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!