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Software Process and Measurement Cast


The Software Process and Measurement Cast provides a forum to explore the varied world of software process improvement and measurement.  The SPaMCast covers topics that deal the challenges how work is done in information technology organizations as they grow and evolve.  The show combines commentaries, interviews and your feedback to serve up ideas, options, opinions, advice and even occasionally facts. 

 

Sep 24, 2017

SPaMCAST 461 features our essay - Agile -- Leadership Required.  For an Agile transformation to be effective and then stay effective there are four cornerstones of Agile leadership constancy that must be addressed with passion and constancy of purpose.

Our second column this week is from Kim Pries (The Software Sensei). Kim fills in the middle of the cast with a discussion of the conceptual skills a software developer should have. To be good in this industry you need to be more than a set of coding languages or testing techniques.  

Steve Tendon, brings chapter 19 of 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 19, which is titled Understanding Common Cause Variation.  Steve share insights that caused me to rethink the whole idea of common cause variation.

Here is a promo for my appearance during the Denver Startup Week.  On Thursday, September 28th at 8 AM I will be sharing Storytelling: Developing the Big Picture for Agile Efforts.  The presentation, in Denver, Colorado, will be at held at Industry.  Register and be there!!!!

A well-done Agile project reminds us that the focus of any set of requirements needs to be on an outcome rather than a collection of “whats” and “whos”. Storytelling is a powerful tool to elevate even the most diehard requirements analyst from a discussion of individual requirements to a discussion of outcomes. Attend this session and learn how to peel away the proverbial layers of the backlog evolution “onion” by using storytelling techniques to understand the big picture. Perfect for PMs and leaders of any agile driven project.

For other events, SPaMCAST team members will be attending check the recent blog entry titled Upcoming Conferences and Webinars!

 

Re-Read Saturday News

This week Steven completes Chapter 9 of Paul Gibbons’ book The Science of Successful Organizational Change.  Chapter 9 is the capstone of the book, putting all of the pieces-parts together.  Steve sums the chapter up and ties a bow on it!  We will have a final wrap up next week then . . .

Vote for the next re-read book here!

I will hold the poll open for a few more days.  Currently, we seem to be experiencing a slugfest between Vacanti and Senge; however, I am starting to see rally flags for Kevin Kruse’s book!

This week and previous installments:

Week 1: Game Plan

Week 2: Introduction   

Week 3: Failed Change

Week 4:  Introduction to Part 1 and Fragility to Change-Agility

Week 5: Governance and the Psychology of Risk

Week 6: Decision Making in Complex and Ambiguous Environments

Week 7: Chapter 5: Cognitive Bias and Failed Strategies

Week 8: Misunderstanding Human Behavior

Week 9: The Science of Changing Behaviors

Week 10: Chapter 8: The Science of Changing Hearts and Minds

Week 11: Leading With Science (Part 1)

Week 12 Leading With Science (Part 2)

 

A Call To Action

The Software Process and Measurement Cast needs your help!  Please give the SPaMCAST a short, honest review in iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you are listening.  If you leave a review somewhere, please send a copy to spamcastinfo@gmail.com we will call you out on the show!  Reviews help guide people to the cast and blog!

If you interested in promoting your conference or event on the Software Process and Measurement Cast please reach out to us at spamcastinfo@gmail.com to discuss how that can happen!

Next SPaMCAST

SPaMCAST 462 will feature our interview with Jon M Quigley (remember him?)  We discussed his new book Project Management for Automotive Engineers. Jon co-authored the book with Roopa Shenoy. The book and the ideas in the book are relevant to all types of projects whether they use Agile or not!  A fun and informative conversation!

Shameless Ad for my book!

Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques 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 here. Available in English and Chinese.