Troubleshooting Agile

This week, Jeffrey and Squirrel discuss the history of “software for humans”, the agile, lean, and devops movements. No links this week as the book deadline looms, but feel free to ask us if you can’t find a reference. Normal service will resume shortly!

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A listener question about running a Troubleshooting Agile study group inspires advice on keeping your learning from becoming lunchtime entertainment, as well as surprisingly relevant stories about a pottery class, a management seminar, and the Israeli military.

SHOW LINKS:

- Joel's tweet requesting advice on his study group: https://twitter.com/joelchippindale/status/1143137854278840321

- Our series on the twelve agile principles: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/the-importance-of-the-agile-principles

- Pottery story from Art & Fear: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0961454733/ via https://stratechery.com/2015/buzzfeed-important-news-organization-world/

- Joel Spolsky on Fire and Motion: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/

- Reg Revans on action and learning: http://actionlearning.academy/benefits.html

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

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

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The engineers know the project is in terrible trouble, but the executives think it's going great. This "greenshifting" anti-pattern occurs at NASA, software companies, and everywhere in between. We tell a few related stories, including a fable, and suggest methods that might work to counteract the greenshifting tendency in your organisation.

SHOW LINKS:

- "The Mushroom Song" by Steve Savitsky: http://steve.savitzky.net/Songs/mushroom/

- The SNAFU Principle (communication fable) from the Jargon File: http://skeptictank.org/files//cowtext/jargn10.htm

- Appendix F on the Challenger disaster, by Richard Feynman: https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/docs/rogers-commission/Appendix-F.txt

- Scott Ambler on Greenshifting: https://www.drdobbs.com/dr-dobbs-agile-newsletter/191600661

- Alistair Cockburn on information radiators: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=24486&ranMID=24808

- Brian Marick on lava lamps as build status indicators: https://gist.github.com/marick/3ec112bc38b2af267e15

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

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

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You can invest a lot of your time in making your software delivery predictable (a la NASA) or in making your team productive (a la early stage startups). Which is best? We introduce the idea of a "tilted slider" to explain this tradeoff, and the "gravity" that pulls you toward predictability even when it may not be the best emphasis. And as usual, we have stories of effective and ineffective action from our own experiences.

SHOW LINKS:

- Cowboy coding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_coding

***

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

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

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How are you briefing your team? What measurements are you using to help them learn? Today, we discuss cases where giving the team incentives to make more mistakes produces positive results, and others where urging them to make fewer is catastrophic.

SHOW LINKS:

- Andon cord: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andon_(manufacturing)

- Toyota Kata: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mrother/Homepage.html

- NTSB immunity for pilots: https://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/overview/immunity.html

***

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

Today we describe a technique for avoiding micromanagement and promoting autonomy - first pioneered by the Prussian military! We describe how briefing and back briefing help Boeing build airplanes and how the method increases efficiency and reduces drama in the agile teams we work with.

SHOW LINKS:

- Art of Action by Bungay: http://www.stephenbungay.com/Books.ink

- Boeing weight economy: in https://www.amazon.co.uk/Serious-Play-Companies-Simulate-Innovate/dp/0875848141

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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

Today we relate three great stories we heard or told at CITCON in Ghent, all starting with different answers to Jeffrey's question, "Why can't we ship that today?" The answers lead us to different suggestions for helping teams to move faster and get customer feedback.

SHOW 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

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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 the Mutual Learning and Unilateral Control models, this week we examine one more model for working with your team, perhaps the easiest: giving up! This one feels the best, since everyone is involved and gets to express his or her feelings. But unsurprisingly, giving up control means you give up valuable information that could help you make a better decision.

SHOW LINKS:

- Giving Up Control article: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/hr/moving-away-control

- Adding Your Own Egg (Weinberg): http://stevenjackson.github.io/notebook/weinberg

- Briefing and Back Briefing (Bungay): https://www.amazon.com/Art-Action-Leaders-between-Actions/dp/1857885597

***

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 our series on mutual learning values, we look at those of an alternative, the Unilateral Control Model, which match our default behaviour but don't normally lead to the type of learning your team is probably looking for. We look at why convincing others usually doesn't work and welcome Al Pacino for a brief cameo.

SHOW LINKS:

- Unilateral Control article by Roger Schwarz: http://www.schwarzassociates.com/managing-performance/how-unilateral-control-undermines-team-results-and-relationships-2/

- "One More Inch" speech from Al Pacino: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyWXKeBsNk

- previous series on unilateral control:

https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-i

https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-ii

https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-iii

https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-iv

https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/how-to-fail-by-acting-unilaterally-part-v

- CITCON conference: https://citconf.com/ghent2019/

***

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

Email us: see link on troubleshootingagile.com

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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

Third in our series on using the Mutual Learning Model to improve your agile team. We look at accountability as a frightening prospect and as a route to ease at work (thanks Kent Beck). Then we consider how you might benefit from compassion - not only for your team and stakeholders, but also for leaders and for yourself.

SHOW LINKS:

- 8 Behaviours for Smarter Teams: https://www.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/917018/Eight-Behaviors-for-Smarter-Teams-2.pdf

- Accountability for sheriffs in the time of Henry II: http://historyoflaw.co.uk/exchequer-time-of-henry-ii/

- Ease at Work from Kent Beck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeA4CBInqKo and https://www.infoq.com/news/2007/04/beck-ease-at-work

- CITCON conference: https://citconf.com/ghent2019/

***

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