Skip to main content

Personal Improvement

Tutorials

ME Twelve Heuristics for Solving Tough Problems—Faster and Better
Payson Hall, Catalysis Group, Inc.
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 8:30am

As infants, we begin our lives as problem solving machines, learning to navigate a strange and complex world in which others communicate in ways we don’t understand. Initially, we hone our problem solving talents; then many of us find our explorations thwarted and eventually stop using and then begin losing our natural problem solving ability. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Psychologists tell us that people can regain lost skills and learn new ones to become better problem solvers. Payson Hall shares techniques and skills that apply to situations in real life.

Read more
MG What’s Your Leadership IQ?
Jennifer Bonine, tap|QA, Inc.
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 8:30am

Have you ever needed a way to measure your leadership IQ? Or been in a performance review where the majority of time was spent discussing your need to improve as a leader? If you have ever wondered what your core leadership competencies are and how to build on and improve them, Jennifer Bonine shares a toolkit to help you do just that.

Read more
MJ Problem Solving and Decision Making in Software Development NEW
Linda Rising, Independent Consultant
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 8:30am

Unfortunately, those of us who struggle with complex problems for a living don't have time to keep up with the enormous amount of cognitive science research that could help us become better thinkers, better problem solvers, and better decision makers. Having devoted more than ten years to researching the fast-moving fields that almost daily reveal new information, Linda shares what she has uncovered—some of it surprising, some even counterintuitive. She summarizes the research and provides concrete tips for improving your individual, team, and organizational abilities.

Read more
MO Understanding and Managing Change
Jennifer Bonine, tap|QA, Inc.
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 1:00pm

Has this happened to you? You try to implement a change in your organization and it fails. And, to make matters worse, you can't figure out why. It may be that your great idea didn't mesh well with your organization’s culture or a host of other reasons. Jennifer Bonine shares a toolkit to help you determine which ideas will—and will not—work well within your organization.

Read more
MP Solving Real Problems through Collaborative Innovation Games®
Bob Hartman, Agile For All
Michael Vizdos, Vizdos Enterprises, LLC
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 1:00pm

Are you having trouble getting people in your organization to agree on a path forward? Is collaboration sometimes more like a contest to see who can yell the loudest? Is it difficult to get customers to give you the information you need to create a product charter or unambiguous requirements? Achieving meaningful collaboration with a diverse group of people can be very difficult. Bob Hartman and Michael Vizdos shares their experiences with Innovation Games®, collaboration exercises that dramatically improve the way people work together.

Read more
MQ Six Free Ideas to Improve Agile Success
Pollyanna Pixton, Accelinnova
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 1:00pm

Free? Is anything free these days? Based on her experience working with organizational leaders and her research into what drives organizational performance, Pollyanna Pixton shares six ideas—and the keys to their effective implementation—to help assure the success of your agile teams. As a bonus, her suggestions won’t cost you a thing. Pollyanna’s first free idea is how to create a culture of trust—the keystone of open collaboration—within your team and organization. The second free idea is about ownership—how to give it and not take it back.

Read more
MR Congruent Coaching: An Exploration NEW
Johanna Rothman, Rothman Consulting Group, Inc.
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 1:00pm

We have opportunities to coach people all the time. Much of what we see as coaching is actually undercover training. Real coaching is richer—offering support while explaining options. In this interactive session, Johanna Rothman invites you to explore how to coach, regardless of your position in the organization. Teaching is just one option for coaching. You have many other options, depending on your coaching stance. You may select a counselor’s stance if you are managing up or a partner’s stance if you are a peer.

Read more
TD Essential Patterns of Mature Agile Teams
Bob Galen, Velocity Partners
Tue, 11/12/2013 - 8:30am

Many teams have a relatively easy time adopting the tactical aspects of agile methodologies. Usually a few classes, some tools introduction, and a bit of practice lead teams toward a fairly efficient and effective agile adoption. However, these teams often get “stuck” and begin to regress or simply start going through the motions—neither maximizing their agile performance nor delivering as much value as they could.

Read more
TQ Patterns for Collaboration: Toward Whole-Team Quality SOLD OUT
Janet Gregory, DragonFire, Inc.
Matt Barcomb, odbox
Tue, 11/12/2013 - 1:00pm

A lot of talk goes on in agile about how collaboration among team members helps drive a shared responsibility for quality—and more. However, most teams don't do much more than just hold stand-up meetings and have programmers and testers sit together. Although these practices improve communications, they are not collaboration! Most teams simply don't understand how to collaborate. Janet Gregory and Matt Barcomb guide you through hands-on activities that illustrate collaboration patterns for programmers and testers, working together.

Read more

Concurrent Sessions

AW10 I Thought YOU Were Flying the Plane: Preventing Projects from Falling Out of the Sky
Steve Adolph, WSA Consulting
Wed, 11/13/2013 - 3:45pm

One of the most cherished concepts of the Agile Manifesto is valuing individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Within this idea is the implicit assumption that individuals innately know how to interact. Dramatic lessons from aviation suggest otherwise. During the mid-1960s the frequent crashes of perfectly good aircraft alarmed the world’s airlines. Investigators discovered nothing lacking in the pilot’s “stick and rudder” skills; these accidents were the result of the flight crew’s inability to work as a team.

Read more
AW11 Organizing a Self-Organizing Team
John Lynch, Clashmore Software Solutions
Wed, 11/13/2013 - 3:45pm

Your organization is embracing agile. When it comes to adopting the process, your team seems to be doing all the right things. Yet deep down, something still doesn’t seem quite right. As their leader, it could be that you haven’t figured it out either. Perhaps your team is lacking some spark and is reluctant to take on real ownership. What can you do to help the team organize themselves to become the high-performing software development group you know they can be?

Read more