Inspect and Adapt
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
We develop software primarily on teams, but how do you develop the teams? Construx's Mark Griffin and Earl Beede Inspect & Adapt the different ways you can organize your development team. They look at the pros and cons of different approaches and even offer some help for when you're stuck with a team organization that isn't the best.
How should you spend your always-limited testing resources? Is one part of the product more important to test than another? Construx's Steve Tockey and Earl Beede join host Mark Griffin in looking at one approach to answering those questions: risk-based testing. Steve and Earl look at how to do risk-based testing along with its pros and cons.
In an earlier webinar, Construx's Earl Beede took on many organizations that create product visions with phrases like, be the world's best ‘x’ or dazzle our customers. Not bad ideas but pretty much worthless in helping you make day-to-day decisions on what work is the most important for your business. This is a follow-up, with Earl and Mark Griffin delving a bit deeper into some of the questions that came up during the we...
Construx welcomes Onorio Catenacci to the microphone to ask questions about software development that continue to puzzle him and perhaps to see whether Construx has the answers. Join Contrux's Mark Griffin and Steve Tockey to see if they can give sound, helpful, and actionable answers to Onorio's questions—and find out whether Onorio can stump Construx!
Construx's Jenny Stuart is retiring from the software industry, and we will miss her! In this podcast, Jenny Stuart looks back on her three decades in the software industry and shares stories and wins from her long career. Joining Jenny are three of her Construx work companions for the last 20 years, Mark Griffin, Steve Tockey, and Earl Beede.
Why do software gurus keep talking about the Cynefin Framework? What is it? How is it even pronounced? In this episode of Inspect & Adapt, Construx puts many brains on the topic with Mark Griffin, Jenny Stuart, Steve Tockey, and Earl Beede making the link between Cynefin and doing actual software development work. They cover where Cynefin is best applied and where this sense-making system just doesn't make sense.
Most folks know that the product owner, scrum master, and developers make up the Scrum team, but did you know that these roles are also an accountability triad critical to scaling? In episode #52 of our Inspect & Adapt podcast, Construx’s Earl Beede and Jenny Stuart define the triad and describe its role in scaling agile. Earl and Jenny focus on how each abstraction level in a scaled agile deployment replicates the triad while...
To be a professional usually means a commitment to ongoing professional development. Doctors, engineers, nurses, accountants, and teachers all require periodic training to maintain their professional status, but what constitutes professional development in software? Can we consider ourselves professional without it? The Construx team will look into the state of professional development in software and give their assessment.
The product owner is often considered the most critical accountability in the triad of <product owner, scrum master, developers>. Why? Because garbage in from the product owner gets garbage out of the developers, so it's crucial to give serious consideration to who is best to staff the product owner role. Listen to Construx experts share best practices, things to watch for, and stories from the field as they Inspect &...
What do we do when we are faced with "The New"? When something is new to us, it's harder to estimate, harder to plan, and harder to execute. Some development projects involve much more that is new than others. How do we identify the new and deal with it in a constructive way? In this episode of Inspect & Adapt, Construx's Mark Griffin, Steve Tockey, Earl Beede, and Jenny Stuart dive into ways to have the be...
Why can't I know—with high precision—the final cost, scope, and time frame of my work effort? One of the biggest reasons you can't know all three at once is illustrated by Steve McConnell's Cone of Uncertainty. In this episode of Inspect & Adapt, Construx's Mark Griffin, Steve Tockey, and Earl Beede talk about what the Cone is, how it impacts your ability to estimate, and how you can use it to increase your ...
If hindsight is 20/20—and it's good practice to look back to find ways you could do better—then why do retrospectives seem like such a waste of time? Shouldn't they be a goldmine that we're excited about rather than just another obligatory meeting? Inspect & Adapt host Mark Griffin gathers fellow Construx staff, Steve Tockey, Jenny Stuart, and Earl Beede, to discuss how we can make retrospectives something to loo...
There is a lot of talk and ideas about how to scale agile up from the one-team, one-product base so that multiple teams can support a product (I am looking at you SAFe). But what about the case where one team must support multiple products? That is reverse agile scaling. Join Construx’s Mark Griffin, Jenny Stuart, and Earl Beede as they share strategies and proven techniques to have one team work with multiple products and multiple...
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 relia...
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 m...
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
Popular Podcasts
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Karoline Borega married a man of honor – a respected Colorado Springs Police officer. She knew there would be sacrifices to accommodate her husband’s career. But she had no idea that he was using his badge to fool everyone. This season, we expose a man who swore two sacred oaths—one to his badge, one to his bride—and broke them both. We follow Karoline as she questions everything she thought she knew about her partner of over 20 years. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-3 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com