Retro Time // A Software Podcast

Latest Episodes:

73. Who Do Software Teams Serve? Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

Who the software teams serve is a great question and often gets conflicting answers, depending on who you ask.

This week, Derek and Jeremy discuss this question and dive into some deeper questions about why the software team exists in the first place. What is the point of “the product”? Why do we even have a job in the first place?

Check out this week’s episode for some deep conversation about these topics and find out if Jeremy finishes all of his king cake.

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72. When Important Decisions Become Ancient History Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

Making decisions is hard.

What’s harder is documenting those decisions.

What’s often impossible is trying to figure out why a decision was made years before you joined the team.

And all too often that decision lingers for a very, very, very long time.

This week Derek and Jeremy discuss decisions, their long-term impact, and what happens when those decisions turn into ancient history that predates your modern era.

Topics:
• 10:25 – The Great Stink
• 12:59 – Let the PSR commence
• 14:06 – Teams often value speed over quality
• 20:30 – Create a stakeholder map
• 24:29 – Teams often have problems with decision making
• 24:52 – Org charts don’t always tell the whole story
• 28:13 – Visions can be great, but there’s a catch
• 33:17 – You don’t have to be that wrong to still be wrong

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71. A Couple of Miracle Workers Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

When things go wrong at work, there’s usually someone to swoop in and save the day.

But what about the folks who work hard to ensure nothing ever goes wrong? Sometimes they may get some recognition eventually, but usually, these are the ones who fly under the radar.

We usually don’t know their names or their deeds. Because they fade into the background.

What’s interesting is many organizations incentivize the hero mindset over incentivizing these nameless heroes who fly under the radar.

Buckle up for the deepest, most philosophical software podcast episode you may ever listen to.

Topics:
• 00:36 – It’s Carnival Time!
• 04:37 – A Star Trek Allegory
• 09:50 – We often celebrate people who come to the rescue
• 11:13 – Normal things shouldn’t be seen as exceptional
• 14:41 – There is a social incentive to let things go nuts, so we can be seen fixing it
• 18:58 – The less attention something receives the better it is managed
• 21:43 – Boring usually means something works. But we celebrate the opposite
• 23:47 – What’s the moral of the story?
• 24:25 – What are our incentives?
• 32:31 – Most people are terrible at estimating
• 36:38 – Don’t focus on estimates. Focus on quality.

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70. The Endless Drive for the Perfect Program Jan 13, 2023

Show notes

What does it mean to build perfect software?

Is perfect software, or perfect anything for that matter, even attainable? Or is it a utopian dream?

If perfection is nearly impossible, what options do we have?

You’ve probably heard the old adage “Don’t let perfect get in the way of the good enough,” or something similar.

But what does it mean to be good enough? Well, it’s likely hard to understand what any of this looks like without constant communication with your entire team.

Topics:
• 01:08 – The allegory of the “smart” dishwasher
• 07:39 – We often start building before we know what to do
• 08:32 – Think about the problem in simplest form
• 08:44 – The UX team can help
• 13:06 – “Good enough” is a conversation
• 13:36 – Perfect looks different from Engineers and Designers
• 17:05 – Communication is critical to know what “good enough” is
• 19:52 – Reaching for perfection, within the context, is part of being successful
• 20:59 – How much risk do you want to assume?
• 21:39 – Look down the line for potential risks to “good enough”
• 25:23 – It’s often about intuition and knowing what works
• 33:16 – Perfection can be about anything
• 33:46 – It’s not about being perfect its about finding the perfect balance

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Seasons Greetings: The Story of Barry Christmas Dec 15, 2022

Show notes

Join Barry on the holiday adventure of a lifetime, a journey through space, time, and a kooky winter wonderland. Your hearts will be warmed by the colorful characters Morty the Head Elf, Emma and Mr. Weatherspoon (those goofs will laugh at anything), and most of all Barry, a man who learns all about the spirit of giving …

Just in the nick of time.

Coming this holiday season to home video!

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Episode thumbnail by Isaac Martin on Unsplash

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69. Don’t Stop Networking After You Land the Job Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

I know a lot of people dread networking. The idea of going to some silly event after work is the last thing they want to do.

But networking is more than just showing up to a bar, slapping on a nametag, and shuffling around for 45 minutes before you go home.

Lots of people look at networking as a necessary evil. Something they dread doing. Something they think only kiss-asses and brown-nosers do.

Some people think networking seems forced or fake. Some people feel like they’re just bugging people or bothering them.

There are several really good reasons to continue networking internally after you land your next gig. Some of them may seem somewhat selfish at first, or like you’re playing into the politics game, but I would encourage you to think about the benefits to the entire organization, your team, and your career.

So check out this week’s episode where we’ll dive into some benefits of networking long after you get that job offer.

Topics:
• 01:23 – Why is networking so important?
• 03:18 – Build your social capital
• 04:57 – Insights into other teams adds clarity
• 06:40 – Cross-functional collaboration becomes easier
• 09:37 – It makes your job easier overall
• 10:28 – It will help find a mentor
• 11:27 – It will help with career growth
• 12:37 – It can lead to internal opportunities
• 14:23 – Some handy networking tips
• 21:32 – Networking tips for introverts

Helpful Links:
• How Leaders Create and Use Networks
• Internal Networking: Why It’s Important And How To Do It Well
• How Internal Networking Helps Employees and Organizations | Randstad Risesmart
• Network effects: How to rebuild social capital and improve corporate performance
• High-performing teams: A timeless leadership topic | McKinsey
• 5 Things High-Performing Teams Do Differently
• 8 Reasons Building “Internal Network” Is Good for Your Career | BioSpace
• Networking for Introverts: The Ultimate Guide | TopResume
• The Surprising Benefits of Being an Introvert | Time

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From the Archive: A Brief History of the Agile Manifesto with Uncle Bob Martin Nov 23, 2022

Show notes

In early 2001, seventeen software consultants got together to discuss a different way to build software. At the end of the meeting, what emerged was “The Agile Manifesto”: A short, simple statement that highlights the value of people and flexibility over processes and planning.

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
• Working software over comprehensive documentation.
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
• Responding to change over following a plan.

What about these four simple lines was so appealing that made it the gold standard of building software that it is today?

In this episode, Derek and Jeremy talk with the legendary Robert C. Martin, author, software engineer, and one of the seventeen original authors of the manifesto, about the origins of the idea and how it evolved into a software development standard practice.

Topics:
• 03: 57 – Scientific Management vs Tinkering method
• 04:34 – The emergence of the waterfall method
• 05:06 – Tinkering starts to become more popular
• 07:28 – Extreme Programming
• 09:32 – Bob’s mind is blown!
• 12:28 – Martin Fowler and Bob team up
• 13:09 – Alistair Cockburn joins forces
• 13:53 – 17 consultants make history
• 15:05 – The “magical” moment
• 17:43 – “Agile” wins the day
• 18:44 – Was it dumb luck?
• 19:42 – There was no hot tub time ?
• 21:19 – Agile enters industry
• 24:07 – Scrum becomes synonymous with Agile
• 25:57 – Agile morphs into a project management philosophy
• 28:32 – Bob’s thoughts on UX design
• 30:53 – Are the agile ideas core concepts? Or do we need to iterate on them further?
• 32:10 – Moore’s Law is to blame for expecting everything to constantly change
• 36:17 – Jeremy comes around to Agile
• 46:03 – Leaders change and so will the thing you’re building

Helpful Links:
• C2.com
• The History of The Agile Manifesto
• agilealliance.org
• cleancoders.com
• The Orville

For more insights from Uncle Bob, sign up for his upcoming Wednesday Webinars at TheCleanCoder.eventbrite.com, and don’t forget to check out his awesome videos at cleancoders.com.

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68. Agile Bull$#!% With Jesper Boeg Nov 10, 2022

Show notes

The odds are pretty good, that at some point, probably recently, you’ve thought to yourself “why is my organization so full of bullshit?”

You have probably run into a few of the items that Jesper Boeg has recently been talking about on LinkedIn. Things like every team should standardize, or you’ve seen issues with the way your team is tracked, or everyone is so focused on processes over the people on the teams.

This week, Jesper Boeg joins the show and dives into his recent series on LinkedIn about all the Agile Bullshit he’s seen over the years and what your team can do about it if you keep stepping in it.

Topics:
• 03:09 – The Origins of Agile Bullshit
• 04:19 – Standardized Agile team mechanics are critical for organizational success
• 10:47 – Managers should be trained to stay away and trust teams
• 18:39 – Agile scaling frameworks are a good idea
• 21:50 – Achieving sprint goals is a good indicator of an effective team
• 33:17 – Once on the Agile track, teams will keep improving
• 41:57 – The entire organization should be Agile
• 49:37 – A fixed cadence of retrospectives is the best way for teams and organizations to improve

Helpful Links:
• Find Jesper on LinkedIn
• agileupgrade.com

About Jesper:
Jesper is the author of three books, “Real Life Agile,” “Priming Kanban”, and “Level Up Agile With Toyota Kata“ as well as a well-known speaker at numerous national and international conferences. Jesper has helped more than 250 teams, across 50+ organizations and trained more than 3000 people in Agile, Kanban, Scrum, Toyota Kata, and Lean Product Development, since 2006. He is now the principal consultant at Agile Upgrade who provides training, consulting, mentoring, and coaching – helping organizations in their Lean/Agile transition.

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Photo by Alberto Rodríguez Santana on Unsplash

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67. Teach the Geek To Speak With Neil Thompson Oct 27, 2022

Show notes

Being good at your craft doesn’t mean you’ll be good at other things. Just because you’re a great developer, designer, or product manager doesn’t mean you’ll be good at presenting complex and technical ideas to an audience.

The fact is, public speaking is a skill just like any other. You only get better by doing it.

This week, Neil Thompson, author, and host of Teach the Geek joins the show to offer some insights into how to be a better speaker. He also discusses some things to avoid so that you don’t end up a sweaty mess on stage.

Neil also answers the age-old question: Does picturing the audience in their underwear really work?

Topics:
• 02:06 – About Neil
• 05:24 – Being good at a technical skill doesn’t make you good at other things
• 05:52 – What are the benefits of being a good public speaker?
• 11:18 – How do we know if we’re bad speakers?
• 12:43 – Talk to the executive’s assistant to know what their priority is
• 14:33 – Get your audience comfortable
• 15:49 – How do we create a psychologically safe environment when presenting?
• 19:14 – Use stories and analogies to frame context
• 20:56 – Advice for becoming a better speaker
• 22:14 – Does visualizing the audience in their underwear actually work?
• 22:51 – How do we practice speaking?
• 25:44 – How do we stop using filler words?
• 27:34 – Record yourself to practice
• 36:54 – Stop doing these things when presenting

Helpful Links:
• Find Neil on LinkedIn
• teachthegeek.com
• Teach the Geek Podcast
• Buy the Teach the Geek Book

About Neil
After one too many failed presentations, Neil Thompson, an engineer, knew he had to improve. He did so, and now he works with technical professionals like himself to improve their communication skills.
He hosts a podcast, the Teach the Geek podcast, interviewing technical professionals about their public speaking journeys. He is also the author of the book, Teach the Geek to Speak: a No-fluff Public Speaking Guide for STEM Professionals

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From the Archives: Tom Greever, Author of Articulating Design Decisions Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

Many times, the hardest part of our jobs is not finding the right solution. Too often, the hardest part of our job is selling the right solution to our stakeholders. In Tom Greever’s book, Articulating Design Decisions, he discusses how to do just that and provides some solid tactics on how to get stakeholders on board with your complex, technical decisions.

This week, Derek and Jeremy talk with Tom and explore how these techniques can be used not only by designers but by people in other types of technical roles as well. Whether you’re an architect discussing the benefits of one vendor’s offering over another, a software engineer interested in changing front-end frameworks, or a product manager hoping to change the ingrained processes of a mature team, the tactics laid out in Articulating Design Decisions can be used to help you convince stakeholders to hop on board your gravy train to delivering great software.

Listen through to the end to find out some top-secret details on how O’Reilly chooses their cover animals, whether or not being good at articulating decisions makes you a better lover, and if Tom prefers Star Trek over Star Wars.

Topics:
• 07:50 – Your ability to articulate your solutions might be more important than your ability to design a solution.
• 10:20 – Other technical roles can use the same tactics laid out for designers.
• 12:00 – The way we relate to people on our teams has a direct influence on how they react to our work.
• 12:22 – We need to have empathy for our stakeholders.
• 14:40 – Write user stories for stakeholders.
• 16:45 – Don’t worry about consensus. Get support to move forward.
• 18:30 – Have a clear understanding of who makes decisions on various parts of our work.
• 19:18 – Look for a path to move forward.
• 20:23 – Highlight the risks or consequences of doing something we don’t recommend.
• 22:22 – Have some sort of goal and a way to measure it.
• 25:01 – Have more shared experiences with stakeholders to build relationships.
• 26:55 – The Office can teach us about building relationships.
• 28:38 – Breaking the ice can break the tension.
• 30:02 – TOP SECRET: How O’Reilly chooses animals for their books.
• 32:01 – The meaning of the rose-ringed parakeet: Tom’s Version
• 36:20 – Does being a better articulator of design decisions make you a better lover?
• 37:10 – This or That with Tom
• 42:10 – Where to buy the book