Troubleshooting Agile

Why can’t you ship today? In the run-up to the next CITCON:AI in Helsinki, we re-live this previous episode from CITCON in Ghent, back in 2019, where Squirrel and Jeffrey we’re re-telling three interesting stories from the event, all starting with different answers to Jeffrey's question, "Why can't we ship that today?"

LINKS:

- Value stream mapping: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-stream_mapping

- CITCON notes: https://citconf.com/wiki/index.php?title=WarStoriesAndSuccesses

- Poppendieck and Poppendieck, Lean Software Development: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lean-Software-Development-Agile-Toolkit/dp/0321150783

- CITCON:AI in Helsinki: https://citconf.com/helsinki2026/

--------------------------------------------------

You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com

And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------

About Your Hosts

Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.

Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html

Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Is "noisy politeness" slowing your tech team down? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss Crocker’s Rules, which is essentially just the one rule - get to the point. Join us to learn how you and your colleagues can skip the social overhead and get to the data that actually matters.

LINKS:

- Crocker's Rules: http://sl4.org/crocker.html

- Sergei Parajanov's article about the rules: https://lr0.org/blog/p/crocker/

- One Minute Manager: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_One_Minute_Manager

- CITCON:AI in Helsinki: https://citconf.com/helsinki2026/

--------------------------------------------------

You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com

And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------

About Your Hosts

Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.

Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html

Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

What’s got Jeffrey - the Founder of CITCON:AI - ruffled about AI?! In this episode, Jeffrey talks about his frustrations with how organisations approach AI rollouts without learning any lessons from the change-management initiatives that have gone before. Join us to get our take on when to hand over reporting to LLMs, when not to, and how to use ‘agentic validation.’

LINKS:

- Alistair Cockburn article: https://ameyakarve.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/characterizing-people-as-non-linear-1st-order-components-in-software-development-cockburn-us/

- IMVU post: http://timothyfitz.com/2009/02/10/continuous-deployment-at-imvu-doing-the-impossible-fifty-times-a-day/

- CiTCON 2026: https://citconf.com/helsinki2026/

--------------------------------------------------

You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com

And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------

About Your Hosts

Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.

Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html

Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Are you starting from the bottom of the ladder? In the second episode of a two-part series on the practice of disagree and commit, Squirrel uses the ladder of inference to quiz Jeffrey on the reasoning behind his involvement in the sport of deer hunting, with the aim to demonstrate how two people with opposed beliefs can still find common ground on which they can move forward.

LINKS:

- Disagree and Commit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disagree_and_commit

- Test-Driven Development for People: https://itrevolution.com/articles/test-driven-development-for-people/

- The Ladder of Inference: https://douglassquirrel.com/LadderOfInferenceHandout.pdf

--------------------------------------------------

You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com

And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------

About Your Hosts

Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.

Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html

Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Do you know how to disagree and commit? Clue - it’s not the same as “just shut up and get on with it!” In the first episode of a two-part series, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the practice of disagree and commit, why so many teams get it wrong, and what happens when you know how to stop discussing and start doing - even when you don’t agree with the outcome.

LINKS:

- Disagree and Commit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disagree_and_commit

--------------------------------------------------

You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com

And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------

About Your Hosts

Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.

Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html

Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Are you forgetting to ask the question? A lot of people lead with stories, but what Squirrel really wants to know is, “What’s the question?!” In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss why the most efficient teams ask the question first and then give context. As always, real-world examples and practical tips aplenty!

SHOW LINKS:

- Rubber Duck: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging

- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People / Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind : https://www.franklincovey.com/courses/the-7-habits/habit-2/

--------------------------------------------------

You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com

And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------

About Your Hosts

Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.

Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html

Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Are you talking about what you’re working on or what you should be working on? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss “walking the board,” with real world examples of organisations doing it well - and not not so well, and why you need to bring the cards to the board, not the people.

SHOW LINKS:

- Walking the board: https://www.audiodog.co.uk/blog/2017/12/10/better-stand-up-by-walking-the-board/

- Cards come to the standup: http://www.exampler.com/blog/2007/11/06/latour-3-anthrax-and-standups/

- CITCON Helsinki: https://citconf.com/helsinki2026/

--------------------------------------------------

You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com

And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------

About Your Hosts

Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.

Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html

Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Want to join Squirrel on his anti-AI protest? CITCON has had a rebrand to CITCON:AI, which Squirrel is in equal parts excited and cynical about. On this episode, CITCON founder, Jeffrey, and enthusiast, Squirrel, discuss what you can expect from the 20th anniversary of the “anti-conference” in Helsinki on 22nd & 23rd May 2026.

SHOW LINKS:

- CITCON Helsinki: https://citconf.com/helsinki2026/

- "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed": https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/01/24/future-has-arrived/

--------------------------------------------------

You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com

And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------

About Your Hosts

Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.

Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html

Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

If taking accountability scares you, you’re doing it wrong! In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about the background of the final chapter of their book, Agile Conversations, including Jeffrey’s “Aha” moment watching a Kent Beck speech, why the idea of accountability teaches us to lie as kids, and what really happens when we ditch the fear and hold ourselves to account.

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

--------------------------------------------------

You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com

And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------

About Your Hosts

Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.

Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html

Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Ever been in a meeting wondering “Why are we talking about this?” but not said anything? In this episode, Squirrel talks about a meeting where his client admitted he was thinking “What the fuck?” Join us for our thoughts on why people don’t challenge this pattern and practical tips on how to speak up and embrace productive conflict.

Links:

- Parkinson's Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law

- Bikeshedding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality

--------------------------------------------------

You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com

And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------

About Your Hosts

Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.

Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html

Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/