Software Process and Measurement Cast

In the SPaMCast 827, we will begin cracking groupthink in prioritization with a discussion of urgency vs. importance Evaluating the interplay between urgency and importance is a powerful work intake approach. Teams and project management offices regularly use an Eisenhower Matrix or variant to visualize the relationship between these two factors. The bottom line in this approach is that you should prioritize work that is important and urgent above work that is just urgent. We also have a visit from Keis Kostaqi, MBA who brings her You Are Not Alone column to the podcast. Keis and I discuss the career path of a Scrum Master. Is there a career path or is the role a life avocation? Master Work Intake! Mastering Work Intake by Jeremy Willets and I hit the bookshelves earlier this year. We have also been running cohort-based workshops to help expose and solve this dirty little secret. Two of the questions we have gotten as we have promoted the workshops are: What is a cohort-based workshop? What value will I get if I join? Both are greater questions and we have an answer! Join us for a one-hour open house on September 11th at 11 am EDT to explore how to diagnose and solve work intake challenges, the most critical issue facing organizations today. This session will provide an overview of our course designed to help you master work intake and ensure your organization thrives. We'll cover key takeaways such as effective prioritization, navigating organizational structures, measuring work intake flow, and diagnosing common work intake issues. You'll leave with actionable insights and a clear plan to address work intake problems immediately. Sign up on Eventbrite! https://bit.ly/MasteringWorkIntake Re-read Saturday News Chapter 2 of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci (buy a copy and read along) is titled "A Roadmap For The Journey." In recent months, my wife and I have been beginning to travel in a class B van. We are taking short trips (learning the ropes) with longer trips in the offing. We rely on GPS a lot. I guess that's not very different from most travelers. However, the more we deviate from the heavily populated and traveled routes, the less ubiquitous and solid WiFi and cell coverage we find. GPS becomes somewhat unreliable. When the GPS is intermittent you must plan for it to be unreliable. We have discovered that we need an old-school paper map. For those of a certain age, a paper map provides turn-by-turn instructions via a static interface. It also provides a sense of the overall broad journey; an early version of a search albeit manual. Chapter 2 titled "A Roadmap For The Journey" is a paper roadmap for the remainder of How To Be A Stoic. Week 1: Logistics and Opening Thoughts Week 2: The Unstraightforward Path Week 3: A Roadmap For The Journey Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 828 will feature our conversation with Arash Parsania. We will talk about his exciting new methodology, Hyperid.is a flexible hybrid method that fits a wide range of different types of work.

Mastering Work Intake by Jeremy Willets and I hit the bookshelves earlier this year. We have also been running cohort-based workshops to help expose and solve this dirty little secret. Two of the questions we have gotten as we have promoted the workshops are: What is a cohort-based workshop? What value will I get if I join? Both are greater questions and we have an answer! Join us for a one-hour open house to explore how to diagnose and solve work intake challenges, the most critical issue facing organizations today. This session will provide an overview of our course designed to help you to master work intake and ensure your organization thrives. We'll cover key takeaways such as effective prioritization, navigating organizational structures, measuring work intake flow, and diagnosing common work intake issues. You'll leave with actionable insights and a clear plan to address work intake problems immediately. Sign up on Eventbrite! https://bit.ly/MasteringWorkIntake

The SPaMCAST 825 features our conversation with Richmond Alake. During our conversation, we discussed AI, Machine Learning, and most importantly why being a lifelong learner is important (really important). Need more? We also will discuss what comes next now that AI Chat has been done. Richmond's bio: Richmond Alake is an AI/ML Practitioner with an academic background in computer vision, robotics, and machine learning. He has worked in software development and machine learning roles since 2016. Richmond has also taught online AI/ML/Data courses and written over 200 technical articles with over 1 million views. He is passionate about using technology to solve real-world problems. Try out MongoDB for free: https://mdb.link/spmc_podcast_use_mongodb Get hands-on code for AI Agents: https://github.com/mongodb-developer/GenAI-Showcase/tree/main/notebooks/agents Connect with Richmond: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richmondalake/ Master Work Intake! Mastering Work Intake by Jeremy Willets and I hit the bookshelves earlier this year. We have also been running cohort-based workshops to help expose and solve this dirty little secret. Two of the questions we have gotten as we have promoted the workshops are: What is a cohort-based workshop? What value will I get if I join? Both are greater questions and we have an answer! Join us for a one-hour open house to explore how to diagnose and solve work intake challenges, the most critical issue facing organizations today. This session will provide an overview of our course designed to help you to master work intake and ensure your organization thrives. We'll cover key takeaways such as effective prioritization, navigating organizational structures, measuring work intake flow, and diagnosing common work intake issues. You'll leave with actionable insights and a clear plan to address work intake problems immediately. Sign up on Eventbrite! https://bit.ly/MasteringWorkIntake Re-read Saturday News Chapter 1 of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci (buy a copy and read along) establishes that the central question of all cultures and philosophies is "how to live." Let's begin by dispelling the notion that Stoicism eschews emotion and feeling, rather the ancient philosophy based on the importance of wisdom, character, and balance. Pigilucci states, "Stoicism is an approach to living in which moral character is the only truly worthy thing to cultivate." While I believe Spock (Star Trek) has a high moral character, if you are expecting How To Be A Stoic to teach how to be a Vulcan, you will be disappointed. If nothing else, the Stoics have a wry sense of humor. Forewarned is forearmed. Week 1: Logistics and Opening Thoughts Week 2: The Unstraightforward Path Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 826 will explore whether urgency has more power in prioritization in collaborative events. Importance is supposed to trump urgency but when you involve many voices things are murkier. We will also have a visit from Kies Kostaqi who will bring her You Are Not Alone column to the Software Process and Measurement Cast.

The SPaMCAST 824 compares the Great Avon Lake Tornado and power outage with the purported death of Agile. Cap that off with many in the industry doubling down on Agile purity to put the blush back on the rose. My upcoming high school reunion suggests you can never cross the same river twice but crossing any river is a challenge.. Also Jon M Quigley and I talk about who is the most important person on a team. This is a counterpoint to my recent conversation with Jeremy Berriault on SPaMCAST 822. They agree but it…depends. Master Work Intake! Mastering Work Intake by Jeremy Willets and I hit the bookshelves earlier this year. We have also been running cohort-based workshops to help expose and solve this dirty little secret. Two of the questions we have gotten as we have promoted the workshops are: What is a cohort-based workshop? What value will I get if I join? Both are greater questions and we have an answer! Join us for a one-hour open house to explore how to diagnose and solve work intake challenges, the most critical issue facing organizations today. This session will provide an overview of our course designed to help you to master work intake and ensure your organization thrives. We'll cover key takeaways such as effective prioritization, navigating organizational structures, measuring work intake flow, and diagnosing common work intake issues. You'll leave with actionable insights and a clear plan to address work intake problems immediately. Sign up on Eventbrite! https://bit.ly/MasteringWorkIntake Re-read Saturday News This week we begin the re-read of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci (buy a copy and read along). I bought this book while on a trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was there for a speaking engagement and my wife and I decided to make a weekend of it. My downfall was that the fabulous Literati Bookstore was near our Air B&B. Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 825 will feature our interview with Richmond Alake. We discussed AI and Machine Learning. We also will discuss what comes next now that AI Chat has been done.

The introduction and outro words are abbreviated this week. I will regale you with the tale of the Avon Lake Toronado next. Now I need to find a way of making everything work without electricity and the Internet. I am not sure which is making me crazier. The SPaMCAST 823 features a discussion with Kirk Marple, Technical Founder and CEO at Graphit, by Unstruk Data. What is a technical founder you might ask? No? Well, I did. More importantly, we discussed AI, knowledge graphs, leadership, and how organizations learn as they understand their data. Check out Graphit at www.graphit.com Check out Kirk on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/kirkmarple Re-read Saturday News This week we have the concluding thoughts of Flow. We will begin the re-read of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci (buy a copy and read along) next week. Buy a copy of Flow and read along – https://amzn.to/4b5kPmb Week 1: Preface and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3WLjFHU Week 2: Happiness – https://bit.ly/4dUSpNg Week 3: Consciousness – https://bit.ly/4bEu3pN Week 4: Enjoyment and The Quality of Life – https://bit.ly/4eeknDQ Week 5: The Conditions Of Flow Week 6: The Body In Flow Week 7: The Flow Of Thought Week 8: Work As Flow Week 9: Enjoying Solitude and Other People Week 10: Cheating Chaos Week 11: Making of Meaning Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 824 will include the story of the Avon Lake tornado, the sound of and smell of generators in the morning, an addiction to electricity and the internet, and a conversation with Jon M. Quigley.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 822 features a discussion that Jeremy Willets and I had during the Work Intake Summer Camp. The tyranny of the urgent often eclipses work that is merely important. Not understanding the difference between the two concepts and the long-term implications of ignoring what is important can be catastrophic. We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault, the Evolutionary Agilist. We discussed why teams exist. The answer can be simplified into four words. Getting to those words is a wild ride. Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Work Intake Summer Camp is in session! Like a swimming pool, there is always time to join the fun. Jeremy Willets and I are celebrating summer in the northern hemisphere with a summer camp. We'll look at the primary causes of work intake problems… and how to solve them! Join us for an entertaining and informative LinkedIn Live event. The last weekly session begins at 12:30 EDT on August 7th (LinkedIn). Each session will: Define one work intake problem per session, Identify how to recognize the problem, Offer a pragmatic approach to tackling the issue, and At least one scary story of work entry gone wrong (this is summer camp) We would like you to register at our Maven page https://bit.ly/3HEsKK7 so we can remind you when the session goes live. If you register we also have a Work Intake Problem Worksheet that we use in our workshops that we will email. However, if you'd rather not register on Maven you can set a reminder on LinkedIn (Session 7). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn. Replay Week 1: Goal Conflict Replay Week 2: Need Outstrips Demand Replay Week 3: Pay Practices Replay Week 4: Project Thinking v Product Thinking Replay Week 5: Urgency v Importance Replay Week 6: Classes of Service Replay Week 7: Control Share the invitation with others, wear sunscreen, and be kind to your fellow campers! Re-read Saturday News Chapter 10, Making of Meaning, culminates the book, Flow. Meaning provides a yardstick to evaluate the human condition and to consider what it means to be a human being in the context of our world. "Meaning" is a catalyst to provide energy and stimulate the intellectual vitality required for optimal experience. Without meaning it is difficult to find the rationale for tasks and cares that may feel mundane but are necessary to reach a goal or as we pivot toward another. Next week we will flow into concluding thoughts. Buy a copy and read along – https://amzn.to/4b5kPmb Week 1: Preface and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3WLjFHU Week 2: Happiness – https://bit.ly/4dUSpNg Week 3: Consciousness – https://bit.ly/4bEu3pN Week 4: Enjoyment and The Quality of Life – https://bit.ly/4eeknDQ Week 5: The Conditions Of Flow Week 6: The Body In Flow Week 7: The Flow Of Thought Week 8: Work As Flow Week 9: Enjoying Solitude and Other People Week 10: Cheating Chaos Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 823 will feature our discussion with Kirk Marple, Technical Founder and CEO at Unstruk Data. We will discuss AI, knowledge graphs, and how organizations learn as they understand their data.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 821 features our interview with Alex Natskovich. We talk about the attributes of a leader when building a business but even more importantly learning to be a leader. Success requires knowing how to handle the transitions. Alex's Bio Alex is a seasoned engineering leader and CEO. Born in Belarus, he harbored a lifelong dream of becoming an engineer. After graduating from university, he moved to the USA. During the initial years, he resided in New York, working as a software engineer in various companies. One of the most notable was the startup Conductor, where he joined as the 5th employee. It has now evolved into the leading global SEO and content intelligence platform. During his tenure there, Alex was responsible for building and maintaining an industry-leading link-building system. Simultaneously, he embarked on building his own company, MEV (named after the mega-electron-volt) – a strategic software development partner for fast-growing companies. Afterward, he decided to settle in the Bay Area. While at the helm of his company, he assisted esteemed companies such as Cartier, Novo Nordisk, Daiichi Sankyo, and Avadel in overcoming complex business challenges through software solutions. Additionally, he aided numerous startups in developing stable and scalable digital products, making them attractive for acquisition. Alex is passionate about empowering businesses with the right technology. He firmly believes in the power of teams. Building a high-performing team, in his view, necessitates being open-minded and always striving to thoroughly understand the team's objectives and needs for success. This solution-oriented mindset and team focus form the cornerstone of his company. Website: https://mev.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natskovich/ Email: Alex@mev.com Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Work Intake Summer Camp is in session! Like a swimming pool, there is always time to join the fun. Jeremy Willets and I are celebrating summer in the northern hemisphere with a summer camp. We'll look at the primary causes of work intake problems… and how to solve them! Join us for an entertaining and informative LinkedIn Live event. The next weekly session begins at 11:30 EDT on July 31st (LinkedIn). Each session will: Define one work intake problem per session, Identify how to recognize the problem, Offer a pragmatic approach to tackling the issue, and At least one scary story of work entry gone wrong (this is summer camp) We would like you to register at our Maven page https://bit.ly/3HEsKK7 so we can remind you when the session goes live. If you register we also have a Work Intake Problem Worksheet that we use in our workshops that we will email. However, if you'd rather not register on Maven you can set a reminder on LinkedIn (Session 7). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn. Replay Week 1: Goal Conflict Replay Week 2: Need Outstrips Demand Replay Week 3: Pay Practices Replay Week 4: Project Thinking v Product Thinking Replay Week 5: Urgency v Importance Replay Week 6: Classes of Service Share the invitation with others, wear sunscreen, and be kind to your fellow campers! Re-read Saturday News Three main ideas struck me during this read of Chapter 9 of Flow. Chapter 9 is titled: Cheating Chaos. The chaos we are working to cheat is the random energy pushing us in random directions from inside and outside ourselves. Creating order provides a space for optimal experience and flow. Logistics note: Including this week, we anticipate completing this re-read in 4 weeks. Are there recommendations for the next book in the Re-read series? Buy a copy and read along – https://amzn.to/4b5kPmb Week 1: Preface and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3WLjFHU Week 2: Happiness – https://bit.ly/4dUSpNg Week 3: Consciousness – https://bit.ly/4bEu3pN Week 4: Enjoyment and The Quality of Life – https://bit.ly/4eeknDQ Week 5: The Conditions Of Flow Week 6: The Body In Flow Week 7: The Flow Of Thought Week 8: Work As Flow Week 9: Enjoying Solitude and Other People Week 10: Cheating Chaos Next SPaMCAST The Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature Jeremy Willets and me discussing Urgency versus Importance. We thought the Work Intake Summer Camp discussion was so important (not just urgent) that we decided to share it. We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault, the Evolutionary Agilist.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 820 continues the story of Innovatech. In this installment, Emma "sells" baselining the flow to generate ideas for improvement and a starting point. The story of Innovatech is an allegory for how a data-driven improvement initiative can be bootstrapped with courage and perseverance. We also have a visit from Susan Parente whose "Not a Scrumdamentalist" column delivers insights and advice. Susan and I discussed who the most important person on a team is and who isn't. Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Work Intake Summer Camp is in session! Like a swimming pool, there is always time to join the fun. Jeremy Willets and I are celebrating summer in the northern hemisphere with a summer camp. We'll look at the primary causes of work intake problems… and how to solve them! Join us for an entertaining and informative LinkedIn Live event. The next weekly session begins at 12:30 EDT on July 24th (LinkedIn). Each session will: Define one work intake problem per session, Identify how to recognize the problem, Offer a pragmatic approach to tackling the issue, and At least one scary story of work entry gone wrong (this is summer camp) We would like you to register at our Maven page https://bit.ly/3HEsKK7 so we can remind you when the session goes live. If you register we also have a Work Intake Problem Worksheet that we use in our workshops that we will email. However, if you'd rather not register on Maven you can set a reminder on LinkedIn (Session 6%%%). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn. Replay Week 1: Goal Conflict Replay Week 2: Need Outstrips Demand Replay Week 3: Pay Practices Replay Week 4: Project Thinking v Product Thinking Replay Week 5: Share the invitation with others, wear sunscreen, and be kind to your fellow campers! Re-read Saturday News Chapter 8, of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's book Flow, titled Enjoying Solitude and Other People, discusses the impact of people on optimal experience and flow. The author grounds the chapter by reminding us that the quality of life depends on how we experience work and relationships with others. Chapter 7 wrestled with the work portion of the equation and Chapter 8 the people part. The two are highly intertwined. Logistics note: Including this week, we anticipate completing this re-read in 4 weeks. Are there recommendations for the next book in the Re-read series? Buy a copy and read along – https://amzn.to/4b5kPmb Week 1: Preface and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3WLjFHU Week 2: Happiness – https://bit.ly/4dUSpNg Week 3: Consciousness – https://bit.ly/4bEu3pN Week 4: Enjoyment and The Quality of Life – https://bit.ly/4eeknDQ Week 5: The Conditions Of Flow Week 6: The Body In Flow Week 7: The Flow Of Thought Week 8: Work As Flow Next SPaMCAST The Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Alex Natskovich. We will talk about finding value in unstructured data, transitioning from developer to entrepreneur, and agile.

The Sofware Process and Measurement Cast 819 features our conversation with Soumyadeb Mitra, Founder and CEO of Rudderstack. We discuss the trials and tribulations of consolidating and effectively using customer data. Tools like machine learning and generative AI make generating insights easier but "easier" does not mean easy. We also discuss entrepreneurship and trust. Soumyadeb Mitra is the Founder and CEO of RudderStack, the Warehouse Native Customer Data Platform (CDP). RudderStack helps data leaders drive revenue by making it easy to collect, unify and activate customer data for every team and tool. With a strong background in software engineering and data analytics, Soumyadeb is passionate about helping data leaders and teams make data valuable in their companies. Before founding RudderStack in 2018, Soumyadeb worked in various technical roles at leading technology companies, where he gained valuable experience in big data, machine learning, and cloud computing. While Head of Machine Learning at 8×8 (Nasdaq: EGHT), a unified communication as a service company, he found existing CDP solutions unable to meet his requirements for security, reliability, and scalability. He left to start RudderStack to solve that critical roadblock for companies looking to deliver key projects like real-time personalization and recommendations. linkedin.com/in/soumyadeb-mitra soumyadeb@rudderstack.com https://www.rudderstack.com/ Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Work Intake Summer Camp is in session! Jeremy Willets and I are celebrating summer in the northern hemisphere with a summer camp. We'll look at the primary causes of work intake problems… and how to solve them! Join us for an entertaining and informative LinkedIn Live event. The next weekly session begins at 11:30 EDT on July 17th (LinkedIn). Each session will: Define one work intake problem per session, Identify how to recognize the problem, Offer a pragmatic approach to tackling the issue, and At least one scary story of work entry gone wrong (this is summer camp) We would like you to register at our Maven page https://bit.ly/3HEsKK7 so we can remind you when the session goes live. If you register we also have a Work Intake Problem Worksheet that we use in our workshops that we will email. However, if you'd rather not register on Maven you can set a reminder on LinkedIn (Session 5). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn. Replay Week 1: Goal Conflict Replay Week 2: Need Outstrips Demand Replay Week 3: Pay Practices Replay Week 4: Project Thinking v Product Thinking Share the invitation with others, wear sunscreen, and be kind to your fellow campers! Re-read Saturday News Chapter 7 of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow is titled, "Work As Flow." Work is one of the largest single blocks of time adults carve out of their 168 hours of breath in a week. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi states. "Work that requires skill and is done freely refines the complexity of self." Flow is the result of this refinement, at the least the potential for optimal experience from work. Juxtaposition work generates opportunities for flow with work which is the energy used to realize someone else's dreams, hopes, and ambitions. This is not a formula for optimal experience and flow. Buy a copy and read along – https://amzn.to/4b5kPmb Week 1: Preface and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3WLjFHU Week 2: Happiness – https://bit.ly/4dUSpNg Week 3: Consciousness – https://bit.ly/4bEu3pN Week 4: Enjoyment and The Quality of Life – https://bit.ly/4eeknDQ Week 5: The Conditions Of Flow Week 6: The Body In Flow Week 7: The Flow Of Thought Week 8: Work As Flow Next SPaMCAST We will continue the story of Innovatech and how a data-driven improvement initiative can be bootstrapped with courage and perseverance. We will also have a visit from Susan Parente whose "Not a Scrumdamentalist" column delivers insights and advice.

This week we continue with the story of Innovatech, the business novella David Herron and I are writing. Innovatech, the once a tech darling is struggling. The delivery of new functionality used to be so easy. Now it isn't, leading to all sorts of unproductive behaviors. Emma, the Director of Residential Construction Technology Products, leads a one-person crusade to wake the organization up before it approaches a death spiral. We also have a visit from Keis Kostaqi. In this installment of her You Are Not Alone column we discuss how Scrum Masters need to adapt when organizations "start over". Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Work Intake Summer Camp is in session! Jeremy Willets and I are celebrating summer in the northern hemisphere with a summer camp. We'll look at the primary causes of work intake problems… and how to solve them! Join us for an entertaining and informative LinkedIn Live event. The next weekly session begins at 11:30 EDT on July 10th (LinkedIn). Each session will: Define one work intake problem per session, Identify how to recognize the problem, Offer a pragmatic approach to tackling the issue, and At least one scary story of work entry gone wrong (this is summer camp) We would like you to register at our Maven page https://bit.ly/3HEsKK7 so we can remind you when the session goes live. If you register we also have a Work Intake Problem Worksheet that we use in our workshops that we will email. However, if you'd rather not register on Maven you can set a reminder on LinkedIn (Session 3). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn. Replay Week 1: Goal Conflict Replay Week 2: Need Outstrips Demand Replay Week 3: Pay Practices Share the invitation with others, wear sunscreen, and be kind to your fellow campers! Re-read Saturday News While Chapter 5 of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow focuses on the body's impact on optimal experience in Chapter 6 we move upstairs. Chapter 6, titled The Flow of Thought, focuses on the mind's contribution. The author points out that most of us have little control over our minds. We are attracted to what is (seemingly) most important, at the moment. We fill the gaps with stimuli that don't evoke flow or optimal experiences. Buy a copy and read along – https://amzn.to/4b5kPmb Week 1: Preface and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3WLjFHU Week 2: Happiness – https://bit.ly/4dUSpNg Week 3: Consciousness – https://bit.ly/4bEu3pN Week 4: Enjoyment and The Quality of Life – https://bit.ly/4eeknDQ Week 5: The Conditions Of Flow Week 6: The Body In Flow Week 7: The Flow Of Thought Next SPaMCAST On the next Software Process and Measurement Cast, we will speak with Soumyadeb Mitra, Founder and CEO of Rudderstack. We will talk about the effective use of customer data.