SPaMCAST 448 – Uncertainty in Software Development, TameFlow, Leading QA

http://www.spamcast.net

Listen Now
Subscribe on iTunes
Check out the podcast on Google Play Music

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 thoughts.

 

SPaMCAST 433 – Jeff Dalton, Holacracy is the Future

http://www.spamcast.net

Listen Now
Subscribe on iTunes
Check out the podcast on Google Play Music

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 433 features our interview with Jeff Dalton discussing holacracy.  Holocracy.org defines holacracy as, “a complete, packaged system for self-management in organizations. Holacracy replaces the traditional management hierarchy with a new peer-to-peer “operating system” that increases transparency, accountability, and organizational agility.” Jeff has implemented holacracy in his own firm and others and has a lot to share about this exciting form of management and leadership.

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 principle 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.  His upcoming book, the “Agile Performance Holarchy: A New Model for Outrageously High Performance” will be released in September of 2017.

 

SPaMCAST 432- Leadership Types, On-Boarding, Surprises in QA, Holy Trinity

http://www.spamcast.net

Listen Now
Subscribe on iTunes
Check out the podcast on Google Play Music

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 432 begins with an essay on the impact of leadership types on adopting and sustaining Agile.  Leadership style has a direct impact on an organization’s ability to adopt and sustain Agile.  Some leadership styles are more supportive, while others evoke more of a response that is epitomized by locking feral cats and dogs in a room (nobody wins).

Next up, Jeremy Berriault brings his QA Corner to the cast to discuss surprises in QA testing.  Visit Jeremy’s blog at https://jberria.wordpress.com/  Next we will have a column from The Software Sensei, Kim Pries.  Kim discusses the holy trinity of forethought, execution and follow through. Reach out to Kim on LinkedIn. Last, but not least, Jon M Quigley brings his column, the Alpha and Omega of Product Development, to the Cast. In this segment, Jon discusses on-boarding. On-boarding new people is critical even if the person is just joining from another team down the hall.  One of the places you can find Jon is at Value Transformation LLC.

Re-Read Saturday News

This week  we tackle Chapter 5 in Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (buy your copy and read along).  In Chapter 5, Dweck uses examples from the business world to illustrate and elaborate on fixed and growth mindsets.

Every week we discuss a chapter then consider the implications of what we have “read” from the point of view of someone pursuing an organizational transformation and also how to use the material when coaching teams.  

 

SPaMCAST 431- Andrew Neitlich, Leadership is Core a Requirement

http://www.spamcast.net

Listen Now
Subscribe on iTunes
Check out the podcast on Google Play Music

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 431 features our interview with  Andrew Neitlich on leadership.  We discussed whether leadership can be learned and if tech leadership is different than other kinds of leadership.  Leadership is a core requirement for making all teams, Agile or not, effective!

Andrew’s bio:

Andrew Neitlich is the founder and director of the Center for Executive Coaching (http://centerforexecutivecoaching.com), a leader in training and certifying executive and leadership coaches. He also leads his own executive coaching practice, with an emphasis on working technical leaders that sometimes get frustrated with engaging their teams and having more impact when they communicate. Andrew is the author of Coach!, Elegant Leadership, and Guerrilla Marketing for a Bulletproof Career. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School, and lives in Sarasota, Florida.

Re-Read Saturday News

This week we tackle Chapter 4 in Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (buy your copy and read along).  In Chapter 4, Dweck hits a home run by reflecting on how mindsets translate into action in the sports arena (thus the sports allusions).  Sports stories are one the most used metaphors in a business environment.  I bet that you can’t you to go to two meetings in any corporate environment without hearing a project likened to the exploits of sports teams or athletes. This an easy metaphor theme because most everyone has been exposed to some form of sports or at least a story about sports before they take a job. In Chapter 4, Dr. Dweck, scores (I can’t help myself) by using the exploits of athletes and sports teams to further illustrate the differences and impact mindsets deliver.

Every week we discuss a chapter then consider the implications of what we have “read” from the point of view of someone pursuing an organizational transformation and also how to use the material when coaching teams.  

Remember to buy a copy of Carol Dweck’s Mindset and read along!

Visit the Software Process and Measurement Cast blog to participate in this and previous re-reads.

 

The 8 Leading Attributes of Trust, Leadership’s Most Important Tool

Leaders require trust between them and those they lead to be effective. Trust is not a simple attribute like hair color.  Trust is a synthesis of several attributes. None of the attributes that impact trust are fixed at birth. As humans, we learn the attributes that generate trust based on the environments we are exposed to and hone them based on effort and importance we place on these characteristics. The 8 most important characteristics that shape trust in software development and Agile environments are:

 

Impact of Six Additional Leadership Styles on Adopting and Sustaining Agile

Leadership Styles

Leadership style has a direct impact on an organization’s ability to adopt and sustain Agile.  Some leadership styles are more supportive and others evoke more of response that is epitomized by locking feral cats and dogs in a room (nobody wins). In a previous entry we reviewed four common leadership styles; six additional styles include:

 

SPaMCAST 430 – Project Owner, The Complicated Role, The Thinker, Constraints

http://www.spamcast.net

Listen Now
Subscribe on iTunes
Check out the podcast on Google Play Music

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 430  features an essay on product owners.  The product owner role is nuanced, always complicated and sometimes hard.  The essay will help you sort things out.  

Steve Tendon brings another chapter in his Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban, published by J Ross (buy a copy here) to the cast.  In this installment we talk about Chapter 15, Understanding the Impact of a Constraint.  In our discussion Steve schooled me a bit on constraints.

Gene Hughson brings his  Form Follows Function Blog (the same Gene, that Ryan Ripley called out on last week’s cast) to the cast this week to discuss the third in his series on leadership.  This week we discussed the antipattern Gene calls The Thinker.  Might sound good, but it isn’t.

Have you checked out Agile for Humans? If not please do.  If you are an Agile for Humans listener visiting the Software Process and Measurement Cast for the first time, WELCOME. I hope you subscribe and make us part of your weekly ritual.

Re-Read Saturday News

This week  we tackle Chapter 3 in Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (buy your copy and read along). In Chapter 3 Dweck provides a deep dive into how mindsets affect learning and teaching.  The impact of mindsets on how we learn or how we teach is useful knowledge for anyone involved in coaching or transformation.

Every week we discuss a chapter then consider the implications of what we have “read” from the point of view of someone pursuing an organizational transformation and also how to use the material when coaching teams.  

Remember to buy a copy of Carol Dweck’s Mindset and read along!

Visit the Software Process and Measurement Cast blog to participate in this and previous re-reads.

Next SPaMCAST