Future State Now: A Business Technology Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Live from Agile 2018 w/ Johanna Rothman and Mark Kilby Sep 04, 2018

Show notes

Mark and Johanna Co-Presented a talk at Agile 2018 entitled: You have to Say More There: Effective Communication in a Distributed Agile Team

Their book is called From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teamsit can be purchased on LeanPub

Johanna led another session at Agile 2018: Agile and Lean Roadmapping

Mark also led an additional session at Agile 2018: Agile Distributed Teams—Oxymoron or Option?

Contact Info
Johanna: jrothman.com/Twitter
Mark: markkilby.com /Twitter

How to Get the Most Out of Agile 2018 w/ Rachel Howard and Tim Zack Aug 02, 2018

Show notes

Agile 2018 is almost here! Whether you’re attending for the very first time, or you’re a seasoned veteran, getting the most out of this Agile experience…all comes down to how you show up.

In this episode of SoundNotes, Dave has recruited Rachel Howard and Tim Zack—our Chief Cultural Officer and Chief Marketing Officer, respectively. Together, these three will help you prepare for—and maximize your time in—San Diego. Whether you’re coming to find a new gig, learn new techniques you can bring back to work, or you just want to network. There are tips in this podcast that can help.

And just in case you aren't able to attend the conference, keep an eye on LeadingAgile's Facebook Pageand our YouTube feed. We'll be streaming and posting interviews with speakers and thought leaders all week long at Agile 2018.

Contacting Rachel

If you’d like to contact Rachel you can reach her at:

LeadingAgile https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/rachel-howard/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelhoward/
Twitter https://twitter.com/agilerecruiter
Email https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/tim-zack/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timzack/
Twitter https://twitter.com/timzack
Email https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Addressing Your CFO's Concerns To An Enterprise-Wide Agile Transformation w/ Paul Argiry Jul 19, 2018

Show notes

LeadingAgile's CFO, Paul Argiry, will be at Agile 2018 to lead a session on Addressing Your CFO's Concerns To An Enterprise-Wide Agile Transformation. In this episode of LeadingAgile's SoundNotes, Paul offers a preview of the session he'll be leading in San Diego.

During the interview, Paul and Dave discuss why it's so important to understand what your CFO's concerns are when it comes to making the case for—or tracking progress towards—Agile Transformation. They also touch on the level of financial literacy that we should be expecting Agile coaches to have.

Agile 2018 LeadingAgile Presentations

Mike Cottmeyer - Agile Transformation Explained- Tuesday, August 7 • 15:45 - 17:00
John Tanner - Agile Metrics - The GQM Approach- Wednesday, August 8 • 10:45 - 12:00
Paul Argiry - Addressing Your CFO's Concerns To An Enterprise-Wide Agile Transformation- Thursday, August 9 • 09:00 - 10:15

Contacting Paul

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/paul-argiry/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulargiry/
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Agile Metrics: The GQM Approach w/ John Tanner Jul 12, 2018

Show notes

John Tanner is going to be at Agile 2018 delivering his talk entitled: Agile Metrics - The GQM Approach. The session will take place on Wednesday, August 8 at 10:45 AM. If you're new to GQM, it stands for Goal - Question - Metrics—which has been John's key area of focus for quite some time. If you're working towards gaining clarity around what data to collect at the different levels of your organization—and what to do with the information those metrics provide—John's session is one you won't want to miss.

In this episode of SoundNotes, John provides a quick preview of some of the topics he'll be covering during his session in San Diego and some of the new elements he's included based on using these techniques in the field.

Agile 2018 LeadingAgile Presentations

Mike Cottmeyer - Agile Transformation Explained- Tuesday, August 7 • 15:45 - 17:00
John Tanner - Agile Metrics - The GQM Approach- Wednesday, August 8 • 10:45 - 12:00
Paul Argiry - Addressing Your CFO's Concerns To An Enterprise-Wide Agile Transformation- Thursday, August 9 • 09:00 - 10:15

Contacting John

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/john-tanner/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tannerjs/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tannerjs
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

How to Create a Definition of Ready w/ Rick Austin Jun 28, 2018

Show notes

Creating a Definition of Ready is one of the best ways to help your Team(s) make sure they're only committing to work they can actually get done. It's also one of the best ways for a Product Owner to make sure they're not going to waste valuable time in Sprint Planning by asking the Team to work on things that aren't in an actionable state.

In this episode of SoundNotes, Rick Austin and Dave Prior discuss how to go about creating a Definition of Ready and why it's so critical to your Team's ability to deliver. They also cover some examples of the types of things you might want to include in your Definition of Ready.

BACKGROUND INFO

If you'd like some background on this topic before listening, check out the following:

Why You Need A Definition of Ready w/ Dave Nicolette(podcast)
Definition of Ready- by Rick Austin (blog post)

CONTACTING RICK

If you'd like to reach out to Rick for more information, here is his contact info:

Email: https://twitter.com/rickaustin
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdaustin/

Contacting Dave

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Transforming the Transformation w/ Mike Cottmeyer Jun 21, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of SoundNotes, Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Prior discuss how organizational Transformation continues to evolve. The conversation offers a brief preview of some of the things Mike will be covering at his Agile 2018session: “Agile Transformation Explained”http://sched.co/EUF1

During the interview, Mike and Dave discuss how the skill sets needed to lead and shepherd those Transformations have grown to include much more than what we would have expected from an Agile coach several years ago. They also explore how we continue to refine our understanding of what happens during organizational Transformation and how we can better prepare our clients for the changes they will experience.

LeadingAgile at Agile 2018

Mike Cottmeyer’s session “Agile Transformation Explained”will take place on Tuesday, August 7 at 3:45 PM. You can learn more about it here: http://sched.co/EUF1

Paul Argiry’s session “Addressing Your CFO’s Concerns to an Enterprise-Wide Agile Transformation”will take place on Thursday, August 9 at 9:00 AM. You can learn more about it here: http://sched.co/EU93

John Tanner’s session “Agile Metrics - The GQM Approach”will be held on Wednesday, August 8 at 10:45 AM. You can learn more about it here: http://sched.co/EUCr

Contacting Mike

If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Why You Need a Definition of Ready w/ Dave Nicolette Jun 14, 2018

Show notes

This episode of SoundNotes focuses on Definition of Ready. A few weeks ago, Dave Nicolette created a post in Field Notes that was the result of a current debate in the Agile community about whether having a Definition of Ready helps, or harms our ability to deliver value for the customer.

The episode begins with Dave Nicolette explaining Definition of Ready within the context of the LeadingAgile model. After that, he and Dave Prior discuss/debate the the pros and cons of DoR from their respective backgrounds (Developer vs. PM).

Links From The Podcast

The LeadingAgile Compass
www.leadingagile.com/our-compass/

Dave Nicolette's Field Notes Post "Should Agile Teams Have a Definition of Ready?
www.leadingagile.com/2018/05/should…tion-of-ready/

Mike Cohn's blog post "The Dangers of a Definition of Ready
www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/the-d…n-of-ready

Jeff Sutherland's Definition of Ready post on Scrum Inc. with comments from Michael James
www.scruminc.com/definition-of-ready/

If you'd like to check out a sample Definition of Ready, here is one provided by Kenny Rubin.
www.innolution.com/blog/definition-of-ready

For more on Alexander Laufer's work on Uncertainty
www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080…67.1994.9726951

Or you can read Mike Cohn's explanation here.
www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/articles/t…ncertainty

RUN FORREST RUN!
youtu.be/x2-MCPa_3rU?t=44s

Contacting Dave Nicolette
• LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-nicolette/
• Twitter: twitter.com/davenicolette
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davenicolette/
• Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:
• LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
• Twitter: twitter.com/mrsungo
• Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at:
www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Configuring Agile Tools to Work for You w/ Jessica Wolfe Jun 07, 2018

Show notes

If you are working at an organization that is applying Agile practices across the enterprise, chances are, somewhere early on in the transformation a tool was selected to help the teams manage their work and hopefully provide management with some kind of visibility into the work being done. One of the unfortunate truths about the tools is that while they are capable of doing a lot of things, most companies do not invest the time in setting the tool up to work for them. This often leads to teams struggling with having to adjust their practices to meet the tool and management not getting the visibility it needs into how the work is going.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

The tools can add a lot of value, but you have to get them set up right for that to happen.

In this episode of SoundNotes, Jessica Wolfe shares a story about how she was able to help one organization adjust the tool to provide the business with the information the CEO needed to understand how work was progressing across the portfolio and how it was tying back to the company’s strategic objectives.

As they dig into the story, Jessica and Dave explore what kinds of information the tools are able to provide, and how that can help your organization understand what is happening at a level of detail that includes strategic value, financial metrics, risk and much more.

She also manages to completely change Dave’s long mistrust of anything other than post-its and sharpies.

Contacting Jessica

If you’d like to contact Jessica you can reach her at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/jessica-wolfe/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejessicawolfe/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thejessicawolfe
Email: jessica.wolfe@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com

Send Us Your Questions

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

Upcoming Classes

And if you are interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified Scrum Master or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Capability Mapping w/ Dean Stevens May 31, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of SoundNotes, Dean Stevens and Dave Prior dig into Capability Mapping, how it works and why it is such an important part of the transforming your organization.

Capability Mapping is a technique that can be used to quickly gain greater awareness of how an organization does what it does, what processes it uses to do what it does, and where there are opportunities to remove waste and optimize flow.

During the interview you’ll hear Dean walk through the steps of identifying the processes an organization has in place, understanding the value each process provides, and finding ways to optimize these processes for better performance. This approach will also help identify gaps your organization may need to resolve in order to achieve its’ goals.

Links from the Podcast

For some background on capability mapping, check out this Harvard Business Review Article:
https://hbr.org/2008/06/the-next-revolution-in-productivity

Contacting Dean

If you’d like to follow up with Dean directly, here is how to reach him:

Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dean-stevens/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/leanopinions
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevensdean/
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Tracking and Reporting: What Should the PMO be Measuring? w/ Derek Huether May 25, 2018

Show notes

For any organization moving to Agile, the question of how to handle tracking and reporting is going to present challenges. If you are moving from a traditional environment, there may be an expectation (dependency) on traditional forms of reporting. If you are starting out with an electronic tool, there may be a wide range of reporting options.

Just because you an create a report, does not mean you should. If your audience doesn't know how to digest the information, you may create cognitive dissonance and (cue inner Yoda voice) dissonance leads to confusion leads to fear, fear leads to "help". #thatwassarcasm

Derek Huether recently put up two blog entries that dig into come of the challenges that come with determining what to track and how to report on it. In this episode of SoundNotes, Derek and Dave pick up the conversation but come at it from a different angle. If your PMO is stuck the middle of some quasi-agile/waterfall environment and trying to figure out how to provide meaningful information to the folks upstairs, this podcast may be able to help.

Links from the Podcast

How to Define Metrics to Reach Better Business Outcomes
An Introduction to OKR: Objectives and Key Results
Contacting Derek

If you’d like to contact Derek you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/derek-huether/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekhuether/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/derekhuether
Email: derek@leadingagile.com
Contacting Dave

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

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