Troubleshooting Agile

Squirrel tells the story of the most painful manual testing experience he's ever been part of, and we discuss the value of manual testing, how humans differ from machines, and approaches to application verification that don't involve torture.

SHOW LINKS:

- Cockburn's "Characterizing people as non-linear 1st order components in software development":

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

- The Unicorn Project: https://itrevolution.com/the-unicorn-project/

- Testing vs Checking: https://www.satisfice.com/blog/archives/856

- Exploratory testing: https://www.satisfice.com/exploratory-testing

- Explore It!: https://pragprog.com/book/ehxta/explore-it

- CITCON: https://citconf.com/

- CruiseControl: http://cruisecontrol.sourceforge.net/

***

Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order!

New video of us at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit 2019 is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_Tqzf_vc

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

Squirrel's client is struggling to deliver because product managers are a bottleneck. The Theory of Constraints gives us a framework for addressing these problems - and typing faster or adding developers are not part of the solution!

SHOW LINKS:

- The Goal: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/113934.The_Goal

- Theory of Constraints; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints

- Subordinating to the constraint: http://www.sixsigmatrainingconsulting.com/six-sigma-tools/3rd-step-subordinate-all-other-tasks-to-the-constraint/

***

Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order!

New video of us at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit 2019 is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_Tqzf_vc

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

No matter how safe you make your retrospectives and other discussions, if your team don't have the skills to share information, you're running a substantial risk that someone will withhold information and you'll make a less than informed decision. We discuss ways to acquire and use information-sharing skills yourself and with your team.

SHOW LINKS:

- Blog post on withholding information: https://softwarelifecycle.wordpress.com/2020/01/16/withholding-information/

- Google on psychological safety: https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/understanding-team-effectiveness/steps/foster-psychological-safety/

***

Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order!

New video of us at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit 2019 is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_Tqzf_vc

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

We talk to Mirco Hering about agile dogmatism, the value of diversity, how to experiment with your processes, using stories to drive change, and his book Devops for the Modern Enterprise.

SHOW LINKS:

- Crossing the Chasm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm

- Devops for the Modern Enterprise: https://itrevolution.com/book/devops_modern_enterprise/

- Mirco: https://twitter.com/mircohering

***


Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order!

New video of us at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit 2019 is now available: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_Tqzf_vc

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troub…d1327456890?mt=2

A special episode - audio of our talk on "conversational transformation" at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit. Practical steps you can take today to get your team on track to a successful digital/agile/devops transformation, using effective if difficult conversations.

- Video of the talk and info on the book: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/

***

Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order!

New video of us at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit 2019 is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_Tqzf_vc

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

After Squirrel argued passionately in a previous episode that non-functional requirements should be eliminated, we invite medtech expert and portfolio CTO Alex Hudson to visit and describe why he finds NFRs helpful. It turns out that the two positions are closer together than we might have thought, and we get fascinating stories about medical device design and 30-second page loads along the way.

SHOW LINKS:

- Alex Hudson: https://twitter.com/ealexhudson and https://alexhudson.com/

- Previous rant episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/squirrels-rant

- Twitter debate with Alex: https://twitter.com/douglassquirrel/status/1207400245002457090

- The "ilities": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-functional_requirement

***

Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order!

New video of us at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit 2019 is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_Tqzf_vc

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

We review our holiday reading and watching plans for listeners who might want to join us in exploring lean and agile ideas over the break. We also list our top 5 episodes from 2019 and preview a few events planned for 2020.

SHOW LINKS:

- Ed Catmull on conversations and other challenges at Pixar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2h2lvhzMDc

- Kent Beck on throughput vs latency: https://medium.com/@kentbeck_7670/inefficient-efficiency-5b3ab5294791

- Mark Schwartz, War and Peace and IT: https://itrevolution.com/war-and-peace-and-it/ https://twitter.com/schwartz_cio

- Subscribed by Tien Tzuo and Gabe Weisert.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subscribed_(book)

- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Lencioni : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21343.The_Five_Dysfunctions_of_a_Team

- Lean Thinking by Womack and Jones: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289467.Lean_Thinking

- The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17255186-the-phoenix-project

- The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44333183-the-unicorn-project

- Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/762542.The_Four_Steps_to_the_Epiphany

- The Reflective Practitioner by Donald Schön : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29916803-the-reflective-practitioner

- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10127019-the-lean-startup

- The Principles of Product Development Flow by Donald Reinertsen : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6278270-the-principles-of-product-development-flow

- Team Topologies by Skelton and Pais: https://itrevolution.com/team-topologies/

Top 5 episodes in 2019:

5. How to Detect Agile BS - Part 1 : https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-detect-agile-bs-part-1

4. Values of the Give Up Control Model : https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/values-of-the-give-up-control-model

3. Mutual Learning Model: Accountability and Compassion : https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/mutual-learning-model-accountability-and-compassion

2. Agile is Dead, Long Live Agile : https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/agile-is-dead-long-live-agile

1. Ryan Singer on Basecamp and Shape Up, Part I : https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/ryan-singer-on-basecamp-and-shape-up-part-i

***

Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order!

New video of us at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit 2019 is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_Tqzf_vc

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

Squirrel gets hot under the collar about non-functional "requirements", and after he gets his rant off his chest, we discover NFRs are all too often just excuses to avoid a conversation. In addition, we touch on the "ilities", security, and ethical considerations for software developers.

SHOW LINKS:

- The "ilities": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-functional_requirement

***


Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order!

New video of us at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit 2019 is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_Tqzf_vc

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

Mark Schwartz, author of War and Peace and IT, describes his experience in the CIO trenches, where low trust between "the business" and IT bogs the organisation down in lengthy acquisition processes and contract negotiations rather than delivering business objectives. We touch on value stream mapping, how to use devops and its relatives devsecops and finops, briefing and back briefing, and what we see as the root of the disconnect between business and tech, a lack of trust.

SHOW LINKS:

- Mark Schwartz, War and Peace and IT: https://itrevolution.com/war-and-peace-and-it/ https://twitter.com/schwartz_cio

- Value Stream Map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-stream_mapping

- Briefing and Back Briefing: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Action-Leaders-between-Actions/dp/1857885597

***

Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order!

New video of us at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit 2019 is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_Tqzf_vc

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2

Last week, Domenica DeGrandis talked with us about making work visible. Today, we distinguish that idea from a related one, that of making your *output* visible. How can your team show its results frequently? What symptoms indicate that this might help you? What results can you expect from showing meaningful business value often?

SHOW LINKS:

- Domenica's Making Work Visible book: https://itrevolution.com/book/making-work-visible/

- Lean Thinking: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lean-Thinking-Banish-Create-Corporation/dp/0743231643

- Genchi Genbutsu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genchi_Genbutsu

- Alistair Cockburn on Elephant Carpaccio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lNvr2RWbFo

***

Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order!

New video of us at the Las Vegas Devops Enterprise Summit 2019 is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMT_Tqzf_vc

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show.

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

Tweet us: twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Also, if you'd like to leave us a review on iTunes (or just like and subscribe), you'll find us here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2