Agile2010: From Change to Planning to just being truly Present

by | Sep 3, 2010 | Agile

Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. A couple weeks ago I went to the Agile2010 conference in Orlando, and it was a really great experience. I really enjoyed giving my talk on range estimation in Scrum, and I...

Software Estimation: Using Range Estimates in Scrum

by | Aug 10, 2010 | Agile

Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Recently I wrote a blog post on why software developers are typically so bad at estimation. I also gave a preview of the presentation that I am giving today to the...

Software Estimation: You are not as good as you think

by | Aug 4, 2010 | Agile

Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. I know it’s a bit harsh to insult you in the title of this post, but the odds are, you really stink at estimation. Even if you know you’re bad at it,...

Failing Fast and Bad Stand ups

by | Jul 28, 2010 | Agile

Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Recently I had a chance to speak about Agile with experienced IT professionals from the 2011 class of the UVa McIntire School of Commerce’s MS in Management of...

Virtualizing Development Environments

by | Jun 25, 2010 | Agile

Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Agile teams should be based on talented development staff with multi disclipinary skill sets. This allows team members to easily trade tasks and keep the iteration moving...

Avoiding heroes

by | May 25, 2010 | Agile

Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Everybody loves employees and consultants who can get stuff done. Especially if you’ve made a commitment to a client or your boss, it can be very difficult to ask for...