Software Process and Measurement Cast

The SPaMCAST 591 is a very special podcast.  On the 18th of March, I convened a panel of luminaries to discuss how they were supporting and working with remote teams. I recorded both the audio and video, today I am releasing the audio version.  The panel for this show was   Jeff Dalton   Amy McDonough   Sandeep Koorse   Christopher Hurney    And myself!   We kept the session short but full of practical advice! Next SPaMCAST We will be back with the video soon AND back on Sunday our interview with Shelisa Bainbridge.

The SPaMCAST 590 features my interview with Nancy Kastl. Nancy and I discussed testing and the future of the testing profession. The future of testing is not cut and dry; in the short run more automation and in the long-term more codeless testing and AI might replace entry-level testers. An eye-opening interview! Nancy’s Bio: Nancy Kastl is an accomplished professional with over thirty-five years of experience as a consultant, facilitator, and instructor in software quality and testing. As an entrepreneur and consultant, she brings her expertise in strategic planning, quality management, software testing, process re-engineering, and measurement to every engagement.  As the executive director of SPR’s Testing Services, she provides thought leadership to clients, formulates solutions to their needs, and provides daily guidance and oversight to SPRs on-shore testing team in Chicago. She is the founder and President of the Chicago Quality Assurance Association. Nancy is a frequent conference speaker and served as the QUEST conference chairperson for twelve years. She loves photography, being surrounded by nature, and traveling. Reach out to Nancy on LinkedIn at   And check out SPR at Re-Read Saturday News  This week we continue our re-read of with Chapter 3, Start With Heart.  This chapter begins to teach the reader “how” to dialog. Start with heart means that we have to establish our goal before getting involved in a dialog.  Week 1 - -   Week 2 - -   Week 3 – –    Week 4 - -   If you do not have a copy or have tossed it at someone during a crucial conversation, it is time to buy a copy. Please use the link (using the link helps support the blog and podcast). Book Club Starting Soon Jon M Quigley and I are starting an online book club to read and discuss the classic books that underpin the lean, quality and agile movements.  The name of the book club is “Quality, Agile, and Lean Classic Books: Greatness in the Workplace”. The first book is Out Of The Crisis by Deming (don’t have a copy — )  We are starting our dialog on Friday, April 10th and the event will run over 7 sessions (we will avoid as many religious and national holidays as possible). We are only opening 10 seats for each group of sessions. We are changing a one time fee of $3.13 which equates to 4.95 (ish) once Eventbrite factors in their fees to encourage people that sign up to show up. More information and sign up at   Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 591 will feature my interview with Shelisa Bainbridge.  Shelisa is the Head of Human Centered Delivery (HCD) at Agile by Design. We talked about human-centered design, why design thinking is important, women in tech and agile, and more. This is a powerful interview with a ton of useful ideas. Also, I may have some special content in the feed over the next few weeks. A little lagniappe because we all deserve it right now.

The SPaMCAST 589 features our essay on using clean language to refine requirements. Clean Language’s pedigree is from psychotherapy and has found a home in coaching. It is also a valuable tool for discovering information about work products. As product managers, product owners, and stakeholders interact with the world and then describe a set of wants and needs they use metaphors. Clean language helps us unpack those metaphors. We also have a visit from Susan Parente who brings her Not A Scrumdamentalist Column to the podcast. Susan delivers thoughts and ideas about virtual agile.  Reach out to Susan at parente@s3-tec.com.  Re-Read Saturday News  This week we tackle Chapter 2 of . Chapter 2, titled Mastering Crucial Conversations: The Power of Dialogue. The chapter begins with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. that highlights the problem with staying silent. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”  Week 1 - -   Week 2 - -   If you do not have a copy or have tossed it at someone during a crucial conversation, it is time to buy a copy. Please use the link (using the link helps support the blog and podcast).   New side venture!  Jon M Quigley and I are starting an online book club to read and discuss the classic books that underpin the lean, quality and agile movements.  The name is “Quality, Agile, and Lean Classic Books: Greatness in the Workplace”. The first book is Out Of The Crisis by Deming (don’t have a copy — )  We are starting our dialog on Friday, April 10th and the event will run over 7 sessions (we will avoid as many religious and national holidays as possible). We are only opening 10 seats for each group of sessions. We are changing a one time fee of $3.13 which equates to 4.95 (ish) once Eventbrite factors in their fees to encourage people that sign up to show up. Each session will be outlined in the supplemental material provided for the book club. The materials will include definitions of keywords and a series of questions to ponder for each chapter as you read through the book. We are limiting the book club to 10 participants to facilitate ease of discussion of the text and to allow interaction. Tom Cagley and Jon M Quigley will be your guides through the material, posing follow on questions that guide you through the exploration of the work. Note, we will record each of the sessions in case everyone will not be able to attend every week.   Sign up at   Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 590 will feature my interview with Nancy Kastl.  Nacy and I discussed testing and the future of the testing profession. Is the future of testing purely automation and machine learning? You will find out next Sunday!

The SPaMCAST 588 features our interview with Susie Palmer-Trew and Peter Taylor.  We discussed their new book   It was great to meet Susie and renew our conversation with Peter. We talked about the assumptions that the profession of project management makes and why we should challenge those assumptions. The episode has the subtitle (you will discover it ½ way through the interview)  Susie Palmer-Trew is an award-winning project professional and Director of Change at The Open University, enabling others to get shit done in a world tied up in red tape. She is the co-creator of the #LetsChangeChange movement, avid risk-taker and professional trouble maker. Contact Susie on LinkedIn ()  Peter Taylor is author of the Amazon number 1 bestselling project management book, The Lazy Project Manager, and professional speaker, having given 350 lectures around the world in over 25 countries. He has been described as ‘perhaps the most entertaining and inspiring speaker in the project management world today’. Contact Peter at Re-Read Saturday News  This week we are at a family wedding and missed posting the next installment of our re-read of . The essay is written but unedited. We will be back next week with Chapter 2 and possibly Chapter 3. Week 1 - -   Week 2 - -   If you do not have a copy or have tossed it at someone during a crucial conversation, it is time to buy a copy. Please use the link (using the link helps support the blog and podcast). Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 589 will get us back into cadence with an essay on Clean Language. Clean Language is a technique for shaping a discussion. The questions at the heart of this approach are designed to discover and explore a person’s personal metaphor. Clean language is a very useful tool for a wide range of roles from coaching to exploring requirements and needs. We will also have a conversation with Susan Parente.  Susan brings here Not A Scrumdamentalist Column to the podcast next week!

For SPaMCAST 587 we are going to break cadence and feature another interview. Ryan Ripley, Todd Miller and I discussed their new book . We discussed how to define broken scrum processes. Ryan and Todd make the point that Scrum is so much more than a checklist of practices to follow, yet that's exactly how many organizations practice it. Todd’s Bio Todd is a Professional Scrum Trainer for Scrum.org and VP of the Agile Innovation Practice at Itero Group, LLC. He has professional experience as a Scrum Master, Product Owner, Developer, and Agile coach on a variety of technical and creative projects across a multitude of industries. He presently coaches and trains enterprises and teams across the United States on the Scrum framework, enterprise Agile transformation, and professional software development. Ryan’s Bio: A professional Scrum trainer with Scrum.org, Ryan Ripley has experience as a software developer, manager, director, and ScrumMaster at various Fortune 500 companies in the medical device, wholesale, and financial services industries. The host of "," the top agile podcast on iTunes, Ryan lives in Indiana with his wife, Kristin, and three children. He blogs at and is on Twitter @ryanripley. Most recently, Ryan co-author of "Fixing Your Scrum: Practical Solutions to Common Scrum Problems" with Todd Miller. Ryan is also a noted keynote speaker and travels internationally to present on the Scrum and Agile topics.    Business Agility Conference is sponsoring SPaMCAST!   Dates: March 11-12, 2020 Location: New York City, 117 West 46th Street URL:   Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount. The Business Agility Conference is an intense 2-day event focusing on the future of business, focusing on customer centricity, employee engagement, organization design, product innovation, and next-gen leadership. The Conference is bringing together some of the greatest speakers and practitioners of business agility to share their experiences and the benefits their organizations have gained from exploring new and agile practices.  This is the first, and original, Business Agility Conference. The goal is to bring the local and international business agility community together in a friendly, educational and fun environment to exchange and explore ways to create lasting change. This conference is unique, not only in the topic but also in structure. You will experience; 20-minute “Art of the Possible” stories from each speaker 20-minutes Panel Q/A with the audience for each theme 45-minute deep dives and facilitated peer conversations This year’s speakers include current and prior executives from Zappos, Amazon, Pacific Life Insurance, Scrum Alliance, the Chair of the Board of CHOICE, as well as thought-leaders from Menlo Innovations, Freddie Mac, and AgilityHealth. URL:   Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount!   Support the podcast and blog by visiting the link and adding the Business Agility Conference to your conference dance card in 2020! Re-Read Saturday News  This week we continue our re-read of . Chapter 1 of Crucial Conversations provides the reader with a definition of a crucial conversation for the book, hints to aid in recognizing this form of communication, and provides a rationale for why we should care. Week 1 - -   Week 2 - -   If you do not have a copy or have tossed it at someone during a crucial conversation, it is time to buy a copy. Please use the link (using the link helps support the blog and podcast).   Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 588 features our interview with Susie Palmer-Trew and Peter Taylor.  We discussed their new book   It was great to meet Susie and renew our conversation with Peter. We talked about the assumptions that the profession of project management makes and why we should challenge those assumptions.

The SPaMCAST 586 features our interview with Jeff Dalton. We talked about his book and the Agile Performance Holarchy. One of the topics we explored in this podcast is the relationship between being a professional musician and a software developer. Jeff brings his wisdom and humor to the podcast again to help listeners learn from high-performance agile organizations! Note: At 23:50 ish in this Podcast Jeff and I begin an exchange on the difference between the attributes needed to be an agile leader and those needed to climb the corporate ladder. The discussion is a profound truth that rarely is discussed or is suppressed. I would like to hear your thoughts! Jeff last visited the podcast on .  Jeff Dalton is Chief Evangelist at , a Research and Development organization that studies agile leadership. He is a technology executive with over 30 years of experience as a CTO, CIO, VP of Product Development, and for that past fifteen years has been CEO of Broadsword and AgileCxO. He is an executive agile coach, agile assessor, and instructor, a regular conference speaker, and author of both "The Agile Performance Holarchy: An Operating System for Agile Leaders" and "The Guide to Scrum and CMMI: Improving Agile Performance with CMMI." In his spare time, Jeff is an instrument-rated pilot and plays bass in a jazz band. He has degrees in music and computer science.    Contact Jeff at: Agilecxo.org Twitter:  @cmmiappraiser Twitter:  @agilecxo Business Agility Conference is sponsoring SPaMCAST!   Dates: March 11-12, 2020 Location: New York City, 117 West 46th Street URL:   Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount. The Business Agility Conference is an intense 2-day event focusing on the future of business, focusing on customer centricity, employee engagement, organization design, product innovation, and next-gen leadership. The Conference is bringing together some of the greatest speakers and practitioners of business agility to share their experiences and the benefits their organizations have gained from exploring new and agile practices.  This is the first, and original, Business Agility Conference. The goal is to bring the local and international business agility community together in a friendly, educational and fun environment to exchange and explore ways to create lasting change. This conference is unique, not only in the topic but also in structure. You will experience; 20-minute “Art of the Possible” stories from each speaker 20-minutes Panel Q/A with the audience for each theme 45-minute deep dives and facilitated peer conversations This year’s speakers include current and prior executives from Zappos, Amazon, Pacific Life Insurance, Scrum Alliance, the Chair of the Board of CHOICE, as well as thought-leaders from Menlo Innovations, Freddie Mac, and AgilityHealth. URL:   Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount!   Support the podcast and blog by visiting the link and adding the Business Agility Conference to your conference dance card in 2020! Re-Read Saturday News  This week we begin our re-read of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler. This week we review the logistics of the read, the two forewords, and the preface. One of the major takeaways in week 1 is that Covey suggests using the book in a cycle of learning, doing, reflecting and then repeating. The learning cycle ought to resonate with every Scrum Master, Agile Coach and change leader. Week 1 - -   If you do not have a copy or have tossed it at someone during a crucial conversation, it is time to buy a copy. Please use the link above!  sing the link (using the link helps support the blog and podcast). Next SPaMCAST For SPaMCAST 587 we are going to break cadence and feature another interview. Ryan Ripley, Todd Miller and I discussed their new book . We discussed how to define broken scrum processes. Ryan and Todd make the point that Scrum is so much more than a checklist of practices to follow, yet that's exactly how many organizations practice it.

The SPaMCAST 585 features an intimate conversation between Jon M Quigley, Susan Parente, and myself. We discussed experimentation, learning, and a deep dive into whether agile transformations do enough to prepare technical teams to get the maximum value from agile.  Contact Susan at Contact Jon at   Business Agility Conference is sponsoring SPaMCAST!   Dates: March 11-12, 2020 Location: New York City, 117 West 46th Street URL:   Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount. The Business Agility Conference is an intense 2-day event focusing on the future of business, focusing on customer centricity, employee engagement, organization design, product innovation, and next-gen leadership. The Conference is bringing together some of the greatest speakers and practitioners of business agility to share their experiences and the benefits their organizations have gained from exploring new and agile practices.  This is the first, and original, Business Agility Conference. The goal is to bring the local and international business agility community together in a friendly, educational and fun environment to exchange and explore ways to create lasting change. This conference is unique, not only in the topic but also in structure. You will experience; 20-minute “Art of the Possible” stories from each speaker 20-minutes Panel Q/A with the audience for each theme 45-minute deep dives and facilitated peer conversations This year’s speakers include current and prior executives from Zappos, Amazon, Pacific Life Insurance, Scrum Alliance, the Chair of the Board of CHOICE, as well as thought-leaders from Menlo Innovations, Freddie Mac, and AgilityHealth. URL:   Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount!   Support the podcast and blog by visiting the link and adding the Business Agility Conference to your conference dance card in 2020! Re-Read Saturday News  This week we complete our re-read of with a few concluding comments. I now have read this book twice.  It has influenced my practice both times. I will probably re-read the book again in a few years and expect to be changed again. This weeks  installment of Re-read Saturday is: Week 39 - -   Or start at the beginning Week 1: – The next book in our Re-read Saturday Feature is Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler. I have never read this book, I just ordered the book using the link (using the link helps support the blog and podcast). If you do not have a copy or have tossed it at someone during a crucial conversation, it is time to buy a copy. Please use the link above!   Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 586 features our interview with Jeff Dalton. We talked about his book and the Agile Performance Holarchy. Jeff brings his wisdom and humor to the podcast again to challenge the perception that we can’t learn from high-performance agile organizations!

SPaMCAST 584, the first interview of our 14th year of the SPaMCAST, features our interview with Allan Kelly. We discussed his new book, . The role of a product owner is hard and often misunderstood.  Allan offers practical advice on sorting the role out. Allan’s Bio Allan has pioneered techniques such as Value Poker, Time-Value Profiles and Retrospective Dialogue Sheets. He is the author of seven books including "Continuous Digital", "Little Book of Requirements and User Stories" and his latest book is "Art of Agile Product Ownership." When not writing Allan consults and coaches, helping companies embrace the agile and digital world, and teams to improve their performance. Links: Me: www.allankelly.net Blog: www.allankelly.net/blog Retrospective cards: www.dialoguesheets.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/allankellynet Business Agility Conference is sponsoring this Podcast!   Dates: March 11-12, 2020 Location: New York City, 117 West 46th Street URL:   Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount. The Business Agility Conference is an intense 2-day event focusing on the future of business, focusing on customer centricity, employee engagement, organization design, product innovation, and next-gen leadership. The Conference is bringing together some of the greatest speakers and practitioners of business agility to share their experiences and the benefits their organizations have gained from exploring new and agile practices.  This is the first, and original, Business Agility Conference. The goal is to bring the local and international business agility community together in a friendly, educational and fun environment to exchange and explore ways to create lasting change. This conference is unique, not only in the topic but also in structure. You will experience; 20-minute “Art of the Possible” stories from each speaker 20-minutes Panel Q/A with the audience for each theme 45-minute deep dives and facilitated peer conversations This year’s speakers include current and prior executives from Zappos, Amazon, Pacific Life Insurance, Scrum Alliance, the Chair of the Board of CHOICE, as well as thought-leaders from Menlo Innovations, Freddie Mac, and AgilityHealth. URL:   Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount!   Support the podcast and blog by visiting the link and adding the Business Agility Conference to your conference dance card in 2020! Re-Read Saturday News  This week we complete the material in . The Conclusion Chapter is the last of the main material in the book. In this chapter, there are three areas I want to highlight. Next week we finish the re-read in earnest with a few closing thoughts.  The previous  installment of Re-read Saturday is: Week 37 - -   Or start at the beginning Week 1: – The next book in our Re-read Saturday Feature is Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler. I have never read this book, I just ordered the book using the link (using the link helps support the blog and podcast). If you do not have a copy or have tossed it at someone during a crucial conversation, it is time to buy a copy. Please use the link above!   Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 585 features an intimate conversation between Jon M Quigley, Susan Parente, and myself discussing experimentation, learning, and a deep dive into whether teams are enabled to get the maximum value from agile.

Happy Birthday to the Software Process and Measurement Cast. SPaMCAST 583 marks the beginning of the Podcast’s 14th year!  The first podcast of year 14 features a three-way discussion between Susan Parente, Anthony Mersino, and myself. We discussed the pros and cons of hybridizing agile frameworks. Hybridizing agile approaches is a lightning rod concept in many circles. Susan, Anthony and I have different experiences and opinions on the topic. The conversation was spirited. Business Agility Conference is sponsoring this Podcast!   Dates: March 11-12, 2020 Location: New York City, 117 West 46th Street URL:   Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount!  The Business Agility Conference is an intense 2-day event focusing on the future of business, focusing on customer centricity, employee engagement, organization design, product innovation, and next-gen leadership. The Conference is bringing together some of the greatest speakers and practitioners of business agility to share their experiences and the benefits their organizations have gained from exploring new and agile practices.  This is the first, and original, Business Agility Conference. The goal is to bring the local and international business agility community together in a friendly, educational and fun environment to exchange and explore ways to create lasting change. This conference is unique, not only in the topic but also in structure. You will experience; 20-minute “Art of the Possible” stories from each speaker 20-minutes Panel Q/A with the audience for each theme 45-minute deep dives and facilitated peer conversations This year’s speakers include current and prior executives from Zappos, Amazon, Pacific Life Insurance, Scrum Alliance, the Chair of the Board of CHOICE, as well as thought-leaders from Menlo Innovations, Freddie Mac, and AgilityHealth. URL:   Use the special code “spamcast” to get a 20% discount!   Support the podcast and blog by visiting the link and adding the Business Agility Conference to your conference dance card in 2020! Re-Read Saturday News This week as we discuss Chapter 37 and 38 of we are quickly closing in on the completion of the re-read. Chapter 37, Experienced Well-Being, and Chapter 38, Thinking About Life, are the last two chapters before Kanhneman’s conclusions. Assuming “God willing and the creek don’t rise” (), we will begin Crucial Conversations in three weeks. I have purchased my copy and have started reading the book.  The current installment of Re-read Saturday is: Week 36 - -    Or start at the beginning Week 1: – The next book in our Re-read Saturday Feature is Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler. I have never read this book, I just ordered the book using the link (using the link helps support the blog and podcast). If you do not have a copy or have tossed it at someone during a crucial conversation, it is time to buy a copy. Please use the link above!   Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 584 will feature our interview with Allan Kelly. We discussed his new book, . The role of a product owner is often misunderstood and always hard. Allan gets things sorted for us!

Paul Gibbons, author and business consultant, discusses change management, biases, and the future of work. He highlights the importance of humanizing change, debiasing business practices, and promoting pull communication in organizations. The conversation explores practical applications of behavioral science and philosophy in solving 21st-century challenges.