Software Process and Measurement Cast

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 373 features our essay . The twelve principles that underpin the Agile Manifesto include several that link the concept of value to the delivery of working software. The focus on working software stems from one of the four values, “Working software over comprehensive documentation,” which is a reaction to projects and programs that seem to value reports and PowerPoint presentations more than putting software in the hands of users. For a typical IT organization that develops, enhances and maintains the software that the broader organization uses to do their ultimate business; value is only delivered when software can be used in production. We visit Gene Hughson’s !  Gene suggests that while most models have value, some models are can lead to poor decisions.  The punchline for the discussion is “Simple is good, but not when it’s too good to be true” Gene builds the case that we need to be cognizant of our biases when using and building models. Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News We  began the re-read of by Douglas W. Hubbard on the  . Chapter one lays out Hubbard’s philosophy and approach to measurement. What do you think is Upcoming Events Details on 2016 Conferences that include QAI Quest and ISMA12 to name a few in a few weeks. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our interview with Gerald M. Weinberg.  Jerry and I discussed quality. With over 42 books to his name (fiction and non-fiction), Jerry is a leader amongst leaders in the software engineering industry.  Shameless Ad for my book! co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book nglish and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 372 features our interview with Vasco Duarte. Vasco returns to the podcast to discuss his new book, #NoEstimates Book.  In the interview, Vasco and I discussed the underlying concepts behind #NoEstimates and how the concept has matured. If you are interested in project management, estimation and delivering value, the ideas that Vasco discusses will be both controversial and valuable. If we paraphrase Shakespeare, then Estimates or #NoEstimates has to be the question. Let’s answer it! Introducing Vasco: Vasco wants to transform product development organizations into product business organizations. He does that by focusing the work of the product development teams on the end-to-end life-cycle of their products. From Concept to Cash and Back! Vasco Duarte is currently a Managing Partner at . Product Manager, Scrum Master, Project Manager, Director, Agile Coach are only some of the roles that he has taken in software development organizations. Having worked in the software industry since 1997, and Agile practitioner since 2004. He has worked in small, medium and large software organizations as an Agile Coach or leader in agile adoption at those organizations. Vasco was one of the leaders and catalysts of Agile methods and Agile culture adoption at Avira, Nokia and F-Secure. You can read more from Vasco on his blog: and join him on twitter: Twitter: Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: NoEstimates book: Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News The readers have spoken and next week we will begin the re-read of by Douglas W. Hubbard. Like The Mythical Man-Month that we completed last week, the version we are reading is not the same version I originally read in 2007. Check out the introduction to the next re-read at .   Upcoming Events Details on 2016 Conferences that include QAI Quest and ISMA12 to name a few in a few weeks. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our essay . The twelve principles that underpin the Agile Manifesto include several that link the concept of value to the delivery of working software. The focus on working software stems from one of the four values, “Working software over comprehensive documentation,” which is a reaction to projects and programs that seem to value reports and PowerPoint presentations more than putting software in the hands of users. For a typical IT organization that develops, enhances and maintains the software that the broader organization uses to do their ultimate business, value is only delivered when software can be used in production We will also have a new column from the Software Sensei and will revisit Gene Hughson with an entry from the Form Follows Function Blog! Shameless Ad for my book! co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book nglish and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 371 features our essay on Focus and the Pomodoro technique.  Focus might be just about the most important technique available for getting work done. Focus and attention are critical assets that need to be managed or we risk wasting time and energy. We will also include Steve Tendon discussing management’s role in a learning organization from his new book, Tame The Flow. Management needs to both facilitate and participate in a learning organization.  A learning organization is a critical success factor for engaging in a knowledge economy. Finally, we will anchor the cast with a visit to the QA Corner with Jeremy Berriault.  Jeremy and I discussed testing environments. Jeremy puts his stamp on the perennial discussion of whether all testing environments need to be production like. Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News We have just completed the re-read of with the essay titled “The Mythical Man-Month 20 Years Later” Check out the new installment at .  We will be choosing the next re-read book to be?  One last call for votes. Please vote on the blog!  Currently we have a tight battle between: Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business - Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency – Vote Upcoming Events Details on 2016 Conferences that include QAI Quest and StarEast to name a few in a few weeks. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will our interview with Vasco Duarte .  Vasco returns to the podcast to discuss his new book #NoEstimates Book.  In the interview Vasco and I discussed the underlying concepts behind #NoEstimates and how the concept has matured. If you are interested in project management, estimation and delivering value, the ideas the Vasco discusses will be both controversial and valuable. Shameless Ad for my book! co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book nglish

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 370 features my discussion with Greger Wikstrand.  Greger and I discussed his article titled “Should you distrust Agile?” and other topics. Greger discussed why some people distrust Agile and whether you and your customers should also distrust Agile software development. After you listen to the podcast, read Greger’s blog on the . Greger Wikstrand, Ph.D. M.Sc. is a TOGAF 9 certified enterprise architect with an interest in e-heatlh, m-health and all things agile as well as processes, methods and tools. Greger Wikstrand works as a CTO at Capgemini where he alternates between enterprise advisory services, business development and working with thought leadership. Contact Blog: Twitter:  Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of is winding down (we will pick things up next week). We will tackle the essay titled “The Mythical Man-Month 20 Years Later” Check out the new installment at .  What would you like the next re-read book to be?  Please vote on the blog!  Currently, we have a tight battle between: Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business - Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency – Vote Upcoming Events Details on 2016 Conferences that include QAI Quest and StarEast to name a few in a few weeks. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our article on Focus and the Pomodoro technique.  A discussion on focus during the festive this season might be helpful for making sure you can get to everything that needs to be done.  We will also include Steve Tendon discussing the next chapter in his new book, Tame The Flow. Finally, we will anchor the cast with a visit to the QA Corner with Jeremy Berriault. Shameless Ad for my book! co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book nglish and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 369 features our essay on stand-up meetings.  Stand-up meetings are a combination of tactical planning on steroids and the perfect start to a great day. Stand-up meetings are one the easiest Agile practices to adopt and often one the easiest to mess up. Also, this week features we have Kim Pries and his Software Sensei column.  Kim discusses what it takes to move toward mastery. Mastery implies more than just being good at any particular task. The Software Sensei provides a path forward. Gene Hughson brings the first of his discussions on the topic of #NoEstimates from his Form Follows Function blog! Specifically Gene provided a more detail and background on his essay . Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of is winding down. THis week we are running a quick poll to identify the next book  on the .  What would you like the next re-read book to be? Upcoming Events Details on 2016 Conferences that include QAI Quest and StarEast to name a few in a few weeks. Next SPaMCAST  The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature a discussion with Steve Tendon discussing more of his new book Tame The Flow, and more. (Subject to change due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the States). Shameless Ad for my book! co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book nglish and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 368 features our interview with Pedro Serrador. We discussed his research, paper, and presentation titled “Does Agile Work?” Pedro lays out his research on whether and not Agile really works. Pedro’s Bio The Software Process and Measurement Cast 368 features our interview with Pedro Serrador. We discussed his research, paper and presentation titled “Does Agile Work?” Pedro lays out his research on whether or not Agile really works. Pedro’s Bio: Pedro M. Serrador,  PMP, P.Eng., MBA, PhD is a writer and researcher on project management topics and owner of Serrador Project Management, a consultancy in Toronto, Canada He specializes in technically complex and high risk projects, vendor management engagements, and tailoring and implementing project management methodologies; he has worked on projects in the financial, telecommunications, utility, medical imaging, and simulations sectors for some of Canada's largest companies. His areas of research interest are project success, planning, and agile and he has presented a number of peer-reviewed papers on these topics at academic conferences.  He an author of books and articles on project management and is also a regular speaker at PMI global congresses. He currently teaches project management as a part-time faculty member at Humber College in Toronto. He was the recipient of the PMI 2012 James R. Snyder International Student Paper of the Year Award and  the Major de Promotion Award for best PhD Thesis 2012-2013 from SKEMA business school. Contact Data LinkedIn: Website: Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News  Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of returns this week when we tackle the essay titled “No Silver Bullet, Refired.” Check out the new installment at . Upcoming Events Details on 2016 Conferences that include QAI Quest and StarEast to name a few in a few weeks! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our essay on stand-up meetings.  Stand-up meetings are a combination of tactical planning on steroids and the perfect start to a great day! We will also have new installments of Kim Pries’s Software Sensei and Gene Hughson’s Form Follows Function Columns! Shameless Ad for my book! co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book nglish and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast includes two columns this week.  The first is our essay: Scaled Agile Charters.  A scaled Agile charter is not just a thicker team charter because a scaled Agile project is not just a bigger Agile project. Scaled Agile charters need to be assembled part by part based on the needs of the project. This week’s essay provides a path to getting value from scaled Agile charters. The second column is a new installment of Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner! We discussed using communities of practice to spread testing knowledge. A community of practices is a wonderful tool to transfer knowledge and to generate a network among practitioners. Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of returns this week when we tackle the essay titled “No Silver Bullet” Check out the new installment at . Upcoming Events Agile Development Conference EastNovember 8-13, 2015Orlando, Florida I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. In the next few weeks we will start to lay out the 2016 conference calendar. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our interview with Pedro Serrador.  We discussed his presentation titled Does Agile Work?, based on the paper he co-authored by the same name. Pedro lays out his research on whether Agile really works.  The answer is . . . see you next week. Shameless Ad for my book! co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book nglish and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast features my interview with Jeff Dalton.  Jeff returns to the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss the 12 attributes of successful Agile organizations. Jeff talks about the relatively small set of attributes that successful Agile organizations possess and exhibit. These attributes don’t occur by accident, but rather are a reflection of hard work and consistency of purpose.  We can all reflect and adopt these attributes in our pursuit of success. Jeff shows us how! Jeff’s Bio: Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword, a Certified Lead Appraiser, CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster and author of “agileCMMI,” Broadsword’s leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement, as well as many published articles and ebooks on performance innovation. Jeff has been selected Keynote Speaker at numerous conferences including the International Conference on CMMI in Lima, Peru, the PMI Great Lakes 2013 Symposium, the 2014 QUEST Conference and Expo, the CMMI SEPG Conference 2014, the CMMI Global Congress 2015, the PM Symposium Indianapolis 2015 and the PM Symposium Chicago 2015.  He has appeared multiple times at Agile Development West, Better Software, Agile Processes and Tools, AgileDC, and at Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) and Agile Leadership Network (ALN) meetups throughout North America. Jeff served as the Chairman of the Partner Advisory Board at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and CMMI Institute from 2011-2014 during their transition period.  He has been president of Great Lakes Software Process Improvement Network, and is a recipient of the prestigious Software Engineering Institute’s SEI Member Award for Outstanding Representative for his work uniting the Agile and CMMI communities through his popular blog “Ask the CMMI Appraiser.” He holds degrees in Music and Computer Science and builds experimental airplanes in his spare time.  Jeff can be reached at . Contact Data: Email: appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com. Twitter: @CMMIAppraiser Blog: http://askthecmmiappraiser.blogspot.com/ Web: http://www.broadswordsolutions.com/ also see: Previous Appearances on the podcast: Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of returns this week when we tackle the essay titled “The Other Face” Check out the new installment at .   Upcoming Events Agile Development Conference East November 8-13, 2015 Orlando, Florida I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast returns to the topic of Agile Project Charters, tackling the concepts needed to scale a charter to an Agile project or program. When Agile projects scale up to handle larger efforts additional steps are often required. Additional steps can lead to bloat if you do not take care. We will also have a new installment of Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner! We discussed the definition of test cases and why they are so important to delivering quality code! Shameless Ad for my book! co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book nglish and Chinese.

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast includes three columns!  The first is our essay on Agile Project Charters.  Project charters, done correctly, can play an extremely important role in the initiation of projects. The essay lays out how Agile projects can get the benefit of a project charter, without the bloat and shelfware that often get attached to project charters. Software process and Measurement Cast 365 also features the return of the Software Sensei with a discussion of improvisation in software development. Kim Pries writes, “Many people think improvising means making things up, on the spot, without any advance preparation. I prefer a different definition: creating something special from whatever ordinary ingredients happen to be available. I would suggest we can go beyond this definition—good improvisation is a sign of mastery of one’s craft. Furthermore, truly great improvisation always involves ensembles (i.e., leave your ego at the door).” A powerful and important essay for anyone interested in delivering software. Finally, Gene Hughson brings a new installment from his Form Follows Function blog to the Software Process and Measurement Cast with a discussion of his entry titled, “.” Gene reminds us that the point of all work is pleasing a customer. That is a reminder that we all need to hear over and over and over to ensure it sticks!  Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of returns this week when we tackle the essay titled “Hatching a Catastrophe!” Check out the new installment at .   Upcoming Events Agile Development Conference East November 8-13, 2015 Orlando, Florida I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features my interview with Jeff Dalton.  Jeff returns to the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss the attributes of successful organizations. There are a relatively small set of attributes that successful organizations exhibit. These attribute don’t occur by accident, but rather are a reflection of hard work and consistency of purpose.  We can all reflect and adopt these attributes in our pursuit of success. Shameless Ad for my book! co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book nglish and Chinese.

I am still on vacation (at least for a few more hours), and this week we have another mixtape for you. This week I have included the responses to the “if you could fix any two (or sometimes one) things” question I ask at the end every interview from the three most downloaded interviews of 2014. The top three were: SPaMCAST 302 featured Larry Maccherone. Larry’s two wishes were: That we unlearn the natural tendency to look at how a number can be gamed rather than how it can be used. That he had access to all data and infinite time to analyze the data. SPaMCAST 318 featured Rob Cross. Rob wished that: Organizations would realize it is not the tools rather it is the data that counts. Organizations need to change their culture to focus on security. ! SPaMCAST 310 featured the return of Mike Burrows.  Mike only had one wish this time: Development organizations need to embrace balance as a value. Mike made the list two years in a row! If these excerpts tickled your fancy listen to the whole interview by clicking on the links shown above. Next week we will return to regular programming with our essay on Agile Project Charters.