Do you document and analyse failure? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey draw inspiration from Donald Knuth's detailed study of his own software mistakes to give you the lowdown on learning from past mistakes, including meaningful postmortems and retrospectives. LINKS: - Knuth's paper: https://yurichev.com/mirrors/knuth1989.pdf - Foundation Failures: https://www.abebooks.com/Foundation-Failures-Szechy-C-Concrete-Publications/20924178050/bd -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

What do you do when you inherit a 20 year old codebase? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey look at an extreme example of legacy software and discuss why it's important to understand past contexts as well as address modern discrepancies. Links: - Brian's Archaeology Tips: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-tips-software-archeologists-brian-reich-n0ase - Ask Why, But Never Answer: https://blog.jbrains.ca/permalink/ask-why-but-never-answer - Macintosh's Backward Capacitor: https://www.downtowndougbrown.com/2024/11/the-capacitor-that-apple-soldered-incorrectly-at-the-factory/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

How do you make sure that critical information is preserved over time? Tune in to learn about “reverse smuggling,” lost TV shows, outdated video game formats, and Rob Landley's Petrochemical archaeology, in this week’s episode of Troubleshooting Agile. Links: - Petrochemical archaeology from Rob Landley: https://landley.net/history/mirror/institutional_memory.html - Dr. Who archaeology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_missing_episodes -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Can extreme constraints help you think of radically different solutions? In this week’s episode, Jeffrey and Squirrel explore what happens when you point a figurative gun at your team, inspired by Grant Slatton's provocative article 'Algorithms We Develop Software By’ Links: - Grant's article; https://grantslatton.com/software-pathfinding#algorithms-we-develop-software-by - Thinking, Fast and Slow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow - Toyota Kata: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Kata - Independence Day: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/three-incendiary-questions-douglas-squirrel-seqre/ - Feature thinning: https://agileconversations.com/blog/ford-not-ferrari-feature-thinning-and-roi/ - Oblique Strategies cards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Would you delete your unfinished work to ensure a fresh start? On this week’s episode, Jeffrey and Squirrel discuss whether using deletion as a tool can provide focus and improvement, with help from Grant Slatton's provocative article 'Algorithms We Develop Software By’ Links: - Grant's article: https://grantslatton.com/software-pathfinding#algorithms-we-develop-software-by - Code as liability: https://wiki.c2.com/?SoftwareAsLiability - Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48578933-bird-by-bird - Spike: https://agiledictionary.com/209/spike/#comment-57 - Code deletion at Apple: https://folklore.org/Negative_2000_Lines_Of_Code.html -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Do you or your team show resistance to change? There are some common ingrained habits that can affect your ability to learn. Find out how difficult conversations, pair programming, and test-driven development can help you create new habits to foster meaningful transformation, in this episode of Troubleshooting Agile. Links: - Toyota Kata: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Kata - Karate Kid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Karate_Kid - Shu Ha Ri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuhari - Wardley mapping: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardley_map -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Do you avoid making uncertain predictions in favour of task lists to ensure success? If a fear of being wrong means you can’t embrace uncertainty and learn from mistakes then you’re missing out on the natural discomfort of learning. Find out more about how to combat this in this episode of Troubleshooting Agile Links: - Toyota Kata: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Kata - Recent Kata episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/toyota-kata-a-z - Thinking, Fast and Slow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow - Kathryn Schulz on being wrong: https://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

When deception overshadows disappointment, severe ethical breaches can occur. Join your hosts, Squirrel and Jeffrey to discover how clear, honest communication can make sure you’re not dealing with the next Volkswagen emissions scandal, on this episode of Troubleshooting Agile. Links: - Goal displacement: https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191843273.001.0001/acref-9780191843273-e-122 - Passive voice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_voice - Normalisation of Deviance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalization_of_deviance - Volkswagen emissions scandal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_emissions_scandal -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Challenging the iron triangle in software development - balancing quality, time and scope. In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss Andy Giese’s recent provocative article 'How to Make Product Give a Shit About Your Architecture Proposal.’ Join us to learn how you can use ‘feature thinning’ and joint design to promote collaborative approaches in situations like this. Links: - Andy G's article: https://gieseanw.wordpress.com/2024/10/09/how-to-make-product-give-a-shit-about-your-architecture-proposal/ - Getting To Yes, on interests and positions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_to_Yes -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Boost team results by measuring carefully and using consistent methods to move toward your goal–with “scientific thinking” “the Improvement Kata” and “the Coaching Kata”. In this bumper episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss quality and delivery the Toyota Way. Links: - Toyota Kata: https://public.websites.umich.edu/~jmondisa/TK/Homepage.html - Gemba: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemba Other relevant episodes: - Episode 214 - Get Your Reps In: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/get-your-reps-in -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/

Your elaborate spreadsheet that prioritises features isn’t rigorous mathematical analysis and should be a conversation starter not a definitive guide. Find out how to avoid ‘Mathiness’ with Squirrel and Jeffrey in the latest from Troubleshooting Agile. Links: - Mathiness article: https://www.votito.com/methods/mathiness -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at [email protected] -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/