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Clarke Ching on Agile – Podcast Interview

As you may recall, I occasionally fulfill the role as co-blogger over at The Agile Executive, a blog geared towards the concerns of Agile decision makers, managers, and leaders within companies. Recently, I had the pleasant chance to record an interview with Clarke Ching. Here’s the skinny, copied from the entry at TheAgileExecutive.com:

To listen to this podcast, download the podcast directly, subscribe to the blog/podcast feed in iTunes (or whatever), or click play below to hear it:

Kicking off our Agile Executive podcast series, I talk with Clarke Ching. We start out discussing two of Clarke’s books Rocks Into Gold and a longer version he’s working on. We then discuss the relation of Goldratt’s The Goal.

I ask Clarke to talk to his point that breaking things into smaller chunks end ups costing less. He says:

  • In bigger projects (vs. smaller ones), we end up building more low-priority things, thus “wasting” time
  • With a focus on delivering small chunks that work we get higher quality, rather then wiring up lower quality stuff

After this, I ask Clarke how he’s sorted out the boot-strapping problem of getting Agile started in organizations. He recommends:

  • The Weetabix Sell – selling the benefits, not the ingredients or “process”
  • Set expectations that it’s going to be hard work
  • find quick wins, preferably “without doing anything”

Finally, I ask Clarke to give us a report on the Agile scene across the pond, which he does nicely.

I’m interested in more such interviews, so if you have some folks in mind, send ’em along. Otherwise, enjoy ;>

Categories: Agile, RedMonk Radio Podcast.