Troubleshooting Agile

Are you starting from the bottom of the ladder? In the second episode of a two-part series on the practice of disagree and commit, Squirrel uses the ladder of inference to quiz Jeffrey on the reasoning behind his involvement in the sport of deer hunting, with the aim to demonstrate how two people with opposed beliefs can still find common ground on which they can move forward. LINKS: - Disagree and Commit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disagree_and_commit - Test-Driven Development for People: https://itrevolution.com/articles/test-driven-development-for-people/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practis

Do you know how to disagree and commit? Clue - it’s not the same as “just shut up and get on with it!” In the first episode of a two-part series, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the practice of disagree and commit, why so many teams get it wrong, and what happens when you know how to stop discussing and start doing - even when you don’t agree with the outcome. LINKS: - Disagree and Commit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disagree_and_commit -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growin

Are you forgetting to ask the question? A lot of people lead with stories, but what Squirrel really wants to know is, “What’s the question?!” In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss why the most efficient teams ask the question first and then give context. As always, real-world examples and practical tips aplenty! SHOW LINKS: - Rubber Duck: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People / Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind : https://www.franklincovey.com/courses/the-7-habits/habit-2/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management

Are you talking about what you’re working on or what you should be working on? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss “walking the board,” with real world examples of organisations doing it well - and not not so well, and why you need to bring the cards to the board, not the people. SHOW LINKS: - Walking the board: https://www.audiodog.co.uk/blog/2017/12/10/better-stand-up-by-walking-the-board/ - Cards come to the standup: http://www.exampler.com/blog/2007/11/06/latour-3-anthrax-and-standups/ - CITCON Helsinki: https://citconf.com/helsinki2026/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they stu

Want to join Squirrel on his anti-AI protest? CITCON has had a rebrand to CITCON:AI, which Squirrel is in equal parts excited and cynical about. On this episode, CITCON founder, Jeffrey, and enthusiast, Squirrel, discuss what you can expect from the 20th anniversary of the “anti-conference” in Helsinki on 22nd & 23rd May 2026. SHOW LINKS: - CITCON Helsinki: https://citconf.com/helsinki2026/ - "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed": https://sqdc.st/s/G5eZioC -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they rema

If taking accountability scares you, you’re doing it wrong! In this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about the background of the final chapter of their book, Agile Conversations, including Jeffrey’s “Aha” moment watching a Kent Beck speech, why the idea of accountability teaches us to lie as kids, and what really happens when we ditch the fear and hold ourselves to account. SHOW LINKS: - XP Explained book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67833.Extreme_Programming_Explained - Rapid Development book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93892.Rapid_Development - Dynamics of Software Development ("don't flip the bozo bit"): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1416996.Dynamics_of_Software_Development - Nurtureshock: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6496815-nurtureshock - Greenshifting: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/greenshifting - Kent Beck Ease at Work: https://www.infoq.com/news/2007/04/beck-ease-at-work/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeA4CBInqKo - The Art

Ever been in a meeting wondering “Why are we talking about this?” but not said anything? In this episode, Squirrel talks about a meeting where his client admitted he was thinking “What the fuck?” Join us for our thoughts on why people don’t challenge this pattern and practical tips on how to speak up and embrace productive conflict. Links: - Parkinson's Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law - Bikeshedding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain un

Are you maintaining your software team management like you do your car? In this week’s episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey use their car maintenance issues to help explore the concept of continuous monitoring versus manual checks and ask about the impact of alert fatigue. Join us to learn how you can create effective monitoring systems to prevent major issues. -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squ

Being good at something doesn’t make you good at teaching it! Following on from last week’s episode about forgetting the fundamentals of skiing, Jeffrey and Squirrel discuss the importance of using a beginner’s mindset when teaching new skills and how you can use creative techniques, like Squirrel’s Squirrelmobile, to explain ideas more effectively. Links: - Beginner's Mind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin - The Squirrelmobile: https://squirrelsquadron.substack.com/p/the-squirrelmobile-the-insanely-profitabe - Wax On Wax Off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P11Bcpyw4g -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they stud

If something feels hard, you might not be the problem, it might be your tools. On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Jeffrey shares a skiing mishap, which had him believing he forgot how to ski - until he looked at his feet! Tune in for our thoughts on using the right tools for the right problems, checking assumptions, and the benefits of external perspectives. Links: - Betterism: https://squirrelsquadron.substack.com/p/stop-improving-your-product-squadron - The Checklist Manifesto: https://atulgawande.com/book/the-checklist-manifesto/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of manag

One time on the podcast, we released the wrong episode - twice! But listener feedback meant we could correct it quickly - and it got us asking, do you know what users think of your software as soon as it’s done? On this re-run episode, which shares the theme of a recent episode, Gliding to Success [see below], Squirrel and Jeffrey show you how daily feedback IS possible and why we’d strongly recommend it. Links: - Previous episode on the Glidepath Indicator: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/gliding-to-success - Glidepath Indicator: agileconversations.com/blog/glideslope/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where

Worried non-techy people will expect too much from Vibe Coding? Listener, Tom, wrote to us with his concerns about the actual productivity of AI development. Listen in for Jeffrey’s experience on trivial tools that make a big difference and how to manage expectations, on this episode of Troubleshooting Agile. Links: - Community of Needs: https://snowbirdcollaboratory.org/community-of-needs/ - First episode of the podcast series on Vibe Coding: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/gene-kim-on-vibe-coding-part-i -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficu

It’s okay to be confused about Vibe Coding! On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey respond to a listener’s argument from our series with Gene Kim on Vibe Coding and reflect on the question, what stage are we at in the industry when it comes to Vibe Coding and what can we expect for the future? Links: - Community of Needs: https://snowbirdcollaboratory.org/community-of-needs/ - First episode of the podcast series on Vibe Coding: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/gene-kim-on-vibe-coding-part-i -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through

Are you using the Glidepath Method? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about how the method of landing a plane - something Jeffrey’s done - can be useful in effective project management. Join us to learn how you can navigate uncertainty and complexity in your projects - no plane landing experience necessary! Links: - Printed glidepath booklet: https://douglassquirrel.com/resources.html - The Squirrel Squadron: https://squirrelsquadron.com -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain

How do you get the best out of AI tools when you don’t have the talent that understands them? In the final of a three part series with guest, Gene Kim, we look at the misconceptions of AI for non-techy people, what happens when you don’t have industry-leading talent to discuss leaf nodes and whether vibe coding really means switching your brain off. Links: - Gene Kim: https://itrevolution.com/author/gene-kim/ - Vibe Coding book: https://itrevolution.com/product/vibe-coding-book/ - Claude code: https://www.claude.com/product/claude-code - Erik Meijer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Meijer_(computer_scientist) - Vibe Coding podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@VibeCodingWithSteveandGene -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com ---------------------------------------------

Should you fire all your engineers and replace them with AI? That’s what Squirrel pitches to Gene Kim, our guest, when he returns for the second of a three part series exploring the themes of his new book Vibe Coding. Tune in to discover how you can transform your organisation with Vibe Coding and the power of AI assistance. - Vibe Coding book: https://itrevolution.com/product/vibe-coding-book/ - Dr. Pal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tapabratapal - Jevon’s Paradox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox - Reinertsen, Principles of Product Development Flow: http://lpd2.com/ - DORA report 2025: https://dora.dev/research/2025/dora-report/ - MIT beer game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_distribution_game -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com --------------------

Want to be more productive, creative and joyful? That’s the outcome of Vibe Coding, a new concept and book by Gene Kim and Steve Yegge. In the first of a three-part series with co-author Gene Kim, he talks about how he got started on this project and how Vibe Coding offers new ways of working to tech and non-tech people alike. Links: - Gene Kim: https://itrevolution.com/author/gene-kim/ - Vibe Coding book: https://itrevolution.com/product/vibe-coding-book/ - Steve Yegge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Yegge - Erik Meijer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Meijer_(computer_scientist) -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013,

What is ‘movie logic’ and how does it work in real life? Listen to this episode of Troubleshooting, as Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about how movies rely on artificial drama and withheld information to create tension, but open communication and marginal gains is how effective teams really thrive. Links: - Cate Hall, "Are You Stuck In Movie Logic?": https://usefulfictions.substack.com/p/are-you-stuck-in-movie-logic - James Clear on UK Cycling's marginal gains: https://jamesclear.com/marginal-gains -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a dec

What happens when you have the knowledge but not the skills? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey continue to discuss the three basic elements of learning, how they apply to software development, and what problems arise when you have one or two of them, but not all three. Links: - Orienteering: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienteering - Building to learn: https://www.strategyzer.com/library/dont-build-when-you-build-measure-learn - Thinking, Fast and Slow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow - Three Types of Learning Venn Diagram: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cM3vXRG0YGN6wsns9fyzIPr8q03HjCWz/view?usp=sharing -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Doug

What can we learn about learning from driving in Alabama? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the challenges and rewards of learning and focus on three times of learning - knowledge, methods and skills - and how Squirrel applied all of them (but not quite well enough) when he had to drive in Alabama to visit family. Links: - CFAR workshop: https://www.rationality.org/workshops/upcoming - Mundanity of Excellence paper: https://fermatslibrary.com/s/the-mundanity-of-excellence-an-ethnographic-report-on-stratification-and-olympic-swimmers -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied a