Sprint Commitment

All the tracks from my last album 'Skizm' previously released on Fruit Soup.

09 - Scrum Master Skids

Leading the Transformation is an executive guide, providing a clear framework for improving development and delivery. Instead of the traditional Agile and DevOps approaches that focus on improving the effectiveness of teams, this book targets the coordination of work across teams in large organizations—an improvement that executives are uniquely positioned to make.
Learn more at www.itrevolution.com

003 LeadingTheTransformation Foreword

In this episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, Derek Huether and Dave Prior take on the topic of Leading and Lagging Indicators. During the podcast they discuss how Key Performance indicators can help guide you towards an understanding of what to track with the expectation that it will create a certain result in the future (leading indicators), and what to measure in order to confirm if that result has in fact occurred (lagging indicators).

One example they touch on in the podcast is:  if you are trying to lose weight, tracking things like how much you exercise and how many calories you are consuming each day are leading indicators because it is reasonable to expect that if you are exercising regularly and limiting your caloric intake, that these actions could result in you losing weight. This is a way of tracking the actions you are taking to in order to bring about a desired change. But, we still need a way to confirm if the desired result has actually occurred. The only way you will know if you have actually lost weight, is to climb up on the scale and check your weight. That is a lagging indicator because it confirms whether or not the actions you took had resulted in the desired outcome.

Links

If you’d like to learn more about Leading and Lagging Indicators, check out Derek’s recent blog post on the topic here: https://www.leadingagile.com/2018/02/leading-lagging-indicators/

Contacting Derek

If you’d like to contact Derek you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/derek-huether/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekhuether/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/derekhuether
Email: derek@leadingagile.com
Contacting Dave

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you are interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified Scrum Master or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Introduction to Leading and Lagging Indicators w Derek Huether

In this week's SoundNotes,  LeadingAgile’s Tom Churchwell and Matt Fischer join Dave to respond to two questions submitted by students of our Certified Scrum Master and Certified Scrum Product Owner classes.

STUDENT QUESTIONS

Question 1:

"How do you see the way companies, after long years of waterfall, trying to move to Agile in few weeks?"

Question 2:

"How does a ScrumMaster correct a development team member?"

CONTACTING TOM CHURCHWELL
LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/tom-churchwell/
Email: tom.churchwell@leadingagile.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tchurchwell
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomchurchwell/

CONTACTING DAVE PRIOR
LeadingAgile:http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
Twitter at http://twitter.com/mrsungo
Personal Blog: http://drunkenpm.net

SEND US YOUR QUESTIONS
If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

UPCOMING CLASSES
And if you are interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified Scrum Master or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Agile in a Few Weeks and Correcting Developer Behavior w/ Tom Churchwell

For this episode of SoundNotes, we reached out to some of the students who have taken CSM and CSPO classes over the last few months. We got a lot of great questions and will be responding to them over the next few weeks. This week, Derek Huether and Dave Prior respond to these two questions:

Question 1:

My team seems to have a problem with estimating and understanding the estimating concepts.  The team members are accustomed to traditional waterfall projects and estimating everything in units of time.  How can I help them understand estimating, but continue to complete the sprints with no pbis rolling over to the next sprint?

Question 2:

I have a team lead who is skeptical of scrum, especially metrics related to the process. He doesn’t think carryover matters from sprint to sprint as long as we’re “creating value” and getting the program priorities completed. Any advice on how to convince him that metrics can be a tool for good, and that the sanctity of the sprint commitment matters?

Links from the Podcast

If you’d like to check out the Multiple Team Throughput Forecasting Tool that Troy Magennis has created for use with multiple teams who have different ways of estimating work, you can find it (and his other tools) here: http://focusedobjective.com/free-tools-resources/


Contacting Derek

If you’d like to contact Derek you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/derek-huether/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekhuether/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/derekhuether
Email: derek@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you are interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified Scrum Master or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Estimation and Meeting Sprint Commitments w/ Derek Huether

The first chapter of Agile Conversations is all about people-centred development, and we tell the story of our own journey from over-determined software factory to today's feature factories, with similar Taylorist theories of management in both. In today's episode, we go into more depth on the causes of this tragic journey, touching on old and new topics like Theories X and Y, the Cynefin framework, and why there isn't a JIRA plugin for conversational quality.

SHOW LINKS:
- Taylorism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management
- Theories X and Y: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_X_and_Theory_Y
- 12 Signs You're Working in a Feature Factory by John Cutler: https://cutle.fish/blog/12-signs-youre-working-in-a-feature-factory
- Cargo cults: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult and https://www.jamesshore.com/Blog/Cargo-Cult-Agile.html
- Cockburn on people: https://web.archive.org/web/20140329203655/http://alistair.cockburn.us/Characterizing+people+as+non-linear,+first-order+components+in+software+development
- Cynefin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework

Episode transcript: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/posts/software-factory-to-feature-factory/

Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list!

Software Factory to Feature Factory

Continuing our tour of our new book Agile Conversations, we come to our chapter on the foundational method for conversational analysis, the Four Rs. We briefly explain the value of conversational analysis, and share our observation that even highly motivated people who know how much it can help their agile teams find it hard to actually pull out a piece of paper and do an analysis. The reasons for this are very similar to the reasons we need the analysis in the first place—our cognitive biases fool us into thinking we don't need the help, others do.

SHOW LINKS:

- Extract of Agile Conversations: https://itrevolution.com/conversations-humanitys-secret-weapon/
- Thinking, Fast and Slow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow
- Previous episode on the Four Rs: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/learning-through-case-studies-the-4-rs
- James Clear, Atomic Habits: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
- London Organisational Learning meetup: https://www.meetup.com/London-Action-Science-Meetup/
- Slack for Conversational Transformation: https://join.slack.com/t/agile-conversations/shared_invite/zt-e7j2fbet-jIjExF5HpWqMWpTJ1RfEfw

Episode transcript: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/posts/how-to-improve-and-why-you-wont/

Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list!

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.
 
Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

How To Improve and Why You Won't

We reflect on chapter 3 of Agile Conversations, all about building trust as the first step to a successful agile team. We respond to a reader who had an interesting understanding of the "Test-Driven Development for People" technique and relate the Trust Conversation to vulnerability, exploratory testing, and the painful process of learning.

SHOW LINKS:

- Previous episodes on trust: 
    - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/the-first-thing-to-build-is-trust 
    - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/be-predictable-to-build-trust
    - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/test-driven-development-for-people
- Squirrel's video on TDD for people: https://www.douglassquirrel.com/how-i-work.html
- Kristine Casas blog post: 
    - https://testkeis.wordpress.com/2020/05/17/read-agile-conversations/ 
    - https://medium.com/@rocketkeis/on-the-ladder-of-inference-64493f7f8e00
    - via https://softwaretestingweekly.com/issues/20

Episode transcript: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/posts/a-sense-of0security-gained-and-lost/

---

Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list!

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.
 
Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

A Sense of Security, Gained & Lost

We're up to chapter 4 of Agile Conversations: "Fear: The Default Feeling". We look at why defaulting to fear was a successful adaptation for our ancestors and why it serves us poorly now, for example leading to the phenomenon of "greenshifting" that can lead to catastrophic misunderstandings. We explain why starting sentences with the phrase "I'm afraid that..." can help you expose and reduce fear in your team.

SHOW LINKS:

- Previous episodes and blog posts on fear and related techniques: 
    - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/overcoming-normalisation-of-deviance
    - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/removing-the-blame-frame
    - https://blog.jeffreyfredrick.com/2016/04/08/coherence-busting-explained/
    - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/greenshifting
- Greenshifting: https://www.drdobbs.com/dr-dobbs-agile-newsletter/191600661

Episode transcript: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/posts/fear-the-original-sin-of-unproductive-conversations/

---

Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list!

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.
 
Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

Fear: The Original Sin of Unproductive Conversations

Although we talk about joint design a lot, we haven't managed to do an episode on it. As we get to chapter 4 in our tour through Agile Conversations, it's time to rectify that! We focus on a common error that we didn't cover in depth in the book: how trying to "convince" someone through advocacy fails. Using the Four Rs, we roleplay an ineffective advocacy-heavy conversation about tech team execution, and then revise it to increase curiosity, reduce defensiveness and achieve greater internal commitment.

SHOW LINKS:

- Getting to Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_to_Yes
- David Burns on (not) trying to help: https://feelinggood.com/2019/10/28/164-how-to-help-and-how-not-to-help/
- Previous episodes and blog posts on joint design:
   - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/mutual-learning-model-part-one
   - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-i
   - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-ii
   - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-iii
   - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-iv 
   - https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-v 

Episode transcript: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/posts/why-finding-the-balance-for-joining/

---

Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list!

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.
 
Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

Why: Finding the Balance for Joint Design

Moving on to Chapter 6 of Agile Conversations, it's time to talk about commitment. Not engagement, which we argue is insufficient to produce effective results, only enthusiasm that is far too often misdirected out of confusion about what important words mean and how to measure progress. We offer specific tools for effective commitments and hear a story about a company that created a pile of bones instead of a Walking Skeleton.

SHOW LINKS:

- Events we're speaking at soon, including IT Pro Live and DOES London: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/events/
- Domain-Driven Design: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-driven_design
- Big Book of Concepts: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/big-book-concepts
- Specification by Example: https://gojko.net/books/specification-by-example/
- Walking Skeleton: https://wiki.c2.com/?WalkingSkeleton

Episode transcript: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/posts/commitment-is-not-enough/

---

Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list!

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.
 
Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

Commitment: Engagement is Not Enough

Coming to the final chapter of Agile Conversations, we look at how leaders can not only provide accountability for others, but be accountable themselves, including stories from the early days of agile and from today's clients.

SHOW LINKS:

- XP Explained book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67833.Extreme_Programming_Explained
- Rapid Development book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93892.Rapid_Development
- Dynamics of Software Development ("don't flip the bozo bit"): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1416996.Dynamics_of_Software_Development
- Nurtureshock: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6496815-nurtureshock
- Greenshifting: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/greenshifting
- Kent Beck Ease at Work: https://www.infoq.com/news/2007/04/beck-ease-at-work/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeA4CBInqKo
- The Art of Action: https://www.stephenbungay.com/Books.ink
- Radiating Intent: https://medium.com/@ElizAyer/dont-ask-forgiveness-radiate-intent-d36fd22393a3
- Accountability and Compassion: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/mutual-learning-model-accountability-and-compassion

Episode transcript: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/posts/accountability-leaders-are-accountable-too/

---

Our new book, Agile Conversations, is out now! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can order your copy and get a free video when you join our mailing list!

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.
 
Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

Accountability: Leaders are Accountable Too

Multimedia producer for technology leaders & practitioners to learn, advance, & thrive, including bestselling book The Phoenix Project & The Idealcast podcast.

003 LeadingTheTransformation Foreword

ITRevolution

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