Most Agile processes (Scrum, Kanban, etc.) are built upon the notion of empiricism. According to the Scrum Guide, “Empiricism asserts that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is known”. The implicit assumption here is that Agile teams are comprised of rational actors who will gather the right information, and--when presented with that right information--will always make the correct process decisions around how to perform/improve. However, we know that in reality Agile teams are comprised of humans--each of whom bring their own biases, are guided by their own beliefs, and otherwise behave “irrationally” from an empirical point of view. In this session, we will discuss how this irrational behaviour actually makes teams very predictable in the mistakes they will make and what you can do to nudge your team from inept and inapt towards inspect and adapt.
CEO and Co-Founder ActionableAgile
Daniel Vacanti is a 25-plus year software industry veteran who has spent most of his career focusing on Lean and Agile practices. In 2007, he helped to develop the Kanban Method for knowledge work and managed the world’s first project implementation of Kanban that year. He has been conducting Lean-Agile training, coaching, and consulting ever since. In 2011 he founded ActionableAgileTM (previously Corporate Kanban) which provides industry-leading predictive analytics tools and services organizations that utilize Lean-Agile practices. In 2015 he published his book, “Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability”, which is the definitive guide to flow-based metrics and analytics. Daniel holds an M.B.A. and regularly teaches a class on lean principles for software management at the University of California Berkeley.
Principal Agile Coach
Prateek Singh has been leading and working on agile teams for the 12+ years. Starting with XP, then Scrum and now working in a Kanban system, Prateek has gained a breadth and depth of knowledge regarding agile techniques, practices and implementation principles. Prateek is currently a Process Improvement Principal at Ultimate Software conducting training and coaching for teams regarding Kanban and Lean principles. Prateek has played the role of Software Engineer, Scrum Master and Manager of Software Engineering in his career. Prateek is currently a Principal Agile Coach at Ultimate Software.