PODCAST · business
Troubleshooting Agile
by A weekly problem-solving session for all things agile
Troubleshooting Agile is a problem-solving session for agile teams. Jeffrey Fredrick and Douglas Squirrel look at common problems agile teams face and provide practical, immediately useful advice for getting back on track.
Episodes
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Actually Good Conferences with Misha Glouberman
Are your company meetings and offsites optimized for zero risk, or for actual value? In this week’s episode, Jeffrey is joined by returning guest, Misha Glouberman, to unpack why traditional conferences default to boring lectures, and how you can design gatherings that actually build…
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Signals & Levers - Part III with Elisabeth Hendrickson & Joel Tosi
Is your tech team falling for the illusion of control? In this week’s episode, we sit down (again!) with authors of “Signals and Levers,” Elisabeth Hendrickson and Joel Tosi to talk about the events that led up to writing their book. Tune in to the third of our three-part episode where we cover...
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Signals & Levers - Part II with Elisabeth Hendrickson & Joel Tosi
Are you trying to fix "bad estimates" when you actually have a broken system? In this week’s episode, we sit down (again!) with authors of “Signals and Levers,” Elisabeth Hendrickson and Joel Tosi to talk about the events that led up to writing their book. Tune in to the second of our three-part...
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Signals & Levers with Elisabeth Hendrickson & Joel Tosi
A pretty whiteboard diagram can’t control your software delivery system! In this week’s episode, we sit down with authors of “Signals and Levers,” Elisabeth Hendrickson and Joel Tosi to talk about the events that led up to writing their book. Tune in to the first of our three-part series where we...
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Why Is Everyone Else Wrong? Lessons From One Lane Roads
Ever felt like you’re the only person in a meeting moving at the "right" speed? Well everyone else is probably thinking that too! On this episode, Squirrel uses his example of driving on one of England’s many one-lane roads to make the point of fast and slow communication. Join us to learn his...
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Bug Blindness
Are you suffering from bug blindness? This week, we dive into Dan Luu's article on how entire teams grow blind to obvious software bugs, Squirrel shares how their brilliant QA broke their system with a simple negative number, and Jeffrey ponders the reality that bug blindness isn't an accident;...
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Life Finds A Way… To Cheat!
Are your teams quietly cheating your software controls to get their actual job done? In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Jeffrey and Squirrel tackle the "normalization of deviance," rogue AI agents sharing cheat sheets, and why human (and bot) workarounds reveal your real systemic problems....
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Bozo the Client? Managing In A Consultancy
Do you want to be right or do you want to be helpful? Choose carefully, because insisting on being "right" usually just makes you poor! On this week’s episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey tackle the classic consultancy challenge: dealing with boneheaded clients. Join us to learn how to use the LEAP…
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You Never Forget Your First Time! Stories For The New Manager
Terrified of taking on your first management role? Don't be. Join us on the week’s episode to learn how you can avoid the biggest trap that new leaders get into, why you need to keep your team moving rather than doing the work for them, and hear our essential reading list for new managers, with...
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Jailhouse Talk: Verbal Aikido
Is it ever okay to manipulate your colleagues? On this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss Verbal Aikido - a defensive technique borrowed from a Supermax prison doctor. Join us to discover how to redirect manipulative office requests using strategic questions without crossing the line into…
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Greatest Hits: LLMs & Difficult Conversations
ChatGPT is (a little too) good at having difficult conversations, but use it with caution! On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, we revisit a previous conversation, first recorded at the beginning of 2024, where Squirrel and Jeffrey share their thoughts on how you can use AI language models…
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Single Source of Lies
Are your top leaders arguing over basic status data? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the executive trap of arguing over facts that can be easily settled. Join us to learn why you should be agreeing on a “single source of lies” not chasing a "single source of truth."...
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Speeding Up Agile Hardware Projects with Krunal Patel
Are you committing massive resources before testing reality? In this episode, Squirrel is joined by guest, technical program manager, Krunal Patel, who explains how he developed an exciting new car feature in less than a third of the time of a typical waterfall cycle, using cheap prototyping and...
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Your Demo Needs a Stakeholder
Are your daily software demos an absolute snore-fest? Good. That’s exactly why you should be holding them! In this week's episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey react to listener feedback on the fear of daily demos. We explore how exposing raw back-end outputs can act as an "unfreezing event" that forces...
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Misha and his WorryBot
Are you using AI to avoid difficult conversations, or to prompt better ones? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey are joined by Misha Globerman, who tells us about the WorryBot he built to spot and prevent weaknesses in his systems, track missed accountability and guide real conversation with…
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LLMs writing for LLMs: have you tried talking?
Are you token maxing or actually learning? Squirrel and Jeffrey have observed a wild new trend where AIs write specs, AIs summarize them for engineers, and AIs write the code. Nobody is actually talking to each other! Join us as we make the case for human-to-human collaboration, not just bots...
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The Fear of Daily Demos
Is your tech team reluctant to show you daily progress? It’s because they’re scared of failure! Listen to this episode of Troubleshooting Agile to learn how leaders can use emotional intelligence and universal demoing to break down the "status report" paranoia and unlock rapid delivery, with your...
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Why You Should Shift-Right Your Testing
Are your software tests a beautiful work of fiction? In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey question the obsession with "shift left" and instead make the case for shifting right i.e. testing right in production where the real world happens. Join us for a discussion on AI...
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When shouldn’t you use AI?
Are you treating your AI like an expert consultant or an overly enthusiastic intern? In this week’s episode of Troubleshooting Agile, we’re Live from CITCON:AI in Helsinki, Finland, unpacking the critical boundaries of AI ownership and risk. Join us to learn why AI doesn't create new problems, it...
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Learning From The Lizardmen Questions
Are you answering questions instead of questioning assumptions? Because you might be missing your biggest product wins! In this episode, Squirrel and Jefrey discuss why the best response to a client or user question is sometimes mu - unasking the question entirely. Join us to hear about Gojko...
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Greatest Hits: Teaching Agile Again and Again and Again
Do you find yourself covering the same agile lessons over and over again? Back in CITCON 2021, a special guest brought up how he’s been talking about the same problems for 20 years. And five years later, we imagine not much has changed! Listen to this re-run episode for our thoughts on this topic...
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Against Product Chatbots
Is your chatbot helping your customers or putting them off? In this episode, Squirrel is wound up about the chat-first interface trend in software, which hinders more than it helps. Tune in to get Squirrel and Jeffrey’s thoughts on how you can use “book smarts” vs “street smarts” to determine...
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Greatest Hits: Why Can’t We Ship Today?
Why can’t you ship today? In the run-up to the next CITCON:AI in Helsinki, we re-live this previous episode from CITCON in Ghent, back in 2019, where Squirrel and Jeffrey we’re re-telling three interesting stories from the event, all starting with different answers to Jeffrey's question, "Why…
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Crocker’s Rules
Is "noisy politeness" slowing your tech team down? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss Crocker’s Rules, which is essentially just the one rule - get to the point. Join us to learn how you and your colleagues can skip the social overhead and get to the data that actually matters. LINKS…
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Agentic Validation and the Power of Loops
What’s got Jeffrey - the Founder of CITCON:AI - ruffled about AI?! In this episode, Jeffrey talks about his frustrations with how organisations approach AI rollouts without learning any lessons from the change-management initiatives that have gone before. Join us to get our take on when to hand...
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Disagree and Commit - Part II
Are you starting from the bottom of the ladder? In the second episode of a two-part series on the practice of disagree and commit, Squirrel uses the ladder of inference to quiz Jeffrey on the reasoning behind his involvement in the sport of deer hunting, with the aim to demonstrate how two people...
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Disagree and Commit - Part I
Do you know how to disagree and commit? Clue - it’s not the same as “just shut up and get on with it!” In the first episode of a two-part series, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the practice of disagree and commit, why so many teams get it wrong, and what happens when you know how to stop discussing...
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Question First!
Are you forgetting to ask the question? A lot of people lead with stories, but what Squirrel really wants to know is, “What’s the question?!” In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss why the most efficient teams ask the question first and then give context. As always, real-world examples and...
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Executives Walking the Board
Are you talking about what you’re working on or what you should be working on? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss “walking the board,” with real world examples of organisations doing it well - and not not so well, and why you need to bring the cards to the…
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The Bots Take Over Helsinki
Want to join Squirrel on his anti-AI protest? CITCON has had a rebrand to CITCON:AI, which Squirrel is in equal parts excited and cynical about. On this episode, CITCON founder, Jeffrey, and enthusiast, Squirrel, discuss what you can expect from the 20th anniversary of the “anti-conference” in...
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Leaders are Accountable Too
If taking accountability scares you, you’re doing it wrong! In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about the background of the final chapter of their book, Agile Conversations, including Jeffrey’s “Aha” moment watching a Kent Beck speech, why the idea of…
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What the Fuck?!
Ever been in a meeting wondering “Why are we talking about this?” but not said anything? In this episode, Squirrel talks about a meeting where his client admitted he was thinking “What the fuck?” Join us for our thoughts on why people don’t challenge this pattern and practical tips on how to…
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Check Your Dipstick, Continuously!
Are you maintaining your software team management like you do your car? In this week’s episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey use their car maintenance issues to help explore the concept of continuous monitoring versus manual checks and ask about the impact of alert fatigue. Join…
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Beginner's Mind on the Ski Slope
Being good at something doesn’t make you good at teaching it! Following on from last week’s episode about forgetting the fundamentals of skiing, Jeffrey and Squirrel discuss the importance of using a beginner’s mindset when teaching new skills and how you can use creative techniques, like...
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Learning You're Wrong on the Ski Slope
If something feels hard, you might not be the problem, it might be your tools. On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Jeffrey shares a skiing mishap, which had him believing he forgot how to ski - until he looked at his feet! Tune in for our thoughts on using the right tools for the right...
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Fixing a Mistake with Immediate Feedback
One time on the podcast, we released the wrong episode - twice! But listener feedback meant we could correct it quickly - and it got us asking, do you know what users think of your software as soon as it’s done? On this re-run episode, which shares the theme of a recent episode, Gliding to…
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Vibing Isn't for Everyone, Part II
Worried non-techy people will expect too much from Vibe Coding? Listener, Tom, wrote to us with his concerns about the actual productivity of AI development. Listen in for Jeffrey’s experience on trivial tools that make a big difference and how to manage expectations, on this episode of...
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Vibing Isn't for Everyone, Part I
It’s okay to be confused about Vibe Coding! On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey respond to a listener’s argument from our series with Gene Kim on Vibe Coding and reflect on the question, what stage are we at in the industry when it comes to Vibe Coding and what can we...
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Gliding to Success
Are you using the Glidepath Method? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about how the method of landing a plane - something Jeffrey’s done - can be useful in effective project management. Join us to learn how you can navigate uncertainty and complexity in your...
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Gene Kim on Vibe Coding Part III
How do you get the best out of AI tools when you don’t have the talent that understands them? In the final of a three part series with guest, Gene Kim, we look at the misconceptions of AI for non-techy people, what happens when you don’t have industry-leading talent to discuss leaf nodes and...
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Gene Kim on Vibe Coding Part II
Should you fire all your engineers and replace them with AI? That’s what Squirrel pitches to Gene Kim, our guest, when he returns for the second of a three part series exploring the themes of his new book Vibe Coding. Tune in to discover how you can transform your organisation with Vibe Coding…
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Gene Kim on Vibe Coding Part I
Want to be more productive, creative and joyful? That’s the outcome of Vibe Coding, a new concept and book by Gene Kim and Steve Yegge. In the first of a three-part series with co-author Gene Kim, he talks about how he got started on this project and how Vibe Coding offers new ways of working to...
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Montage vs Marginal
What is ‘movie logic’ and how does it work in real life? Listen to this episode of Troubleshooting, as Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about how movies rely on artificial drama and withheld information to create tension, but open communication and marginal gains is how effective teams really thrive....
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Three Types of Learning Part II
What happens when you have the knowledge but not the skills? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey continue to discuss the three basic elements of learning, how they apply to software development, and what problems arise when you have one or two of them, but not all…
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Three Types of Learning Part I
What can we learn about learning from driving in Alabama? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the challenges and rewards of learning and focus on three times of learning - knowledge, methods and skills - and how Squirrel applied all of them (but not quite well...
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Greatest Hits: The Systems Thinking Rant
Is “Systems Thinking is dead” the new “Agile is dead”? In this episode, we do a summary episode on what became a 4 episode series stemming from a disparaging article about systems thinking by Ed Braden. We react to the article, get Ed’s response and then - using a little help from Google Ai…
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A New Boat Every Day
What can a solo around-the-world sailing race teach us about software development? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the ‘Maintenance Race’ - a story of robust preemptive maintenance, which highlights the importance of proactive maintenance in your agile team. Links: - Stewart Brand's...
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Systems Thinking Rant Redux Part III
We’ve got examples! In the third episode of a three-part series, Squirrel and Jeffrey revisit the contentious discussion around system thinking and their reaction to an article by Ed Braden.They look at successful examples of systems thinking implemented in both small and large government…
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Systems Thinking Rant Redux Part II
Systems thinking isn’t the problem! In the second episode of a three-part series, Squirrel and Jeffrey revisit the contentious discussion around system thinking and their reaction to an article by Ed Braden. They clarify misconceptions about systems thinking, argue its benefits, and propose that…
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Systems Thinking Rant Redux Part I
Were we wrong about systems thinking? In the first episode of a three-part series, Squirrel and Jeffrey revisit the contentious discussion around system thinking and their reaction to an article by Ed Braden. They hear from listeners, as well as Ed himself, emphasizing the importance of precise...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Troubleshooting Agile is a problem-solving session for agile teams. Jeffrey Fredrick and Douglas Squirrel look at common problems agile teams face and provide practical, immediately useful advice for getting back on track.
HOSTED BY
A weekly problem-solving session for all things agile
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How many episodes does Troubleshooting Agile have?
Troubleshooting Agile currently has 451 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Troubleshooting Agile about?
Troubleshooting Agile is a problem-solving session for agile teams. Jeffrey Fredrick and Douglas Squirrel look at common problems agile teams face and provide practical, immediately useful advice for getting back on track.
How often does Troubleshooting Agile release new episodes?
Troubleshooting Agile publishes regularly with 451 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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Troubleshooting Agile is created and hosted by A weekly problem-solving session for all things agile.
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