SPaMCAST 563 - Tame Your Work Flow, Part 1, A Conversation with Daniel Doiron and Steve Tendon
Software Process and Measurement Cast
Release Date: 09/08/2019
Software Process and Measurement Cast
Process Debt Swamps Platform Teams! Over-abstraction slows teams by INCREASING complexity. Why this matters: Profitability is HIGHLY related to productivity. Mark Fussell is the CEO of Diagrid, a cutting-edge company that simplifies building and scaling cloud-native applications. As the co-founder of Dapr (Distributed Application Runtime), Mark has played a pivotal role in shaping the future of modern application development by empowering developers to build resilient, distributed systems with ease. With decades of experience in the software industry, Mark has been a driving...
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AI, the Future of Work, and Cybersecurity Are Intertwined! Why it matters: Business processes are being transformed, yielding opportunities and RISKS - leaders should be aware. Bio: Ephraim Ebstein is the CEO and Co-founder of FIT Solutions, LLC. Ephraim is not just another cybersecurity guy-he's a $30M entrepreneur who built two national companies from the ground up, and now helps business leaders turn tech headaches into growth engines. .IG: @kingspear @fitsolutionsllc Web Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST! Starting Everything Means Finishing Nothing One big thing:...
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Many firms are bringing everyone back to the office and demanding longer hours. They are conflating effort and productivity. Why this matters: Increasing productivity is NECESSARY for profitability and growth. Our panel flows with: Jeremy Berriault - Daniel Doiron - Jeremy Willets - - Me - Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST! Starting Everything Means Finishing Nothing One big thing: Poor work entry means delivering less. Why it matters: Work Intake controls what a team works on and when they work on it. Overloaded teams deliver less value. ...
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The Theory Of Constraints: A Real-World Tool Constraints and friction generate interest in process improvement. Why this matters: The lack of friction leads to overuse which is the tragedy of the commons. Our panel flows with: Jeremy Berriault - Daniel Doiron - Me - Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST! Starting Everything Means Finishing Nothing One big thing: Poor work entry means delivering less. Why it matters: Work Intake controls what a team works on and when they work on it. Overloaded teams deliver less value. Poor prioritization leads to...
info_outlineSoftware Process and Measurement Cast
The Theory Of Constraints: A Real-World Tool Constraints and friction generate interest in process improvement. Why this matters: The lack of friction leads to overuse which is the tragedy of the commons. Our panel flows with: Jeremy Berriault - Daniel Doiron - Me - Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST! Starting Everything Means Finishing Nothing One big thing: Poor work entry means delivering less. Why it matters: Work Intake controls what a team works on and when they work on it. Overloaded teams deliver less value. Poor prioritization leads to...
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Impressions are NOT facts - No Matter What Your Gut Tells You! Stoic philosophy holds that impressions are not facts and must be tested. Why this matters: It is very easy to jump to conclusions. In some cases, this is harmless, while in others it leads to disaster. The question the panel faces is whether EVERY impression needs to be examined or is there a continuum. Our panel flows with: Jeremy Berriault - Jeremy Willets - Jon M Quigley - Daniel Doiron - Me - Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST! Starting Everything Means Finishing...
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We only have control over ourselves! The dichotomy of control. Why it matters: We have direct control over our thoughts, judgments, and actions, but external events, other people's opinions, and the outcomes of our actions are not directly within our control. When discussing problem statements, Jeremy Berriault stated, “stick with STIC.” The alliteration was great! Our panel flows with: Jeremy Berriault - Jeremy Willets - - Me - Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST! Starting Everything Means Finishing Nothing One big thing: Poor work entry means...
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Dry riverbeds or flash floods - flow matters! Why it matters: Understanding how value is created and moves through an organization is critical. The problem is that the concept is complicated. Freddie Clark stated, “measuring flow is a two-dimensional measure of a three-dimensional problem.” Our panel flows with: Jeremy Berriault - Freddie Clark - https://www.linkedin.com/in/freddie-clark/ - Me - Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST! Starting Everything Means Finishing Nothing One big thing: Poor work entry means delivering less. Why it...
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The work has to get done, be miserable, or find JOY in it – it’s your choice. Why it matters: It is hard to motivate yourself and your team if you do not find joy in the work you do day in and day out. Our panel finds a joyful path: Jeremy Berriault - Jon M Quigley - - Me - Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST! Starting Everything Means Finishing Nothing One big thing: Poor work entry means delivering less. Why it matters: Work Intake controls what a team works on and when they work on it. Overloaded teams deliver less value. Poor...
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Pushing cooked spaghetti uphill…is exhausting. Why it matters: It is hard to make change happen if leaders provide lip service to the cause. It is impossible if they actively oppose change. So what are you going to do? Panelists include: Jeremy Berriault - - Jon M Quigley - - Me - Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST! Starting Everything Means Finishing Nothing One big thing: Poor work entry means delivering less. Why it matters: Work Intake controls what a team works on and when they work on it. Overloaded teams deliver less...
info_outlineSPaMCAST 563 is part one of my conversation with Steve Tendon and Daniel Dioron. We discussed their new book Tame Your Work Flow. Steve and Daniel share deep insights into applying Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints in the real world. After you have listened to the conversation you will never view the flow of work as an esoteric topic. Steve, Daniel, and I had a wide-ranging conversation, I decided to ignore my own guideline on two-part interviews and let the tape run (metaphorically). We will return with part 2 next week.
Steve Tendon’s Bio

With a background in software engineering (in his early career he lead the development of software applications in diverse fields, like banking, health care, legal, human resources, and more), Steve is the creator of the TameFlow ® Approach, a systems thinking approach for creating breakthrough performance innovation in knowledge-intensive digital businesses. The TameFlow Approach has been developed and used with great success since 2003, across numerous industries. Steve holds MSc in Software Project Management with the University of Aberdeen, an MIT Fintech Innovation: Future Commerce certificate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an Oxford Blockchain Strategy Programme certificate with the Oxford Saïd Business School.
Daniel Dioron’s Bio

Daniel has been involved in IT since 1981 in a wide range of roles and responsibilities, primarily in client-facing consulting projects covering the government, banking, insurance, and telecom industries to name a few. Daniel’s involvement with Agile started with Scrum in 2005 and more recently with Kanban and Management 3.0.
Daniel is heavily involved with Steve Tendon’s TameFlow method. He is proficient with working expertise in Finance/Accounting/Managerial control (MBA-CPA-CMA), Agility (CSP), Project Management (PMP), Kanban (CKC and CKP) coupled with 38 years in IT (Bachelor studies & career).
He loves systems, enjoys measuring improvement while embracing teamwork that actually works! For Tameflow Training, visit http://agileagonist.com/
Re-Read Saturday News
Part 3 of Thinking, Fast and Slow is titled Overconfidence. Chapter 19 begins by exploring several biases that affect overconfidence. Earlier in the book, we explored how System 1 thinking connects events to generate a coherent story. This chapter begins by building on the attributes of fast thinking by stating that humans interpret behavior as a manifestation of general propensities and personal traits. One of the classic biases that cause this type of thinking is the halo effect. I overheard an example of a negative halo effect this week as I walked behind a group of people in Chicago. The group, tourists, pointed at a person sleeping rough along the river and exclaimed that the person was lazy. One attribute of the person’s behavior was generalized into a larger narrative.
Remember, if you do not have a favorite, dog-eared copy of Thinking, Fast and Slow, please buy a copy. Using the links in this blog entry helps support the blog and its alter-ego, The Software Process and Measurement Cast. Buy a copy on Amazon, It’s time to get reading!
The installments:
Week 1: Logistics and Introduction – http://bit.ly/2UL4D6h
Week 2: The Characters Of The Story – http://bit.ly/2PwItyX
Week 3: Attention and Effort – http://bit.ly/2H45x5A
Week 4: The Lazy Controller – http://bit.ly/2LE3MQQ
Week 5: The Associative Machine – http://bit.ly/2JQgp8I
Week 6: Cognitive Ease – http://bit.ly/2VTuqVu
Week 7: Norms, Surprises, and Causes – http://bit.ly/2Molok2
Week 8: A Machine for Jumping to Conclusions - http://bit.ly/2XOjOcx
Week 9: How Judgement Happens and Answering An Easier Question - http://bit.ly/2XBPaX3
Week 10: Law of Small Numbers - http://bit.ly/2JcjxtI
Week 11: Anchors - http://bit.ly/30iMgUu
Week 12: The Science of Availability - http://bit.ly/30tW6TN
Week 13: Availability, Emotion, and Risk - http://bit.ly/2GmOkTT
Week 14: Tom W’s Speciality - http://bit.ly/2YxKSA8
Week 15: Linda: Less Is More - http://bit.ly/2T3EgnV
Week 16: Causes Trump Statistics - http://bit.ly/2OTpAta
Week 17: Regression To The Mean - http://bit.ly/2ZdwCgu
Week 18: Taming Intuitive Predictions — http://bit.ly/2kAHClJ
Week 19: The Illusion of Understanding - http://bit.ly/2lK954p
Next SPaMCAST
SPaMCAST 564 will feature part 2 of our interview with Steve Tendon and Daniel Dioron discussing their new book Tame Your Work Flow. Steve and Daniel continue to share deep insights into applying the Theory of Constraints in the real world.