is sort of like burning books in my mind) makes it difficult to talk about systemic improvement. As a Kanban practitioner, I focus on flow. But not just flow, I advise my clients that they should keep their eye on continuously improving the flow. Continuous improvement yields better outcomes. Organizations, teams, and individuals that overextend and exceed their WIP limit are not improving their delivery of outcomes but rather in Jim Benson's words "disrespecting your ability to create amazing things." More bluntly they are neither effective nor efficient. Remember to buy a copy and read along. Amazon Affiliate LInk: https://amzn.to/36Rq3p5 Previous Entries Week 1: Preface, Foreword, Introduction, and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3iDezbp Week 2: Processing and Memory – https://bit.ly/3qYR4yg Week 3: Completion - https://bit.ly/3usMiLm Week 4: Multitasking - https://bit.ly/37hUh5z Week 5: Context Switching - https://bit.ly/3K8KADF Week 6: Creating An Economy - https://bit.ly/3F1XKkZ Next SPaMCAST Next week, Matthew Stibbe and I talk about the impact of leadership when building a technology-driven business.

SPaMCAST 700 features our interview with Slater Victoroff. Slater suggests that what we think of as AI today will be overtaken by human-machine partnerships. He uses the metaphor of a bionic arm. AI is the future and that future is not very far away. Slater Victoroff is the Founder and CTO of indico data solutions, an Enterprise AI solution for unstructured content with an emphasis on text and NLP. He has been building machine learning solutions for startups, governments, and Fortune 100 companies for the past 5 years and is a frequent speaker at AI conferences. linkedin.com/in/slatervictoroff slater.r.victoroff@gmail.com Twitter: @sl8rv Website: https://indicodata.ai/ Re-read Saturday News The chapters of Why Limit WIP: We Are Drowning In Work this week and last are interrelated. Last week we focused on multitasking. For those with a short memory, human multitasking is in the same category as unicorns and shiny vampires: a fun concept but dangerous to believe in. This week we deal with context switching. Because humans don't have multiple cores and processors instead of multitasking we bounce between things. Each bounce requires shifting context – this takes time and effort. Remember that the author established earlier that things that are not done are sitting in the back of your mind sucking up capacity and an occasional conscious thought (another contest switch). Remember to buy a copy and read along. Amazon Affiliate LInk: https://amzn.to/36Rq3p5 Previous Entries Week 1: Preface, Foreword, Introduction, and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3iDezbp Week 2: Processing and Memory – https://bit.ly/3qYR4yg Week 3: Completion - https://bit.ly/3usMiLm Week 4: Multitasking - https://bit.ly/37hUh5z Week 5: Context Switching - https://bit.ly/3K8KADF Next SPaMCAST Back to basics, whether you call that quick meeting to coordinate the day the Daily Scrum, Stand-up or a huddle is not material. Daily coordination is phenomenally powerful and useful unless it isn't. Just making teams meet without benefit is a really bad idea. What else can be done? We will also have a visit from Tony Timbol with another installment from his Tell A Story Column.

This week we feature our interview with Eric Daimler, PhD. Eric and I discussed how AI can unlock the potential of humanity. Dr. Eric Daimler is an authority in Artificial Intelligence with over 20 years of experience in the field as an entrepreneur, executive, investor, technologist, and policy advisor. Daimler has co-founded six technology companies that have done pioneering work in fields ranging from software systems to statistical arbitrage. Daimler is the author of the forthcoming book "The Coming Composability: The roadmap for using technology to solve society's biggest problems." A frequent speaker, lecturer, and commentator, he works to empower communities and citizens to leverage AI for a more sustainable, secure, and prosperous future. As a Presidential Innovation Fellow during the Obama Administration, Daimler helped drive the agenda for U.S. leadership in research, commercialization, and public adoption of AI. He has also served as Assistant Dean and Assistant Professor of Software Engineering in Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science. His academic research focuses on the intersection of Machine Learning, Computational Linguistics, and Network Science (Graph Theory). He has a specialization in public policy and economics, helped launch Carnegie Mellon's Silicon Valley Campus, and founded its Entrepreneurial Management program. A frequent keynote speaker, he has presented at venues including the engineering schools of MIT, Stanford, and Harvard. Daimler studied at Stanford University, the University of Washington-Seattle, and Carnegie Mellon University, where he earned his PhD in its School of Computer Science. Contact Information Twitter: @ead LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ericdaimler Website: http://www.conexus.com/ Re-read Saturday News Multitasking is the first or second greatest LIE in the modern business world. The best description of multitasking would include thrash, waste, and hubris. The problem is that EVERYONE thinks they are special and can multitask their way to the effective delivery of value. Chapter 3 of Why Limit WIP: We Are Drowning In Work blasts away at multitasking (another take on the topic from 2015: Multitasking Yourself Away From Efficiency | Software Process and Measurement https://bit.ly/37XmrSY). Multitasking is bad, don't do it. Remember to buy a copy and read along. Amazon Affiliate LInk: https://amzn.to/36Rq3p5 Previous Entries Week 1: Preface, Foreword, Introduction, and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3iDezbp Week 2: Processing and Memory – https://bit.ly/3qYR4yg Week 3: Completion - https://bit.ly/3usMiLm Week 4: Multitasking - https://bit.ly/37hUh5z Upcoming Events: Final Call! Free Webinar When Prioritization Goes Bad https://www.greatpro.org/Webinar-Live-Register?id=1954 April 19, 2022 11 AM EDT to 1230 EDT Next SPaMCAST Next week for SPaMCAST 700 we will feature our interview with Slater Victoroff. Slater presents an alternate definition for AI. Compare and contrast to Dr. Daimler's definition?

This week Susan Parente and I had an extraordinary conversation about team leads in agile and leadership. In some cases, the role of a team leader is treated as if it were superfluous to requirements in other cases it is a tool to delegate work to people in an effort to subvert self-organization and when organizations get it right the role is a vehicle to unlocking the capabilities of teams. Contact Susan at parente.s3@gmail.com or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/susanparente Re-read Saturday News Week 3 of our re-read of Why Limit WIP: We Are Drowning In Work by Jim Benson talks about the thrill of getting things done. People with a lot of WIP look for more work, things they can grab and complete to feel good about themselves. I am as guilty as anyone else. Sometimes when items on my shortlist get stuck instead of breaking the items down into smaller chunks to progress the work I will grab a less valuable task and just do it so I can check something off. Susan Parente, who you just heard from in one of her great "Not A Scrumdamentalist" podcast columns described the same scenario. Remember to buy a copy and read along. Amazon Affiliate LInk: https://amzn.to/36Rq3p5 Previous Entries Week 1: Preface, Foreword, Introduction, and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3iDezbp Week 2: Processing and Memory – https://bit.ly/3qYR4yg Week 3: Completion - https://bit.ly/3usMiLm Upcoming Events: Free Webinar When Prioritization Goes Bad https://www.greatpro.org/Webinar-Live-Register?id=1954 April 19, 2022 11 AM EDT to 1230 EDT Special Call to Action If you are a team lead I need your help! I believe the TL role is the least understood and least talked about in agile. It is time to change that. I am working on testing a model of TL behaviors in agile. I need examples of REAL TL job descriptions to map into the model. The glittering generalities that you find on the web don't match what really happens in the real world. I do not need anything sensitive like salary or product details. I will happily share the first cut of the model with anyone that helps and sponsor a virtual meeting to discuss the model with all participants. If you have a TL job description you can share please email me at tcagley@tomcagley.com Next SPaMCAST Next week we will feature our interview with Matthew Stibbe. Matt and I discussed how leadership (or the lack thereof) contributes to projects in wide a range of environments (software and marketing).

This week we talked with Jardena London. We discussed her book Cultivating Transformations - A Leader's Guide to Connecting the Soulful and the Practical. Being soulful sounds fluffy, but isn't. It is critical for delivering lasting change. Jardena is a Business Transformation Consultant, Author, Keynote Speaker, and a Certified Facilitator of Dare to Lead; Brene Brown's groundbreaking training program for organizations based on creating courageous workplaces. Jardena is also the Founder of Souls@Work.org which is focusing on leading a movement to create workplaces that nourish our souls and exude positive energy. Her recent book, "Cultivating Transformations: A Leader's Guide to Connecting the Soulful and the Practical" has been described as "the book you buy and carry around with you everywhere." Her most recent successes have been transforming a large legacy organization into a modern workplace with breakout results. She also speaks at corporate events and on stages worldwide on the positive effects of organizational transformation. Jardena has also served as co-founder and CEO of Rosetta Technology Group since 1997. Websites and Contact Information Cultivatingtransformations.com rosettaagile.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jardena/ Upcoming Events: Free Webinar When Prioritization Goes Bad https://www.greatpro.org/Webinar-Live-Register?id=1954 April 19, 2022 11 AM EDT to 1230 EDT Special Call to Action If you are a team lead I need your help! I believe the TL role is the least understood and least talked about in agile. It is time to change that. I am working on testing a model of TL behaviors in agile. I need examples of REAL TL job descriptions to map into the model. The glittering generalities that you find on the web don't match what really happens in the real world. I do not need anything sensitive like salary or product details. I will happily share the first cut of the model with anyone that helps and sponsor a virtual meeting to discuss the model with all participants. If you have TL job description you can share please email me at tcagley@tomcagley.com Next SPaMCAST We are finally going to tackle the difference between prioritization and sequencing. Sequencing is the forgotten cousin of prioritization, HOWEVER, just because you know the priority isn't enough because if you don't get the order right value will be lost. We will also have a visit from Susan "Not A Scrumdamentalist" Parente.

We began the Re-Read Saturday feature in 2014 with a re-read of John Kotter's classic Leading Change. The list of books we have re-read is quite long -- I am going to have to create a list. All that said, last week a person that regularly comments on the podcast indicated they really did not know what Re-Read Saturday was all about. So today to commemorate spring in the northern hemisphere (and the fact that it snowed) and the kick-off of the latest re-read (Why Limit WIP by Jim Benson) I am going to share an audio version of this week's entry. As we always say, buy a copy of the book and read Jim Benson's Why Limit WiP (buy a copy using our Amazon Affiliate link https://amzn.to/3u6Feml get reading) along with us. The written version: https://bit.ly/3iDezbp This week we also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault, who brings his QA Corner to the podcast. Jeremy and I explored the difference between relative and absolute time. Upcoming Events: Free Webinar When Prioritization Goes Bad https://www.greatpro.org/Webinar-Live-Register?id=1954 April 19, 2022 11 AM EDT to 1230 EDT Next SPaMCAST Next week we will talk with Jardena London. We will discuss her book Cultivating Transformations - A Leader's Guide to Connecting the Soulful and the Practical. We will also explore why being soulful in the workplace is critical for facilitating change.

This week we talk to Julianna Lamb, co-founder and CTO at Stytch about agile in start-ups, hybrid working, how to keep a product backlog under control, grow a business in the early 2020's, and more. Julianna is the Co-Founder and CTO of Stytch, a platform for user infrastructure and passwordless authentication. She was previously a software engineer at Strava and Plaid and an early product hire at Very Good Security. Originally from Idaho, Julianna studied computer science and history at Stanford. A former professional figure skater, she started racing triathlons in college and is now an Ironman triathlete. Contact Data: Website: https://stytch.com/ Twitter: juliannaelamb LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/juliannaelamb Re-Read Saturday News Today we complete our re-read of Agile Conversations by Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick touching on the Conclusion, Further Resources, and our concluding notes. Next week we will begin re-reading Jim Benson's Why Limit WiP (buy a copy using our Amazon Affiliate link https://amzn.to/3u6Feml get reading) as we run a poll to select the next of books for the series. Agile Conversations: https://amzn.to/3vEjr55 Previous Installments: Week 1: Logistics and Introduction - https://bit.ly/3EZspxT Week 2: Escaping The Software Factory - https://bit.ly/3HIlivg Week 3: Improving Your Conversations - https://bit.ly/3ty0nYe Week 4: The Trust Conversation - https://bit.ly/3ApUrSk Week 5 The Fear Conversation (Part 1) - https://bit.ly/3gahSpt Week 6 The Fear Conversation (Part 2) - https://bit.ly/34lLON4 Week 7 The Why Conversation (Part 1) - https://bit.ly/3Jg6KE2 Week 8 The Why Conversation (Part 2) – https://bit.ly/34YAsPc Week 9 The Commitment Conversation - https://bit.ly/3pmaooj Week 10 The Accountability Conversation - https://bit.ly/3KCJXD1 Week 11 Conclusion and More - https://bit.ly/3wlGSn8 Next SPaMCAST Next week, are sequencing and prioritization different sides to the same coin or are they different coins entirely. Is a keystone topic when wrestling with work entry. We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault and the QA Corner.

Organizational design often collides with getting work done; generating friction that causes all manner of problems. No one goes out of their way to make things difficult, however poor operating metaphors and one size fits all solutions are never optimal. There is a way for agile and team leaders to coexist, but can you take that path? Also this week, Jon M Quigley and his Alpha and Omega of Product Development column make time for the cast. In this installment, we talk about time (including a few time-related puns). Re-Read Saturday News The accountability conversation is the fifth and last conversation addressed in our re-read of Agile Conversations by Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick. In Chapter 7 the authors define accountability as "being obligated to render an account of what you have done and why." Next week we will cover the conclusions and some final thoughts. Then we will have a quick interlude re-reading Jim Benson's Why Limit WiP while we run a poll to select the next books. https://amzn.to/3vEjr55 Week 1: Logistics and Introduction - https://bit.ly/3EZspxT Week 2: Escaping The Software Factory - https://bit.ly/3HIlivg Week 3: Improving Your Conversations - https://bit.ly/3ty0nYe Week 4: The Trust Conversation - https://bit.ly/3ApUrSk Week 5 The Fear Conversation (Part 1) - https://bit.ly/3gahSpt Week 6 The Fear Conversation (Part 2) - https://bit.ly/34lLON4 Week 7 The Why Conversation (Part 1) - https://bit.ly/3Jg6KE2 Week 8 The Why Conversation (Part 2) – https://bit.ly/34YAsPc Week 9 The Commitment Conversation - https://bit.ly/3pmaooj Week 10 The Accountability Conversation - https://bit.ly/3KCJXD1 Next SPaMCAST Next week, Julianna Lamb, co-founder and CTO at STYTCH. We talked agile, start-ups, security, and more.