SPaMCAST 493 features our essay titled Thoughts on Kaizen. The punchline is that the goal of continuous improvement is to help teams to eliminate waste (Muda, Muri, Mura), while improving an organization's capability to deliver value. Our second column features Jeremy Berriault. In this installment of the QA Corner (https://qacorner.blog/). Jeremy and I talked about his upcoming appearance at QAI Quest. Jeremy is talking about TDD test cases and participating in the Managers Solutions Workshop. Anchoring the cast is Wolfram Müller. Wolfram co-authored Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach with Steve Tendon. We talk about Chapter 22 titled In Practice with Scrum. Wolfram can be found on LinkedIn at https://bit.ly/2qXvgnw Re-Read Saturday News In week eight of the re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! we discuss chapters 10 and 11, titled Under Way on Nuclear Power and I Intend To . . .". Current Installment: Week 8: Under Way on Nuclear Power and "I Intend To . . ." - https://bit.ly/2rnvkgx Previous Installments: Week 7: Change, In a Word and Welcome Aboard Sante Fe - https://bit.ly/2r5l1hk Week 6: I Relieve You - https://bit.ly/2F7C5ag Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Upcoming Webinars and ConferencesQAI Quest 2018The Three Amigo's Role in AgileMay 21-25, 2018, San Antonio, Texas Next SPaMCASTSPaMCAST 494 will feature our interview with Allan Mallory. We discussed leadership and his book, the "The Family that Conquered Everest". Danger, mountaineering, and leadership!

Software Process and Measurement Cast 492 features our recent interview with Murali Chemuturi. Murali and I discussed his new book tilted Software Design: A Comprehensive Guide to Software Development Projects (Link https://amzn.to/2qMAgKW). Murali makes a strong case that design can't be purely emergent. Design impacts usability, security, and data architecture to name just a few areas. Practical advice and strong opinions. Note Murali and I co-authored Mastering Software Project Management (buy a copy!) https://amzn.to/2F5LWxB). Murali's Bio Murali Chemuturi is an information technology and software development subject matter expert, hands-on programmer, author, consultant, and trainer. Since 2001, he is offering consultancy on information technology and training to organizations in India and the USA from Chemuturi Consultants. Chemuturi Consultants also offers a number of products to aid project managers and software development professionals such as PMPal, a software project management tool; and EstimatorPal, FPAPal & UCPPal, a set of software estimation tools. Chemuturi Consultants also offers material requirements planning software product MRPPal to assist small to medium manufacturing organizations to efficiently manage their materials. Web: www.chemuturi.com Email: [email protected] Re-Read Saturday News In week seven of the re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! we begin Part 2 of the book and tackle chapters 8 and 9, titled Change, In a Word and Welcome Aboard Sante Fe. Current Installment: Week 7: Change, In a Word and Welcome Aboard Sante Fe -https://bit.ly/2r5l1hk Previous Installments: Week 6: I Relieve You - https://bit.ly/2F7C5ag Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Upcoming Webinars and Conferences QAI Quest 2018 The Three Amigo's Role in Agile May 21-25, 2018, San Antonio, Texas ISMA 15 May 11 Rome, Italy Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 493 will feature our essay titled Thoughts on Kaizen The punchline is that the goal of continuous improvement is to help teams to eliminate waste (Muda, Muri, Mura) while improving an organization's capability to deliver value. We will also have columns from Jeremy Berriault and Wolfram Mueller. Jeremy and I talked about our upcoming appearance at QAI Quest. Wolfram picks up the discussion of Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach with Chapter 22.

Software Process and Measurement Cast 491 features our essay titled, Can "Done" Be Allowed To Break Production? The most succinct answer to the question is always no, the story is not done. The reason is that the story is not implementable, and unless the goal of the story is to blow up production and anger customers it can't be considered to be done. Susan Parente brings her Not a Scrumdamentalist column to the cast this week. Susan discusses Kanban for You and Me. The discussion focuses on personal Kanban and how to use it to guide your day to day activities effectively and efficiently. Kim Pries, the Software Sensi, anchors the cast this week. Kim's essay is titled Real Software Quality. In this column, Kim warns us of the dangers of interventionism on quality. Re-Read Saturday News In week six of the re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! we tackle chapter 7, titled I Relieve You. I am breaking the two chapter pattern to layup so that we can have a clean start the second part of the book next week Chapter Seven completes Part One of the book. Part one serves tells the story of how Captain Marquet came to be in command of the USSN Santa Fe rather than the Olympia. Much of Marquet's leadership model was emergent (like design in agile). Change may occur even without a shock, such as Marquet's reassignment, but adding energy will hasten change. In this case, the shock made the development of Marquet's leadership model inevitable. Current Installment: Week 6: I Relieve You - https://bit.ly/2F7C5ag Previous Installments: Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Upcoming Webinars and Conferences QAI Quest 2018 The Three Amigo's Role in Agile May 21-25, 2018, San Antonio, Texas ISMA 15 May 11 Rome, Italy Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 492 will feature our recent interview with Murali Chemuturi. Murali has just published a new book tilted Software Design: A Comprehensive Guide to Software Development Projects (Link https://amzn.to/2qMAgKW). The book offers practical design advice for anyone involved in software development. We discussed the impact of design on usability, security and data architecture to name just a few areas. Note Murali and I co-authored Mastering Software Project Management (buy a copy! https://amzn.to/2F5LWxB).

Software Process and Measurement Cast 490 features a return visit from Michael West. Michael West is the author of Return On Process (ROP): Getting Real Performance Results from Process Improvement and Real Process Improvement Using the CMMI! [LINKS] Michael and I talked about process improvement and how process improvement translates to the bottom line. Mr. West originally appeared on the SPaMCAST 308 [https://bit.ly/2ITlKsf] Michael's bio: Michael West is a life-long practitioner and student of process improvement. He is the co-founder of Natural Systems Process Improvement (Natural SPI), a consultancy specializing in designing, developing, and deploying process systems that enable measurable business performance improvement gains. Mr. West's process insights and innovations have helped many organizations in various sectors of the economy achieve real process and performance improvement. His process consulting clients include ATK, Autodesk, AVL, BAE, BB&T, Crane Aerospace, DCS, Deloitte, Sandia National Labs, Reliability First, and the US Navy. Mr. West frequently presents and speaks at industry conferences, and is the author of Real Process Improvement Using the CMMI (CRC Press, 2004) and Return On Process (ROP): Getting Real Performance Results from Process Improvement (CRC Press, 2013). Contact Michael at: Web: http://www.naturalspi.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ItsTheProcess Re-Read Saturday News In week five of the re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! (https://amzn.to/2qujXmL) we tackle chapters five and six. These two chapters, titled Call to Action and Whatever They Tell Me To Do! continue to tell the stories that form the basis for Marquet's leadership model. Current Installment: Week 5: Call to Action and Whatever they tell me to do! - https://bit.ly/2IXZugS Previous Installments: Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Upcoming Webinars and Conferences QAI Quest 2018 The Three Amigo's Role in Agile May 21-25, 2018, San Antonio, Texas ISMA 15 May 11 Rome, Italy Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 491 will feature our essay titled, Can "Done" Be Allowed To Break Production? The most succinct answer to the question is always, "no, the story is not done". The reason is that the story is not implementable and unless the goal of the story is to blow up production and anger customers it can't be considered to be done. We will also have columns from Susan Parente and Kim Pries.

SPaMCAST 489 features our essay titled, Lean: The Science and Art of a Gemba Walk Deciding on the purpose and scope of a Gemba walk is part science and part art. The part that is science is driven by measurement and observation of the organization's value stream(s). The art is applied to decide where to look, to begin with, and in the empathy, you apply during the walk! Our second column features Jon M Quigley who brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development to the cast. In this segment, we discuss agile development. Jon's previous column considered agile culture. Listen to SPaMCAST 483 (https://bit.ly/2GHzI41). Gene Hughson of Form Follows Function anchors the cast. He discusses his great article, There is no right way (though there are plenty of wrong ones) (https://bit.ly/2EsNqlj) Gene suggests "After all, at the end of the day, if there were only one right way to design a system, would anyone need an architect?" Re-Read Saturday News In week four of the re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! we tackle Chapters three and four. These two chapters, titled Change of Course and Frustration, continue to build the basis for Marquet's leadership model. Buy a copy today and read along! http://amzn.to/2oGGOKV Current Installment: Week 4: Change of Course and Frustration - https://bit.ly/2qbPzgK Previous Installments: Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual - https://bit.ly/2qfd74g Week 2: Forward and Introduction - https://bit.ly/2H8K4Jg Week 1: Game Plan - https://bit.ly/2HgCdqW Upcoming Webinars and ConferencesQAI Quest 2018The Three Amigo's Role in AgileMay 21-25, 2018, San Antonio, Texas ISMA 15May 11 Rome, Italy Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 490 will feature the return of Michael West author of Return On Process (ROP): Getting Real Performance Results from Process Improvement and Real Process Improvement Using the CMMI! Michael and I talked about process improvement and how process improvement translates to the bottom line.

SPaMCAST 488 features our interview with Prem Ranganath. Prem and I discussed why organizations need to focus on innovation and excellence. The topic might sound trite; however, making innovation and excellence happen is hard. Prem provides examples and advice from the real world. Prem is responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive quality strategy for product engineering covering people, processes, tools and an enabling culture at Trilliant Networks. Prem takes an intrapreneurial approach to empower Trilliant's customers by enabling lean, agile solution delivery and a culture of quality. He enjoys working with teams to solve problems using design thinking and experimentation. In 2017, Prem was the Capability Challenge champion and is a member of ASQ's Influential Voices program. Company URL: www.trilliant.com Linked-In: linkedin.com/in/premranganath Twitter: @pgranganath Re-Read Saturday News We continue the re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! This week we tackle Chapters one and two. The two chapters, titled Pain and Business as Usual, establish the foundation which positioned Marquet to build his management style. Chapters one and two are part of Part I. The book is broken into IV parts, which provide a macro change arc to drive the story. Current Installment: Week 3: Pain and Business as Usual Previous Installments: Week 2: Forward and Introduction Week 1: Game Plan Upcoming Webinars and Conferences QAI Quest 2018 The Three Amigo's Role in Agile May 21-25, 2018, San Antonio, Texas ISMA 15 May 11 Rome, Italy I will also be at Agile West on June 7th (my birthday!) Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 489 will feature our essay titled, Lean: The Science and Art of a Gemba Walk Deciding on the purpose and scope of a Gemba walk is part science and part art. The part that is science is driven by measurement and observation of the organization's value stream(s). The art is applied to decide where to look, to begin with and in the empathy, you apply during the walk! We will also have installments from Jon M Quigley and Gene Hughson.

SPaMCAST opens with our essay, Don't Shortcut Shu Ha Ri. Recently I have been thinking about just how rigorously practitioners need to follow the processes, methods, and frameworks, and when it makes sense to tweak processes to fit the culture. Learn and practice first, then decide how to tweak agile, Scrum or any framework to your culture. The results will be better. Our second column will introduce a new column from Susan Parente titled, "I Am Not A Scrumdamentalist." Susan originally appeared on SPaMCAST 344 -- http://bit.ly/2GDl6Px Note: The material provided by Susan Parente, is copyright of Susan Parente and may not be used without her specific consent. Our final column in the SPaMCAST 487 features the Software Sensei, Kim Pries. In this column, Kim talks about what works and does not work. (I had originally scheduled Jon M Quigley this week, however, I took the wrong hard drive on the road this week). Re-Read Saturday News This week we explore the forward and the introduction of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! In one fell swoop, we take care of all of the pages numbered in italics. The introduction adds some extra context to how Marquet's leadership style and theories evolved. Current Installment: Week 2: Forward and Introduction Previous Installment: Week 1: Game Plan Upcoming Webinars and Conferences QAI Quest 2018 The Three Amigo's Role in Agile May 21-25, 2018, San Antonio, Texas ISMA 15 May 11 Rome, Italy I will also be at Agile West on June 7th (my birthday!) Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 488 will feature our interview with Prem Ranganath. Prem and I discussed why organizations need to focus on innovation and excellence. The topic might sound trite; however, making innovation and excellence happen is hard. Prem provides examples and advice from the real world.

SPaMCAST 486 features our interview with Daniel S. Vacanti. Mr. Vacanti is the author of Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability: An Introduction. We discussed the concepts in the book, answered a question from Steven Adams, and talked about his new book. It was great to talk about a book with the author after the re-read. Daniel Vacanti's Bio: Daniel Vacanti is a 20-plus year software industry veteran who has spent most of his career focusing on Lean and Agile practices. In 2007, he helped to develop the Kanban Method for knowledge work and managed the world's first project implementation of Kanban that year. He has been conducting Lean-Agile training, coaching, and consulting ever since. In 2011 he founded ActionableAgileTM (previously Corporate Kanban) which provides industry-leading predictive analytics tools and services organizations that utilize Lean-Agile practices. In 2015 he published his book, "Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability", which is the definitive guide to flow-based metrics and analytics. Daniel holds an M.B.A. and regularly teaches a class on lean principles for software management at the University of California Berkeley. Contact Information: Twitter: @danvacanti LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielvacanti/ Mail: [email protected] Web: https://www.actionableagile.com/ Re-Read Saturday News We will begin the full-scale re-read of L. David Marquet's Turn the Ship Around! next week and I am stoked. Buy your copy and listen to the interview I did with Mr. Marquet (SPaMCAST 202) to get involved in the re-read. I am going to lead the re-read from my 2012 (7th printing) copy. The book has 29 chapters, not including the forward, a cast of characters, index, afterword, and a glossary. The book is an easy read because Marquet is such an excellent communicator. My intent is to knock out the preface material next week and then begin delivering 2 chapters per week. If my estimating ability holds true, we will complete our re-read in 18 weeks. I expect to miss two weeks due to travel. Upcoming Webinars and Conferences QAI Quest 2018 The Three Amigo's Role in Agile May 21-25, 2018, San Antonio, Texas ISMA 15 May 11 Rome, Italy I will also be at Agile West on June 7th (my birthday!) Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 487 opens with our essay, Don't Shortcut Shu Ha Ri. I spend several hours every week running – on purpose. I don't run very fast, which means I have the occasional fall because my mind wanders, I inflict very little damage to the ground due to the low inertial load. This is a preamble to let you know that I have lots of time to think when I run (which is the reason the ground occasionally gets in my way). Recently I have been thinking about just how rigorously practitioners need to follow processes, methods, and frameworks and when it makes sense to tweak processes to fit the culture. Our second column will introduce a new column from Susan Parente. Susan's new column is titled, "I Am Not A Scrumdamentalist." Susan originally appeared on SPaMCAST 344 -- http://bit.ly/2GDl6Px In our final column in the SPaMCAST 487 features Jon M Quigley who brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development column to the cast.

SPaMCAST 485 features essay titled "A Simple Checklist for Choosing a Mentor." Everyone needs a mentor, but they are hard to find, and even when you find someone willing they might not be the right person! Enter: a checklist! Blog entries (in case you would rather read the entries) in our recent coaching/mentor theme include: A Mentor or Coach: Which Do You Need? A Checklist A Simple Checklist for Choosing a Mentor Attributes of a Good Mentor Coaching versus Mentoring In the second spot this week, Jeremy Berriault will bring his QA Corner to the cast. We will discuss trusting your team. Trust is a huge deal, and unless it goes both ways it is not really trust. FYI - Jeremy has recently moved the QA Corner to https://qacorner.blog/ Rounding out the cast, Kim Pries, the Software Sensei will return with the second part of his essay titled "Muddling Through." The essay is based on the article, "The Science of "Muddling Through" by Charles E. Lindblom. The article was originally published in 1959, but it still has an important message that resonates now. Part One was originally published in SPaMCAST 477 http://bit.ly/2IiGoCw Re-Read Saturday News Before we wrap up our re-read of Daniel S. Vacanti's Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability: An Introduction (buy a copy today) remember that we will begin our re-read of Turn the Ship Around by L. David Marquet next week! Buy your copy and listen to the interview I did with Mr. Marquet (SPaMCAST 202). If you want to get ahead, the book after that will be The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (I recently bought a copy and want to share what I have gotten out of it). Now on with the main attraction! This week we conclude our re-read of Daniel S. Vacanti's Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability: An Introduction (buy a copy today). Over the past 18 weeks we have explored the power of a few metrics to help teams deliver value. None of the books we have explored in the re-read series are simple, one-idea books. The complexity of these books are the reason they are important, but also make it difficult to boil any of them down into a few words. If pressed for a one line summary for this book, it is that every team or organization should use data to pursue continuous improvement. Previous InstallmentsIntroduction and Game Plan Week 2: Flow, Flow Metrics, and Predictability Week 3: The Basics of Flow Metrics Week 4: An Introduction to Little's Law Week 5: Introduction to CFDs Week 6: Workflow Metrics and CFDs Week 7: Flow Metrics and CFSs Week 8: Conservation of Flow, Part I Week 9: Conservation of Flow, Part II Week 10: Flow Debt Week 11: Introduction to Cycle Time Scatterplots Week 12: Cycle Time Histograms Week 13: Interpreting Cycle Time Scatterplots Week 14: Service Level Agreements Week 15: Pull Policies Week 16: Introduction to Forecasting Week 17: Monte Carlo Method Introduction Week 18: Getting Started Week 19: Conclusion Upcoming Webinars and Conferences Using Size to Drive Testing in AgileTom Cagley & Associates and Sealights WebinarTue, Mar 13, 2018 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM EDThttp://bit.ly/2CdBQZX QAI Quest 2018The Three Amigo's Role in AgileMay 21-25, 2018,San Antonio, TexasISMA 15May 11Rome, ItalyI will also be at Agile West on June 7th (my birthday!) Next SPaMCASTSPaMCAST 486 will feature our interview with Daniel S. Vacanti. Mr. Vacanti is the author of Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability: An Introduction. We discussed the concepts in the book, answered a question from Steven Adams, and talked about his new book. It was great to talk about a book after a re-read with the author!

SPaMCAST 484 features our interview with Andriy Bas of UPTech. Andriy and his partner have created a firm that has truly embraced the ideas of agile, Teal and holacracy to create a highly productive, collaborative and safe workspace. We discussed the impact of the environment on satisfaction, quality, and productivity. We also discussed whether or not this type of approach works for all people. Andriy Bass an entrepreneur, programmer, reader and marathon runner. Andriy is a co-founder and Team Lead of the IT-company UPTech. The company is known for its unique culture - radical transparency, horizontal hierarchy, self-management. Andriy believes that a healthy culture and teamwork are the foundation for any successful business and that the best client service starts with taking care of your team. True creativity and human potential can also be fully unleashed only in the autonomous self-managed environment. Links: My twitter: https://twitter.com/bass_andriy My facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bass.andriy UPTech website: https://uptech.team/ Resources where visitors can learn more about Teal: http://www.reinventingorganizations.com/ Our company blog where we shared some of the practices: http://blog.uptech.team/ Re-Read Saturday News The Oscars are being announced on March 4, 2018. At some point in the process, someone will call for the envelope and boom: the big reveal. So in the spirit of the moment, we have our next book for the Re-read Saturday. We will begin re-reading Turn the Ship Around by L. David Marquet in two weeks (buy your copy today). I have interviewed Mr. Marquet twice for the podcast; I have gotten a ton from his books and the interviews, so I am pumped. I also want to announce the book after that, The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (I recently bought a copy and want to share what I have gotten out of it). Now on with the main attraction! The title of Chapter 16 is Getting Started, in Daniel S. Vacanti's Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability: An Introduction (buy a copy today). The never-ending journey of process improvement needs to begin at the beginning. In this chapter, Vacanti lays out an outline for adopting a process improvement approach that uses the metrics discussed earlier in the book. Previous Installments Introduction and Game Plan Week 2: Flow, Flow Metrics, and Predictability Week 3: The Basics of Flow Metrics Week 4: An Introduction to Little's Law Week 5: Introduction to CFDs Week 6: Workflow Metrics and CFDs Week 7: Flow Metrics and CFSs Week 8: Conservation of Flow, Part I Week 9: Conservation of Flow, Part II Week 10: Flow Debt Week 11: Introduction to Cycle Time Scatterplots Week 12: Cycle Time Histograms Week 13: Interpreting Cycle Time Scatterplots Week 14: Service Level Agreements Week 15: Pull Policies Week 16: Introduction to Forecasting Week 17: Monte Carlo Method Introduction Week 18: Getting Started Dead Tree Book https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/098643633X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=098643633X&linkCode=as2&tag=softprocandme-20&linkId=3488b22252fbe0c99b33ea226f9dcdf5 Kindle https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013ZQ5TUQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B013ZQ5TUQ&linkCode=as2&tag=softprocandme-20&linkId=f5bdfb462b1cb570344bba7dff6e3c37 Get your copy and begin reading (or re-reading)! Upcoming Webinars and Conferences Using Size to Drive Testing in Agile Tom Cagley & Associates and Sealights Webinar Tue, Mar 13, 2018 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM EDT http://bit.ly/2CdBQZX QAI Quest 2018 The Three Amigo's Role in Agile May 21-25, 2018, San Antonio, Texas ISMA 15 May 11 Rome, Italy I will also be at Agile West. More information next week! Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 485 will feature our essay titled "A Simple Checklist for Choosing a Mentor." Everyone needs a mentor, but they are hard to find, and even when you find someone willing they might not be the right person! Enter: a checklist! Jeremy Berriault will bring his QA Corner to the cast. We will discuss trusting your team. Jeremy has recently moved the QA Corner to https://qacorner.blog/ Kim Pries, the Software Sensei will return with the second part of his essay titled "Muddling Through."