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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

The Software Process and Measurement Cast Crew are off for an adventure. We will be back on December 8th with new content. In the interim, we share four gems from our back catalog of over 800 interviews, essays, and conversations. You can check out the entire catalog at . Our final trip down memory lane with Paul Gibbons. This week we step back to SPaMCAST 582 from January 2020. In this episode, Paul and I discussed his new book I. The interview started by exploring the high-level factors that influence change and then spun down into areas such as the future of work, biases, and de-biasing.  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 workshop takes a compressed approach to help kickstart 2025!  Seats are available on: 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 -     Next SPaMCAST  Next week we will be back with NEW content. We will jump back into things with an interview with Gorkem Ercan is the founding Distinguished Engineer and CTO of Jozu.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast Crew are off for an adventure. We will be back on December 8th with new content. In the interim, we share four gems from our back catalog of over 800 interviews, essays, and conversations. You can check out the entire catalog at . Today we return to June 202 (SPaMCAST 605) for a conversation with Jodie Kane. Jodie and I discussed involving product owners in retrospectives. Jodie suggests the answer should not be cut and dry but rather context-driven.   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 workshop is taking a compressed approach to help kickstart 2025!  Seats are available on: 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 -     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

The Software Process and Measurement Cast Crew are off for an adventure. We will be back on December 8th with new content. In the interim, we share four gems from our back catalog of over 800 interviews, essays, and conversations. You can check out the entire catalog at . Today we return to  December 2021 to remember an interview with Mauricio Aguiar and Christine Green, We discussed their vision of the state and future of Software Measurement. Mauricio, Christine, and I are all Past Presidents of the International Function Point Users Group (the largest international software measurement association). The conversation is both provocative and enlightening.  The original version of this interview was published in SPaMCAST 680. 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 workshop is taking a compressed approach to help kickstart 2025!  Seats are available on: 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 -     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.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast Crew are off for an adventure. We will be back on December 8th with new content. In the interim, we share four gems from our back catalog of over 800 interviews, essays, and conversations. You can check out the entire catalog at . We return to August 2019 for a two-parter, with Al Shalloway. This was a long interview. We originally spread over SPaMCAST 559 and SPaMCAST 560. Today both parts are united.  The conversation with Al was full of huge ideas, concepts, and calls to action. Al and I talked about the troubles dogging classic agile, the Agile Industrial Complex, using a scientific approach to change, and FLEX.   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 -   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