Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 159! The SPaMCAST 159 features my essay titled, Systems Thinking and Process Improvement. The essay begins: Many process improvement programs falter when, despite best efforts, they don't improve the overall performance of IT. The impact of fixing individual processes can easily get lost in the weeds, the impact overtaken by the inertia of the overall systems. I think this is a situation we can all recognize. Systems Thinking is a mechanism for addressing complex, hard to solve problems. The Software Process and Measurement Cast is looking for listeners that are interested in wrting and sharing reviews of thier favorate tools. Have a favorite? Send me an email and we can discuss making you an internet star! Reminder from SPaMCAST 158 Peter Taylor has also provided two copies of his book The Lazy Project Manager for Software Process and Management listeners. I will draw two names at random (not random names) on November 27th and Peter will send the winners a copy. To participate send an email to [email protected] with the subject line "Lazy Project Manager." Include you full shipping address. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Have you bought your copy? Contact information for the Software Process and Measurement Cast Email: [email protected]: +1-206-888-6111Website: www.spamcast.netTwitter: www.twitter.com/tcagleyFacebook: http://bit.ly/16fBWV Next! SPaMCAST 160 will feature an interview with Dean Leffingwell, the author several books including Scaling Software Agility. If you will ever be involved in scaling agily to the organizaiton level this is an important interview.