Team Introductions

David Tuma

A vibrant, effective working group is built on a foundation of collaboration, trust, and rapport. So let's get to know each other better, so we can celebrate the diverse expertise and passion we each bring to this initiative.

We welcome all members to introduce themselves in this discussion thread. Tell us a little about yourself, and tell us why you're passionate about the Exceptional Agile initiative.

Dave McKenna

I'm Dave McKenna. I'm an Agile coach in the Broadcom mainframe division in Pittsburgh.

I've been with Broadcom / CA / Legent for 32 years. I started off as a support guy on the phone, graduated to a developer who wrote code, I worked with sustaining engineering for a while, and did some QA testing before I pivoted into the Agile role.

This initiative really resonated with me, because we've been doing this kind of thing for a long time. I work with mainframers: people who spend their lives stuffing things in 8-byte registers. They are very engineering-focused. So when we began investigating Agile concepts, we had to figure out how to make them work. And that happens with a combination of agility and a focus on engineering excellence, which is what we're trying to do here.

This rings true with me as we go forward into the 21st century. Our industry has already gone through a bunch of technological revolutions, if you think about it. We all went through the app economy, where the industry was focused on putting apps on people's phones. (You might think that wouldn't affect mainframers, but we had to adapt to the surge in computing when everyone could suddenly check their bank accounts on their phone.) Then we've gone through booms for blogs and podcasts and social media, and now we're on the precipice of AI.

So the timing for Exceptional Agile is really good, because things are going to change dramatically over the next 2, 3, 5 years. It's more important than ever to enable human beings to be excellent. And this includes producing excellent, high-quality, well-tested, well-engineered, well-architected code. AI will help us produce it faster, so it's critical that this be "faster good" instead of a race to the bottom.

Attendee

I'm Trent Leopold. I’ve worked in software development and design for my entire career, starting back in 1986 with the Tandy Corporation. I began by writing software and documentation for the personal computers sold in Radio Shack stores. I've worked for a number of companies and held a variety of roles in the 40 years since.

I am currently an officer for the IEEE, specifically serving on the subcommittee responsible for artificial intelligence standards. In this capacity, I serve on a committee that approves global AI standards as they move from concept to official IEEE designation - a process that typically takes at least one to two years.

I’m also engaged in a decades-long longitudinal study with the University of Texas, collaborating with over 160 neuroscientists globally. Our research focuses on how the human brain works best and how we can unleash strategic thinking. We’ve found that the way society has utilized the brain over the last couple of decades isn't optimal, contributing to a global mental health crisis.

I believe this research is highly applicable to our work on this initiative. We are "human beings," not "human doings," and AI presents a massive opportunity to do things differently for the betterment of society. My primary focus for our initiative is defining what constitutes "success" as we move forward. I’m privileged to be a member of this group and look forward to what we create together.

Steve Shook

I am Steve Shook with Ishpi Information Technologies ("ISHPI"). Our company was acquired by ISHPI over ten years ago; we were formerly Advanced Information Services, an organization that maintained a long-standing partnership with Watts Humphrey under the leadership of our CEO, Girish Seshigiri.

Our team has a deep history in high-maturity environments, specifically utilizing PSP and TSP. We have since worked to adapt these principles into the agile world.

Having started my own career in 1990 - back in the days of Radio Shack, TI, and Atari computers - it is a pleasure to be online with so many fellow "mature professionals." And here we all are still, now on the cusp of the AI revolution.

From my perspective, our goal for the coming year is to develop and leverage a framework that can be applied across the software engineering community, but especially within our organization. We'd like to use this as a primary source to train our own developers (or whatever that role may be called a year from now). My hope is that this framework will allow our software teams to maintain the same standards of engineering and process excellence that our historical practices in PSP and TSP have always provided.

Barti Perini

I'm Barti Perini. I also work at ISHPI, so I have the same background as Steve.

I came to the United States from an engineering background, in a desire to pursue computer science. I did my master's, was lucky to be hired by Girish to join AIS. AIS was a great place to start as a software engineer. They embraced the full-blown PSP and TSP, gave new hires weeks of training, and embedded everyone in that disciplined way of doing things. When we were acquired by ISHPI, we were lucky that they did not change anything.

We have been continuously certified at CMM and CMMI Level 5 for more than 15 years, since 2007. We have also done CMMI Level 3, and we have so many ISO certifications. Our certifications have almost no findings or non-compliances.

But of late, we have had challenges because our new team members don't go through the same training that the old-timers went through. They are under the impression that high maturity means we are not "agile," or that tracking data slows them down. We know that isn't the case because a single defect is enough to knock a whole schedule to go out of whack, and our quality practices more than pay for themselves.

In the next year, I'd like us to produce training and solidify a framework that I can show to people to prove that high maturity means "agile." You can deliver on time. And I also would like to streamline what we are doing in high maturity. What processes are the most important to keep under control? Are we gathering any data unnecessarily that we can do without? I want to be lean and mean, yet achieve the results of high maturity, which are predictable and high-quality work products. That is the end game that I'm looking for.

Michael J. Berry

My name is Mike Berry. Like all the rest of you, I've spent my life in software development. The Apple I was the first computer I touched, and the Apple IIe was the first computer I owned. Those were golden years, great times. I earned a degree in Information Systems and Technologies in 1997. I'm a few months away from finishing a Master's degree in AI at Neumont University in Salt Lake City, where I live.

I've spent the last 18 years running a software development best practices training company. Everything you've heard of, I've probably taught a class on it: Scrum, Function Point Counting, SEER-SIM, NESMA, The SLIM Putnam Method, COCOMO, Barry Boehm, lots more. I teach a lot of PMI stuff nowadays.

I think the industry has needed something like this for a while. And in the interest of full disclosure, I've actually created something called the Stable Framework that answers many of the questions we're facing. It's based on over 8 years of research and study, and pulls together lessons I've learned in many organizations. I think its very germane to this dicussion and would be very valuable to this group. I know the original signers of the Agile Manifesto brought methodologies and frameworks to the table, and I think this could be a part of our solution in a similar way.

I've also studied Deming and the Toyota Production System a lot. And I've worked in two different ISO 9000 environments. I've written lean manufacturing shop floor tracking software. I agree that metrics aren't anti-agile, and that process and agility aren't opposites of each other. There are good and bad metrics, good and bad processes. If you understand the difference, you realize that metrics and process are your friends.

Jeff Schwalb

I'm Jeff Schwalb. I've worked in the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) for nearly 42 years, starting as a software developer and computer scientist writing instrumentation software for our test ranges. This inspired a career-long commitment to improving how we build high-quality, high-performance systems for the warfighter.

I became interested in PSP in 1995 when I met Watts Humphrey at a conference in Boston. I quickly became an early adopter and an instructor, and worked with the SEI to develop the Team Software Process (TSP). Since 2001, I've led the implementation of these processes across NAVAIR, specifically focusing on our R&D labs in China Lake, California and Point Mugu.

My passion is really: how do we continue to build the best products with the least amount of rework? I've been a very strong advocate of a team process - using a personal process at the individual engineering level and integrating that up into the teams. And I support agile methods but believe we must balance agility and discipline. I also see a problem where people are "doing agile" (e.g. Scrum/SAFe) without "being agile" (changing their mindset). I know it's possible to be agile and still collect the metrics that allow teams to meet schedules and commitments without sacrificing quality. I'm excited for this initiative to tackle those problems.

I could talk a lot more, but I'm definitely plugged in and excited about this. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I plan to work in the Navy and with the worldwide community to try and keep making these things happen.

David Tuma

I'm David Tuma. Like many others, I got into computers at a young age. My first computer, a TI-994A, didn't have writable storage; so I had to solder together components from Radio Shack to connect a cassette tape recorder to my serial port to save and reload programs.

My first introduction to PSP and TSP was in 1997, on a project for the US Air Force. I immediately saw they could change the world. I decided to support that vision by writing an open source application to automate the associated planning, tracking, and data analysis. It started as a passion project on evenings and weekends, but since 2005 I've been working on it full-time. It's been used by tens of thousands of developers over its lifetime, but I'm eager to reinvent it for the coming AI revolution.

I'm excited for our initiative to fully integrate agile and high-maturity methods so the industry can benefit from their synergy. This new framework could provide solutions to the challenges that many agile teams are grappling with.

My vision is that, in a few years, Exceptional Agile is a well-known and respected methodology. It's helping teams across the industry recognize the value of high maturity behaviors and see them as agile, not heavyweight. Organizations and customers can expect excellence, and now have the vocabulary to ask teams for it. It’s become part of the DNA of the industry. And it’s helping teams take control and break through the agile glass ceiling. They are improving product quality by orders of magnitude without losing speed, keeping their promises to the customer, and becoming more agile. They wonder why they ever ran a project any other way.

Daniel Liedl

I am Daniel Liedl. Feel free to call me Dan or Daniel. I am an agile coach currently living in Ridgecrest, CA, desert and working for the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD). Prior to this position, I have been a project manager/agile coach as a contractor, contracts administrator, Army Medical Service Corps Officer, and Army Medic. During my personal and professional journeys, I realized that we all have been doing Agile, aka doing something different, in one aspect or another even before we knew ‘Agile’ was cool. I believe the key to successful Agile is to continuously seek to understand the ‘Why’ and prioritize and execute what brings the most value, even if it doesn’t make sense quite yet.

I was first introduced to computers by my father. He was a project manager and software developer for IBM. I saw many of my friends receiving Atari and other gaming systems. When I asked my father if we could get one too, he said that if I wanted to play video games, I would need to develop them myself. I said ok. Shortly after that discussion, my father brought home a TI-99 4A computer and a stack of programming books. That was the beginning of this awesome journey.

I am very excited to be part of this journey with you. Taking an active role in learning has always been important to me. I believe it goes back to understanding the 'Why' with projects, industries, and people. I am currently in my first year of a doctoral program with Purdue University. I have a feeling these next weeks, months, and years will be a time of continuously learning and growing between school and our journey together. I look forward to learning, growing, and expanding the opportunity to provide a collective and collaborative solution, path, knowledge, etc. to those who choose to explore doing something different and wanting making an impact.