Shows
Inspect and Adapt#59 Total Project QualityTotal Project Quality, Construx's course on how to insert quality throughout a work effort, hasn't always gotten the traction it deserves. Why not? In this podcast, we examine the subject of quality and our (perhaps poorly-named) Total Project Quality seminar. Join Construx's Steve Tockey, Earl Beede, and Mark Griffin as they Inspect & Adapt the Total Project Quality course, the topic of quality in general, and the practical things you can do to improve quality and efficiency on your projects.2025-06-0358 minInspect and Adapt#57 Risk-Based TestingHow should you spend your always-limited testing resources? Is one part of the product more important to test than another? Construx's Steve Tockey and Earl Beede join host Mark Griffin in looking at one approach to answering those questions: risk-based testing. Steve and Earl look at how to do risk-based testing along with its pros and cons.2025-04-0852 minInspect and Adapt#55 Practitioner Quizzes Construx - Session 1Construx welcomes Onorio Catenacci to the microphone to ask questions about software development that continue to puzzle him and perhaps to see whether Construx has the answers. Join Contrux's Mark Griffin and Steve Tockey to see if they can give sound, helpful, and actionable answers to Onorio's questions—and find out whether Onorio can stump Construx!2025-02-1054 minInspect and Adapt#54 Stories from a Long CareerConstrux's Jenny Stuart is retiring from the software industry, and we will miss her! In this podcast, Jenny Stuart looks back on her three decades in the software industry and shares stories and wins from her long career. Joining Jenny are three of her Construx work companions for the last 20 years, Mark Griffin, Steve Tockey, and Earl Beede.2025-01-0652 minInspect and Adapt#53 Cynefin FrameworkWhy do software gurus keep talking about the Cynefin Framework? What is it? How is it even pronounced? In this episode of Inspect & Adapt, Construx puts many brains on the topic with Mark Griffin, Jenny Stuart, Steve Tockey, and Earl Beede making the link between Cynefin and doing actual software development work. They cover where Cynefin is best applied and where this sense-making system just doesn't make sense.2024-12-1252 minInspect and Adapt#49 The NewWhat do we do when we are faced with "The New"? When something is new to us, it's harder to estimate, harder to plan, and harder to execute. Some development projects involve much more that is new than others. How do we identify the new and deal with it in a constructive way? In this episode of Inspect & Adapt, Construx's Mark Griffin, Steve Tockey, Earl Beede, and Jenny Stuart dive into ways to have the best development project when dealing with 'The New."2024-06-0452 minInspect and Adapt#48 Cone of UncertaintyWhy can't I know—with high precision—the final cost, scope, and time frame of my work effort? One of the biggest reasons you can't know all three at once is illustrated by Steve McConnell's Cone of Uncertainty. In this episode of Inspect & Adapt, Construx's Mark Griffin, Steve Tockey, and Earl Beede talk about what the Cone is, how it impacts your ability to estimate, and how you can use it to increase your estimate predictability. 2024-05-0157 minInspect and Adapt#47 RetrospectivesIf hindsight is 20/20—and it's good practice to look back to find ways you could do better—then why do retrospectives seem like such a waste of time? Shouldn't they be a goldmine that we're excited about rather than just another obligatory meeting? Inspect & Adapt host Mark Griffin gathers fellow Construx staff, Steve Tockey, Jenny Stuart, and Earl Beede, to discuss how we can make retrospectives something to look forward to.2024-04-0953 minInspect and Adapt#41 Special Guest: John Belbute, Engineering MetricsWhat metrics make sense for a development team? How do you talk about productivity? Construx friend John Belbute joins Construx’s Steve Tockey, Earl Beede, and Mark Griffin to talk about engineering metrics. John has been a software leader at many companies, including Intuit, WebMD, eBay and Capita CCS and is now semi-retired with his own coaching and consulting company. John shares his in-the-trenches experience trying to find the perfect metric to show the rest of the leadership team how well the development teams are doing.2023-09-2154 minInspect and Adapt#37 2022 Disaster Stories and Improvement IdeasAt the end of 2022, Construx surveyed our clients to hear their best disaster stories of 2022 and what areas they want to improve so they won't repeat their disasters in 2023. Join host Mark Griffin with Construx experts Earl Beede and Steve Tockey as they Inspect and Adapt those disaster stories and improvement opportunities. 2023-01-061h 04Inspect and Adapt#36 Right-Sizing Software Process: Going MetaIs there a "best" way or process to develop software? Is there one size fits all? Construx has always said, "no". One of our 10x Principles is "Tailor the Solution to the Problem". Join host Mark Griffin with Construx's Earl Beede and Steve Tockey for an Inspect and Adapt of right-sizing software development process. We cover the process for figuring out what your process should be–the "meta process".If you want to be notified of future live-stream recordings, be sure to sign up for our newsletter at our website: www.construx.com2022-11-2253 minInspect and Adapt#35 Individual EstimationIndividual expert judgment estimation (a.k.a. best guess, gut, swag, etc.) is the most common method of estimating development projects. Yet it almost always is not a good estimate. Join host Mark Griffin with Construx's Earl Beede and Steve Tockey for an Inspect and Adapt of individual estimation. We cover the pitfalls of individual estimation but counter with specific ways you can make individual estimation a bit better.If you want to be notified of future live-stream recordings, be sure to sign up for our newsletter at our website: www.construx.com2022-10-2559 minInspect and Adapt#33 How Much Testing Is Enough?"How much testing is enough?" is a question Construx gets asked a lot. Join host Mark Griffin with Construx's Brian Daugherty and Steve Tockey for an Inspect and Adapt of the enough testing question. We cover the drivers of testing, strategies to help determine "enough," and the common mistakes organizations make when developing and executing tests.If you want to be notified of future live-stream recordings, be sure to sign up for our newsletter at our website: www.construx.com 2022-09-1359 minInspect and Adapt#25 Crafting Software, Part 1: Beers to Pair with Requirements, Design, & EstimationWe thought we’d do something fun to start our second season and use a familiar vehicle to help new listeners and our old friends understand Construx’s software engineering expertise. And how are we going to do that? We’re going to use beer! You might be thinking, "Well, now you have my attention." Host Mark Griffin and Construx consultant Steve Tockey are accomplished home brewers, with 39 years of beer-brewing experience between them. In this first part of the conversation, they’ll work through the beginning phases of software development—requirements, design, and estimation—choosing beers that pair well with ea...2021-02-2550 min
Open House with Team RebaEpisode #155 - Steve Tockey, Principal Consultant at ConstruxOn this week's episode of "Open House with Team Reba", Reba and Eric welcomed Steve Tockey, Principal Consultant at Construx, which is a local software development best practices firm. Steve consults on active development projects and teaches software requirements, design, quality, and software project management.Together they discuss best practices in the tech industry, and Steve's two books "Return on Software: Maximizing the Return on Your Software Investment", and "How to Engineer Software: A Model-Based Approach". Interested in how you can help your company streamline their practices? Listen in for his segments. As a reminder...2020-02-0149 minInspect and Adapt#5 Design Patterns: What's Their Connection to Fundamental Design Principles?Construx Principal Consultant Steve Tockey and Mark Griffin discuss design patterns in a unique way by emphasizing the importance of understanding fundamental design principles when you’re using patterns.Of the top five reasons that software projects get into trouble, the most significant issue that is directly under the control of software developers is the complexity in the code base. Both industry data and Steve’s own engagement-derived data over 20 years of software consulting support this. As Steve McConnell has argued, the prime directive of the software professional is to manage complexity.Steve and Mark dive...2019-12-1739 min