SPaMCAST 770 - Dojo, Slow Down For Learning, A Conversation With Jess Brock
Software Process and Measurement Cast
Release Date: 08/27/2023
Baselining Ideas for Improvement, Who Is Most Important, Essays and Conversations with Susan Parente, SPaMCAST 820
Software Process and Measurement Cast
The Software Process and Measurement Cast 820 continues the story of Innovatech. In this installment, Emma “sells” baselining the flow to generate ideas for improvement and a starting point. The story of Innovatech is an allegory for how a data-driven improvement initiative can be bootstrapped with courage and perseverance. We also have a visit from whose “Not a Scrumdamentalist” column delivers insights and advice. Susan and I discussed who the most important person on a team is and who isn’t. Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Work Intake Summer Camp is in session! ...
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Navigating Customer Data - Insights from Rudderstack's CEO, Soumyadeb Mitra, SPaMCAST 819
Software Process and Measurement Cast
The Sofware Process and Measurement Cast 819 features our conversation with Soumyadeb Mitra, Founder and CEO of Rudderstack. We discuss the trials and tribulations of consolidating and effectively using customer data. Tools like machine learning and generative AI make generating insights easier but “easier” does not mean easy. We also discuss entrepreneurship and trust. Soumyadeb Mitra is the Founder and CEO of RudderStack, the Warehouse Native Customer Data Platform (CDP). RudderStack helps data leaders drive revenue by making it easy to collect, unify and activate customer data...
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The Tale of Innovatech, Starting Over, Essays and Conversations with Keis Kostaqi, SPaMCAST 818
Software Process and Measurement Cast
This week we continue with the story of Innovatech, the business novella David Herron and I are writing. Innovatech, the once a tech darling is struggling. The delivery of new functionality used to be so easy. Now it isn’t, leading to all sorts of unproductive behaviors. Emma, the Director of Residential Construction Technology Products, leads a one-person crusade to wake the organization up before it approaches a death spiral. We also have a visit from Keis Kostaqi. In this installment of her You Are Not Alone column we discuss how Scrum Masters need to adapt when organizations...
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AI and Agents In The Workplace, Oh My, A Conversation With Artem Koren, SPaMCAST 817
Software Process and Measurement Cast
The Software Process and Measurement Cast 817 features our conversation with Artem Koren, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Sembly AI. We talk about AI, the role of AI, and the impact of agents on the workplace. Artem Koren grew up in New York City. He graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Computer Science and later attended the NYU Stern School of Business where he earned his MBA. Artem is passionate about using AI to enrich humanity and create positive change. He combines his experience as a systems engineer, product manager, management consultant, and...
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Goal Conflicts Cause Work Intake Problems, Finding Time To Concentrate, Conversations with Jeremy Willets and Jon M Quigley, SPaMCAST 816
Software Process and Measurement Cast
A funny thing happened on the way to SPaMCAST 816, I had so much fun during our first Summer Camp session I talked Jeremy into letting me share the audio of our discussion on the podcast. We discussed goal conflicts, the first of eight work intake problems, from our book, Mastering Work Intake. If the video is more your style check out the video on LinkedIn and then join us at 11:30 EDT on June 16th. This week we also have a visit from . Jon and I discussed the question “If all work is collaborative, when do you find time to concentrate?” Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Jeremy...
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Mastering Work Intake Summer Camp!
Software Process and Measurement Cast
Earlier this year (JRoss Publishing) co-authored by Jeremy Willets and myself was published. The book focuses on the full pipeline that work follows as it enters and exits your organization, including the different types of work that enter at multiple levels and times. It is a must-read for agile coaches, Scrum Masters, product owners, project and portfolio managers, team members, and anyone who touches the software development process. Mr Willets and I are announcing a free Work Intake Summer Camp. The camp will help across eight LinkedIn Live sessions and cover the eight primary...
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Prioritization and Deep Seated Issues, A Conversation With Jim Benson, Replay, SPaMCAST 814
Software Process and Measurement Cast
This week on the Software Process and Measurement Cast we have a replay of an interview of Jim Benson from 2019. Jim and I focused on prioritization and how prioritization can be a reflection of more deep-seated problems. One of the ideas Jim shares is that processes are the social contract for getting work done. In the foreword of Mastering Work Intake, I wrote with (published in January 2024), we reflected that Mastering stood on the shoulders of Jim’s Why Limit WIP. Reflecting on this interview I continue to see the relationship between work intake and the travails of...
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Accountability and Responsibility Are Intertwined, Why Are There Still Testers, Essays and Conversations, SPaMCAST 813
Software Process and Measurement Cast
Accountability and responsibility are intertwined. In most businesses, the concepts are intertwined, and when hierarchies are present, layered. In other words, determining who is responsible and accountable is harder than deciding how many layers were in the seven-layer dip several hours after it has been served to a hungry softball team. Let’s use the example of developing a feature for a product for Innovatech, an imaginary firm. This ‘case study’ synthesizes several real-life stories. The story format protects the innocent and pokes fun at those acting like a “box of rocks.” This...
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Professionalize ML and AI, A Conversation With Brad Micklea, SPaMCAST 812
Software Process and Measurement Cast
In this week’s SPaMCAST we speak with Brad Micklea, Founder & CEO of Jozu. We talk about the professionalization of AI and Machine Learning, the topic of Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), and why agile is integral to getting work done. Brad is the Founder & CEO of Jozu and a project lead for the open-source Kitops.ml project, a toolset designed to increase the speed and safety of building, testing, and managing AI/ML models in production. This is Brad’s second startup, his first (Codenvy, the market’s first container-based developer environment) was sold to Red Hat in...
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Committees to Dodge Responsibility, Certifications, Essays and Conversations, SPaMCAST 811
Software Process and Measurement Cast
When I published Accountability vs. Responsibility I did not anticipate being drawn back into the discussion of whether committees can be accountable and responsible. Over the last few weeks, I have observed several “product meetings.” In these meetings, consensus decisions are being made about releases, what they will contain, and a marketing approach. These are committee meetings. Is the committee accountable for their decisions and to whom? It is not a moot point In mid-2008, I wrote “Responsibility, Got Some?” As I considered the topic of accountability and...
info_outlineThis week the Software Process and Measurement Cast 770 features my interview with Jess Brock. Jess and I talked about her new book, The Dojo Coach's Pocket Guide: Maximizing Immersive Learning for Agile Teams (the book is excellent but doesn’t really fit in your pocket), learning, and career pivots. Jess’s talk at Agile 2023 helped me reframe how I conceived of dojos as an intense learning environment, not a transformation technique.
Jess’s Bio
Jess is a dynamic coach, technologist, and author who has been involved in developing tech products since the mid-2000s. Jess attributes her diverse career experience as one of her greatest strengths because it enables her to coach with sincere empathy and experience. Former agile skeptic, Jess was eventually convinced by a colleague to give agile a try more than a decade ago. Her personal transformation was so impactful that Jess continues to contribute to the broader Agile community to this very day. Most recently Jess has poured her energy into immersive learning dojos as a preferred means of developing long standing skills. She is the proud author of The Dojo Coach’s Pocket Guide.
Website: http://jessbrock.com/
Re-Read Saturday News
The epilogue was the end of the original version of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die; later additions had extra material added. I am reading from the 26th printing. We will cover the extra material titled, Sticky Advice, next week. Today we'll discuss the Epilogue, without wrapping the book up. It feels wrong :)
I read this chapter more deeply knowing that there was more to come. It felt like less of a recap and more of how to use the book. Three items caught my attention during this read.
Buy a copy of the book and then catch up on the logistics of this re-read:
Week 1: Announcement and Logistics - https://bit.ly/46tn5Bz
Week 2: Introduction - https://bit.ly/46CLmp1
Week 3: Simple - https://bit.ly/3PZLWaq
Week 4: Unexpected - https://bit.ly/43zfkaB
Week 5: Concrete - https://bit.ly/3qcn1Gg
Week 6: Credible - https://bit.ly/3Yo9aJo
Week 7: Emotional - https://bit.ly/3QCAQbx
Week 8: Stories - https://bit.ly/3sbk2yp
Week 9: Epilogue - https://bit.ly/3P3jnIh
Next SPaMCAST
In the Software Process and Measurement Cast 771 we will complete our summer theme on critical thinking. Critical thinking might sound esoteric or academic, however, I think that categorization is both wrong and misses the point. Critical thinking is a survival tool.
We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault and his Agile Corner.