Software Process And Measurement Cast

SPaMCAST 457 features our essay on cognitive biases and their impact on decision making.  If you doubt the impact of biases on decision making, read chapter five of The Science of Successful Organizational Change (current Re-read Saturday Book) and listen to this week's podcast! Our second column this week is from Jon M Quigley (The Alpha and Omega of Product Development), Jon continues his theme of learning organizations with penetrating insight on how a learning organization evolves. Kim Pries (The Software Sensei) anchors the cast this week with a strong argument that if you want to improve the software you are delivering begin by hiring the right people! We also have a promo for 2017 Agile Leadership Summit: Mark your calendar for an entirely new class of business conference. More "business theater" than a conference, the 2017 Agile Leadership Summit (September 22nd in Washington, DC) is sponsored by AgileCxO (agilecxo.org). It features an integrated mix of six vignettes on Agile leadership, two fantastic

SPaMCAST 456 features our interview with Jeff Dalton.  Jeff makes his fifth appearance as an interviewee. Jeff discussed leadership and whether leadership is more or less important in the Agile, dynamic world we find ourselves inhabiting.   Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword, a Process Innovation firm, and Chief Evangelist at AgileCxO.org, an Agile Leadership Research and Development center that develops models for high-performing agile teams.  Jeff is the principal author of “A Guide to Scrum and CMMI,” published by the CMMI Institute, and is a SCAMPI Lead Appraiser and Certified Agile Leadership Consultant that specializes in software product development, self-organizing teams, and performance modeling.   Jeff’s previous appearances on the Software Process and Measurement Cast include SPaMCAST 433 - Jeff Dalton, Holacracy is the Future SPaMCAST 366 – Jeff Dalton, 12 Attributes of Great and Agile Organizations SPaMCAST 296 – Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Agile, Resiliency SPaMCAST 176 - Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Scrum

SPaMCAST 455 features our interview with Michael King.  We talked about Michael’s approach to Agile, process improvement and the CMMI at Halfaker and Associates.  Michael provides a glimpse into making a change in the real world.  Mr. King delivers more than just theory.  One word describes the interview - insightful. Michael’s Bio: Michael King serves as Chief Technology Officer at Halfaker and Associates (www.halfaker.com), leading customer solution architecture, internal IT operations, business process architecture, and quality management activities.  Michael has 14 years of systems engineering, project management, and process design experience within the Federal contracting industry.  He has previously served as Halfaker’s Chief Operating Officer.  Prior to Halfaker, Michael worked within Lockheed Martin’s Critical Infrastructure Protection group, providing system engineering support related to identity management, physical security, and cyber security.  Michael holds a Bachelors in Computer Engineering f

SPaMCAST 454 features three columns!  The first is our essay and checklists on iteration planning. Aristotle stated that “well begun is half done.”  While we might argue the half part, planning is required to be well begun and that is important on any measurement scale. Jeremy Berriault delivers a new entry in the  QA Corner.  In this installment of the QA Corner, we discuss the function of a QA Lead. Check out Jeremy’s blog at the QA Corner! Gene Hughson anchors the cast with his Form Follows Function blog to the SPaMCAST to discuss the entry,  Trash or Treasure – What’s Your Legacy? Gene begins with the contentious topic of legacy systems. Re-Read Saturday News We continue re-reading The Science of Successful Organizational Change.  Steven Adams is leading this re-read.  In this week’s entry, we cover the introduction to Part 2 and chapter 3.  Gibbon’s takes us down the path of strategy and uncertainty. Remember to buy your copy.    This week and previous installments: Week 1: Game Plan Week 2: Introduc

SPaMCAST 453 features our interview with James Shore.  We began with a discussion of the Agile Fluency Model, including the concepts and ideas that led to the model and then got into topics such as whether Agile can ever be method agnostic. James’s bio: James Shore teaches, writes, and consults on Agile development processes. He is a recipient of the Agile Alliance's Gordon Pask Award for Contributions to Agile Practice, co-creator of the Agile Fluency™ Model, co-author of /The Art of Agile Development/, and host of “Let's Code: Test-Driven JavaScript.” InfoQ has named him one of the “most influential people in Agile.” You can find his screencasts at letscodejavascript.com, essays at jamesshore.com, and more about the Agile Fluency Project at agilefluency.org. Re-Read Saturday News Today we continue re-reading The Science of Successful Organizational Change led by Steven Adams.  This week Steven addresses the introduction to Part 1 and Chapter 2. In the introduction to Part 1 Gibbon’s tells us that we live in

SPaMCAST 452 features our essay on personal process improvement.  We are responsible for our own path in life. Stepping back and reviewing where we are today and where we want to be tomorrow is a form of a retrospective.  Just like any other retrospective, the goal is to change the trajectory of the path you are on.    Kim Pries, the Software Sensei, discusses ethics in software. Ethics guide (or they don’t) practitioners of all types.  Many certification organizations include ethics statements but rarely have the teeth to enforce those ethics.  Kim asks whether this approach makes sense. Anchoring the cast is Jon M Quigley with his Alpha and Omega of Product Development column.  Jon is beginning a three column theme on the impact of people and learning on product development. One of the places you can find Jon is at Value Transformation LLC. Re-Read Saturday News Today we continue re-reading The Science of Successful Organizational Change led by Steven Adams.  THis week we dive into Chapter One titled Failed

SPaMCAST 451 features our interview with Askhat Urazbaev.  Askhat brings a very pragmatic view of Agile in all of its many forms to the Software Process and Measurement Cast.  This interview covers a lot of ground, ranging from defining Agile to the impact of corporate and national cultures on what works and what doesn’t work.  We dove directly into the interview with very little preamble!  Askhat’s bio: Askhat Urazbaev made a typical career moving from junior developer to project manager in different software companies. Later on, in Luxoft, Askhat as a process architect was he was engaged in adopting "heavyweight" methodologies in different departments of the company. Happily, thanks to one of the customers, Askhatwas exposed to some knowledge of Agile. The new way of development looked very effective. Askhat has participated in several Agile projects in different roles. In 2006 Askhat started to help teams and departments to adopt Agile methodologies in Luxoft. In March, he has started Russian Agile Communi

SPaMCAST 450 features our essay on Product Roadmaps.  Roadmaps link an organization’s strategy to action. Product roadmaps are directional and answer the question of where we are going and why. As with any powerful tool, roadmaps giveth when used wisely and taketh away when used less wisely. We also visit with Gene Hughson.  Gene brings his great Form Follows Function blog to the podcast.  We discussed the entry Holistic Architecture – Keeping the Gears Turning.  After you listen to our conversation remember that roadmaps are a way to avoid your products not to resemble a bunch of spare parts flying in close formation. Re-Read Saturday News Today we will begin the next book in the Re-read Saturday Series, The Science of Successful Organizational Change. Steven Adams (SPaMCAST 437, SPaMCAST 412 and nearly every entry in the Re-read Saturday series) will lead this re-read.   Remember to use the link to buy a copy to support the podcast and blog. Steven begins the re-read by describing how he found the Paul Gi

SPaMCAST 449 features our interview with Jasveer Singh.  We discussed his new book, Functional Software Size Measurement Methodology with Effort Estimation and Performance Indication.  Jasveer proposes a new sizing methodology for estimation and other measurement processes. Jasveer Singh holds a Master of Technology degree in Computer Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and has studied Executive Master in Management at École de Commerce Solvay, Brussels, Belgium. He has about 30 years of valuable senior-level international experience in the ICT area and has worked in the top IT/Telecom equipment manufacturer, operator, consultancy, and service companies in different countries (Bharat Electronics Limited, Alcatel, Siemens Business Services, WorldCom, Logica, and Sigos in India, France, Australia, Belgium, and Germany). A significant part of this experience has been in the management of software development (analysis, design, coding, testing), system design, quality assurance/control, an

SPaMCAST 448 features our essay on uncertainty. Al Pittampalli said, “uncertainty and complexity produce anxiety we wish to escape.” Dealing with uncertainty is part of nearly everything we do our goal should be to address uncertainty head on. The second column features Steve Tendon talking about Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban published J Ross (buy a copy here). We tackle Chapter 18.   Our third column is the return of Jeremy Berriault and his QA Corner. Jeremy discusses leading in  QA.  Jeremy  blogs at https://jberria.wordpress.com/ Re-Read Saturday News Chapter 10 concludes our re-read of Holacracy: The New Management System for a Rapidly Changing World by Brian J. Robertson which was published by Henry Holt and Company in 2015.  This week's chapter is titled, The Experience of Holacracy. In this chapter, Robertson wraps up most of the loose ends. Next week we will conclude this re-read with some final comments and

SPaMCAST 447 features our interview with Angela Wick on the role of the Product Owner and Business Analyst in Agile efforts. These two roles are critically important for delivering value in an Agile environment. Angela provides a fresh take on the Product Owner role and the Product Owner's relationship to other roles Agile teams. Angela is the founder of BA-Squared, LLC, a training and consulting practice.  She is passionate about modernizing requirements practices and helping organizations collaborate on a Product Vision aligned to strategy and guiding them to a meaningful backlog and iterations that keep the customer and organizational value top of mind. She trains, coaches and teaches organizations on Product Ownership and Agile BA! Email: Angela@BA-Squared.Com Web: http://www.ba-squared.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelawickcbap Twitter: https://twitter.com/WickAng This is not the first time the SPaMCAST has featured essays and conversations on the role of product owners ( for exampleSPaMCA

SPaMCAST 446 will feature our essay on questions.  Questions are a coach and facilitator’s secret power! But, with great power comes great responsibility.   Our second column is from Gene Hughson.  Gene and I discussed his essay Go-to People Considered Harmful originally published on his blog Form Follows Function (www.genehughson.wordpress.com).  The concept may sound counterintuitive, but it is not. The third column is from Kim Pries, the Software Sensei.  In this installment, Kim dives into the topic of servant leadership. Re-Read Saturday News This week we tackle Chapter 8 of Holacracy: The New Management System for a Rapidly Changing World by Brian J. Robertson published by Henry Holt and Company in 2015.  Chapter 8 is a bit of a bits and bobs chapter but begins to draw in a lot of loose threads.   This week we also announce the next book in the re-read series.  The envelope please. . . . The next book is The Science of Successful Organizational Change. Remember to use the link to buy a copy in order

SPaMCAST 445 features the return of a favorite, Capers Jones.  It is always fun to talk with someone with their own page in Wikepedia.  Capers and I talked about his new book, A Guide to Selecting Software Measures and Metrics. Capers is passionate about software quality and measurement. Capers said, “High-quality software is not expensive. High-quality software is faster and cheaper to build and maintain than low-quality software, from initial development all the way through total cost of ownership.”  Jones, Caper, Bonsignour, Olivier, and Jitendra Subramanyam, Jitendra, The Economics of Software Quality.  As usual, Capers was engaging, educational and controversial.  Spending time with Capers is always a learning experience! Capers biography is long and storied.  Let it be said that Capers is a serial author, public speaker, pundit, guru and deep thinker.  Check out his Wikipedia page or Linkedin. Capers can be contacted at capers.jones3@gmail.com. Capers first appeared on SPaMCAST 3 and  last appeared on

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast features our essay revisiting the product owner role. The product owner role is hard, often messed up and a great opportunity for improvement. The second column features the return of Steve Tendon talking about Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban published J Ross (buy a copy here). We tackle Chapter 17 which is titled Challenges of Work-State Work in Process Limits. WIP limits have their plusses and minuses when discussing hyper-productivity.   Our third column this week is from Jeremy Berriault. Jeremy discusses how to show the value of QA and why knowing and showing value is important!   Jeremy  blogs at https://jberria.wordpress.com/     Re-Read Saturday News This week we tackle Chapter 6 of Holacracy: The New Management System for a Rapidly Changing World by Brian J. Robertson published by Henry Holt and Company in 2015.   Chapter 6, Facilitating Governance, puts the id

The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Brad Clark.  Brad and I talked about cost estimation, estimation in government and COCOMO II and what is on the way in COCOMO III. Even if you are firmly in the #NoEstimates camp this interview will give you ideas to think about! Brad’s Bio Dr. Brad Clark is Vice-President of Software Metrics Inc. – a Virginia-based consulting company. His area of expertise is in software cost and schedule data collection, analysis and modeling. He also works with clients to set up their own estimation capability for use in planning and managing. He has also helped clients with software cost and schedule feasibility analysis and cost estimation training. Dr. Clark received his Master’s in Software Engineering in 1995 and Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1997 from the University of Southern California. He is a co-author of the most widely used Software Cost Estimation model in the world, COCOMO II. This model estimates the effort and duration required to co

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 442 features our essay on capability teams. The use of teams to deliver business value is at the core of most business models.  Capability teams are a tool to unlock the value delivery engine of teams. Gene Hughson brings his Form Follows Function Blog to the cast this week to discuss his recent blog entry titled, Systems of Social Systems and the Software Systems They Create. We live in a complex world and just focusing on social systems or software systems misses the point! Our third column is from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries.  The entry this week is titled, Software Quality and the Art of Skateboard Maintenance. This entry is an homage to Robert M. Pirsig the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, who recently died. Re-Read Saturday News And welcome back!  For those who are interested, The Frederick Half Marathon last weekend was great.  I met my goals: I crossed the finish line, collected my medal and got to hang out with my family in Frederick.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 441 features our interview with John Le Drew.  John and I discussed the concept of safety at work, and how safety, or the lack of it, affects the effectiveness of software teams. John’s bio . . . In almost 2 decades working in software engineering, John Le Drew has worked as a software engineer, team lead, project manager, product owner, trainer, agile coach, and consultant. Working with clients ranging from small start-ups to multinationals. Through Wise Noodles he has helped organizations solve tough technical problems by untangling their people problems. John hosts The Agile Path Podcast; producing in-depth audio documentaries on the topics that most affect organizations transitioning to agile ways of working. The manifesto for agile software development and the principles behind it is central to how John approaches software and value development. Working with organizations to help them learn to apply the principles has become a passion. There is nothing more excit

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 440 features our essay on two storytelling techniques: premortems and business obituaries.  Almost all work that takes more than a few days is subject to risks that are not immediately obvious without some form of structured process to focus the team's thought process. Teams often use storytelling techniques to generate a big picture/vision to guide a project or to help people frame their thoughts. A story provides a deeper and more nuanced connection between the team and information than most lists of PowerPoint bullets or a structured requirements documents. The same storytelling skill can be used as a risk management tool. Premortums and business obituaries are structured techniques for using storytelling for risk management. Our second column is from Jeremy Berriault. Jeremy discusses the importance of conferences for learning new ideas and for networking.  Jeremy suggests that if you are have not learned new ways to test and you are testing the same way you were

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 439 features Alex Yakyma.  Our discussion focused on the industry's broken mindset that prevents it from being Lean and Agile.  A powerful and a possibly controversial interview. Alex’s Bio Alex Yakyma brings unique, extensive, and field-based experience to the topic of implementing Lean and Agile at scale. Throughout his career, he has served as an engineering and program manager in multi-cultural, highly-distributed environments. As a methodologist, trainer and consultant, he has led numerous rollouts of Lean and Agile at scale, involving teams in North America, Europe and Asia, and has trained over a thousand coaches and change agents whose key role is to help their organizations achieve higher productivity and quality through the adoption of scalable, agile methods. Alex is a founder of Org Mindset (http://orgmindset.com), a company whose mission is to help enterprises grow Lean-Agile mentality and build organizational habits in support of exploration and fast del

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 438 features our essay on leveraging sizing in testing. Size can be a useful tool for budgeting and planning both at the portfolio level and the team level. Gene Hughson brings his Form Follows Function Blog to the cast this week to discuss his recent blog entry titled, Organizations as Systems and Innovation. One of the highlights of the conversation is whether emergence is a primary factor driving change in a complex system. Our third column is from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries.  Kim discusses why blindly accepting canned solutions does not negate the need for active troubleshooting of for problems in software development. Re-Read Saturday News This week, we tackle chapter 1 of Holacracy: The New Management System for a Rapidly Changing World by Brian J. Robertson published by Henry Holt and Company in 2015. Chapter 1 is titled, Evolving Organization.  Holacracy is an approach to address shortcomings that have appeared as organizations evolve. Holacracy is not