Episodios

  • The Expertise Gap

    The Expertise Gap
    May 21 2025
    Do ‘Experts Have It Easy’? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss how experts and novices can overcome the empathy gap with rapid feedback, and breaking down complex problems into smaller steps to facilitate understanding. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Boyd Kane's article: https://boydkane.com/essays/experts - Gladwell, Blink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink:_The_Power_of_Thinking_Without_Thinking - Shuhari: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuhari - Terence Tao on finding gaps in proofs: https://mathstodon.xyz/@tao/111287749336059662 -------------------------------------------------- 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. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/
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    19 m
  • Accountable Not Agreeable

    Accountable Not Agreeable
    May 14 2025
    What is the true meaning of accountability? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey share a real-life story that illustrates how it’s often misunderstood. Listen now to learn why it's not about blame or punishment, but about 'rendering an account' - in other words, sharing reasoning and decisions transparently. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Previous episode on accountability: https://itrevolution.com/articles/accountability-leaders-are-accountable-too/ -------------------------------------------------- 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. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/
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    13 m
  • Blameful Post-Mortems

    Blameful Post-Mortems
    May 7 2025
    What can perverse incentives teach us about software development? Join Squirrel and Jeffrey for a discussion on the importance of personal responsibility and the potential benefits of 'blameful' postmortems in driving accountability and improvement within organisations, in this episode of Troubleshooting Agile. SHOW LINKS: Links: - Tal's article: https://talyarkoni.org/blog/2018/10/02/no-its-not-the-incentives-its-you/ - Blameless Postmortems: https://openpracticelibrary.com/practice/blameless-postmortem/ - Perverse Incentives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive -------------------------------------------------- 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. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/
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    12 m
  • Topgrading and Storytelling

    Topgrading and Storytelling
    Apr 30 2025
    Is topgrading a controversial topic? It seems so. In this episode, Jeffrey and Squirrel revisit the theme of topgrading in recruitment, featured just two episodes ago. Join as they discuss a listener’s experience, the necessity for some structure in interviews and the benefits of learning from candidates' past experiences through stories. SHOW LINKS: - Topgrading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topgrading - Topgrading episode link: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/threats-and-topgrading-in-executive-hiring - Shu ha ri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuhari - Squirrel's interviewing event: https://squirrelsquadron.com/events/2025/04-10-interviews - TDD 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 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. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/
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    12 m
  • Deceptive Leadership

    Deceptive Leadership
    Apr 23 2025
    Is shielding your team a sign of good leadership? On this episode, Jeffrey has been riled up by an episode of the podcast, Cortex, and wants to make a case against shielding, which he believes keeps teams disconnected from the reality of business conditions and leads to suboptimal results. SHOW LINKS: - Cortex podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cortex/id1001591696 - Dale Carnegie book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_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 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. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/
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    18 m
  • Threats and Topgrading in Executive Hiring

    Threats and Topgrading in Executive Hiring
    Apr 16 2025
    Is the use of threats to repel dishonest people a good idea? On this episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey talk about the “threat of reference check” and whether the benefits of reducing dishonesty outweigh the drawbacks of damaging trust. Get in touch to tell us what you think. SHOW LINKS: - Domain-Driven Design: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-driven_design - Big Book of Concepts: mitpress.mit.edu/books/big-book-concepts - Specification by Example: gojko.net/books/specification-by-example/ - Walking Skeleton: wiki.c2.com/?WalkingSkeleton -------------------------------------------------- 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. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/
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    21 m
  • Greatest Hits - Commitment: Engagement is (Still) Not Enough

    Greatest Hits - Commitment: Engagement is (Still) Not Enough
    Apr 9 2025
    It's time to talk about commitment! Not engagement, which is insufficient to produce effective results. In this episode - a repost of a previous conversation - Squirrel and Jeffrey offer specific tools for effective commitments and tell a story about a company that created a pile of bones instead of a Walking Skeleton. You’ll hear lots of references to “the book.” That’s our book - Agile Conversations!! You can learn more about that here: https://agileconversations.com/agile-conversation-book/ SHOW LINKS: - Domain-Driven Design: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-driven_design - Big Book of Concepts: mitpress.mit.edu/books/big-book-concepts - Specification by Example: gojko.net/books/specification-by-example/ - Walking Skeleton: wiki.c2.com/?WalkingSkeleton -------------------------------------------------- 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. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/
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    14 m
  • Positive Complaining

    Positive Complaining
    Apr 2 2025
    What if complaining could be a good thing? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the benefits of ‘positive complaining’ and how it can be used to strengthen relationships and offer valuable insights into what matters to the person complaining. Links: Trust Conversation (TDD for People): https://itrevolution.com/articles/test-driven-development-for-people/ Co-conspirators episode: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/co-conspirators-and-citcon 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 united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes. You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker. You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/
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    13 m
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