Baselining Ideas for Improvement, Who Is Most Important, Essays and Conversations with Susan Parente, SPaMCAST 820

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 Susan Parente 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!  Like a swimming pool, there is always time to join the fun. Jeremy Willets and I are celebrating summer in the northern hemisphere with a summer camp. We’ll look at the primary causes of work intake problems… and how to solve them! Join us for an entertaining and informative LinkedIn Live event. The next weekly session begins at 12:30 EDT on July 24th (LinkedIn).

Each session will:

1. Define one work intake problem per session, 

2. Identify how to recognize the problem, 

3. Offer a pragmatic approach to tackling the issue, and

4. At least one scary story of work entry gone wrong (this is summer camp)

We would like you to register at our Maven page https://bit.ly/3HEsKK7 so we can remind you when the session goes live. If you register we also have a Work Intake Problem Worksheet that we use in our workshops that we will email.  However, if you’d rather not register on Maven you can set a reminder on LinkedIn (Session 6%%%). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn.

Replay Week 1: Goal Conflict 

Replay Week 2: Need Outstrips Demand

Replay Week 3: Pay Practices

Replay Week 4: Project Thinking v Product Thinking

Replay Week 5: 

Share the invitation with others, wear sunscreen, and be kind to your fellow campers!  

Re-read Saturday News

Chapter 8, of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow, titled Enjoying Solitude and Other People, discusses the impact of people on optimal experience and flow. The author grounds the chapter by reminding us that the quality of life depends on how we experience work and relationships with others. Chapter 7 wrestled with the work portion of the equation and Chapter 8 the people part. The two are highly intertwined.

Logistics note:  Including this week, we anticipate completing this re-read in 4 weeks. Are there recommendations for the next book in the Re-read series?

Buy a copy and read along – https://amzn.to/4b5kPmb 

Week 1: Preface and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3WLjFHU 

Week 2: Happiness – https://bit.ly/4dUSpNg 

Week 3: Consciousness – https://bit.ly/4bEu3pN 

Week 4: Enjoyment and The Quality of Life – https://bit.ly/4eeknDQ 

Week 5: The Conditions Of Flow 

Week 6: The Body In Flow

Week 7: The Flow Of Thought

Week 8: Work As Flow

 

Next SPaMCAST 

The Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Alex Natskovich. We will talk about finding value in unstructured data, transitioning from developer to entrepreneur, and agile.