Building A Business And A Leader, An Interview With Alex Natskovich, SPaMCAST 821
Software Process and Measurement Cast
Release Date: 07/28/2024
Software Process and Measurement Cast
In SPaMCAST 829 we will continue to expose the sometimes insidious impact of groupthink. Groupthink can lead a team to accept less challenging work, be misaligned with priorities, and poorly assess urgency and importance. The pressure to conform and maintain agreement can result in suboptimal decision-making, hampering effectiveness. We will also have a visit from Susan Parente who will bring her Not A Scrumdmentalist column to the podcast. In this installment, Susan tackles the need for core hours for teams of all types. Master Work Intake! This episode is brought to you by Mastering Work...
info_outline HYPERID Ignites - Arash Parsania's Breakthrough Methodology, A Conversation, SPaMCAST 828Software Process and Measurement Cast
The SPaMCast 828 spotlights Arash Parsania. We talk about his exciting new methodology, HYPERID. The method builds on and integrates pragmatic ideas from many disciplines to create something new. HYPERID is a flexible hybrid method that fits a wide range of different types of work. Arash Parsania is the creator of HYPERID, a hybrid methodology for project management and product development. He brings over 20 years of experience in project management, consulting, and digital business transformation. His expertise spans Software Engineering, Retail, Travel & Hospitality, Automotive,...
info_outline Cracking Groupthink In Prioritization, Scrum Master - Career or Avocation, Essays and Conversations with Keis Kostaqi, SPaMCAST 827Software Process and Measurement Cast
In the SPaMCast 827, we will begin cracking groupthink in prioritization with a discussion of urgency vs. importance Evaluating the interplay between urgency and importance is a powerful work intake approach. Teams and project management offices regularly use an Eisenhower Matrix or variant to visualize the relationship between these two factors. The bottom line in this approach is that you should prioritize work that is important and urgent above work that is just urgent. We also have a visit from who brings her You Are Not Alone column to the podcast. Keis and I discuss the...
info_outline Mastering Work Intake Open House Video TrailerSoftware Process and Measurement Cast
Mastering Work Intake by and I hit the bookshelves earlier this year. We have also been running cohort-based workshops to help expose and solve this dirty little secret. Two of the questions we have gotten as we have promoted the workshops are: What is a cohort-based workshop? What value will I get if I join? Both are greater questions and we have an answer! Join us for a one-hour open house to explore how to diagnose and solve work intake challenges, the most critical issue facing organizations today. This session will provide an overview of our course designed to help you to...
info_outline AI, ML, and Lifelong Learning - A Great Combination, A Conversation With Richmond Alake, SPaMCAST 825Software Process and Measurement Cast
The SPaMCAST 825 features our conversation with Richmond Alake. During our conversation, we discussed AI, Machine Learning, and most importantly why being a lifelong learner is important (really important). Need more? We also will discuss what comes next now that AI Chat has been done. Richmond’s bio: Richmond Alake is an AI/ML Practitioner with an academic background in computer vision, robotics, and machine learning. He has worked in software development and machine learning roles since 2016. Richmond has also taught online AI/ML/Data courses and written over 200 technical...
info_outline You Can Never Cross The Same River Twice, Essays and Conversations with Jon M Quigley, SPaMCAST 824Software Process and Measurement Cast
The SPaMCAST 824 compares the Great Avon Lake Tornado and power outage with the purported death of Agile. Cap that off with many in the industry doubling down on Agile purity to put the blush back on the rose. My upcoming high school reunion suggests you can never cross the same river twice but crossing any river is a challenge.. Also Jon M Quigley and I talk about who is the most important person on a team. This is a counterpoint to my recent conversation with on SPaMCAST 822. They agree but it…depends. Master Work Intake! Mastering Work Intake by and I hit the bookshelves...
info_outline Learning From Data, A Conversation With Kirk Marple, SPaMCAST 823Software Process and Measurement Cast
The introduction and outro words are abbreviated this week. I will regale you with the tale of the Avon Lake Toronado next. Now I need to find a way of making everything work without electricity and the Internet. I am not sure which is making me crazier. The SPaMCAST 823 features a discussion with Kirk Marple, Technical Founder and CEO at Graphit, by Unstruk Data. What is a technical founder you might ask? No? Well, I did. More importantly, we discussed AI, knowledge graphs, leadership, and how organizations learn as they understand their data. Check out...
info_outline Urgency Versus Importance - Which Drives Your Work, Teams And Why We Need Them, Conversations with Jeremy Willets and Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 822Software Process and Measurement Cast
The Software Process and Measurement Cast 822 features a discussion that and I had during the Work Intake Summer Camp. The tyranny of the urgent often eclipses work that is merely important. Not understanding the difference between the two concepts and the long-term implications of ignoring what is important can be catastrophic. We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault, the Evolutionary Agilist. We discussed why teams exist. The answer can be simplified into four words. Getting to those words is a wild ride. Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Work Intake Summer Camp is...
info_outline Building A Business And A Leader, An Interview With Alex Natskovich, SPaMCAST 821Software Process and Measurement Cast
The Software Process and Measurement Cast 821 features our interview with Alex Natskovich. We talk about the attributes of a leader when building a business but even more importantly learning to be a leader. Success requires knowing how to handle the transitions. Alex’s Bio Alex is a seasoned engineering leader and CEO. Born in Belarus, he harbored a lifelong dream of becoming an engineer. After graduating from university, he moved to the USA. During the initial years, he resided in New York, working as a software engineer in various companies. One of the most notable was the startup...
info_outline Baselining Ideas for Improvement, Who Is Most Important, Essays and Conversations with Susan Parente, SPaMCAST 820Software 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! ...
info_outlineThe Software Process and Measurement Cast 821 features our interview with Alex Natskovich. We talk about the attributes of a leader when building a business but even more importantly learning to be a leader. Success requires knowing how to handle the transitions.
Alex’s Bio
Alex is a seasoned engineering leader and CEO. Born in Belarus, he harbored a lifelong dream of becoming an engineer. After graduating from university, he moved to the USA.
During the initial years, he resided in New York, working as a software engineer in various companies. One of the most notable was the startup Conductor, where he joined as the 5th employee. It has now evolved into the leading global SEO and content intelligence platform. During his tenure there, Alex was responsible for building and maintaining an industry-leading link-building system. Simultaneously, he embarked on building his own company, MEV (named after the mega-electron-volt) – a strategic software development partner for fast-growing companies. Afterward, he decided to settle in the Bay Area.
While at the helm of his company, he assisted esteemed companies such as Cartier, Novo Nordisk, Daiichi Sankyo, and Avadel in overcoming complex business challenges through software solutions. Additionally, he aided numerous startups in developing stable and scalable digital products, making them attractive for acquisition.
Alex is passionate about empowering businesses with the right technology. He firmly believes in the power of teams. Building a high-performing team, in his view, necessitates being open-minded and always striving to thoroughly understand the team’s objectives and needs for success. This solution-oriented mindset and team focus form the cornerstone of his company.
Website: https://mev.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natskovich/
Email: [email protected]
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 11:30 EDT on July 31st (LinkedIn).
Each session will:
-
Define one work intake problem per session,
-
Identify how to recognize the problem,
-
Offer a pragmatic approach to tackling the issue, and
-
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 7). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn.
Replay Week 2: Need Outstrips Demand
Replay Week 4: Project Thinking v Product Thinking
Replay Week 5: Urgency v Importance
Replay Week 6: Classes of Service
Share the invitation with others, wear sunscreen, and be kind to your fellow campers!
Re-read Saturday News
Three main ideas struck me during this read of Chapter 9 of Flow. Chapter 9 is titled: Cheating Chaos. The chaos we are working to cheat is the random energy pushing us in random directions from inside and outside ourselves. Creating order provides a space for optimal experience and flow.
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
Week 9: Enjoying Solitude and Other People
Week 10: Cheating Chaos
Next SPaMCAST
The Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature Jeremy Willets and me discussing Urgency versus Importance. We thought the Work Intake Summer Camp discussion was so important (not just urgent) that we decided to share it.
We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault, the Evolutionary Agilist.