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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Concurrent Sessions

BW9 A Mind-Blowing Exploration on How to Make Better Decisions

Iain McCowatt, Barclays

Wed, 11/13/2013 - 3:45pm

Have you ever watched a medical drama with scenes featuring doctors making split second, life-or-death decisions? As software professional, there may be less at stake when it comes to your decisions, yet you often need to act under time pressure, limited information, and conditions of uncertainty. How do you decide whether a particular course of action will help or harm your project? Are you rational: Do you identify, weigh and compare your options? Or are your decisions more intuitive: Do you size up the situation quickly and simply “know” how to act?

BT3 Power and Empowerment: Understanding the Principles

Esther Derby, Esther Derby Associates, Inc.

Thu, 11/14/2013 - 10:15am

Managers want teams to be empowered but often don’t want to give up their decision-making authority. Teams want to be empowered but may not know how to act on the power they already have. Executives want to drive engagement and action but see only half-hearted compliance. These are examples of power dynamics at play. Esther Derby explains that words won’t matter until people acknowledge power. Once people acknowledge the fact of power, it’s possible to look at how it is affecting people and actions.

BT7 Building Your Own Personal Brand

Jennifer Bonine, tap|QA, Inc.

Thu, 11/14/2013 - 2:15pm

Unfortunately, many people focus solely on their jobs and day-to-day task delivery rather than building their career. This often results in careers that happen by accident, rather than by design. How can you build a personal brand that you can refer to when making conscious choices about your next career move? How can you build your dream career while delivering the greatest value to your organization? Jennifer Bonine describes the tools she uses in leadership sessions to help people begin the process of defining their own personal brand.

BT9 Growing a Learning Organization from the Bottom Up

Matt Barcomb, odbox

Thu, 11/14/2013 - 3:45pm

Learning organizations seem like a great idea to just about everyone. But how do you actually create them? In many organizations, attempting to promote learning can seem daunting at best and impossible at worst—especially when you don't feel particularly empowered to do so. Matt Barcomb focuses on what you can do from multiple perspectives. He first discusses what a learning organization is and why the concept is important for the future of many organizations. Next, Matt shares approaches and considerations for growing learning environments, including common organizational pitfalls.

BT11 The Personal A3 Approach for Developing People

Bob Payne, LitheSpeed

Thu, 11/14/2013 - 3:45pm

Organizations invest high levels of effort setting up elaborate employee performance tracking systems. In fact, these costly and onerous processes may even drive the wrong behaviors if inappropriate metrics are selected or employees learn to game the system. However, a simpler and more effective approach to personnel development is right in front of us. Bob Payne describes the Lean A3 problem solving and communication tool that can be used to improve processes and create a learning culture.