Agile, Lean, and DevOps approaches are radical game-changers. They provide a fundamentally different way to think about how IT fits into the enterprise, how IT leaders lead, and how IT can harness technology to accomplish the objectives of the enterprise. But honest and open conversations are not taking place at the interface between management and Agile delivery teams.  In A Seat at the Table,  CIO Mark Schwartz explores the role of IT leadership as it is now and the role of IT leadership as it should be—an integral part of the value creation engine.

Asking two critical questions, how can IT harness Agility to achieve the best value for the enterprise and how can IT redefine its relationship with the enterprise to maximize this value, and in the process, earn that seat at the table, Schwartz shows that the only way to become an Agile IT leader in today’s world is to be courageous—to throw off many of the attitudes and assumptions that have left CIOs struggling to gain a seat at the table, to proceed in bold strokes, and to lead the enterprise in seizing opportunities to create business value through technology.

Learn more and purchase: www.itrevolution.com

Chapter 3

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/

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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/

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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/

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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/

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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.

Chapter 3

ITRevolution

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