Future State Now: A Business Technology Podcast

LeadingAgile' Tim Wise spent some time talking with Dave Prior about how important stable teams are to making Agile work. Tim and Dave also discuss the impact of not having them and what you can do about it. Show Notes 00:08 Interview Start and Tim introduction 00:53 - Topic Introduction - Why you need stable teams to make Agile work 02:03 - Tim explains what stable teams are and why they are important 04:51 - Dave presents a common argument against stable teams 05:30 - An example of an organization being successful without stable teams 07:12 - How Digital Agencies struggle with Agile due to a lack of stable teams 07:35 - Why are we advocating for stable teams? What’s the reason behind it? 08:08 - Why you need stable teams to be predictable 08:30 - Research about teams and making them work 10:08 - Shouldn’t really skilled professionals just be able to work together? ( Studio Musicians vs. Professional Athletes) 12:33 - Packing your team with all “A” players does not make a great team 13:18 - Google’s Search for Perfect Teams 14:00 - Establishing Team Norms and a Shared Purpose 15:01 - Why great teams are able to be flexible and cope with change 15:28 - Trusting the skills and abilities of your fellow team members 15:52 - How trust enables greater focus 16:48 - Diverse Collective Intelligence and Self Organization 18:09 - How a team exploits their own conditions and uses their own capabilities to get the most out of each other. 19:49 - Teams spread across multiple projects have lower throughput that teams working with a single focus 21:29 - Team stability metrics and collecting data on team performance that can be used to identify hot spots in the organization that can be addressed 23:05 - What if you don’t/can’t have stable teams? What should you do in order to still get value out of Agile 23:47 - Advice for Digital Agencies that lack stable teams 25:53 - Understanding the cost of making the choice to not have stable teams 27:08 - Making the choice for stable teams and one backlog (regardless of the number of projects) 29:44 - Running a test to prove stable teams work 30:28 - How to reach Tim for more information What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html The Atlanta Scrum User Group https://www.meetup.com/agile-38/ Here is where you can reach Tim: LeadingAgile http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/tim-wise/ WiseAgile http://www.wiseagile.com Tim on Twitter https://twitter.com/timswise Tim on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwise

Ric Merrifield has spend the last 25 years helping organizations develop products that enhance their relationship with the customer. In this podcast Ric shares his approach to Capability Mapping, what makes it different from process mapping, how it can help an organization serve their customer better and why it is so important to Agile Transformation. Show Notes 00:09 Interview start 00:30 Ric’s background 03:19 Capability Mapping vs. Capacity Modeling 03:42 Dave fails at mansplaining Capability Mapping 03:58 Ric sets him straight on what it is and how it works 06:47 Walking through an example - Capability Mapping for an airline 10:15 Using the same scenario to understand the difference between Capability Mapping and Process Mapping 11:33 Helping to remove the blinders… or crack their heads open and the getting a more durable lens 13:45 How Capability Mapping will help you find the gaps in the organization, but process mapping will help you see the gaps in the workflow 15:00 How often should we revisit the capability maps? Durable does not mean “not changing” 18:11 Different customers want different things. How do you decide which customer to serve? 20:15 Dave is more high maintenance than Ric 21:17 Do we track enough information about our customers to know how much they cost the company to retain? Is it okay to use this information to “serve” the customer 23:09 How much personalization and customization is too much? 25:51 How to get your organization started with Capability Mapping 27:31 How does Capability Mapping fit with Agile? 29:29 How much do organizations struggle with this level of transparency 3-:48 Getting in touch with Ric If you’d like to reach Ric, you can find him on the LeadingAgile site here: http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/ric-merrifield/ Or via LinkedIn here https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricmerrifield You can find Ric’s books here: http://amzn.to/2eBHgTP We’ll post the link to his TEDx talk as soon as it is live

In this podcast Dave Prior explains how to use the Personal Agility Canvas to identify strengths and areas for improvements in your approach to Agile. Dave takes you step by step thru the tool so that you can use it to set goals and amplify your personal approach to working with Agile. You can download a PDF of the Personal Agility Canvas here: http://bit.ly/2elPaAF

Since entering the workforce, Millennials have gotten a bad rap. There is a long list of complaints levied against them… mostly by the crowd that falls into GenX and older. In this interview, Dave Prior and John Tanner from LeadingAgile are joined by Jenny Madorsky, a Millennial who is a Project Manager at Huge. Dave is GenX and harbors a secret fear the internet will break and go away forever. John is in between the two (and would like you to get off his lawn) but self-identifies as being more on the Millennial side. During this podcast they explore the way Millennials approach working and collaboration. They dig into some of the stereotypes that crop up when people complain about Millennials and GenX, as well as how a Millennial’s view differs from the older crowd’s. In the final portion of the interview, the discussion turns towards what GenXers can do to be better prepared for working with Millennials in order to better support them. 0:08 Interview Begins 00:42 Introductions 01:44 Jenny’s areas of focus in college are a secret weapon - Mechanical Engineering & Theater Studies 03:18 Defining what we mean by Millennial 03:36 A Millennial explains Millennials (experience over stuff) 04:50 What is challenging about working with GenX 07:40 The changing relationship between employee and company 09:33 Get Mentors! 11:54 Building lasting relationships and networks though shared work experiences 12:34 Broad knowledge vs Deep knowledge 14:25 What can employers do to make the work place more enticing to Millennials? 17:17 Consumers of employers… who offers the best experience? 19:37 Do you need different skill sets to interact with different age groups? 21:42 How can older generations be better prepared to work with Millennials? 24:05 Sometimes the gift of feedback can be a tough thing to receive 26:27 Helping the other person be open to feedback (Shout out to Sally Elatta!) 30:10 Jenny asks John and Dave for their perception of working with Millennials 31:20 Curiosity perceived as arrogance “I’m still expecting the internet to just shut off one day..” 32:29 Positive dissonance in the workspace 34:04 Knowing when to contribute and when to listen 35:27 Why Jenny chose to make the switch from Program Manager to Project Manager 37:17 Applying Agile practices in a Digital Agency 40:27 Agile for the Millennial crowd… do we need a new Manifesto? 44:02 Closing Reaching Jenny LinkedIn http://bit.ly/2dL0PeP Reaching John Twitter http://twitter.com/tannerjs LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/tannerjs LeadingAgile http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/john-tanner/ Other Links from the Podcast Huge http://www.hugeinc.com Sally Elatta http://www.linkedin.com/in/elatta Other Links from the Podcast Huge https://www.hugeinc.com Sally Elatta https://www.linkedin.com/in/elatta

One of the most important things an organization can do in order to help teams deliver working, test software is to manage organizational dependencies. In this SoundNotes interview, LeadingAgile Enterprise Transformation Consultant, Andrew Fuqua shares his thoughts on how organizations can manage and remove dependencies in order to better their teams to deliver. 00:08 Interview Starts 00:45 Some background on Andrew 01:25 How the topic of Managing Dependencies Across the Value Stream (until we can break them) came up on LeadingAgile’s internal Slack channel 03:20 The difference between breaking dependencies and managing them across the value stream 04:55 Figuring out where the dependencies exist within your organization 06:35 Dependencies and user stories vs. dependencies created by the organizational structure 08:07 How cross functional do your teams need to be before you can fully address dependencies within your organization? 09:31 Making responsible choices when it comes to setting up cross functional teams that can deliver fully tested working product 11:08 How do you help an organization figure out what is reasonable to achieve with setting up teams 11:52 Changing the organization in an iterative manner 12:32 Refactoring the organization is an ongoing effort 13:38 Stable Teams vs. a constantly changing organization 14:41 Key things you need to focus on if you want to remove dependencies within an organization 15:53 Techniques you can use to surface where the dependencies exist 16:24 Why you need multiple ways to identify the dependencies and remove them 17:05 Managing the environment you are in 18:42 Manage the heck out of the dependencies that matter, until you can break them 20:16 What’s the right way to do this? There is no best practices, just good practices given a specific context 21:07 Helping your organization learn to cope with impact of the dependencies you have in place 22:25 Are we leaning into the waterfall or just being practical by having design work a Sprint ahead? 23:02 If you feel your organization needs to have design work ahead, is that a bad thing or are there times when that is ok? 24:49 It’s ok, but it’s not ok that it’s ok… refactoring organizations in flight 25:42 Other suggestions for managing dependencies 27:05 Why would you commit to something you have no control over? 28:55 How do you deliver on the promise of the epic and know what is “good enough” to release? 31:26 Being flexible about what you have to release can help you manage dependencies as well 31:58 Steps you can take right out of the gate to help the organization cope with dependencies 34:05 Are there elements of a waterfall approach that can help if you are able to maintain an Agile mindset 35:52 PUT THE PMBOK AWAY! Just worry about the real world stuff and manage that stuff. 37:26 Andrew’s parting words of advice for managing and removing dependencies 39:17 The Lean + Agile Atlanta UnConference leanagileatlanta.co 40:30 How to reach Andrew if you want to follow up with him on this conversation Email: andrew@leadingagile.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewmfuqua Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewMFuqua LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewfuqua You may also want to check out Mike Cottmeyer’s post on Managing Dependencies here: http://www.leadingagile.com/2011/10/dependencies-break-agile/ Or his post on How to Structure Your Agile Enterprise http://www.leadingagile.com/2014/02/structure-agile-enterprise/

Whether you are separated by one floor in the same building or thousands of miles, working with distributed teams is never an easy. But for most of us, it’s the reality of how we work now. In this podcast, LeadingAgile’s Jann Thomas and Adam Asch share tips for how to get better results from your distributed teams and remote team members. 08:00 Introductions 01:21 Topic Intro 02:22 What are the common issue you see with Distributed Teams 02:37 Making people aware of your schedule the you are remote 05:51 Understanding your own best way of working and dealing with it when it is not in sync with your team 08:11 Working with people in different time zones 10:06 The time zone problem 11:14 - Sending team members to a physical location to build rapport and knowledge transfer 12:17 Helping remote team members see themselves as part of a team instead of adversaries 13:25 Cultural Training 14:05 When you’re in the same building but on different floors 15:08 Meeting up in the middle 16:22 The importance of meeting up for the Daily Standup 17:28 They’re home, but are they actually “working”? 18:20 Working for a virtual company 19:13 Making intentional choices to stay connected to your team 20:00 Suggestions for the team members who don’t want to participate 22:21 Better technology for better communication 23:22 The SM and PO working together to create a communicative, collaborative culture 25:10 Getting in touch with Jann and Adam for more tips If you’d like to reach out to Jann or Adam with follow up questions here is how to contact them: Jann Thomas Email: jann@leadingagile.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/agile_jann Adam Asch Email: adam@leadingagile.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamasch

This episode of Sound Notes is all about UX and Agile. Marcy Jacobs, Digital Service Expert for U.S. Digital Service and LeadingAgile's John Tanner join Dave Prior to explore the topic of UX and Agile. If you'd like to learn more about the specific questions address during the conversation, check out the show notes below. Show Notes John and Marcy Interview begins 00:08 Introductions to Marcy and John 00:42 The difference between UX, UI and Visual Design 02:27 An example of Visual Design, UI and UX 04:11 Focus Groups… BAD! 07:27 Where to get the info about your user/customer 08:46 What is User Centered Design 11:03 How do you help clients develop greater mindfulness about design 14:30 When the stakeholders “know” what the user needs19:25 Features and solution should be driven by understanding the problem 21:48 Changing the Portfolio Mindset 23:36 When they don’t know that they don’t understand the problem 25:40 Moving past the “just get it launched, we’ll fix it later” mindset 27:52 What do we mean by “MVP” and what do people actually need (not what do they want)? 29:43 What UX Metrics should we use to just success 31:28 Intranets… and pain 34:29 How much is good design is enough?Is there a point at which good design is not valuable? 36:44 Enticing management to support better design 38:52 If we are going to iterate, can’t just we fix the design later? 41:00 Dave’s hypothetical situation and a design-centric response 42:50 UX and Dev to working together on understanding user needs 45:59 Getting a more comprehensive view of what his happening for the user when they interact with hat you are building 48:51 What one thing do Marcy and John wish people understood about design 50:43 Getting the world to shift it’s thinking about design 51:51 Reaching Marcy and John for more information 54:27 Agile DC - Dave Nicolette Teaser 54:52 If you'd like to get in touch with Marcy Jacobs, you can find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcy-katz-jacobs-a26a5b John Tanner can be reached on the LeadingAgile site at http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/john-tanner/ or via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tannerjs If you'd like to check out Agile DC to learn more about the even John mentioned, check out their website here: http://agiledc.org

This podcast features Derek Huether and Dave Prior having a discussion around the idea of getting back to the basics of Agile, understanding why we do things, seeing the value they bring and creating safe spaces for learning while your organization is coping with the challenges of Agile Transformation. Show Notes Interview Start 00:08 Topic Introduction: Back to Basics and the importance of asking Why 00:09 An Example: Reporting and figuring out what is needed in terms of reporting 01:41 Give them the information, not the reporting they got used to under waterfall 2:45 If time is currency, how much does the Daily Standup cost? 04:08 Risk mitigation and making a time investment 05:20 When the Daily Scrum isn’t working, is it wasteful? 05:50 Figuring out why things aren’t working 07:19 It’s not what did you do yesterday, it’s what did you finish yesterday 7:55 Going through the motions until you see the impact and understand why 8:44 Taking your hands off the wheel and learning to trust the team 10:30 Learning to trust is hard 11:05 Learning to trust and letting them learn from mistakes - with safety 12:24 Is it failure or learning? 13:22 Creating a safe space for middle management 14:01 Advice for mid level managers who want to do Agile, but aren’t working in a safe space 17:58 How the Agile Manifesto was created with Generous Listening 20:50 Supporting Agile transformation and existing deadlines with supplemental teams 22:02 Showing them how to do it instead of telling them how to do it 23:40 Learning Fast, Not Failing Fast 25:48 The Not Touchy/Feely Agile Guy 26:17 It’s all about Money, Time and Coffee 26:40 Reaching Derek on every form of social media known to man 26:50 If you'd like to reach Derek you can find him on the LeadingAgile site at http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/derek-huether/ or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/derekhuether

Recently, I was contacted by a friend/former co-worker who I met when we were both starting out during the .com boom. A few months ago he brought his team to take my CSM class. After he and his team took my class they went back to their organization and began practicing Scrum. At some point shortly after that, a different section of the organization attended a CSM class taught by JJ Sutherland. What my friend reached out about was the fact that there was an area where what I taught and what JJ taught seemed to be at odds and this was causing them some extra stress in trying to get Agile to take root in the organization. The issue revolved around how much work a team should plan to do, and accomplish in a Sprint. While I had a feeling JJ and I were probably closer than not on the topic, I thought it would be a great thing to discuss/debate in a podcast. So in this episode of SoundNotes JJ and I break down the topic to see where we agree, where we don't and why. If you are not familiar with JJ Sutherland, he's the Chief Product Owner at Scrum, Inc. If his last name sounds familiar, it's because Jeff Sutherland is his Dad. But, given some of the work experiences JJ has had, that fact is far from the most interesting thing about him. During the interview we also discuss JJ's experience working for NPR in war zones, the many places he has successfully used Scrum that have nothing at all to do with IT, and the podcast he produces on video games. Show notes for this podcast can be found here: http://www.leadingagile.com/2016/08/how-much-should-…th-jj-sutherland For more on JJ's podcast "Shall We Play a Game?" You can find it on iTunes or the podcast app of your choice http://shallweshow.com You can also follow the show on Twitter at https://twitter.com/shallweshow/ or reach them via email at shallweshow@gmail.com And if you'd like to reach out to JJ directly you can do so via email at jj.sutherland@scruminc.com or Twitter at http://twitter.com/jjsutherland. The book Scrum, The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time(http://amzn.to/2bphgdG) was co-authored by JJ and Jeff Sutherland.

Agile 2016 Personal Accountability Retrospective At Agile 2016, Adam Asch, Katrina Coker, Jim Hayden, Derek Huether, and Dave Prior planned to meet for a Daily Standup each day where they would share their personal plans and goals for each day of the conference. This is something that worked very well for Derek and Dave at Agile 2015 and the hope was to continue that practice and to have the team members serve as personal accountability partners for one another during the week in Atlanta. And it worked… for a day… sorta. In this podcast they hold a 2 part retrospective reviewing their goals, how they were met (or not) and why. It’s all about outcomes… Part 1 - Dave, Derek and Jim Part 1 Intro 0:09 Dave’s failure to meet his self care goals, observations and outcomes 1:57 Derek’s Networking Goals and how he met them 4:50 Derek’s Conferencing Persona 8:18 Recharging during the conference (or not) 11:22 The importance of conference buddies 12:35 Jim’s goals for building stronger relationships with co-workers and checking ideas 13:50 It’s not just a social thing 15:20 Jim and Derek’s Thoughts on the sessions 19:27 Dave’s takeaways on emerging topics - 24:40 Predator vs. Prey 25:58 Personal safety and the code of conduct 26:11 Personal Lessons Learned from attending Agile 2016 30:15 Part 2 - Adam, Dave and Katrina Part 2 Intro 35:08 Katrina’s goals at the conference and how she met them 35:19 Adam’s goals for the conference and how he met them 39:20 Personal Lessons Learned from Agile 2016 42:42 Katrin’a thoughts on intellectual and personal safety 43:50 If you'd like to get in touch with the team you can find them all on the LeadingAgile website http://www.leadingagile.com/our-guides/ And here's how to track them down on Twitter: Adam Asch @adamasch Katrina Coker @klcoker25 Jim Hayden @jim_hayden85 Derek Huether @derekhuether Dave Prior @mrsungo