Inspect and Adapt
Construx
World-class software development requires far more than language/platform expertise and steady sprints. Join us as we describe time-tested, industry-proven software best practices at the team, organization, and leadership levels, sharing examples from recent engagements with software teams of all sizes.Construx is led by industry leader Steve McConnell, author of Code Complete and More Effective Agile. Software experts first and software trainers and consultants second, our team has seen what works and doesn’t work in hundreds of software organizations.Host Mark Griffin spent the first half of his career as an electrical engineer doing silicon hardware design and leading software automation teams. He moved into the sales side of software because he wanted to spread the value of what his company was building. It was supposed to be a one-year assignment that turned into the second half of his career. His balance of deeply technical skills and right-brain artistry also makes him a masterful home brewer!
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 6, 2024 • 56min
#45 Value Identification
What does "value" mean on your product? How do you know you are working on the most valuable thing? Construx's Earl Beede, Jenny Stuart, and Mark Griffin discuss how to clearly identify and articulate value on development projects. Knowing the targeted value is critical for prioritization and scope control and for knowing when to stop. It is also the key ingredient to meaningful feedback cycles. But how do you reliably identify value? Earl & Jenny will share stories of how they've helped organizations identify their value in a measurable way.
Jan 4, 2024 • 46min
#44 Bringing it All Together – the Successful Leadership of Hardware/Software Teams
How do you lead product development teams when a company that has always been hardware focused now owes its success to both hardware and software? Construx's Mark Griffin and Earl Beede recently spoke with Inogen's Norbert Leinfellner and Horst Pichler, who have decades of experience leading this transition. We kick off 2024 with an Inspect & Adapt episode on how successful leadership requires a certain system-level mindset to help blend those hardware and software teams.
Dec 4, 2023 • 57min
#43 Project Managers 2023
Listen to Construx's Earl Beede, Jenny Stuart, and Mark Griffin as they assess the role and duties of project managers on software intensive projects. A special focus will be on groups using agile development processes. Earl and Jenny will share stories of what they have seen work and what hasn't with their clients.
Oct 31, 2023 • 58min
#42 Splitting User Stories
Construx's Earl Beede, Jenny Stuart, and Mark Griffin investigate ways to split user stories so they fit in a sprint. Some methods are far preferable—and even easier—than others. Sometimes it just means setting yourself up to make your user stories split-able. Earl and Jenny will share their stories from the trenches and explain how they assist teams to apply the appropriate splitting practices in their environment.
Sep 21, 2023 • 55min
#41 Special Guest: John Belbute, Engineering Metrics
What metrics make sense for a development team? How do you talk about productivity? Construx friend John Belbute joins Construx’s Steve Tockey, Earl Beede, and Mark Griffin to talk about engineering metrics. John has been a software leader at many companies, including Intuit, WebMD, eBay and Capita CCS and is now semi-retired with his own coaching and consulting company. John shares his in-the-trenches experience trying to find the perfect metric to show the rest of the leadership team how well the development teams are doing.
Jun 12, 2023 • 56min
#40 Waterfall vs. Agile 2023
It's been over two decades since we were told that Waterfall development is bad and Agile development is good. Construx's Earl Beede recently did a webinar on the subject (available on YouTube). This Inspect and Adapt looks at some of the comments and questions that came up. Earl is joined by host Mark Griffin and Jenny Stuart as they take a fresh look at Waterfall vs. Agile.
Apr 12, 2023 • 59min
#39 Product Owner vs. Product Manager
There is a lot of confusion about where the job or role of product owner ends and that of product manager begins. Construx's Earl Beede recently did a webinar on the topic. Now Earl is joined by Construx's Jenny Stuart and Mark Griffin to take a deeper look into how the two roles differ and where they overlap.
Feb 6, 2023 • 53min
#38 The Engineering Manager in Agile
You have engineering managers and you want to adopt agile - or are already doing agile - development. Where does your engineering manager fit? What activities and roles do engineering managers play in the agile development organization? Join Construx's Jenny Stuart, Mark Griffin, and Earl Beede as they discuss how organizations can Inspect & Adapt the job of the engineering manager.
Jan 6, 2023 • 1h 4min
#37 2022 Disaster Stories and Improvement Ideas
At the end of 2022, Construx surveyed our clients to hear their best disaster stories of 2022 and what areas they want to improve so they won't repeat their disasters in 2023. Join host Mark Griffin with Construx experts Earl Beede and Steve Tockey as they Inspect and Adapt those disaster stories and improvement opportunities.
Nov 22, 2022 • 54min
#36 Right-Sizing Software Process: Going Meta
Is there a "best" way or process to develop software? Is there one size fits all? Construx has always said, "no". One of our 10x Principles is "Tailor the Solution to the Problem". Join host Mark Griffin with Construx's Earl Beede and Steve Tockey for an Inspect and Adapt of right-sizing software development process. We cover the process for figuring out what your process should be–the "meta process".If you want to be notified of future live-stream recordings, be sure to sign up for our newsletter at our website: www.construx.com
