Software Process and Measurement Cast

Interviews, essays, facts, and tips about agile and lean agile development, process improvement, and measurement in delivery of value!

Shift: From Product To People, A Conversation with Oliver-Krueger and Dougherty, SPaMCAST 847 01/19/2025

Efficiency and Productivity, Manipulation and Persuasion, Essays and Conversations With Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 846 01/12/2025

Efficiency and Productivity, Manipulation and Persuasion, Essays and Conversations With Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 846 SPaMCAST 846 features a discussion based on Seth Godin’s , Seth stated. “Busy is a morally superior distraction. Busy gets us off the hook. Busy is a great place to hide.” The comment greatly impacted me because I had a conversation in which someone had equated being busy to value and productivity. Efficiency is vital. It is however only a tool for improving productivity and value – not the ultimate goal. We will also have a visit from , the Evolutionary Agilist. Mr. Berriault and I discuss the distinction between manipulation and persuasion. Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST! As the new year builds up steam, have you looked at your to-do list and said, “Oh my” (or something saltier)? I know I have. This is a symptom of a work intake issue. Whether you are reacting to your work or personal backlog, it's time to learn to take control! Buy a copy of Mastering Work Intake (your work-life balance will improve). Amazon (US) — JRoss — Do you want to test the water before spending your year-end bonus? and I offer free 30-minute “office hours” sessions. In these sessions, we’ll facilitate helping to identify and create a plan to tackle one of your work intake challenges. Book time with us here: Re-read Saturday News Now for something completely different. Over the past few years, I have contemplated philosophy in the context of work and life. Our re-reading of is just the tip of the iceberg. Today we take the second exit at the roundabout and start the read/re-read of . Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 847 will feature a discussion with Pete Oliver-Krueger and Michael Dougherty. We will discuss their new book, Shift: From Product To People. Shift is a business novel of organizational change. I think you will find this an important view into change and transformation. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/34819000

AI, Co-owned AI, Multi-agent Systems, A Conversation With David Minarsch SPaMCAST 845 01/05/2025

AI, Co-owned AI, Multi-agent Systems, A Conversation With David Minarsch SPaMCAST 845 The SPaMCAST 845 features our interview with David Minarsch. We discuss AI, co-owned AI, multi-agent systems in complex environments, and governance. These are singularly the most important technical topics for the new year. If you are in the “business” you need to listen carefully to David’s perspective on agents. DAVID MINARSCH is a distinguished expert in the fields of Applied Game Theory and Multi-Agent Systems, holding a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. His groundbreaking work includes the creation of the first multi-agent system framework with native support for distributed ledger technologies. As the co-founder and CEO of Valory, David has been at the forefront of integrating AI and blockchain technology since 2021, pioneering the development of open-source and user-ownable autonomous agents. David has established himself as a visionary leader in the tech industry, most notably by his latest venture, Valory, which is a co-creator of Olas, the platform for co-owning AI, which has generated swarms of AI agents making over 900,000 transactions. David’s mission through Valory is to enable communities, organizations, and countries to co-own AI systems, beginning with decentralized autonomous agents. His innovative work continues to shape the future of AI and blockchain integration, paving the way for more democratic and accessible artificial intelligence systems. Website: LinkedIn: X: Master Work Intake! As the new year builds up steam, have you looked at your to-do list and said, “Oh my” (or something saltier)? I know I have. This is a symptom of a work intake issue. Whether you are reacting to your work or personal backlog, it's time to learn to take control! Buy a copy of Mastering Work Intake (your work-life balance will improve). Amazon (US) — JRoss — Do you want to test the water before spending your year-end bonus? and I offer free 30-minute “office hours” sessions. In these sessions, we’ll facilitate helping to identify and create a plan to tackle one of your work intake challenges. Book time with us here: Re-read Saturday News Today we wrap up our re-read of . There are several themes I would like to highlight. The first and perhaps the most important is the impact of an exceptional bookstore. I picked this book up at Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI. But for that small bit of serendipity, my life would have been different. Support your local bookstore and if you don’t have one, take an occasional road trip to go and touch, smell, and sample physical books. The second theme is Epicitetus’s concept of the dichotomy of control and then we proceed even deeper into Stoicism. Next week we begin the re-read of . This re-read will expand the horizons on Re-read Saturday a bit. You will find the topic interesting and useful. Buy a copy and read or re-read along with us! Catch on all of the entries in the re-read of (buy a copy and read along) Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: Week 9: Week 10: Week 11: Week 12: Week 13: Week 14: Week 15: Week 16: Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 846 will discuss the importance of efficiency. It is easy to prioritize outcomes and value over output and efficiency, but that logic is problematic. We will also have a visit from , the Evolutionary Agilist. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/34719455

Software Process and Measurement Cast Panel Discussion 2024, SPaMCAST 844 12/29/2024

Software Process and Measurement Cast Panel Discussion 2024, SPaMCAST 844 Another year has flown by, 2025 is near. The SPaMCAST 844 features our year-end panel discussion. This year , , , and I discuss AI, Agile, mixing methods and try to forecast what comes next. This episode is a cornucopia of opinions and frivolity. Websites: Jeremy Berriault: https://berriaultandassociates.com/ Susan Parente: http://www.s3-tec.com/ Jon M Quigley: https://valuetransform.com/ Jeremy Willets: https://www.jeremywillets.com/ Master Work Intake! It has been nearly a year since JRoss Publishing published Mastering Work Intake. Jeremy Willets and I believe our book and workshops have helped numerous organizations, teams, and most importantly people bring order out of chaos – at least that is what they tell us. As the year winds down we are excited to offer a free 30-minute “office hours” session with us, we’ll facilitate the session to help you create a plan to tackle your work intake challenges. Book time with us here: Also, consider buying your boss a copy of Mastering Work Intake (your work-life balance will approve). Amazon (US) — JRoss — Re-read Saturday News “Admit not sleep into your tender eyelids till you have reckoned up each deed of the day large – how have I erred, what done or left undone? So Start, and so review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad.” - Epictetus I have read and re-read the opening quote from Epictetus several times. I interpret the quote as a call for daily retrospectives. This is a practice that I do both personally and professionally. The word “try” reflects a lack of perfection and a requirement that I continue to work on the practice. Chapter 14 of is all about continuing to learn and practice. Catch on all of the entries in the re-read of (buy a copy and read along) Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: Week 9: Week 10: Week 11: Week 12: Week 13: Week 14: Week 15: Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 845 will feature our interview with David Minarsch. We will discuss AI, co-owned AI, multi-agent systems in complex environments, and governance. These are important topics to begin what portends to be a complex and dynamic year. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/34624590

Mastering Work Intake Year 1, Reflections and Plans with Jeremy Willets, SPaMCAST 843 12/22/2024

Mastering Work Intake Year 1, Reflections and Plans with Jeremy Willets, SPaMCAST 843 Jeremy Willets and I have had a blast sharing the ideas in Mastering Work Intake (JRoss Publishing). This week Jeremy and I sat down to discuss the year in review and plans for 2025. One of the important things we have demonstrated is the link between the work teams and organizations put on their plate and what gets delivered. The relationship is not linear and gets ugly when you cross the tipping point. There is a path to avoid that pain! Master Work Intake! It has been nearly a year since JRoss Publishing published Mastering Work Intake. Jeremy Willets and I believe our book and workshops have helped numerous organizations, teams, and most importantly people bring order out of chaos – at least that is what they tell us. As the year winds down we are excited to offer a free 30-minute “office hours” session with us, we’ll facilitate the session to help you create a plan to tackle your work intake challenges. Book time with us here: Also, consider buying your boss a copy of Mastering Work Intake (your work-life balance will approve). Amazon (US) — JRoss — Re-read Saturday News This is the second to the last chapter of . In Chapter 13, Love and Friendship, we continue to address the third Stoic discipline, Assent (how to react to situations). The central core of the chapter is to show how a Stoic should interact with the influences of love and friendship. Remember that to a Stoic, character is key and anything that negatively influences character is to be avoided. In my second reading, there are two areas that I would like to highlight from the perspective of process improvement. Catch on all of the entries in the re-read of (buy a copy and read along) Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: Week 9: Week 10: Week 11: Week 12: Week 13: Week 14: Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 844 will feature our year-end panel of , , and . This episode will be a cornucopia of topics, opinions, and frivolity. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/34550975

Symptoms Are Not The Root Cause Of Pain, New Team Mates, Essays and Conversation with Susan Parente, SPaMCAST 842 12/15/2024

Symptoms Are Not The Root Cause Of Pain, New Team Mates, Essays and Conversation with Susan Parente, SPaMCAST 842 In January of 2024, JRoss Publishing brought Mastering Work Intake by and I to the world. The activities supporting the book have been a blast! One of the common problems we have observed as we have spread the message is that often those with the biggest work intake problem get mesmerized by the symptoms and fail to see the root cause of the problem. When this happens the symptom becomes the root cause causing people and organizations to spend significant amounts of time and money fixing the wrong problem. To borrow a line from Manfred Mann, they are “.” We will discuss this topic in a minute or so. We also have a visit from the inestimable Susan Parente. Susan and I discussed how to integrate a new team member into a team. It is not easy when everyone has an opinion. Master Work Intake! It has been nearly a year since JRoss Publishing published Mastering Work Intake. Jeremy Willets and I believe our book and workshops have helped numerous organizations, teams, and most importantly people bring order out of chaos – at least that is what they tell us. As the year winds down we are excited to offer a free 30-minute “office hours” session with us. We’ll facilitate the session to help you create a plan to tackle your work intake challenges. Book time with us here: Also, consider buying your boss a copy of Mastering Work Intake (your work-life balance will approve). Amazon (US) — JRoss — Re-read Saturday News Chapter 12 of (buy a copy and read along) is How To Deal With Anger, Anxiety, And Loneliness. This is an interesting chapter to be re-reading in early November 2024. Anger, anxiety, and loneliness are difficult topics because they are personal. It is easy to take a myopic view and tell ourselves that these are someone else’s problems. Or worse that they need to be walled up. They aren’t and they shouldn’t be. Catch on all of the entries in the re-read of (buy a copy and read along) Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: Week 9: Week 10: Week 11: Week 12: Week 13: Next SPaMCAST Speaking of Mastering Work Intake, Mr Willets and I are doing our year-end wrap-up for SPaMCAST 843. We will discuss the joys and unjoys of being authors and book salesmen. Not to spoil the suspense it has been mostly a joy. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/34427370

Open Source, Learning, Careers, and Leadership with Gorkem Ercan, SPaMCAST 841 12/08/2024

Open Source, Learning, Careers, and Leadership with Gorkem Ercan, SPaMCAST 841 We are back from our adventure and our trips down memory lane (at least for a while). Today we feature our interview with Gorkem Ercan. We discussed open source, leadership, and learning. FYI – this podcast has a ton of great advice for anyone pursuing a career in software development! Gorkem Ercan is a founding Distinguished Engineer and CTO of Jozu. Gorkem has experience working and leading teams with various technologies ranging from building IDEs, to building mobile phones, and CI/CD systems. He is an avid contributor and supporter of open source. Gorkem is the creator of the wildly popular Eclipse JDT language server and vscode-java extension, as well as the YAML Language server and vscode-yaml extension. He is a committer on various projects, including Eclipse Che, Eclipse Theia, and Apache Cordova. Gorkem is a member of the Eclipse Architecture Council and one of the longest-serving Eclipse committers. Contact Information: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gorkemercan/ Website:https://jozu.com/ Master Work Intake! It has been nearly a year since JRoss Publishing published Mastering Work Intake. Jeremy Willets and I believe our book and workshops have helped numerous organizations, teams, and most importantly people bring order out of chaos – at least that is what they tell us. As the year winds down we are excited to offer a free 30-minute “office hours” session with us. We’ll facilitate the session to help you create a plan to tackle your work intake challenges. Book time with us here: Also, consider buying your boss a copy of Mastering Work Intake (your work-life balance will approve). Amazon (US) — JRoss — Re-read Saturday News Chapter 11, On Death and Suicide, begins Part 3 of (buy a copy and read along). Death and suicide are not popular conversation topics at lunch even during the worst project. However, as I read this chapter for a second time I considered the topic from two directions which helped me extract ideas from the chapter that made the topic less likely to clear the room. Catch on all of the entries in the re-read of (buy a copy and read along) Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: Week 9: Week 10: Week 11: Week 12: Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 842 will feature our essay on how you can recognize if you have a work intake problem. Over the past year, it has become apparent that the symptoms sometimes obscure the root cause. We will also have a visit from the one and only Susan Parente! /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/34314335

Revisiting Paul Gibbons and Impact, SPaMCAST 840 12/01/2024

Revisiting Jodie Kane and Product Owners In Retrospectives. SPaMCAST 839 11/24/2024

Revisiting Software Measurement with Mauricio Aguiar and Christine Green December 2021, SPaMCAST 838 11/17/2024

Revisiting 2019 With Al Shalloway, SPaMCAST 837 11/10/2024

Work Intake Halloween, A Second Opinion, Essays and Conversations with Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 836 11/03/2024

Work Intake Halloween, A Second Opinion, Essays and Conversations with Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 836 SPaMCAST 836 celebrates Halloween. Over the years instead of just one night, people decorate their houses and celebrate for at least a month - we love a party. In celebration of what has become the seventh-largest retail holiday in the United States, let's take a spooky look at the outcome of poor work intake and celebrate that we can banish the spooks and shades of poor work intake. We also hear from in his Evolutionary Agilist column. In this episode, we discuss the impact of adding new team members to a long-lived, high-performing team when the new person wants to strike out in a new direction. Master Work Intake! Join one of two upcoming Mastering Work Intake Workshops to help you learn to address IT’s nastiest, dirtiest little secret…poor work intake. The next two workshops are taking a compressed approach to help kickstart 2025! Seats are available on: November 9th 9 AM EST - Noon EST December 6th 9 AM EST Noon EST More information and registration at Simply put if you don’t control work intake IT CONTROLS YOU! No workshops for you? Buy a copy of Mastering Work Intake and begin to take control of the flow of work for your team and organization. Order a copy of the book from JRoss Publishing - or via Amazon - Re-read Saturday News Chapter 10 of (buy a copy and read along) is titled Disability And Mental Illness. Sounds like a downer? It isn’t. The author begins this chapter by reminding us that Stoicism’s goal is to help people live the best life possible. He uses the stories of three people to illustrate how Stoicism can help people deal with difficult problems. I see this chapter as related to chapter 9’s discussion of role models. Catch on all of the entries in the re-read of (buy a copy and read along) Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: Week 9: Week 10: Week 11: Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 837 through 840 will be reruns of some of my favorite shows from the early 2000’s. I am off on a vacation. We will be back with new content with SPaMCAST 841. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/33757447

Cake On Tuesday, A Conversation With Elizabeth Bieniek, SPaMCAST 835 10/27/2024

Cake On Tuesday, A Conversation With Elizabeth Bieniek, SPaMCAST 835 SPaMCAST 835 features our conversation with Elizabeth Bieniek. Elizabeth and I will discuss her new book, , and explore the basics of innovation and leadership. The insights into innovation and intrapreneurship will help all enterprises compete and deliver value to their stakeholders. Elizabeth Bieniek is an author, speaker, and consultant focused on “good peopling” as the secret to exceptional execution. As a founder and Fortune 100 innovation and engineering leadership veteran, her expertise lies in challenging assumptions, embracing diverse perspectives, and leading through ambiguity to build empowered, resilient teams that last. Named one of Toptal’s 10 most influential “Female Pioneers in Technology,” she has spoken on bridging the gap between human connection and innovation at EmTech NEXT, Chatham House, ITEXPO, AWE, and the Global AI Community. Her leadership and innovation philosophy have been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, Inc., International Business Times, and Women in Business. Elizabeth’s Profile Website Master Work Intake! Join one of two Upcoming Mastering Work Intake Workshops to help you learn to address IT’s nastiest, dirtiest little secret…poor work intake. The next two workshops are taking a compressed approach to help kickstart 2025! Seats are available on: November 9th 9 AM EST - Noon EST December 6th 9 AM EST Noon EST More information and registration at 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 - or via Amazon - Re-read Saturday News Chapter 9 of (buy a copy and read along) wrestles with the source of human virtue. The author, Massimo Pigliucci, is a professor of philosophy who holds Ph. Ds in philosophy, genetics, and evolutionary biology and has published extensively on nature versus nurture. In this chapter, he uses science as a lens to explore Stoic ideas focusing on role models as an area where nurture is effective. Catch on all of the entries in the re-read of (buy a copy and read along) Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: Week 9: Week 10: Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 836 considers the outcome of poor work entry using the metaphor of road kill. Hum a few stanzas of Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road (), and let's determine how not to get hit by a truck! We will also hear from who will bring his Evolutionary Agilist column to the podcast /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/33628672

Battling The Walls Of Denial, New Kids On The Block – Essays and Conversations with Jon. M Quigley, SPaMCAST 834 10/20/2024

Keeping Secrets Secret, A Conversation With Brian Vallelunga, SPaMCAST 833 10/13/2024

Keeping Secrets Secret, A Conversation With Brian Vallelunga, SPaMCAST 833 SPaMCAST 833 features our interview with Brian Vallelunga, founder & CEO at Doppler. Brian and I discuss the importance of managing secrets. Brian states, “Secrets are the keys to the kingdom.” Today any organization that does not secure the data they manage is asking for trouble (with a capital T).. Brian Vallelunga is the Founder and CEO of Doppler, the first secrets management platform for developers. Doppler empowers tens of thousands of engineering and DevOps teams to seamlessly orchestrate, govern, and manage their secrets across environments at scale. Brian has been featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 and worked at improving overall safety at Uber. Social: Website: Master Work Intake! Mastering Work Intake by and myself is your path to addressing IT’s nasty, 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 - or via Amazon - Re-read Saturday News Recently, I have watched (read in the paper) the indictment of Eric Adams, mayor of NY (he resigned after I wrote this essay). While I understand that incitement and guilt are not synonymous, the words he has used in the past to define his character and his actions do not seem to be congruent. His character as defined by his actions (alleged) to a Stoic is found wanting. This week’s chapter is all the more powerful with these current events as a backdrop. Chapter 7 begins the third section of (buy a copy and read along). The section title is The Discipline Of Action: How To Behave In The World. Action is the second core discipline of Stoicism. Chapter 7 is titled It’s All About Character (and Virtue). A better title might be “Hello Mr. Adam’s. Catch on all of the entries in the re-read of (buy a copy and read along) Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 834 will feature twenty questions you can use to create work intake cognitive dissonance. Creating cognitive dissonance is important because if you can’t get people to question the status quo, you will never generate change. We will also have a visit from Jon M. Quigley. Jon brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development to the podcast. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/33420562

Conway’s Law and Agile. Testers and Test Engineers, Essays and Conversations With Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 832 10/06/2024

Cracking Groupthink - Solutions When Balancing Urgency and Importance, SPaMCAST 831 09/29/2024

Cracking Groupthink - Solutions When Balancing Urgency and Importance, SPaMCAST 831 SPaMCAST 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 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 - or via Amazon - Re-read Saturday News Chapter 6 of (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: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5: Week 6: 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: /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/33192592

Upcoming Book Club: Mastering Work Intake Announcement 09/26/2024

Beyond The Framework, A Conversation With Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 830 09/21/2024

Conforming to Mediocrity and Core Hours, Essays and Conversations with Susan Parente, SPaMCAST 829 09/15/2024

HYPERID Ignites - Arash Parsania's Breakthrough Methodology, A Conversation, SPaMCAST 828 09/08/2024

HYPERID Ignites - Arash Parsania's Breakthrough Methodology, A Conversation, SPaMCAST 828 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, Telecommunications, Consumer Products, and Insurance industries. Throughout his career, he has advised numerous organizations on digital business transformation, process definition and optimization for project and product development, and project portfolio management. He has worked with global leaders to enhance project and product management quality, develop and establish specialized project management frameworks and methodologies, and implement audits, restructurings, and certification programs for project managers. HYPERID’s website: Master Work Intake! Have you signed up for the Mastering Work Intake Open House on September 11th at 11 EDT? If not, there is still time! 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 on September 11th at 11 am EDT 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 master work intake and ensure your organization thrives. We’ll cover key takeaways such as effective prioritization, navigating organizational structures, measuring work intake flow, and diagnosing common work intake issues. You'll leave with actionable insights and a clear plan to address work intake problems immediately. Sign up on Eventbrite! Re-read Saturday News Chapter 3 of (buy a copy and read along) is titled “Some Things Are In Our Power, Others Or Not.” Chapter 3 begins to get into the nuts and bolts of Stoicism. Because Epictetus is the author’s guide the opening quote from Epictetus both sets the tone and summarizes the chapter neatly: “We must make the best of those things that are in our power, and take the rest as nature gives it.” If that does not work for you then there is always the Serenity Prayer. Check out Week 4 and all the previous weeks. Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Next SPaMCAST In SPaMCAST 829 we will continue to Crack Groupthink by unpacking the impact of groupthink on urgency and importance. They say knowledge is power, but I would rather consider it risk mitigation. We will also have a visit from Susan Parente who will bring her Not A Scrumdmentalist column to the podcast! /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/32957212

Cracking Groupthink In Prioritization, Scrum Master - Career or Avocation, Essays and Conversations with Keis Kostaqi, SPaMCAST 827 09/01/2024

Cracking Groupthink In Prioritization, Scrum Master - Career or Avocation, Essays and Conversations with Keis Kostaqi, SPaMCAST 827 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 career path of a Scrum Master. Is there a career path or is the role a life avocation? Master Work Intake! 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 on September 11th at 11 am EDT 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 master work intake and ensure your organization thrives. We’ll cover key takeaways such as effective prioritization, navigating organizational structures, measuring work intake flow, and diagnosing common work intake issues. You'll leave with actionable insights and a clear plan to address work intake problems immediately. Sign up on Eventbrite! Re-read Saturday News Chapter 2 of (buy a copy and read along) is titled “A Roadmap For The Journey.” In recent months, my wife and I have been beginning to travel in a class B van. We are taking short trips (learning the ropes) with longer trips in the offing. We rely on GPS a lot. I guess that’s not very different from most travelers. However, the more we deviate from the heavily populated and traveled routes, the less ubiquitous and solid WiFi and cell coverage we find. GPS becomes somewhat unreliable. When the GPS is intermittent you must plan for it to be unreliable. We have discovered that we need an old-school paper map. For those of a certain age, a paper map provides turn-by-turn instructions via a static interface. It also provides a sense of the overall broad journey; an early version of a search albeit manual. Chapter 2 titled “A Roadmap For The Journey“ is a paper roadmap for the remainder of How To Be A Stoic. Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 828 will feature our conversation with Arash Parsania. We will talk about his exciting new methodology, Hyperid.is a flexible hybrid method that fits a wide range of different types of work. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/32820112

Mastering Work Intake Open House Video Trailer 08/30/2024

AI, ML, and Lifelong Learning - A Great Combination, A Conversation With Richmond Alake, SPaMCAST 825 08/25/2024

AI, ML, and Lifelong Learning - A Great Combination, A Conversation With Richmond Alake, SPaMCAST 825 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 articles with over 1 million views. He is passionate about using technology to solve real-world problems. Try out MongoDB for free: Get hands-on code for AI Agents: Connect with Richmond: Master Work Intake! 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 master work intake and ensure your organization thrives. We’ll cover key takeaways such as effective prioritization, navigating organizational structures, measuring work intake flow, and diagnosing common work intake issues. You'll leave with actionable insights and a clear plan to address work intake problems immediately. Sign up on Eventbrite! https://bit.ly/MasteringWorkIntake Re-read Saturday News Chapter 1 of (buy a copy and read along) establishes that the central question of all cultures and philosophies is “how to live.” Let's begin by dispelling the notion that Stoicism eschews emotion and feeling, rather the ancient philosophy based on the importance of wisdom, character, and balance. Pigilucci states, “Stoicism is an approach to living in which moral character is the only truly worthy thing to cultivate.” While I believe Spock (Star Trek) has a high moral character, if you are expecting How To Be A Stoic to teach how to be a Vulcan, you will be disappointed. If nothing else, the Stoics have a wry sense of humor. Forewarned is forearmed. Week 1: Week 2: Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 826 will explore whether urgency has more power in prioritization in collaborative events. Importance is supposed to trump urgency but when you involve many voices things are murkier. We will also have a visit from Kies Kostaqi who will bring her You Are Not Alone column to the Software Process and Measurement Cast. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/32729352

You Can Never Cross The Same River Twice, Essays and Conversations with Jon M Quigley, SPaMCAST 824 08/18/2024

You Can Never Cross The Same River Twice, Essays and Conversations with Jon M Quigley, SPaMCAST 824 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 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 master work intake and ensure your organization thrives. We’ll cover key takeaways such as effective prioritization, navigating organizational structures, measuring work intake flow, and diagnosing common work intake issues. You'll leave with actionable insights and a clear plan to address work intake problems immediately. Sign up on Eventbrite! https://bit.ly/MasteringWorkIntake Re-read Saturday News This week we begin the re-read of (buy a copy and read along). I bought this book while on a trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was there for a speaking engagement and my wife and I decided to make a weekend of it. My downfall was that the fabulous Literati Bookstore was near our Air B&B. Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 825 will feature our interview with Richmond Alake. We discussed AI and Machine Learning. We also will discuss what comes next now that AI Chat has been done. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/32625642

Learning From Data, A Conversation With Kirk Marple, SPaMCAST 823 08/11/2024

Urgency Versus Importance - Which Drives Your Work, Teams And Why We Need Them, Conversations with Jeremy Willets and Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 822 08/04/2024

Urgency Versus Importance - Which Drives Your Work, Teams And Why We Need Them, Conversations with Jeremy Willets and Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 822 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 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 last weekly session begins at 12:30 EDT on August 7th (). 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 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 (). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn. Share the invitation with others, wear sunscreen, and be kind to your fellow campers! Re-read Saturday News Chapter 10, Making of Meaning, culminates the book, . Meaning provides a yardstick to evaluate the human condition and to consider what it means to be a human being in the context of our world. “Meaning” is a catalyst to provide energy and stimulate the intellectual vitality required for optimal experience. Without meaning it is difficult to find the rationale for tasks and cares that may feel mundane but are necessary to reach a goal or as we pivot toward another. Next week we will flow into concluding thoughts. Buy a copy and read along – Week 1: – Week 2: – Week 3: – Week 4: – Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: Week 9: Week 10: Next SPaMCAST The SPaMCAST 823 will feature our discussion with Kirk Marple, Technical Founder and CEO at Unstruk Data. We will discuss AI, knowledge graphs, and how organizations learn as they understand their data. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/32385617

Building A Business And A Leader, An Interview With Alex Natskovich, SPaMCAST 821 07/28/2024

Building A Business And A Leader, An Interview With Alex Natskovich, SPaMCAST 821 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 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: LinkedIn: Email: 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 (). 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 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 (). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn. 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 . 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 – Week 1: – Week 2: – Week 3: – Week 4: – Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: Week 9: Week 10: Next SPaMCAST The Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature 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. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/32319487

Baselining Ideas for Improvement, Who Is Most Important, Essays and Conversations with Susan Parente, SPaMCAST 820 07/21/2024

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 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 (). 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 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 ( 6%%%). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn. 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 , 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 – Week 1: – Week 2: – Week 3: – Week 4: – Week 5: Week 6: Week 7: Week 8: 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. /episode/index/show/spamcast/id/32231987

Software Process and Measurement Cast

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