Cracking Groupthink - Solutions When Balancing Urgency and Importance, SPaMCAST 831
Software Process and Measurement Cast
Release Date: 09/29/2024
Playing Billiards On A Boat, Essays and Conversations with Jon M Quigley, SPaMCAST 856
Software Process and Measurement Cast
Consider sailing on a lake. It is a great day, there is only a slight rolling swell to contend with. Because you are so relaxed, you slip below and start a game of billiards with your mate. Its not too hard to time the rocking, but nothing is perfect. Then, out of nowhere, a thunderstorm. Who knows where the cue ball will land? How different is this example to any organizational transformation (or project or program) you have been involved in? The SPaMCAST 856 features an essay on delivery in an unstable environment and why it is like playing billiards on a boat. The outcome is...
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Squeezing Testing Has Predictable Results, A Conversation with Khurram Mir, SPaMCAST 855
Software Process and Measurement Cast
The SPaMCAST 855 features my conversation with Khurram Mir. We talked about testing, quality assurance, control, and frameworks. We discussed whether we would still discuss the link between continual schedule pressure and reduced quality in 19 years. What is your opinion? Let's face it: Effective testing is essential for the effective delivery of value. Bio Steering Kualitatem as Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Khurram focuses on nurturing client relationships through transparency and a commitment to quality. The team's dedication to customer satisfaction and growth has been...
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Accountability, Responsibility, Performance, and Freedom, Essays and Conversations with Susan Parente, SPaMCAST 854
Software Process and Measurement Cast
The SPaMCAST 854 features an essay on the linkage of accountability, responsibility, performance, and freedom. In our ongoing Re-read Saturday series featuring Amartya Sen's "Development As Freedom," we've found a compelling connection between Sen's insights and this week's discussion on personal accountability and performance. Specifically, Chapter 12's exploration of the interdependence between freedom and responsibility resonates deeply with the core concepts of our essay. We also have a visit from . In this installment of Not A Scumdamentalist, we discuss accountability. Mastering...
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Real-time Collaboration Is Key to Success, A Conversation WIth John Conafay, SPaMCAST 853
Software Process and Measurement Cast
The SPaMCAST 853 features our interview with John Conafay. CEO and Co-Founder of Integrate. John and I talked about program management in complex environments and real-time collaboration. In complex environments with multiple teams, real-time collaboration not only saves time but also saves money. John Conafay is a US Air Force Veteran and the CEO and Co-Founder of Integrate, building program management software with a systems engineering approach for the world’s most ambitious machines. Previously he was an early employee at three space unicorns – Head of BD at ABL Space Systems,...
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Scaling Or Allocating - Only One Is Real, Are You A Resource, Essays and Conversation With Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 852
Software Process and Measurement Cast
SPaMCAST 852 features our essay on scaling attention. Seth Godin's observation that attention doesn't scale highlights a crucial point: attention, like time, is a finite resource. We often conflate scaling and allocation, but they are distinct concepts. A human's capacity for focused attention is limited, regardless of how much time we spend awake. This fixed amount of attention, our "attentional budget," can be allocated to various tasks and activities. Allocation involves choosing where to direct our focus, like deciding to read a book instead of browsing the internet. Scaling, on the other...
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Accessibility Is An Ethical Issue, A Conversation With Mike Paciello, SPaMCAST 851
Software Process and Measurement Cast
SPaMCAST 851 will feature our interview with Mike Paciello. Accessibility which should be a basic human right has always been a struggle and now seems even farther from reality. Mike and I talk about the definition of accessibility, the issues we face, and why this is an ethical issue not just a compliance problem. Mike Paciello is the Chief Accessibility Officer at AudioEye, Inc., where he drives advancements in digital accessibility. He previously founded WebABLE/WebABLE.TV, delivering insights on disability and accessibility technology, and authored the pioneering book “Web Accessibility...
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Change Resistance or Apathy, More on Manipulation and Persuasion, Essays and Conversations With Susan Parente SPaMCAST 850
Software Process and Measurement Cast
Several weeks ago I spent too much time in the middle of the night considering a scenario of apparent change resistance. I concluded that not everything that looks like resistance is what it appears. Rather there was a bigger issue hiding in plain sight; the concept of change indifference/change apathy. As a change leader, the difference is not academic because it impacts how to address the issue. As organizations remold themselves to address the culture and pressures of the 2020s we need to find a path to empower organizations and to improve their craft while at the same time struggling...
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Industrialization of AI, A Conversation With Barzan Mosafari, SPaMCAST 849
Software Process and Measurement Cast
SPaMCAST 849 features our interview with . Mr Mosaari is the co-founder and CEO of . We talked about the industrialization of AI and using AI to deliver value now that it is more than chatbots. If you have looked at your bills as you develop and run AI’s in your business, you will want to spend a few minutes listening to this conversation. Barzan Mozafari is the co-founder and CEO of , Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, and a for his award-winning research at the intersection of ML and database systems across the Univ. of Michigan, MIT, and UCLA. A sought-after expert...
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Only Outcomes Matter…Not, Manipulation and Persuasion, Essays and Conversations with Jon M Quigley, SPaMCAST 848
Software Process and Measurement Cast
I've often heard the argument that only outcomes matter, from bosses and colleagues to pundits, and more recently, even from coaches and change agents. This consequentialist view—that the ends justify the means ultimately harms individuals, organizations, and their stakeholders. In SPaMCAST 848 we discuss why the consequentialist argument that only the outcome matters is flawed for several reasons. We also have a visit from who brings his wonderful Alpha and Omega of Product Development column to the podcast. In this episode Jon and I discuss a topic aligned with consequentialism, the...
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Shift: From Product To People, A Conversation with Oliver-Krueger and Dougherty, SPaMCAST 847
Software Process and Measurement Cast
SPaMCAST 847 features a wide-ranging discussion with Pete Oliver-Krueger and Michael Dougherty. We discuss their new book, Shift: From Product To People. Shift is a business novel of organizational change. You will find this an important view into change and transformation. We also hit science fiction and psychology. I even dissed George RR Martin. Two notes. This is the last cast of year 18. We begin year 19 next week. Also a quick content warning – there is laughter in this podcast. If you don’t like listening to people have fun while they discuss a serious topic listen...
info_outlineSPaMCAST 831 features our essay, Cracking Groupthink - Solutions When Balancing Urgency and Importance. Issues occur when groupthink affects the balance between urgency and importance in decision-making. This leads to inefficiencies, risk aversion, and misaligned priorities. The key challenge is that groups tend to perceive urgency and importance differently from individuals, often influenced by psychological and social dynamics such as the diffusion of responsibility, conformity, and shared information bias.
There are solutions!
We also have a visit from Keis Kostaqi who brings her You Are Not Alone column to the podcast.
Master Work Intake!
Mastering Work Intake by Jeremy Willets and myself is your path to addressing IT’s most nefarious dirty little secret…poor work intake. Simply put if you don’t control work intake IT CONTROLS YOU! Buy a copy and begin to control the flow of work for your team and organization.
Order a copy of the book from JRoss Publishing - https://bit.ly/474ul6G or via Amazon - https://bit.ly/474ul6G
Re-read Saturday News
Chapter 6 of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci (buy a copy and read along) is titled God or Atoms? discusses the Stoic view of God. As I have discussed this chapter with friends it becomes very easy to conflate Stoism with religion. I remind myself in these scenarios that Stoicism is not a religion. At a high level, the difference is that philosophy seeks to understand and question while religion often provides answers and a framework for belief and practice. The difference and the interrelationship are stark.
Week 1: Logistics and Opening Thoughts
Week 2: The Unstraightforward Path
Week 3: A Roadmap For The Journey
Week 4: Some Things Are In Our Power, Others Are Not
Week 5: Live According To Nature
Week 6: Playing Ball With Socrates
Week 7: God or Atoms?
Next SPaMCAST
SPaMCAST 832 is a rerun of SPaMCAST 550 (I will be hiking in the Appalachian Mountains). This cast features our essay titled, Intertwining Conway’s Law And Agile. Conway’s Law shines a spotlight on how an organization’s structure impacts its product. The “Law” states that the structure of a software product will mimic the structure of the organization that produces the software. It can (and has) been said that you are shipping the “org structure.” How you are structured therefore will impact just how much agility you can achieve.
We also visit the QA Corner with Jeremy Berriault. Jeremy discusses the differences between test engineers and testers. We also tackle whether every person with the word test in their title should have the ability to code or script. Jeremy’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-berriault-mba/