SPaMCAST 379 - Done and Value, Test Data, Budgets Are Harmful

Software Process and Measurement Cast 379 features our short essay on the relationship between done and value. The essay is in response to a question from Anteneh Berhane. Anteneh called me to ask one of the hardest questions I had ever been asked: Why doesn’t the definition of done include value? We will also have an entry of Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner. Jeremy and I discussed test data, and why having a suite of test data that many projects can use is important for efficiency. One question is who should bite the bullet and build the first iteration of any test data library? Steve Tendon completes this cast with a discussion of the next chapter in his book, Tame The Flow: Hyper-Productive Knowledge-Work Performance, The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Scrum and Kanban. Chapter 7 is titled “Budgeting is Harmful.” Steve hits classic budgeting head on, and provides options that improve flexibility and innovation. Remember to help grow the podcast by reviewing the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player. Then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News We continue the re-read of How to Measure Anything, Finding the Value of “Intangibles in Business” Third Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard on the Software Process and Measurement Blog. In Chapter Seven, we discuss the concept of the economic value of information. Upcoming Events I am facilitating the CMMI Capability Challenge. This new competition showcases thought leaders who are building organizational capability and improving performance. Listeners will be asked to vote on the winning idea which will be presented at the CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts 2016 conference. The next CMMI Capability Challenge session will be held on February 17 at 11 AM EST. http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#thecapabilitychallenge Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Kim Robertson. Kim and I talked about the big picture configuration management. Kim suggests that the basic need and process for configuration management has not changed since ancient China. Complexity and speed of change, however, has forced changes to the tools and who needs to be involved in the big picture of configuration management. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.