Articles

Globe Value Stream Mapping Gone Wrong

Value Stream Mapping is a powerful lean tool that is commonly used in Agile and DevOps implementations as a foundation for continuous improvement and transformation, but its application doesn’t always lead to the expected or desired result. Author Jeff Pierce's article helps you to avoid some of the most common failings companies encounter when they try to implement it.

Jeff Pierce's picture Jeff Pierce
Diagram showing how continuous engineering is part of continuous planning and delivery Focus on Agile Engineering Methods in Your Digital Transformation

Organizations undergoing a digital transformation must adopt new and meaningful ways of working. For a successful transformation, in addition to agile processes, teams must also leverage agile engineering techniques and models. Continuous focus on agile engineering principles will provide a solid ground for teams to enhance their agility and deliver better software, faster.

Uday Varma's picture Uday Varma
cross out waste Use Lean Thinking to Accelerate DevOps Performance for Agile Teams

Leaders in agile organizations should consider adding lean techniques to their DevOps practices. Lean thinking can accelerate DevOps delivery by providing a set of processes and principles to help create more beneficial products, save money, boost productivity, reduce waste, and map to value.

Gail Ferreira's picture Gail Ferreira
Rocky road My Journey to Adopting DevOps

There’s good reason DevOps is an emerging trend in the IT industry—it alleviates prevalent problems, such as operational waste, and emphasizes collaboration, communication, and visibility. Uday Kumar details how he became a believer in DevOps by recalling the rocky road he took on his way to adoption.

Uday Kumar's picture Uday Kumar

Better Software Magazine Articles

Balance and Flow Continuous Process Improvement Using Balance and Flow

Finding a balance between too much and too little process can be quite a challenge. Tom Wessel shows how to apply lean change management and kaizen principles to achieve continuous process  improvement. Also, Tom suggests the use of simple metrics to verify that improvements are actually taking place.

Thomas Wessel's picture Thomas Wessel
The Lean Test Canvas

Taking lessons from the lean business model, Matt Heusser explains how a tester can present different values and properly set expectations with the team using the lean test canvas. His approach starts with defining who  the customer is and ends with key qualitative measures that will be used to ensure success.

Matthew Heusser's picture Matthew Heusser
How Can I Develop the Ability to Collaborate?

In this installment of FAQ, SQE Trainer Bob Payne and consultant Ryan Olivett answer one of the questions students ask them most often.

Bob Payne's picture Bob Payne Ryan Olivett
Strengthen Your Discovery Muscle

An organization shouldn’t spend all its time building its delivery muscle without simultaneously building its discovery muscle. In fact, successful software teams deliver great products because they invest in discovery. Learn how to expand your innovation and strengthen your discovery muscle.

Interviews

Michael Nauman Shifting Left and Going beyond Agile: An Interview with Michael Nauman

In this interview, Michael Nauman, a testing lead for AutoCAD Web, explains how we can go beyond basic agile principles. He digs into the current state of shift-left testing, the importance of aligning your DevOps with your automation, and using agile as a starting point on your quality journey.

Josiah Renaudin's picture Josiah Renaudin
Jeff Payne The Fundamentals of Agile: An Interview with Jeff Payne
Podcast

In this interview, Coveros CEO and agile instructor Jeff Payne discusses why you should make the move to agile, its many benefits, and how to transition. He also explains his SQE Training course, Fundamentals of Agile Certification.

Josiah Renaudin's picture Josiah Renaudin
Nate Oster discusses the Kanban Racing Challenge The Kanban Racing Challenge: An Interview with Nate Oster

In this interview, Nate Oster explains the Kanban Racing Challenge, the unique benefits of kanban, the concept behind using radio-controlled cars within user-developed obstacle courses, and what he hopes his audience at Agile Development Conference East will walk away with. 

Josiah Renaudin's picture Josiah Renaudin
Software developer and tester Regg Struyk Classic Software Testing Is Broken: An Interview with Regg Struyk
Podcast

With twenty years of commercial software development and testing experience, Regg Struyk has developed for several software testing tools including test integrity, iTest, and Polarion QA. Regg is continually analyzing testing trends and their potential impact on software testing.

Cameron Philipp-Edmonds's picture Cameron Philipp-Edmonds

Conference Presentations

Agile DevOps East Pushing Pennies: Playing with the Principles of Product Development Flow
Slideshow

Lean and agile concepts can sometimes be counterintuitive, but the right game or exercise can effectively demonstrate those concepts, providing a practical basis for conversation and learning. Being able to talk beyond anecdote and theory and actually demonstrate why something works is a powerful statement. In this workshop, Bill DeVoe will execute some games you can take back to your organizations to help them understand some basic lean and agile concepts regarding optimization of flow and throughput. Through these activities, we’ll demonstrate the value of a prioritized backlog, optimized batch sizes, limiting work in progress (WIP), and more.

Bill DeVoe
Better Software West 2018, Agile Dev West 2018, DevOps West 2018 Lean-Agile Learning through Games
Slideshow

Most agile practitioners first learn agile by reading a book, attending a class, or attending local meetings. But learning lean and agile concepts works best when we're able to put some concrete examples and practice behind the concepts. By adding a set of games and exercises that teach and reinforce lean and agile concepts to our toolboxes, change agents can provide some practical basis for conversations both inside and outside their organizations. In this talk join experienced agile coach Bill DeVoe, as he shares two of his “go to” games. First, up will be The Name Game, a game that reinforces the downsides of multitasking and benefits of completing work. And second will be a modified version of the Scrum Penny Game – a multi-round exercise that demonstrates many lean-agile concepts, like flow, prioritizing value, and delivering small batch sizes over large ones.

Bill DeVoe
BSE Testing A Lean Tour of Lean Software Development
Slideshow

Lean software development has been described as “better, faster, cheaper” and focused on “eliminating waste,” but those are misnomers. Going after speed improvement and waste elimination can actually reduce the benefits you might otherwise get from lean. Ken Pugh describes what lean...

Ken Pugh
STARWEST Testing The Lean Startup Method: Its Value for Testers
Slideshow

A startup is an organization created to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Approximately 40 percent of all startups will cease operation with investors losing everything; 95 percent will fall short of their financial projections. And the number...

Lee Copeland

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