BSC / ADP West 2011
 
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Better Software Conference 2011
Keynote Presentations

Wednesday, June 8, 2011 8:30 a.m.


Building Great Teams
Geoff Bellman, GMB Associates, Ltd.

What allows some teams to deliver results that far exceed expectations? How do these groups differ from most others? What can group members and leaders do to enable these extraordinary experiences? Geoff Bellman, along with his partner Kathleen Ryan, spent four years diving deeply into self-declared fantastic teams. They interviewed people from sixty great teams, added their own experience as managers and consultants, and came to ground-breaking conclusions documented in their book, Extraordinary Groups: How Ordinary Teams Achieve Amazing Results. Geoff presents their discoveries about what makes for exceptional performance. Sharing the eight indicators that his study shows are key, Geoff offers up the primary needs people fulfill by interacting in groups and suggests ways of meeting those needs within work teams. See how the primary feelings reported by highly successful teams match—or do not match—the feelings you have for your team. Enhance your understanding of the most successful team experiences you’ve had and take back ideas to improve your current and future team experiences.

Learn more about Geoff Bellman

Geoff Bellman

Wednesday, June 8, 2011, 12:45 p.m.


Cosmic Truths about Software Quality
Karl Wiegers, Process Impact

Although everyone wants to build and use high quality products, software people often debate the meaning of “quality” and how to achieve it. Karl Wiegers has identified ten principles about quality that apply almost universally to software products. Learn why any software team that really cares about quality needs to understand these principles and implement development approaches consistent with them. These principles include: Quality begins with the requirements; Quality has many dimensions; Customer involvement is the greatest determinant of software quality; Both internal and external quality are important; Developer discretion has a great influence on quality; Quality must be a conscious project priority; You can pay now, or you can pay a lot more later; Iteration is a key to software quality; Long-term productivity is the result of high quality; If you don’t design for quality, you won’t get it. Join Karl to explore these principles and see how they can help you steer your way through the most challenging software projects.

Learn more about Karl Wiegers

Karl Wiegers

Thursday, June 9, 2011, 8:30 a.m.


Deception and Estimating: How We Fool Ourselves
Linda Rising, Independent Consultant

Cognitive scientists tell us that we are hardwired for deception—overly optimistic about outcomes. In fact, we surely wouldn't have survived without this trait. With this built-in bias as a starting point, it's no wonder that software managers and teams almost always develop poor estimates. But that doesn't mean all is lost. We must simply accept that our estimates are optimistic guesses and continually re-evaluate as we go. Linda Rising has been part of many development projects where sincere, honest people wanted to make the best estimates possible and used “scientific” approaches to make it happen—and all for naught. In many projects, because re-estimation was regarded as an admission of failure, the team spent too much time and endless meetings trying to “get it right.” Offering examples from ordinary life—especially from the way people eat and drink—Linda demonstrates how hard it is for us to see our poor estimating skills and offers practical advice on living and working with the self-deception that is hardwired in all of us.

Learn more about Linda Rising

Linda Rising

Thursday, June 9, 2011, 12:45 p.m.


Geography Matters: What Data Tells Us about Offshoring, Co-locating, and the Flat World
Michael Mah, QSM Associates

Has the digital revolution really made it possible to do almost anything collaboratively with people separated by time and distance? Or are decisions to split software development around the globe more about pressure to cut costs and less about tapping the intellectual capital from other nations? Countering the multi-shoring trend is a powerful new movement that looks at the forces of concentration—clustering of human creativity and talent—to claim the creativity, innovation, and productivity that can result when smart and talented people locate closely to one another. Who is right? To answer this question, Michael Mah looks at what measurement data says about offshore and co-located projects. Michael presents actual case studies from real companies and contrasts the results from the two philosophies. What you learn may challenge long-held beliefs about knowledge work, commoditizing human capital, and innovation.

Learn more about Michael Mah

Michael Mah



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