Agile Zone | Software Methodologies for Development Managers

Dave Rooney03/29/13
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0 replies

They are All Wrong

[The Test Automation expert] said that what I proposed was not a "best practice" and that everyone, the whole industry, was using the tools in the way that he described how they should be used. My response was to simply say "they are all wrong."

Anders Abel03/28/13
2095 views
0 replies

Using Kanban for Scrum Backlog Grooming

Keeping track of the backlog in a Scrum project is a challenge. It quickly grows to hundreds of items that are in various state of readiness for inclusion in a sprint. In my current project, we’ve setup a Kanban board to help managing the backlog and make our backlog grooming sessions efficient.

Jurgen Appelo03/28/13
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Networked Kanban

I love the principles behind Kanban. I really do! Despite the occasional clash with the Great Leader. But I have been unsuccessful trying to apply a Kanban board to the work I’m doing with my team members. I simply cannot seem to fit the tool to the way we do our jobs…

Michael Sahota03/28/13
1842 views
0 replies

Anatomy of Peace – A Model for Communication

Our relationships with others form the foundation of our reality. Sadly, we are habituated on twisting and distorting our “reality” of these relationships to protect our ego. The net result is that we are the authors of much of the conflict in out lives.

Tobias Mayer03/27/13
2079 views
2 replies

How to Write an Agile Job Ad

Today I came across yet another job ad for a ScrumMaster—sadly posted to an Agile online group. Here it is, in its essence. I have bolded the terms that especially jarred, but the tone of the whole thing was seriously misguided. So here is an example of how not to write an Agile job ad.

Michael Norton03/27/13
2138 views
0 replies

One on One Meetings

The following is a suggested format, not a prescription. Find what works for you. This format has worked well for me for a number of years.

Tom Howlett03/27/13
1025 views
0 replies

We Can’t Go on Living this Way

For years I’ve assumed that when Agile principles succeeded at a team level they would naturally spread to other teams in the organisation until eventually the whole organisation would embrace openness and failing fast.

Martin Hinshelwood03/26/13
3151 views
4 replies

The Insufficiency of Scrum is a Fallacy

The insufficiency of Scrum is a fallacy perpetrated by teams that don’t step up their practices in concert with their planning and don’t really want to make it work anyway. You can fail doing Kanban, XP, Merise and SSADM just as easily unless you have good engineering practices as well.

Allan Kelly03/26/13
2279 views
0 replies

Blaming the People or the System?

I am sure I am not alone in exhibiting another of Orwellian trait: Double think. For several years I have been guilty of agreeing with two contradictory points of view:

Steve Smith03/26/13
693 views
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Endless Initiative

"If we gave you carte blanche to work on anything for six months, what would you work on?" There is no right answer to that interview question, but there is a wrong answer.

Mitch Pronschinske03/26/13
33719 views
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Links You Don't Want To Miss (3/27)

News about Google's Go and Ruby. Plus, the hoops that job candidates have to jump through and Erlang the Movie II: The Sequel.

Johanna Rothman03/26/13
1562 views
1 replies

Do You Have Feature-itis?

Feature-itis. It’s an agile Product Owner game. It’s when the Product Owner says, in his or her best George Carlin voice, “Gimme Features. I don’t care about no stinkin’ framework. I don’t care about no technical debt. I don’t care that...

Steve Rogalsky03/26/13
1672 views
0 replies

Thoughts on Beyond Deadlines by Jabe Bloom

Deadlines have their roots in motivating workers who were thought to need extrinsic motivation in order to avoid slacking off. Jabe contrasts this view with Deming's view that extrinsic motivation (deadlines, fear, money, etc) can actually rob us of our intrinsic motivation.

David Shaw03/25/13
1787 views
0 replies

You Can Be Comfortable And Productive At The Same Time!

An office might not seem like an unhealthy working environment when compared to factories and car garages. Working in an office demands sitting for long periods of time working in front of a computer which means comfort and right posture is of the utmost importance.

Gil Zilberfeld03/25/13
1360 views
0 replies

The Better Side Of Anger

It was the nth time that a supplier has failed us. If we analyze it logically, there were two options: Get mad or roll with the punches. Since we’re not Vulcan, it’s not really a logical choice: what we felt is anger, defeat. Or both.