Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation Explained
The Agile Manifesto refers to working software over comprehensive documentation (Agile_Manifesto, 2001). The key to all aspects of the Agile Manifesto, however, is the last statement. That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more. One of the greatest…
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Getting Acceptance Criteria Right
IntroductionThis paper is in two parts. The first part discusses acceptance criteria. The second part discusses how to get “right” acceptance criteria. The paper argues that the terms “acceptance criterion” and “requirement” do not have the same meaning, but are closely related. Some people…
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Why is psychological safety being ignored?
In one of the most extensive business research projects ever conducted, Project Aristotle, Google found, to their surprise, that the number one driver of team performance is psychological safety. This is a gift on a plate to organisations. Want to radically improve your performance? Then simply…
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What do testers do on Agile projects?
I was just talking to someone who is on the journey towards the good life in Agile. But in their early projects, they have hit a snag. It seems that the testers want to record lots of bugs in their log so they can show them to their friends. They also want to talk to the developers about all those…
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"Investment number one in 2019 should be training" says management consultant Tom Peters
Well-known and respected management consultant and author, Tom Peters, spoke to Auckland University’s Graduate School of Management last week about training and investing in talent, saying that the top investment for organisations in 2019 should be training.
“Training should be a capital expense…
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How use cases can help to elicit user stories
Identifying Use Cases is an important technique for business analysts and developers to master because they ensure they and their clients have a good understanding of what a product is for and how it will be used by future users. The Use Case technique was popularised as a way to elicit a system’…
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Agile is the Common Sense We’ve Forgotten. Part 1: Minimising multi-tasking and limiting work-in-progress
I get many people asking me the question: “what is agile?”Over time, I have distilled all of my thoughts and considerations into a single simple answer:
“Agile is common sense that we have forgotten or are too busy to entertain. ”
In fact, the work that I, and many other agile coaches, do are about…
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How to write a strong business case
So here I am: a senior manager in an organisation and some work has been proposed. The work could be to acquire a new “bright shiny thing” or the work could be to improve some product that we already have. The product could be but doesn’t have to be a software one. My managerial style i…
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What is Agile Marketing: Origin, Values and Practices
Without a doubt, marketing is becoming increasingly complicated as digital transformation gains pace in many organisations today. On top of traditional marketing activities and channels, marketers are now expected to be responsible for digital marketing technologies, media buying platforms and…
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Agile Ways of Working & Thinking – A Brief Introduction to Organisational Agility
(or How to Improve Work-Life and Happiness) Modern organisations are complex and disconnectedIn factories and plants, the production of value for the customer is linear. At the end of the work process, raw material resources are transformed into tangible and physical products that can be delivered…
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SoftEd launches new DevOps course
In February 2019, SoftEd launches a new course entitled 'Implementing DevOps' to meet the growing demand for DevOps and agile practices. The ICAgile accredited course is now available for in-house bookings and public course bookings in Australia and New Zealand. We recently spoke to SoftEd trainer…
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Feedback is a gift, like a toaster on your birthday
It has been said that feedback should be treated as a gift. Sometimes however, this might be a gift like an iron or a toaster on our birthday. Now a toaster may be a wonderful gift to some people in some circumstances, yet not when you were hoping for something more personal. Feedback however i…
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