To try out slideshare.net, I decided to upload my presentation slides from last year’s Öresund Agile conference, a smaller conference organized by Softhouse in Malmö.
Next Scrum class: May 6-7, 2009
My next public Certified Scrum Master class is planned for May 6-7. The CSM workshops are focused on understanding why Scrum works the way it does, and to let you learn through exercises and discussions – a great source of learning indeed! If your organization wants to get the benefits of agile software development with Scrum – this is the workshop for you.
Kent Beck on Accountability and Trust
The first time I heard Kent Beck’s voice for real was in a podcast interview. I remember that he spoke with passion about concepts that were, as I listened, obviously connected with the practices of XP: trust and accountability. Still, I hadn’t made the connection that clearly up until then, so that interview stood out for me. In this video on InfoQ, Kent Beck talks more about accountability, trust, why they are so important for effectiveness – and how this relates to agile software development.
Use, Adapt, Transcend
This article by Dave West on InfoQ might be an interesting read if you’re interested in theories of software development.
“Both Lean and Agile must stop applying, in a literal and rote manner, the tools and practices. Tools and practices are nothing more than expressions of values, principles and philosophy. They are not the only possible expressions and may not even be the best expressions. Neither side will be able to realize their respective founders’ admonition to “use, adapt, and transcend” until and unless they come to understand why the practices and tools are what they are.”
Solid Motivation
Here’s a fun way to explain a few important software design concepts. I look forward to a surge of this new kind of motivational posters in team rooms everywhere …
Free Pomodoro Book!
Don’t miss Staffan Nöteberg’s fresh book on the Pomodoro Technique. Beautifully illustrated by the author himself.
Happy Birthday!
Today is the birthday of systems thinker Russell Ackoff. Happy birthday! The Ackoff Center Weblog has a picture of the official cake.
What! You say you like agile software development and still don’t know who Russell Ackoff is? Get right over to his wikipedia entry. Or listen to him – he is a great speaker.
Theory of Software Development
In today’s Computer Sweden, Ivar Jacobsson plugs his company’s latest offerings and requests a theory of software development. I haven’t tried his latest products, so I won’t comment on them. They might be great. However, one thing that puzzles me about the article is the absence of anything concerning useful theories applicable for software development.
Ivar Jacobsson rails at the prevalance of practices but, at least in this article, doesn’t even come close to touching on any relevant theories. Instead, it seems to me that he promotes even more practices. I’m sure things will clear up for me once I get my hands on his latest toolbox. Unless, of course, I have to pay a lot of cash to get it, in which case I probably won’t get my hands on it.
In that case, I might just spend my time by learning a bit more from those who seem to come closer to a set of working theories useful for understanding software development work. Like Gregory Howell and Lauri Koskela, in their provocatively titled paper “The Theory of Project Management is Obsolete”. Or like Don Reinertsen, who uses queueing theory to understand certain aspects of getting stuff out the door. Or like Mary Poppendieck, who also likes lean thinking and has made her own attempt at translating those thoughts to our world. I’m not sure these three would necessarily agree with each other if they met, but they are trying to find new ways of understanding the theoretical underpinnings of development work.
Thriving Through the Credit Crunch
Clarke Ching has written a nice little piece that’s available as an online read on Slideshare, and embedded below. It’s short and plain enough that it has the potential of becoming widely read. I’m predicting it will spread quite fast. Executive summary: releasing wanted software soon and frequently ties up capital for shorter durations, which is A Good Thing in cash-tight times.
Learn about congruence and blaming
Tomorrow is the last day of the Problem-Solving Leadership that is being held this week outside of Uppsala. Participants in the workshop will learn many things through their interactions with each other, themselves and the hosts – Jerry Weinberg, Esther Derby, and Johanna Rothman. It’s a fabulous five and a half day workshop which I myself participated in last March, in Albuquerque.
One of the key concepts in Jerry Weinberg’s teachings is that of congruence, a concept from the family therapy theories of Virigina Satir. Here is an article by Jerry and Jean McLendon on the topic of congruence and the blaming style of communication. I highly recommend it.