program selection system

Metrics can backfire. They are useful for both self assessment and retrospectives. But experience since 2002 with 80 teams at IBM has shown it’s not just a matter of finding the right metrics. It’s important to use them properly, and avoid common pitfalls, including bloated metrics, the evil scorecard, lessons forgotten, forcing process, and inconsistent sharing. Turning assessments into “un-assessments” returns power back to the team. Instead of defining more metrics, this paper tells how not to misuse them.

Testers often get left out in the cold when their development team transition to agile. We’ll look at “the wall” of challenges they face, and explore the support testers need to break through it. The goal is to get testers and QA teams get traction understanding agile development. We’ll poll participants for problems, and explore what they need to know and where to find it. Training, physical logistics, new roles as agile testers and QA managers, adapting traditional testing activities such as audit requirements are just a few of the areas we’ll touch on.

In the recording industry, producers help guide production by balancing creativity with costs, quality, and schedules. The great producers value and nurture the uniqueness of each project. The producer helps the players (and others) complete the project while providing a time and space for improvisation.

Agile coaches face similar challenges while helping communities deliver (produce) software. Sustainable agility often starts with an agile coach helping a community find its unique groove. Like the music producer, the coach needs to help the individuals as well as the community innovate and deliver.