Podcasts about cmmi institute

ISACA Chief Architect, Ron Lear and CMMC Board Member, Jeff Dalton join George Zack of Two Harbors Consulting to discuss the current state of CMMC, where it connects with CMMI and where it looks to be going in the future.  We hope you find this conversation to be informative.Follow Ron at his CMMI Institute blog at:  https://cmmiinstitute.com/news/blogFollow Jeff at his Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffdalton/ or his Twitter at https://twitter.com/CMMIAppraiserAre you enjoying this podcast?  If so, please share it with a colleague!  We'd love to have more people engage with us in these conversations.  And we always want your feedback about any element of podcast.  Contact us at: info@twohc.com or at http://www.twoharborsconsulting.com or George Zack at george.zack@twohc.com

Depending on the level of quality and compliance, medical devices can impact patients' lives for better or for worse. Fortunately, FDA recently announced plans to open up and expand participation for its Case for Quality Initiative. Today's guest is Mike Drues of Vascular Sciences. We discuss the benefits and incentives for compliant and noncompliant companies to participate in the Case for Quality program. Compliance doesn't necessarily ensure quality. Some of the highlights of the show include: ● Pilot Program Premise: Partnership between FDA, MDIC, and CMMI Institute to promote compliance and focus on true quality products and processes. ● Case for Quality is newer program with somewhat skewed participation from larger companies due to incentives favoring PMA Class III products. ● Case for Quality: Advantages for participating include being excused from routine FDA inspections when state of compliance was demonstrated previously. ● Making changes to positively impact PMA products involves challenging process to submit a supplement. Are regulatory requirements for changes necessary? ● Micromanage Case for Quality: Root cause for such regulations is to prevent shortcuts and oversee those that don't know what or how to be in compliance. ● Why are some companies not in compliance? They should participate in the Case for Quality Initiative to learn what they need to do.

Depending on the level of quality and compliance, medical devices can impact patients’ lives for better or for worse. Fortunately, FDA recently announced plans to open up and expand participation for its Case for Quality Initiative. Today’s guest is Mike Drues of Vascular Sciences. We discuss the benefits and incentives for compliant and noncompliant companies to participate in the Case for Quality program. Compliance doesn’t necessarily ensure quality. Some of the highlights of the show include: ● Pilot Program Premise: Partnership between FDA, MDIC, and CMMI Institute to promote compliance and focus on true quality products and processes. ● Case for Quality is newer program with somewhat skewed participation from larger companies due to incentives favoring PMA Class III products. ● Case for Quality: Advantages for participating include being excused from routine FDA inspections when state of compliance was demonstrated previously. ● Making changes to positively impact PMA products involves challenging process to submit a supplement. Are regulatory requirements for changes necessary? ● Micromanage Case for Quality: Root cause for such regulations is to prevent shortcuts and oversee those that don’t know what or how to be in compliance. ● Why are some companies not in compliance? They should participate in the Case for Quality Initiative to learn what they need to do.

What does true quality mean? How does it relate to compliance? Today's guest on The Global Medical Device Podcast is George Zack of Two Harbors Consulting. George shares his thoughts on these two tough questions and describes his involvement with the FDA's Case for Quality Program and CMMI Institute's Medical Device Discovery Appraisal Program (MDDAP). Some of the highlights of the show include: ● MDIC oversees programs developed to assess organizations' beyond compliance of regulations to produce quality products. ● Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI): Third-party appraisal is performed against participating manufacturing organization to provide feedback. ● Besides getting the appraisal and feedback, participating facilities are eligible for some regulatory modifications and benefits. ● Compliance vs. Quality: Devices need to not only be compliant, but safe, effective, and readily available. ● There are similarities and differences between practices, assessments, appraisals, and audits. Don't prepare or study; be open and transparent. ● Understand how the business operates to see the big picture. Practice areas include product integration, configuration management, and incident resolution. ● FDA's Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP) can involve more money, time, and people. MDDAP strives to be non-interruptive, streamlined, and faster.

Patients, providers, and companies are already experiencing the benefits of FDA’s Case for Quality Program and CMMI Institute’s Medical Device Discovery Appraisal Program (MDDAP). Today’s guest is Becky Fitzgerald, principal and co-founder of Two Harbors Consulting. She’s passionate about her involvement with Case for Quality and being a lead appraiser for MDDAP. In this episode, Becky gives listeners an inside look into her instrumental work and involvement with FDA's Case for Quality and MDDAP programs, including how these initiatives were started and have evolved since, as well as lessons learned along the way. ● Case for Quality: Originated due to auditing issue that revealed problems with the quality of medical devices from fully vs. non-fully compliant organizations. ● Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI): FDA selected model to help companies improve the quality of medical devices without more regulations. ● Multiple medical device entities produced proof of concept and pilot program to show benefits, effectiveness, and value of Case for Quality and MDDAP. ● Compliance vs. Quality: Medical device industry’s checkbox and compliance mindset can create direct and indirect impact on quality. ● MDDAP focuses on conversations with people; the intent and goals for documenting or recording are different. ● Processes vs. Attributes: Is there a way to predict if a project will succeed? ● Lessons Learned: Medical device industry isn’t great at estimating work, project management, and handling changes to non-functional requirements. ● Minor Changes, Major Impact: Ask for input, receive it, and make changes to build momentum for quality.

Patients, providers, and companies are already experiencing the benefits of FDA's Case for Quality Program and CMMI Institute's Medical Device Discovery Appraisal Program (MDDAP). Today's guest is Becky Fitzgerald, principal and co-founder of Two Harbors Consulting. She's passionate about her involvement with Case for Quality and being a lead appraiser for MDDAP. In this episode, Becky gives listeners an inside look into her instrumental work and involvement with FDA's Case for Quality and MDDAP programs, including how these initiatives were started and have evolved since, as well as lessons learned along the way. ● Case for Quality: Originated due to auditing issue that revealed problems with the quality of medical devices from fully vs. non-fully compliant organizations. ● Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI): FDA selected model to help companies improve the quality of medical devices without more regulations. ● Multiple medical device entities produced proof of concept and pilot program to show benefits, effectiveness, and value of Case for Quality and MDDAP. ● Compliance vs. Quality: Medical device industry's checkbox and compliance mindset can create direct and indirect impact on quality. ● MDDAP focuses on conversations with people; the intent and goals for documenting or recording are different. ● Processes vs. Attributes: Is there a way to predict if a project will succeed? ● Lessons Learned: Medical device industry isn't great at estimating work, project management, and handling changes to non-functional requirements. ● Minor Changes, Major Impact: Ask for input, receive it, and make changes to build momentum for quality.

What does true quality mean? How does it relate to compliance? Today’s guest on The Global Medical Device Podcast is George Zack of Two Harbors Consulting. George shares his thoughts on these two tough questions and describes his involvement with the FDA’s Case for Quality Program and CMMI Institute’s Medical Device Discovery Appraisal Program (MDDAP). Some of the highlights of the show include: ● MDIC oversees programs developed to assess organizations’ beyond compliance of regulations to produce quality products. ● Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI): Third-party appraisal is performed against participating manufacturing organization to provide feedback. ● Besides getting the appraisal and feedback, participating facilities are eligible for some regulatory modifications and benefits. ● Compliance vs. Quality: Devices need to not only be compliant, but safe, effective, and readily available. ● There are similarities and differences between practices, assessments, appraisals, and audits. Don’t prepare or study; be open and transparent. ● Understand how the business operates to see the big picture. Practice areas include product integration, configuration management, and incident resolution. ● FDA’s Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP) can involve more money, time, and people. MDDAP strives to be non-interruptive, streamlined, and faster.

In the second of our 3-part series from University of Maryland's 2018 Project Management symposium, we feature excerpts from presentations in the Agile track: Jeff Dalton on Agility for Leaders; Jason Dunn on Deciding When to Save or Shut Down a Project; Sean Eddings on The Traffic Fallacy; Bruce Gay on Design Thinking; Christopher Harris & John Johnson on ECM and FIRE - A Framework for Rapid Acquisition; and Susan Parente on Agile Quantitative Risk Analysis.   Listen, learn, and get a free PDU! PDU Information Earn education PDUs in the PMI Talent Triangle for each podcast. Use the following information in PMI’s CCRS system to register the PDUs for this podcast: PDU Category: Online or Digital Media   Provider Number: 4634 PDU Claim Code:   4634UWV5X4   Activity Number: PMPOV0053   PDUs for this episode: 1 About the Speakers Jeff Dalton is Chief Evangelist at AgileCxO.org, an R&D organization that studies Agile leadership and develops Agile performance models. Mr. Dalton is also President of Broadsword Solutions Corporation, a process innovation firm, where he also serves as an Agile instructor, leadership coach, CMMI SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, and CMMI Instructor. He is Chairman of the CMMI Institute Partner Advisory Board and is principal author of the CMMI Institute publication A Guide to Scrum and CMMI: Improving Agile Performance with CMMI. Mr. Dalton holds degrees in music and computer science and builds experimental aircraft in his spare time. He can be reached at Agileleader@Agilecxo.org. Jason Dunn has spent nearly 30 years in projects across a wide variety of industries, and in a variety of roles: Project Manager, Change Manager, Business Analyst, and Tester. In addition, he has worked with many Fortune 100 companies to assess and improve their project management maturity and processes. As part of this work, he has stood up PMOs as well as assessed and improved existing PMO using a data-driven assessment framework. Recently, Jason has developed a training program based on an industry standard maturity framework aimed at assessing, and then improving, companies’ portfolio development and management capabilities. At present, he is the PM Community Program Director in Freddie Mac’s EPMO, which is committed to improving PM maturity and capabilities through education, networking, facilitation, and knowledge management. He is a PMP, CSM, CSPO, and Certified Change Manager. Sean Eddings, Senior Producer and Agile Coach at Last Call Media, is a passionate agile-lean practitioner with close to a decade of experience coaching multidisciplinary technology teams. He enjoys helping teams design, visualize, and continuously evolve their own process to ultimately deliver business value with increasing predictability. Sean is a Certified ScrumMaster. Bruce W. Gay, PMP, has over 20 years of experience managing programs and customer relationships across healthcare IT, telecommunications and defense industries. Currently a Senior Program Manager at UPMC Enterprises (the commercialization arm of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), Bruce manages a multi-million dollar program to develop the next generation of Radiology Informatics systems. Over the past decade, Bruce has managed creative teams that incorporated UX Design & Design Thinking methodologies into their product development processes. Bruce shares his experiences and ideas around Design Thinking on twitter as @brucegay Christopher Harris studied International Business and Finance at the University of Tampa and obtained a Masters of Accountancy w/ an IT Focus from the University of South Florida. He applied his learning in the heavily-regulated banking and insurance industries, which, equipped him to understand the interaction of business processes and law and blend them in a way that yields productivity in daily operations. Later he moved to Northern Virginia and entered Government contracting, where he applied the same passion for results where he blended customer requirements, law and regulation, and business savvy to achieve uncommon results. As a Bytecubed consultant, he works with Government acquisition officials to develop innovative acquisition strategies against the backdrop of current law, policy, and agency processes. John Johnson, serves as the Chief Technology Officer for Softek Enterprises LLC, a minority-owned small business providing technology solutions to government clients since 2007. Softek specializes in evolving business systems using Agile, DevOps, and Cloud technologies to deliver working solutions faster for the government’s most critical IT challenges. He has 10 years of project management, systems engineering, and advanced analytics experience. Mr. Johnson has led multiple award-winning Agile projects in civilian and defense agencies using Scrum and Disciplined Agile Delivery methods. Susan Parente is a project engineer, consultant, speaker, author, and mentor who leads large complex IT software implementation projects, and the establishment of Enterprise PMOs. She has 19+ years experience leading software and business development projects in the private and public sectors, including a decade of experience implementing IT projects for the DoD and other federal government agencies. Ms. Parente is also an Associate Professor at Post University in CT. She has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester in NY and an MS in Engineering Management from George Washington University in DC. She also has a number of certifications, most of which she teaches and she is a CMMI and ISO 9001 Practitioner. Ms. Parente is a Principal Consultant at S3 Technologies, LLC, which focuses on revitalizing projects through the use of risk management and implementing Agile practices.                      

The martial arts philosophy that had the most impact on my life––and continues to––is this:“Perfection is not a destination––it’s a never-ending process.”Jeff Dalton embodies this philosophy and his innovations in agile processes seem to me to be one of the most powerful expressions of this ideology.Jeff is the President and Certified Lead Appraiser at Broadsword solutiona, and the author of “agileCMMI,” Broadsword’s leading methodology for incremental and iterative performance improvement. He is  principle author of the CMMI Institute’s “Guide to Scrum and CMMI: Improving Agile Performance with CMMI” and is in high demand internationally as a keynote speaker.On this episode we take a deep dive into the "Agile" leadership philosophy and how you can make it work in your organization!Learn more about Jeff and Agile at these links:http://2018agile.orghttp://BroadswordSolutions.com

The martial arts philosophy that had the most impact on my life––and continues to––is this:“Perfection is not a destination––it’s a never-ending process.”Jeff Dalton embodies this philosophy and his innovations in agile processes seem to me to be one of the most powerful expressions of this ideology.Jeff is the President and Certified Lead Appraiser at Broadsword solutiona, and the author of “agileCMMI,” Broadsword’s leading methodology for incremental and iterative performance improvement. He is  principle author of the CMMI Institute’s “Guide to Scrum and CMMI: Improving Agile Performance with CMMI” and is in high demand internationally as a keynote speaker.On this episode we take a deep dive into the "Agile" leadership philosophy and how you can make it work in your organization!Learn more about Jeff and Agile at these links:http://2018agile.orghttp://BroadswordSolutions.com

SPaMCAST 456 features our interview with Jeff Dalton.  Jeff makes his fifth appearance as an interviewee. Jeff discussed leadership and whether leadership is more or less important in the Agile, dynamic world we find ourselves inhabiting.   Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword, a Process Innovation firm, and Chief Evangelist at AgileCxO.org, an Agile Leadership Research and Development center that develops models for high-performing agile teams.  Jeff is the principal author of “A Guide to Scrum and CMMI,” published by the CMMI Institute, and is a SCAMPI Lead Appraiser and Certified Agile Leadership Consultant that specializes in software product development, self-organizing teams, and performance modeling.   Jeff’s previous appearances on the Software Process and Measurement Cast include SPaMCAST 433 - Jeff Dalton, Holacracy is the Future SPaMCAST 366 – Jeff Dalton, 12 Attributes of Great and Agile Organizations SPaMCAST 296 – Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Agile, Resiliency SPaMCAST 176 - Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Scrum and Agile   We also have a promo for 2017 Agile Leadership Summit: Mark your calendar for an entirely new class of business conference. More "business theater" than a conference, the 2017 Agile Leadership Summit (September 22nd in Washington, DC) is sponsored by AgileCxO (agilecxo.org). It features an integrated mix of six vignettes on Agile leadership, two fantastic industry keynotes, and onstage jazz musicians who are demonstrating agility, iteration, and excellence throughout. Learn more at http://agilecxo.org.   Re-Read Saturday News This week Steven dives into Chapter 5 of Paul Gibbons’ book The Science of Successful Organizational Change.  Cognitive biases are a topic that the Software Process and Measurement Blog has explored multiple times.  Cognitive biases are important decision-making tools.  Gibbons’ words have helped to crystallize our thinking on cognitive biases and logical fallacies in this chapter.   Remember to use the link in the essay to buy a copy of the book to support the author, the podcast, and the blog!    This week and previous installments: Week 1: Game Plan Week 2: Introduction    Week 3: Failed Change Week 4:  Introduction to Part 1 and Fragility to Change-Agility Week 5: Governance and the Psychology of Risk Week 6: Decision Making in Complex and Ambiguous Environments Week 7: Chapter 5: Cognitive Bias and Failed Strategies   A Call To Action You can help bring more listeners to the Software Process and Measurement Cast!  If you even got a single new idea this week while listening to the podcast, please give the SPaMCAST a short, honest review in iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you are listening.  If you leave a review somewhere, please send a copy to spamcastinfo@gmail.com we will call you out on the show!  Reviews help guide people to the cast and blog! If you interested in promoting your conference or event on the Software Process and Measurement Cast please reach out to us at spamcastinfo@gmail.com to discuss how that can happen! Next SPaMCAST SPaMCAST 457 will feature our most recent essay on cognitive biases and their impact on decision making.  If you doubt the impact of biases on decision making, read chapter five of The Science of Successful Organizational Change then listen to next week's podcast! We will also have columns from Jon M Quigley (The Alpha and Omega of Product Development) and Kim Pries (The Software Sensei).   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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.  

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 433 features our interview with Jeff Dalton discussing holacracy.  Holocracy.org defines holacracy as, “a complete, packaged system for self-management in organizations. Holacracy replaces the traditional management hierarchy with a new peer-to-peer “operating system” that increases transparency, accountability, and organizational agility.” Jeff has implemented holacracy in his own firm and others and has a lot to share about this exciting form of management and leadership. Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword, a Process Innovation firm, and Chief Evangelist at AgileCxO.org, an Agile Leadership Research and Development center that develops models for high-performing agile teams.  Jeff is principle author of “A Guide to Scrum and CMMI,” published by the CMMI Institute, and is a SCAMPI Lead Appraiser and Certified Agile Leadership Consultant that specializes in software product development, self-organizing teams, and performance modeling.  His upcoming book, the “Agile Performance Holarchy: A New Model for Outrageously High Performance” will be released in September of 2017. Jeff’s previous appearances on the Software Process and Measurement Cast include SPaMCAST 366 – Jeff Dalton, 12 Attributes of Great and Agile Organizations SPaMCAST 296 – Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Agile, Resiliency SPaMCAST 176 - Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Scrum and Agile   Re-Read Saturday News We will pick up our re-read of Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (buy your copy and read along) next week. Every week we discuss a chapter then consider the implications of what we have “read” from the point of view of someone pursuing an organizational transformation and also how to use the material when coaching teams.   Remember to buy a copy of Carol Dweck’s Mindset and read along! Visit the Software Process and Measurement Cast blog to participate in this and previous re-reads. Next SPaMCAST In the Software Process and Measurement Cast, will feature our essay on Change Implementations - To Big Bang or Not To Big Bang? We will also have great columns from Steve Tendon and Gene Hughson. 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Kirk Botula on capability.  Kirk makes the argument that capability is crucial for organizational health and agility. Kirk Botula is the CEO of the CMMI® Institute, the home of the globally-adopted capability improvement framework that guides organizations in high-performance operations. Botula is a global growth company executive whose career has been focused on advancing the common good through the commercialization of technology. Prior to CMMI Institute, Botula served as President of Confluence, a global financial technology firm with operations in North America, EMEA and Asia. During his tenure, Confluence became the leading provider in its space achieving market share exceeding 70% in North America and 20% globally, while delivering the industry leading NPS of 40. Botula also served at BNY Mellon, Compunetix, and as a strategist to a variety of nonprofit and for-profit organizations. He has a BFA and MSIA from Carnegie Mellon University and lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and three daughters. Reach out to Kirk at info@cmmiinstitute.com   Re-Read Saturday News We continue the read/re-read of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni (published by Jossey-Bass).   As we move through the first part of the book we are being exposed to Lencioni’s model of team dysfunctions and a set of crises to illustrate the common problems that make teams into dysfunctional collections of individuals. Today we re-read the three sections titled Awareness, Ego and Goals. Visit the Software Process and Measurement Cast blog to participate in this and previous re-reads. Next SPaMCAST The Software Process and Measurement Cast 417 will feature three columns from Steve Tendon, Jeremy Berriault and of course a new essay from the Software Process and Measurement Cast. 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast features four columns.  We begin with our essay on recognizing risk and risk tolerance.  Any discussion of risk begins with acknowledging that risk exists and then recognizing specific risks.  Once we know risks exist we need to determine which risks we care about. Risk tolerance affects how everyone in an organization behaves. Kim Pries the Software Sensei discusses change models, focusing on the Kotter model of change.  Kim discusses how change models can be used for hardware, software, processes and procedures.   Gene Hughson brings his wonderful Form Follows Function Blog the podcast.  In this installment, Gene and I discuss All Aboard the Innovation Band Wagon. We talked a lot about how to define innovation AND why innovation and change is powerful. Jon M Quigley anchors the cast with the third installment in a three-part arc on requirements in his  “The Alpha-Omega of Product Development” column. This week Jon discusses managing requirements. Re-Read Saturday News We continue the read/re-read of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni (published by Jossey-Bass).  We seem to be moving from cliffhanger to cliffhanger over the past few weeks, and we shall do so again today. Lencioni uses crises to illustrate common problems that make teams into dysfunctional collections of individuals. This week we tackle the sections from Entering the Danger to Rebound. Visit the Software Process and Measurement Cast blog to participate in this and previous re-reads. Next SPaMCAST The Software Process and Measurement Cast 416 will feature our interview with Kirk Botula.  Kirk is the CEO of the CMMI Institute.  Kirk and I talked about organizational capability and why capability is crucial for organizational health and agility! 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 390 features our interview with Vinay Patankar. We discussed his start up Process Street and the path Vinay and his partner took in order to embrace agile because it delivered value, not just because it was cool. We also discussed how Agile fits or helps in a lean start-up and the lessons Vinay wants to pass on to others. Vinay’s Bio: Vinay Patankar is the co-founder and CEO of Process Street, the simplest way to manage your teams recurring processes and workflows. Easily set up new clients, onboard employees and manage content publishing with Process Street. Process Street is a venture-backed SaaS company and AngelPad alum with numerous fortune 500 clients. When not running Process Street, Vinay loves to travel and spent 4 years as a digital nomad roaming the globe running different internet businesses. He enjoys food, fitness and talking shop. Twitter: @vinayp10 Re-Read Saturday News We continue the read Commitment – Novel About Managing Project Risk by Maassen, Matts, and Geary. Buy your copy today and read along (use the link to support the podcast). This week we tackle Chapters Three which explores visualization, knowledge options and focusing on outcomes. Visit the Software Process and Measurement Blog to catch up on past installments of Re-Read Saturday. Upcoming Events I will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd. I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th. Register now! I will be speaking at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 Conference in Annapolis, Maryland, May 10th and 11th. Register Now! Next SPaMCAST The next three weeks will feature mix tapes with the “if you could fix two things” questions from the top downloads of 2007/08, 2009 and 2010. I will be doing a bit of vacationing and all the while researching, writing content and editing new interviews for the sprint to episode 400 and beyond.   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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 389 essay on different layers and anti-patterns of Agile Acceptance Testing. Many practitioners see Agile acceptance testing as focused solely on validating the business facing functionality. This is a misunderstanding; acceptance testing is more varied. We also have a column from Kim Pries, the Software Sensei.  Kim discusses the significance of soft skills. Kim starts his essay with the statement, “The terms we use to talk about soft skills may reek of subjective hand-waving, but they can often be critical to a career.” Gene Hughson anchors the cast with a discussion from his blog Form Follows Function, titled OODA vs PDCA – What’s the Difference? Gene concludes that OODA loops help address the fact that “We can’t operate with a “one and done” philosophy” when it comes to software architecture. We are also changing and curtailing some of the comments at the end of the cast based on feedback from listeners. We will begin spreading out some of the segments such as future events over the month so that if you binge listen, the last few minutes won’t be as boring and boring. Re-Read Saturday News This week we begin the read Commitment – Novel About Managing Project Risk by Maassen, Matts, and Geary.  Buy your copy today and read along (use the link to support the podcast). This week we tackle Chapters One and Two which set the context for the novel and introduces the concept of real options.   Upcoming Events I will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd.  I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th.  Register now! I will be speaking at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 Conference in Annapolis, Maryland May 10th and 11th. Register Now! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Vinay Patankar.  We discussed his start up, Process Street, and the path Vinay and his partner took in order to embrace agile because it delivered value, not just because it was cool.  We also discussed how Agile fits or helps in a lean start-up and the lessons Vinay wants to pass on to others.   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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 388 features our interview with Dr. Mark Bojeun. Dr. Bojeun returns to the podcast to discuss how a PMO can be a strategic tool for an organization. If a PMO is merely a control point or an administrative function, their value and longevity are at risk. Mark suggests that there is a better way. Mark last visited the Software Process and Measurement Cast on SPaMCAST 280.  We discussed his book, Program Management Leadership: Creating Successful Team Dynamics (Kindle version). Mark’s BioDr. Bojeun has more than 20 years of experience in providing strategic management and leadership through portfolio, project and program management. His experience includes developing and managing multi-million dollar portfolios, programs and projects, facilitating the achievement of strategic objectives, and creating best practice processes for program and project management efforts. Dr. Bojeun has designed and implemented multiple Enterprise Program Management Offices (EPMOs) for domestic and multinational firms and has extensive experience in organizational change management through transformational leadership, strategic support and staff empowerment to management professionals in the development and implementation of organizational vision, mission, objectives, and goals. Dr. Bojeun holds a Program Management Professional (PgMP), Project Management Professional (PMP) and Risk Management (PMI-RMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI), is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD), and has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, an MBA from George Mason University and a PhD in Organizational Leadership. Dr. Bojeun’s new book, Program Management Leadership: Creating Successful Team Dynamics as part of CRC Publishing’s Best Practices and Advances in Program Management Series addresses the need for effective leadership styles in managing programs and projects achieving high performing teams that consistently exceed expectations. Over the last ten years, Dr. Bojeun has provided commercial training courses in all aspects of Program and Project management and has been an Adjunct Professor for a number of universities. Dr. Bojeun is currently an Adjunct Professor at Strayer University where he actively teaches business, logistics and project management courses for both undergraduate as well as graduate students. In addition, he provides motivational presentations to leaders throughout the world. Contact Mark on LinkedIn Re-Read Saturday NewsThis week we have a few final notes on our re-read of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog.  In this week installment we summarize our major take away and identify what we can do to improve based on our new knowledge. We will read Commitment – Novel About Managing Project Risk by Olav Maassen and Chris Matts for our next Re-Read beginning next week. Buy your copy today and start reading (use the link to support the podcast). In the meantime, vote in our poll for the next, next book. As in past polls please vote twice or suggest a write-in candidate in the comments. We will run the poll for one more week. Upcoming EventsI will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd. I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th. Register now! I will be speaking at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 Conference in Annapolis, Maryland May 10th and 11th. Register Now! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our essay on different layers and anti-patterns of Agile Acceptance Testing . Many practitioners see Agile acceptance testing as focused solely on the business facing functionality. This is a misunderstanding; acceptance testing is more varied. We will also have columns from Kim Pries and Gene Hughson! 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book book here. Available in E English and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 387 includes three features.  The first is our essay on storytelling.  Storytelling is a tool that is useful in many scenarios, for presentations, to help people frame their thoughts and for gathering information. A story provides both a deeper and more nuanced connection with information than most lists of PowerPoint bullets or even structured requirements documents. The essay provides an excellent supplement to our interview with Jason Little (which you can listen to here). The second feature this week is Steve Tendon discussing Chapter 9 of Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban published J Ross. Chapter 9 is titled “Critical Roles, Leadership and More”.  We discuss why leadership roles are important to achieve hyper-productive performance. Sometimes in Agile and other approaches, it is easy to overlook the role of leaders outside of the team. Remember Steve has a great offer for SPaMCAST listeners. Check `out  https://tameflow.com/spamcast for a way to get Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach, and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban at 40% off the list price. Anchoring the cast this week is a visit to the QA Corner.  Jeremy Berriault discusses whether a career and the path your career might take in testing is an individual or a team sport.  Jeremy dispenses useful advice even if you are not involved in testing. Re-Read Saturday News This week we are back with Chapter 14 of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog.  Chapter 14 is titled A Universal Measurement Method.  In this chapter, Hubbard provides the readers with a process for applying Applied Information Economics. We will read Commitment – Novel About Managing Project Risk by Olav Maassen and Chris Matts for our next Re-Read.  Buy your copy today and start reading (use the link to support the podcast). In the meantime, vote in our poll for the next book.  As in past polls please vote twice or suggest a write-in candidate in the comments.  We will run the poll for two more weeks. Upcoming Events I will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd.  I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th.  Register now! I will be speaking at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 Conference in Annapolis, Maryland May 10th and 11th. Register Now! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our interview with Dr. Mark Bojeun.  Dr. Bojeun returns to the podcast to discuss how a PMO can be a strategic tool for an organization.  If a PMO is merely a control point or an administrative function, their value and longevity are at risk.  Mark suggests that there is a better way. 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 386 features our interview with Jason Little. Jason and I discussed his exploration of storytelling in change management.  Stories are a powerful tool to develop and hone a big picture view of organizational change. Jason began his career as a web developer when Cold Fusion roamed the earth. Over the following years, he moved into management, Agile Coaching and consulting. The bumps and bruises collected along the way brought him to the realization that helping organizations adopt Agile practices is less about the practices, and all about change. In 2008, he attended an experiential learning conference about how people experience change, and since then he’s been writing and speaking all over the world about helping organizations discover more effective practices for managing organizational change. He is the author of Lean Change Management and an international speaker who has spoken all over the world from Canada, the US, Finland, Germany, Australia, Belgium and more. Contact Data:http://www.agilecoach.ca/about/http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jasonlittle/http://www.twitter.com/jasonlittle Re-Read Saturday News This week we are back with Chapter 13 of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapter 13 we discuss New Measurement Instruments for Management.  Hubbard shifts gears in this chapter to focus the reader on the new tools that our dynamic, electronically-tethered environment has created.  Here is a summary of the chapter in a few bullet points:   Everyone creates data that is trackable and measurable. The internet is a measurement instrument. Prediction markets are a way to synthesize a wide variety of opinions.   It is time to begin the selection process for the next’ish book for the Re-Read Saturday.  We will read Commitment – Novel About Managing Project Risk by Olav Maassen and Chris Matts based on the recommendation of Steven Adams first then move to the next book.  As in past polls please vote twice or suggest a write-in candidate in the comments.  We will run the poll for three weeks. Upcoming Events I will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd.  I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th.  Register now! I will be speaking at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 Conference in Annapolis, Maryland May 10th and 11th. Register Now! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our essay on storytelling. In the Harvard Business Review article, The Irresistible Power of Storytelling as a Strategic Business Tool by Harrison Monarth (March 11, 2014), Keith Quesenberry, a researcher from Johns Hopkins, notes “People are attracted to stories because we’re social creatures and we relate to other people.” The power of storytelling is that it helps us understand each other and develop empathy. Storytelling is a tool that is useful in many scenarios; for presentations, but also to help people frame their thoughts and for gathering information. A story provides both a deeper and more nuanced connection with information than most lists of PowerPoint bullets or even structured requirements documents. The essay provides an excellent supplement to our interview with Jason Little. 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 385 features our essay on Agile portfolio metrics. Agile portfolio metrics are integral to prioritization and validating the flow of work. But, Agile portfolio metrics are only useful if they provide value. Metrics and measures add value if they reduce uncertainty so that we can make better decisions.  In the second segment, Kim Pries, the Software Sensei asks the question, “Why should we care about diversity?” No spoilers here, but the answer might have something to do with value! Anchoring the cast, Gene Hughson discusses Architecture and OODA Loops: Fast Is Not Enough from his blog Form Follows Function! For those of you that don’t remember, OODA stands for observe, orient, decide, and act. Re-Read Saturday NewsThis week we are back with Chapter 12 of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapter 12 we discussed The Ultimate Measurement Instrument: Human Judges. Humans can be a valuable measurement tool; however, that value requires using techniques to correct for the certain errors that are common in unaided human judgment. Upcoming EventsI am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge. This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference. The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on March 15th at 1 PM EST. http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge I will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd. I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th.  Register now! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our interview with Jason Little. Jason and I discussed his exploration of the use of storytelling in change management. Stories are a powerful tool to develop and hone a big picture view of organizational change. 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 384 features our interview with Gwen Walsh. Gwen is the President of TechEdge LLC. We discuss leadership and why leadership is important. We also discuss the topic of performance appraisals and how classic methods can hurt your organization. Gwen’s advice both redefines industry standards and provides you with an idea of what is truly possible. Gwen Walsh has built a career creating and implementing business and technology solutions that redefine the industry standards for both Fortune 100 corporations and entrepreneurial organizations. With over 25 years of experience in leadership development and organizational transformation, Ms. Walsh, founder of TechEdge LLC, helps her clients stay ahead of their competition, stay in touch with their customers and stay in high demand. Ms. Walsh's client portfolio includes Kaiser Permanente, Hospital Corporation of America, Hewlett-Packard, KeyBank, Medical Mutual of Ohio, General Motors, Omaha Public Power District and Anheuser-Busch.  Contact information gwalsh@techedgellc.comhttp://techedgellc.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/techedge-llchttps://www.linkedin.com/in/gwenwalsh Re-Read Saturday NewsThis week we are back with Chapter 11 of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. Chapter 11 begins section four of the book and is titled Preferences and Attitudes: The Softer Side of Measurement. The softer side is a euphemism for attitudes and opinions.  In this chapter, we visit how to: · Measure opinions and feelings.· Design out bias in surveys and questions.· Observe opinions and feelings through trade-offs.· Use trade-offs to describe risk tolerance. Anyone living in the United States knows that every election year there are a plethora opinion polls.  One of my favorite blogs is Nate Silver’s FiveThrityEight, which shows a wealth of statistical information about sports, economics, culture, and politics (a form of sport).  Much of the data presented is a reflection of opinions and attitudes. Often they are real predictors of behavior and product success.  Upcoming EventsI am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge. This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference. The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on March 15th at 1 PM EST. http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge I will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd.  I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th.  Register now! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features our essay on portfolio metrics. Agile portfolio metrics are integral to prioritization and validating the flow of work. But, Agile portfolio metrics are only useful if they provide value. Metrics and measures add value if they reduce uncertainty so that we can make better decisions.  We will also have a new installment from the Software Sensei. Kim asks the question, “Why should we care about diversity?” Gene Hughson will anchor cast with another entry from his wonderful blog Form Follows Function! 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English h and Chinese.

Software Process and Measurement Cast 383 features our essay on peer reviews.  Peer reviews are a tool to remove defects before we need to either test them out or ask our customers to find them for us. While the data about the benefits of peer reviews is UNAMBIGUOUS, they are rarely practiced well and often turn into a blame apportionment tool.  The essay discusses how to do peer reviews, whether you are using Agile or not so that you get the benefits you expect! Our second segment is a visit to the QA Corner.  Jeremy Berriault discusses a piece of advice he got from a mentor that continues to pay dividends.  This installment of the QA Corner discusses how a QA leader can generate and leverage responsibility without formal authority.            Steve Tendon anchors this week’s SPaMCAST discussing Chapter 8 of Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban published J Ross. Chapter 8 is titled “Creating A Shared Vision At The Team Level”.  We discuss why it is important for the team to have a shared vision, the downside of not having a shared vision and most importantly, how to get a share vision.  Remember Steve has a great offer for SPaMCAST listeners. Check out https://tameflow.com/spamcast for a way to get Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach, and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban at 40% off the list price. Re-Read Saturday News This week we are back with Chapter 10 of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapter 10 we visited how to use Bayesian Statistics to account for having prior knowledge before we begin measuring.  Most common statistics assume that we don’t have prior knowledge of the potential range of what we are measuring or the shape of the distribution.  This is often a gross simplification with ramifications!   Upcoming Events I am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge. This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference.  The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on March 15th at 1 PM EST.  http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge   I will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd.  I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th.  Register now!  Upcoming Webinars Budgeting, Estimation, Planning, #NoEstimates and the Agile Planning Onion March 1, 2016, 11 AM EST There are many levels of estimation, including budgeting, high-level estimation and task planning (detailed estimation). This webinar challenges the listener to consider estimation as a form of planning. Register Here Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Gwen Walsh.  Gwen is the President of TechEdge LLC. We discussed leadership and why leadership is important.  We also discussed the topic of performance appraisals and how classic methods can hurt your organization. Gwen’s advice both redefines industry standards and provides you with an idea of what is truly possible. 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Software Process and Measurement Cast 382 features our interview with Ben Linders. Ben revisits the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss his recent series of articles on targeting, finding, and eradicating impediments. Ben discussed a platform for continuous process improvement that delivers continuously increasing value! Ben’s Bio: Ben Linders is an Independent Consultant in Agile, Lean, Quality and Continuous Improvement, based in The Netherlands. He is the author of Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives, Waardevolle Agile Retrospectives, What Drives Quality and Continuous Improvement. As an adviser, coach and trainer he helps organizations by ddeploying effective software development and management practices. He focuses on continuous improvement, collaboration and communication, and professional development, to deliver business value to customers. Ben is an active member of networks on Agile, Lean and Quality, and a frequent speaker and writer. He shares his experience in a bilingual blog (Dutch and English), as an editor for Agile at InfoQ and as an expert on TechTarget. Follow him on twitter: @BenLinders.  Ben's impedements articles http://www.benlinders.com/2015/handling-impediments-why-it-matters/   Ben's new book on continuous improvement is available on leanpub: https://leanpub.com/continuousimprovement   Re-Read Saturday News We take a break for Podcamp Toronto and to begin the process of picking the next book. What are your suggestions? In the meantime catch up on the re-read of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog.   Upcoming Events I am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge. This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference. The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on March 15th at 1PM EST. http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge   I will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd. I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th.  Register now! Upcoming Webinars IIST Webinar: Scaling Agile Testing Using the TMMi Date: February 26, 2016Time: 11:00am ESTPresenter: Tom Cagley, VP of Consulting, TMMi Accredited Assessor Agile methods, principles and techniques are core to how many IT organizations develop and maintain software. However, even though techniques like Test-Driven Development and Scrum are widely practiced, one common complaint is that it is difficult to scale these practices. The webinar will outline the TMMi and provide a process for using environmental, technical and project context to effectively integrate testing into an Agile development environment, measuring the effectiveness of the process. Budgeting, Estimation, Planning, #NoEstimates and the Agile Planning OnionMarch 1, 2016, 11 AM ESTThere are many levels of estimation, including budgeting, high-level estimation and task planning (detailed estimation). This webinar challenges the listener to consider estimation as a form of planning. Register Here Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features our essay on focus. The essay is a reaction to an earlier discussion of hyper-connectivity and the techniques to combat the downside of hyper-connectivity, which has convinced me that we are dancing around the bigger workplace issue of how can you stay focused on delivering real business value in an environment that seems to be designed to promote making incremental progress on lots of projects, rather than getting any one of them done. We will also have new entries from the Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner and a discussion with Steve Tendon on Chapter 8 of Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban. 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.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Software Process and Measurement Cast 381 features our essay on Agile adoption.  Words are important. They can rally people to your banner or create barriers. Every word communicates information and intent. There has been a significant amount of energy spent discussing whether the phrase ‘Agile transformation’ delivers the right message. There is a suggestion that ‘adoption’ is a better term. We shall see! We will also have an entry from Gene Hughson’s Form Follows Function Blog. Gene will discuss his blog entry, Seductive Myths of Greenfield Development. Gene wrote “How often do we, or those around us, long for a chance to do things “from scratch”. The idea being, without the constraints of “legacy” code, we could do things “right”. While it’s a nice idea, it has no basis in reality.” The discussion built from there! And a visit from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries!  In the essay, Kim ruminates on the gender gap in computer science education leading to a gender gap in the industry. Re-Read Saturday News We continue the re-read of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapter Nine, we tackle sampling.   Upcoming Events I am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge. This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference.  The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on February 17 at 11 AM EST. http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge   I will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd.  I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th.  Register now!   Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Ben Linders.  Ben revisits the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss his recent series of articles on targeting, finding, and eradicating impediments.  Ben lays out a process that generates a platform for continuous process improvement that delivers continuously increasing value!   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 for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Software Process and Measurement Cast 380 features our interview with Kim Robertson. Kim and I talked about big picture configuration management.  Without good configuration managements work, products, and programs often go wildly astray. Kim describes the a process that is as old a dirt . . . but WORKS and delivers value. We also discussed the book Kim co-authored with Jon M Quigley (Jon was interviewed in SPaMCAST 346) Configuration Management: Theory, Practice, and Application. Kims Bio Kim Robertson is a NDIA Certified Configuration Management (CM) practitioner, consultant, and trainer with over 30 years of experience in contracts, subcontracts, finance, systems engineering and configuration management. He has an advanced degree in organizational management with a government contracts specialty and is the co-author of Configuration Management: Theory Practice and Application. He can be reached at Kim.Robertson@ValueTransform.com If you are interested in the seed questions used to frame our interview please visit the SPaMCAST Facebook page. Re-Read Saturday News We continue the re-read of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapter Eight, we begin the transition from what to measure to how to measure. Upcoming Events I am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge. This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference.  The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on February 17 at 11 AM EST. http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge I will be at the QAI Quest 2016 in Chicago beginning April 18th through April 22nd.  I will be teaching a full day class on Agile Estimation on April 18 and presenting Budgeting, Estimating, Planning and #NoEstimates: They ALL Make Sense for Agile Testing! on Wednesday, April 20th.  Register now!  Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features our essay on Agile adoption.  Words are important. They can rally people to your banner or create barriers. Every word communicates information and intent. There has been a significant amount of energy spent discussing whether the phrase ‘Agile transformation’ delivers the right message. There is a suggestion that ‘adoption’ is a better term. We shall see! We will also have an entry from Gene Hughson’s Form Follows Function Blog. Gene will discuss his blog entry, Seductive Myths of Greenfield Development. And a visit from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries!  Kim’s essay is on women in the tech field. 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,  for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Software Process and Measurement Cast 379 features our short essay on the relationship between done and value. The essay is in response to a question from Anteneh Berhane.  Anteneh called me to ask one of the hardest questions I had ever been asked: Why doesn’t the definition of done include value? We will also have an entry of Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner.  Jeremy and I discussed test data, and why having a suite of test data that many projects can use is important for efficiency.  One question is who should bite the bullet and build the first iteration of any test data library? Steve Tendon completes this cast with a discussion of the next chapter in his book, Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban.  Chapter 7 is titled “Budgeting is Harmful.”  Steve hits classic budgeting head on, and provides options that improve flexibility and innovation. Remember to help grow the podcast by reviewing the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player. Then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News We continue the re-read of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapter Seven, we discuss the concept of the economic value of information. Upcoming Events I am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge. This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference.  The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on February 17 at 11 AM EST. http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Kim Robertson.  Kim and I talked about the big picture configuration management.  Kim suggests that the basic need and process for configuration management has not changed since ancient China.  Complexity and speed of change, however, has forced changes to the tools and who needs to be involved in the big picture of configuration management. 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.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

We begin year 10 of the Software Process and Measurement Cast with our Interview with Evan Leybourn. Evan returns to the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss the "end to IT projects." We discussed the idea of #NoProject and continuous delivery, and whether this is just an “IT” thing or something that can encompass the entire business.  Evan’s views are informative and bit provocative.  I have not stopped thinking about the concepts we discussed since originally taping the interview. Evan last appeared on SPaMCAST 284 – Evan Leybourn, Directing The Agile Organization to discuss his book Directing the Agile Organization. Evan’s BioEvan pioneered the field of Agile Business Management; applying the successful concepts and practices from the Lean and Agile movements to corporate management. He keeps busy as a business leader, consultant, non-executive director, conference speaker, internationally published author and father. Evan has a passion for building effective and productive organizations, filled with actively engaged and committed people. Only through this, can organizations flourish. His experience while holding senior leadership and board positions in both private industry and the government has driven his work in business agility and he regularly speaks on these topics at local and international industry conferences. As well as writing "Directing the Agile Organization.", Evan currently works for IBM in Singapore to help them become a leading agile organization. As always, all thoughts, ideas, and comments are his own and do not represent his clients or employer. All of Evan’s contact information and blog can be accessed on his website. Remember to help grow the podcast by reviewing the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News We continue the re-read of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapter Six, we discussed using risk in quantitative analysis and the Monte Carlo analysis.   Upcoming Events I am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge. This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference.  The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on February 17 at 11 AM EST. http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge   Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our essay on the relationship between done and value. The essay is in response to a question from Anteneh Berhane.  Anteneh called me to ask one of the hardest questions I had ever been asked: why doesn’t the definition of done include value? We will also have columns from Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner and Steve Tendon discussing the next chapter in the book  Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban. 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

In this week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature three columns.  our essay on empathy. Coaching is a key tool to help individuals and teams reach peak performance. One of the key attributes of a good coach is empathy. Critical to the understanding the role that empathy plays in coaching is understanding the definition of empathy. As a coach, if you can’t connect with those you are coaching you will not succeed. Let’s learn how to become more empathic.  Our second column features the return of the Software Sensei, Kim Pries.  Kim looks at how we might apply David Allen’s concepts for Getting Things Done (after the book of the same name). Please note the comments reflect the Software Sensei’s interpretation of how Allen’s work might be applied to software development. Anchoring the cast this week is Gene Hughson bringing an entry from the Form Follows Function Blog.  Today Gene discussed his essay, Changing Organizations Without Changing People.  Gene proclaims, “Changing culture is impossible if you claim to value one thing but your actions demonstrate that you really don’t.” Remember to help grow the podcast by reviewing the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News We continue the re-read of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapter five, we discussed estimation, calibration and what we know now! Upcoming Events I am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge.  This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference.  The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on February 17 at 11 AM EST.  http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge In other events, I will give a webinar, titled: Discover The Quality of Your Testing Process on January 19, 2016, at  11:00 am ESTOrganizations that seek to understand and improve their current testing capabilities can use the Test Maturity Model integration (TMMi) as a guide for best practices. The TMMi is the industry standard model of testing capabilities. Comparing your testing organization's performance to the model provides a gap analysis and outlines a path towards greater capabilities and efficiency. This webinar will walk attendees through a testing assessment that delivers a baseline of performance and a set of prioritized process improvements. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our Interview with Evan Leybourn. Evan returns to the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss the "end to IT projects." We discussed the idea of #NoProject and continuous delivery and whether this is just an “IT” thing or something that can encompass the entire business.   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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

This week we are doing something special. Right after the New Year holiday, all of the regulars from the Software Process and Measurement Cast gathered virtually to discuss the topics we felt would be important in 2016.  The panel for the discussion was comprised of Jeremy Berriault (The QA Corner), Steve Tendon (The TameFlow Approach), Kim Pries (The Software Sensei), Gene Hughson (Form Follows Function) and myself. We had a lively discussion that included the topics of women in tech, microservices, capabilities, business/IT integration and a lot more.  Help grow the podcast by reviewing the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News We continue the re-read of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapter Four, we focused on two questions. The first is getting the reader to answer what is the decision that measurement is supposed to support. The second is, what is the definition of the thing being measured in terms of observable consequences? Upcoming Events I am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge.  This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference.  The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on January 12 at 1 PM EST.  http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge The Challenge will continue on February 17th at 11 AM. In other events, I will give a webinar, titled: Discover The Quality of Your Testing Process on January 19, 2016, at  11:00 am EST Organizations that seek to understand and improve their current testing capabilities can use the Test Maturity Model integration (TMMi) as a guide for best practices. The TMMi is the industry standard model of testing capabilities. Comparing your testing organization's performance to the model provides a gap analysis and outlines a path towards greater capabilities and efficiency. This webinar will walk attendees through a testing assessment that delivers a baseline of performance and a set of prioritized process improvements. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our essay on empathy. Coaching is a key tool to help individuals and teams reach peak performance. One of the key attributes of a good coach is empathy. Critical to the understanding the role that empathy plays in coaching is understanding the definition of empathy. As a coach, if you can’t connect with those you are coaching you will not succeed. We will also have new columns from Kim Pries, The Software Sensei,  and Gene Hughson Form Follows Function. 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, for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast features my interview with Jeff Dalton.  Jeff returns to the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss the 12 attributes of successful Agile organizations. Jeff talks about the relatively small set of attributes that successful Agile organizations possess and exhibit. These attributes don’t occur by accident, but rather are a reflection of hard work and consistency of purpose.  We can all reflect and adopt these attributes in our pursuit of success. Jeff shows us how! Jeff’s Bio: Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword, a Certified Lead Appraiser, CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster and author of “agileCMMI,” Broadsword’s leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement, as well as many published articles and ebooks on performance innovation. Jeff has been selected Keynote Speaker at numerous conferences including the International Conference on CMMI in Lima, Peru, the PMI Great Lakes 2013 Symposium, the 2014 QUEST Conference and Expo, the CMMI SEPG Conference 2014, the CMMI Global Congress 2015, the PM Symposium Indianapolis 2015 and the PM Symposium Chicago 2015.  He has appeared multiple times at Agile Development West, Better Software, Agile Processes and Tools, AgileDC, and at Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) and Agile Leadership Network (ALN) meetups throughout North America. Jeff served as the Chairman of the Partner Advisory Board at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and CMMI Institute from 2011-2014 during their transition period.  He has been president of Great Lakes Software Process Improvement Network, and is a recipient of the prestigious Software Engineering Institute’s SEI Member Award for Outstanding Representative for his work uniting the Agile and CMMI communities through his popular blog “Ask the CMMI Appraiser.” He holds degrees in Music and Computer Science and builds experimental airplanes in his spare time.  Jeff can be reached at appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com. Contact Data: Email: appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com. Twitter: @CMMIAppraiser Blog: http://askthecmmiappraiser.blogspot.com/ Web: http://www.broadswordsolutions.com/ also see: www.cmmi-tv.com Previous Appearances on the podcast: SPaMCAST 296 – Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Agile, Resiliency SPaMCAST 176 - Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Scrum and Agile Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month returns this week when we tackle the essay titled “The Other Face” Check out the new installment at Software Process and Measurement Blog.   Upcoming Events Agile Development Conference East November 8-13, 2015 Orlando, Florida http://adceast.techwell.com/ I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast returns to the topic of Agile Project Charters, tackling the concepts needed to scale a charter to an Agile project or program. When Agile projects scale up to handle larger efforts additional steps are often required. Additional steps can lead to bloat if you do not take care. We will also have a new installment of Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner! We discussed the definition of test cases and why they are so important to delivering quality code! 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 for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.  

SPaMCAST 296 features our interview with Jeff Dalton we talked about Agile and resiliency. If Agile is resilient it will be able to spring back into shape after being bent or compressed by the pressures of development and support.  In the conversation, Jeff and I discussed whether Agile was resilient and how frameworks like the CMMI can be used to make Agile more resilient. Jeff is Broadsword’s President, Certified Lead Appraiser, CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster and author of “agileCMMI,” Broadsword’s leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement.  He is Chairman of the CMMI Institute’s Partner Advisory Board and former President of the Great Lakes Software Process Improvement Network (GL-SPIN).  He is a recipient of the Software Engineering Institute’s SEI Member Award for Outstanding Representative for his work uniting the Agile and CMMI communities together through his popular blog “Ask the CMMI Appraiser.”  He holds degrees in Music and Computer Science and builds experimental airplanes in his spare time.  You can reach Jeff at appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com. Contact Data: Email:  appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com. Twitter:  @CMMIAppraiser Blog: http://askthecmmiappraiser.blogspot.com/ Web:  http://www.broadswordsolutions.com/ also see:  www.cmmi-tv.com Next week we will feature our essay on IFPUG Function Points.  IFPUG function points are an ISO Standard means to size projects and applications. IFPUG function points are used across a wide range of project types, industries and countries. Upcoming Events Upcoming DCG Webinars: July 24 11:30 EDT – The Impact of Cognitive Bias On Teams Check these out at www.davidconsultinggroup.com I will be attending Agile 2014 in Orlando, July 28 through August 1, 2014.  It would be great to get together with SPaMCAST listeners, let me know if you are attending. I will be presenting at the International Conference on Software Quality and Test Management in San Diego, CA on October 1 I will be presenting at the North East Quality Council 60th Conference on October 21st and 22nd in Springfield, MA. More on all of these great events in the near future! I look forward to seeing all SPaMCAST readers and listeners that attend these great events! The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute(ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI’s mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world’s leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. 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.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.