Software Process and Measurement Cast Thomas M. Cagley Jr

SPaMCAST 809 features our essay discussing whether accountability and responsibility are ever separated in real life. In a corporate setting, if you are interested in instigating a no-holds-barred debate bring up the topic of the relationship between accountability and responsibility. Get your popcorn ready BEFORE you start the discussion.  We will also have a visit from Jon M Quigley who brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development to the podcast. Jon and I discuss a nefarious form of micromanagement.  Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Whether you’re creating, enhancing, or maintaining software products, work intake is a challenge you deal with constantly. Doing the right work at the right time can make or break your project, and there are surprisingly few resources to show you how to manage this process effectively. You need to know what your team is executing, what work is next, and the skill sets required to do the work. Buy a copy of Mastering Work Intake: From Chaos to Predictable Delivery by Tom Cagley and Jeremy Willets A testimonial! “I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who has suffered through work intake missteps in Agile teams and wants to find a better way to deliver predictable results.” Purchase a copy of the book from: JRoss Publishing:   Amazon:     Re-read Saturday News We have just completed our re-read of  by Cal Newport. Newport concludes with a reminder that working deeply is a skill for getting important stuff done. We can learn and hone the skills needed for deep work by putting in the effort. The author suggests that deep work is not a moral or philosophical statement, I am not sure. Aristotle stated the most important virtue is wisdom. Deep work is required to develop wisdom.                                                                                                       Remember to buy a copy of and read along. Week 1: -   Week 2: -   Week 3: -   Week 4: -   Week 5: -   Week 6: -   Week 7: -   Week 8: -   Week 9: -     Next week we begin Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Buy a copy and read along - ). I have read parts of this book, not the whole therefore I am going into this read with imperfect information. My biggest worry, however, is learning to pronounce the Author’s name. I am wise enough to have already started practicing! Next SPaMCAST  SPaMCAST 810 features our interview with D.J. Eshelman, author of Just Do This. One of the topics we will discuss is how badly implemented methodologies like Agile and DevOps are causing burnout in IT Services. Fighting words?  

SPaMCAST 808 features our discussion with Steven Schkolne. We talk about design thinking and about how design thinking impacts users and user satisfaction. We answer what happens when a design thinker builds a business.  Steven Schkolne is a computer scientist, designer, and entrepreneur who’s particularly passionate about the way humans work creatively with machines. His current focus is a web project called MightyMeld, a visualization and creation platform for sophisticated React codebases. LinkiedIn:  Websites   (biz) (personal) Steven called out Dinamo, a type design agency, during the podcast.  Check them out at https://abcdinamo.com/ Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Are you ready to find the time to use design thinking? Stop letting your out-of-control backlog reduce the value your products deliver. Our next Mastering Work Intake cohort starts on 31 May through 28 June in five manageable 90-minute gatherings.    A testimonial! “[A] great memorable session and a lot of inspiration to adopt this mindset and drive this across the organization. [A] big "THANK YOU" 👏 for hosting these sessions and writing this great book on "Work Intake" ✨. You both are just AWESOME. 🔥” Soumya Sikder Enterprise Agile Coach For more details hop over to our Maven site for more information, sign up, or join the mailing list! SPaMCAST listeners get a $50 discount. Use the code, SPAM50 Re-read Saturday News Chapter 7 of by Cal Newport is titled Rule #4: Drain the Shallows. During both my reads of this chapter I have been struck by the amount of shallow work that creeps into my day even after the experiments and tweaks tried over the past several weeks. This week we focus on reducing the amount of shallow work!                                                                                                   Remember to buy a copy of and read along. Week 1:  -   Week 2: -   Week 3: -   Week 4: -   Week 5: -   Week 6: -   Week 7: -   Week 8: -     Next SPaMCAST  SPaMCAST 809 features our essay discussing whether accountability and responsibility are really ever separated in real life. Segregating the two ‘ilities might make sense for some roles but the nuances are generally far messier.  We will also have a visit from Jon M Quigley who brings his Alpha and Omega of Product Development to the podcast.

SPaMCAST 807 looks at the Nine Core Work Intake Principles from the organization’s middle.  Each layer of the organization has an approach to work intake. While the macro outcome is the same for each layer – work is accepted – each has nuances. The simple three-tier view of organization design used in Mastering Work Intake begins with an executive layer followed by middle management and is anchored by teams. We addressed a team perspective in SPaMCAST 804. Middle management is an important anchor because it makes strategic or longer-term tactical decisions compared to teams.  We also have a visit from the Evolutionary Agilist, Jeremy Berriult. Mr. Berriult discusses the need for seamless communication  Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Jeremy Willets and I have opened two cohort-based workshops to help you learn to tame the work intake beast!  The first kicks off May 3rd to May 24th and features a mixture of video and in-person gatherings. The second runs from 31 May to 28 June in five manageable 90-minute gatherings.  A testimonial! “I thoroughly enjoyed participating … I walked away with new ideas to try within my organization, new agile connections from outside my organization, and an overall better understanding of work intake's direct impact on delivering software predictably.” Cece Wolf Agile Release Manager | Agile Coach For more details hop over to our Maven site for more information, sign up, or join the mailing list! For SPaMCASTs listener we would like to offer you a $50 off discount code -    Re-read Saturday News Chapter 6 of by Cal Newport is titled Rule #3: Quit Social Media. We use a wide variety of tools in our daily lives and many of us consider social media as tools. The internet tells us that these tools make our lives better. In this Chapter, Newport asks us to consider if the value outweighs the cost.                                                                                       Remember to buy a copy of and read along. Week 1:  -   Week 2: -   Week 3: -   Week 4: -   Week 5: -   Week 6: -   Week 7: -  Next SPaMCAST  SPaMCAST 808 will feature our discussion with Steven Schkolne. We will talk about how design thinking impacts users and user satisfaction. We will also add whether AI has a role in development and design today.

Why write Mastering Work Intake? Because Jeremy Willets and decided maybe things could be different. That just chanting “stop starting and stop finishing” wasn’t enough. Our book provides the reader with ideas, principles, actionable advice, worksheets, and examples to help you tame the chaos of work entry. If you had the world enough and time maybe you could put off getting better, making better choices until tomorrow. However, things are the way they are and you can act. Buy a copy of Mastering Work Intake -   You could read the book on your own. Marcus Aurelius, Stoic Philosopher and Roman Emperor, wrote. “Mastery of reading and writing requires a master,” Jeremy and I have created two cohort-based workshops (starting soon) to help you discover the context you need to find your path to Mastering Work Intake.  Join us! The link to Maven to register and for more information:   SPaMCAST listeners, use SPAM50 at checkout to save 50 USD.  

SPaMCAST 805 features our interview with Peter Schroeder. We discuss plane crashes, fatherhood, and the journey from DJ to a technologist and then to a business person. Organizational culture is critical in all organizations, double in distributed environments. Peter discusses how he learned to craft and defend organizational culture.  Peter Schroeder is an accomplished DJ, entrepreneur, and technology pioneer. With over 20 platinum records, 40 gold records, and a triple nomination for the prestigious Danish DJ awards, Peter is one of Denmark's top DJs, entertaining audiences of up to 180,000. He was a featured radio host by the age of 12 and appeared on talk shows and TV stations across Denmark. In addition to his music career, Peter has over 20 years of experience creating cutting-edge technologies for companies such as Facebook, Samsung, and Airbnb. He's a true innovator who works closely with businesses to address mission-critical telecommunications, enabling them to quickly implement, manage, and expand for success. Peter's latest endeavor is Telzio, a pre-unicorn unified communications company he founded. With Telzio, Peter is developing game-changing technology and products  that simplify and streamline repetitive tasks. Throughout his career, Peter has survived a plane crash and the birth of twins. LinkedIn:   Website: Telzio:     Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast! Jeremy Willets and I have opened two cohort-based workshops to help you learn to tame the work intake beast!  The first kicks off May 3rd to May 24th and features a mixture of video and in-person gatherings. The second runs from 31 May to 28 June in five manageable 90-minute gatherings.  A testimonial! “This class offered an outstanding learning experience … Engaging discussions and practical exercises illuminated the material, presenting a learning approach that was unique to me, but incredibly valuable. This class enriched my understanding and refined my practical skills, making it a truly great learning experience.” Christine Green Program Manager & Advisor on Software Contracts   For more details hop over to our Maven site for more information, sign up, or join the mailing list!   Re-read Saturday News Chapter 5 of by Cal Newport is titled Rule #2: Embrace Boredom. Newport’s idea in this chapter is less to be bored than to create space where you can do deep work. The pings, dings, and kitten videos need to be pushed aside.                                              Remember to buy a copy of and read along. Week 1: -   Week 2: -   Week 3: -   Week 4: -   Week 5: -   Week 6: -   Next SPaMCAST  SPaMCAST 806 will feature the next installment of our essay on applying the Nine Core Principles of Work Intake. In this installment, we explore how the principles apply to middle management through Product Management. We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault who brings his Evolutionary Agilst™ Column to the podcast.  

The Nine Core Principles of Work Intake are a key backbone of Mastering Work Intake by Jeremy Willets and Tom Cagley. Teams and organizations need to apply these principles to avoid chaos. In the SPaMCAST 804, we illustrate the application of the Nine Core Principles based on role and organizational hierarchy beginning with the classic Scrum team roles. We also have a visit from Susan Patente, who brings her Not A Scrumdamentalist column to the podcast. This installment discusses why organizations do projects and their role in society. Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast!   Jeremy Willets and I have opened a new workshop cohort to help you learn to tame the work intake beast!  The workshop will run from 31 May to 28 June in five manageable 90-minute chunks. For more details hop over to our Maven site for more information, sign up, or join the mailing list!   Re-read Saturday News Chapter 4, Deep Work is Meaningful begins Part 2 of by Cal Newport. Part 2  contains Newport’s rules and ideas for learning to work deeply. There are several ideas that I want to highlight in this chapter.  The first is that attention and focus are finite AND consumable resources.                                                                                              Remember to buy a copy of and read along. Week 1:  -   Week 2: -   Week 3: -   Week 4: -   Week 5: -   Next SPaMCAST  SPaMCAST 805 will feature our interview with Peter Schroeder. We will discuss plane crashes, fatherhood, and the journey from a technologist to a business person. This is not a two truths and a lie exercise.