SPaMCAST 2022 Top Ten Countdown!

2022 marked the sixteenth year of the Software Process and Measurement Cast Podcast. Just like McDonald’s we have served millions and millions. The top ten podcasts this year showcased a wide range of topics from an essay on the team leader’s role in agile to panel discussions about hybrid work environments. While there are certainly 10 podcasts that were downloaded more than others, I recommend subscribing (https://apple.co/3iLl8J9) wherever you get your podcasts from so that you don’t miss any of the 52 podcasts in 2023 and so you have access to the entire back-catalog. If you’re not the subscribing type, then sample the ten the listeners downloaded the most:

 

SPaMCAST 728 – Product Leadership Stances, A Conversation With Anjali Leon and Nadezhda Belousova

SPaMCAST 728 features a discussion with Anjali Leon and Nadezhda Belousova. We discussed their new model, Product Leadership Stances. One of my takeaways was how powerful the model was in helping to develop an understanding of product leadership and then highlighting gaps in how the role is practiced in organizations. 

 

SPaMCAST 723 – Neglected WIP, Time According to Jon M Quigley, Essays and Conversations

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SPaMCAST 723 features our essay on neglected WIP. Work that has been started and is now just sitting around is neglected. Running a team or organization above their natural level WIP for any length of time causes flow velocity (throughput) to slow and flow time (cycle time) to increase. When there is too much work, people try all sorts of techniques to get work done. Multitasking is the grandfather of them all and we all know how that turns out (need a hint – badly). In the end, all approaches to trying to do too many ends up with some things being juggled and ignored. That is neglected WIP.

 

SPaMCAST 699 – Using AI To Unlock The Potential Of Humanity, A Discussion With Eric Daimler

This week we feature our interview with Eric Daimler, Ph.D. Eric and I discussed how AI can unlock the potential of humanity.  

 

Re-read Saturday, Agile Conversations, Week 10 – Chapter 7: Accountability Conversation

The accountability conversation is the fifth and last conversation addressed by Squirrel and Fredrick in Agile Conversations. Next week we will cover the conclusions and some final thoughts. Then we will have a quick interlude re-reading Jim Benson’s Why Limit WiP while we run a poll to select the next books. 

In Chapter 7 the authors define accountability as “being obligated to render an account of what you have done and why.” They suggest that the definition is a departure from normal usage. I don’t think of this as a radical departure from the classic Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition which focuses on providing and/or giving an explanation. All the current common definitions I found boil down to expressing what was done and why.

 

Re-read Saturday, Agile Conversations, Week 7 – Chapter 5: The Why Conversation (Part 1)

Week 7of our re-read of  Agile Conversations by Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick begins Chapter 5 addressing the ‘Why Conversation’. Like the ‘Fear Conversation’, we will approach this in two parts; focusing this week on two areas, position and interests, and inquiry and advocacy. We will tackle joint design next week. 

 

Re-read Saturday, Agile Conversations, Week 2 – Escaping The Software Factory

Chapter 2 of Agile Conversations by Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick is titled, Escaping The Software Factory. The idea that software development and maintenance fit a factory model in which people are fungible and that processes are deterministic is a thing in 2021 (as it was when this book was written). I have always been hard-pressed to buy the factory/manufacturing model. I have worked on an assembly line. One of the jobs I had was building tires for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company at their plant in Memphis. That job was one of the reasons I made sure I went to university. Whether the assembly line model was truly appropriate even for tire manufacturing would be interesting to debate (the plant is gone, no amount of scientific management could save it). At the very least, software development and maintenance are better served by team-based collaborative approaches. Words like team-based and collaboration require communication (something that did not happen on the assembly line, except when we had union meetings) so that rigid processes and micromanagement can be minimized.

 

SPaMCAST 675 – What is a Priority, Bad Leadership, Conversations and Essays

This week we continue the priority theme with an essay titled, “What is a Priority?” I wish it was a simple question. Since the whole idea of priority is premised on a group of people having a shared perspective and definition this is a question that needs to be asked and answered. 

We also have a visit from Susan Parente with her I’m Not A Scrumdamentalist column.  In this installment, we tackle bad leadership (I wish tackle was not used metaphorically).

 

SPaMCAST 658 – Prioritization, Testing, Agile Performance Holarchy, Essays and Conversations

The Software Process and Measurement Cast features an essay on prioritization. We prioritize in order to establish what to work on and when to do it. There is often a difference between assigned priority and the real priority based on when teams start and complete a piece of work. This essay is part of the overall conversation on controlling work entry and answering the question: Are we working on the most important thing?

We also have a visit to the QA Corner with Jeremy Berriault. Mr. Berriault and I discussed how testing is integrated into the Agile Performance Holarchy.

 

SPaMCAST 655 Product Pricing and Scale, A Conversation With Ajit Ghuman

This week we dive into what is often viewed as arcane science by the development community, pricing. Pricing can make or break any product. Everyone in the value chain has to have a good understanding of how pricing decisions are made and how they can impact what should be built and when. One critical part of the conversation focuses on whether there is an ideal pattern for product and development to work together? If not, what are the consequences? Our conversation just skims the surface of Ajit Ghuman’s new book Priced to Scale which hit the book stands in April.