An Agile Balance

I wrote a couple of posts back about my ScrumMaster training that I would wrote more about how I would apply this to my job. This is the second such post.

This one is about the need to balance the discipline of what you are doing correctly with the ability to adapt, learn and change. If one is not careful, you might "discipline" as a static thing. In reality, while you are developing and practicing your discipline(s), you are at same time (or you should also be) learning and adapting. When viewed this way, discipline is a much more active endeavor. In his slideshare titled "The Tao of Agile", Fabio Armani states that "Both (Lean and Agile) offer a thinking tool set that allow us create new models and different approaches".

Reflecting on one of my recent projects, I had the thought, "Finally, the Product Owner is starting to 'get it'. It's a good thing I was so disciplined about this!" When I went back to review with them what they had "finally learned", I could also see that my own approach had adapted and evolved. I was also "getting it" and learning things about the project that were not initially clear to me. This is what the an Agile MindSet is all about -- being open to this "thinking tool set".  Can you  recognize when new models & new approaches either need to happen or in fact have already happened -- either for you customer or yourself?

Some Thoughts on MinneDemo21

Last night I attended MinneDemo21.     It was the 1st time I attended after several attempts.   I will be attending again, shame on me for not getting there earlier.  Several general reactions:

1. There *is* cool stuff happening in my local community
2. There are lots of energized, passionate individuals working on that cool stuff
3. There are few (need to be more) "deep pockets" trying to encourage, nurture, and fund this so more cool stuff will be created locally.
4. Shame on me for not being a little fish in this pond or doing more to connect deep pockets with the community.

In the spirit of doing my "little fish" thing to nurture and encourage, here are links to the companies that presented along with my twitter stream that captured my reaction in realtime.

The Presenters:

1. When I Work
2. HomeSpotter
3. OccamScan
4. Bushel
5. Parsec Labs
6. Qonqr
7. RecordTogether

Want more?  Here are videos of each presentation posted to TECHdotMN

IMO @RecordTogether steals the show at #minnedemo

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

Thanks to the guys @redriverkitchen - a veggie burger sounds GREAT #minnedemo

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

last demo at #minnedemo - RecordTogether collaborative music SW to add other instruments to a track of an instrument that you do play

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

Next up at #minnedemo @qonqr - it’s like playing Risk in a real map. I have not been a game player. This may change that.

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

Now on stage at #minnedemo @bestbuy - if you work on http://t.co/FuqdyGNudr your code will be running by next Monday #DevOps

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

Parsec Labs at #minnedemo - just the 2nd demo tonight that is not a mobile app talking about storage appliance

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

Now on stage at #minnedemo 2 employees from @Code42 - they just met on stage - the Noob - “I lost a lot of data in my day”

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

Bushel (created by JAMF) is next up at #minnedemo - mobile device management for small businesses

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

Next up at #minnedemo Occamscan - another mobile app to help consumers save money on grocery store purchases - “consumer big data”

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

Next up at #minnedemo HomeSpotter - streamline the process of looking for a house on a mobile device while collaborating with a realtor.

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

The 1st demo at #minnedemo is up - “When I work” Mobile Saas co. - help hourly workers to schedule and track time, swap work shifts

— AnAgileMindset (@AnAgileMindset) September 11, 2015

Don’t be a Killjoy

If I am dating myself with the title of this post, it was one of the more valuable take homes from my recent CSM Training Class. I had always considered myself to be very flexible and adaptable. However, during one group exercise, I was most definitely a Killjoy. This came during one of our opportunities to learn and adapt — an extremely important agile ability. I justified this (rationalized this) by “suggesting” to the group that we were not yet ready for a change one team-mate was trying to introduce since he had introduced it very late in our short planning period. We went through one more iteration and eventually did adopt this suggested change (it was indeed a breakthrough in the team’s output) with my full support.

However, there were three important things the instructor pointed out this particular exchange:

1. Don’t be afraid to “Fail Fast” — This was indeed my greatest fear. Given how late in the planning cycle my team-mate had suggested this change, I feared that our output would be even lower that previous iterations. No doubt we would have quickly realized that we did not all know what to do. This this fast failure leads to the second point. 
2. Don’t be afraid to dynamically adapt — Even during your iterations. I saw numerous times during this and other exercises that team members were constantly giving each other feedback and were adapting their techniques and methods mid-iteration. 
3. Lastly, how you deliver the message *is*important. When I said that I “suggested” we were not ready, it came across *much* more forcefully than a suggestion. While I know the person that suggested the idea knew I liked it, others on the team might have heard in my language that it “was a terrible idea”.  As I mentioned previously it was a good idea that we eventually adopted.

Don’t mistake “binary clarity” with being a Killjoy on rapid learning.

  

Certified ScrumMaster Training

Despite the fact that I have been a Agile Practitioner for many years and while I sent (read paid for) many employees to attend classes and certification tests over the years, I had never done so myself. A few weeks back I rectified that and attended CSM training/certification from the Scrum Alliance. I went into the class thinking that much of this would be repetitious (parts of it were), that there would be beginners (there were) and that the exercises would be useless (they *weren't*). Each of those points is worth a quick paragraph.

Material
It's never a bad idea to review the assumptions and principles on any material. In this case I found the most valuable was review of the roles of a Scrum team. I was able to apply this to my current projects and realized that in at least one case, I really do not have a Product Owner. One attendee asked, "Without a Product Owner, do you really have a project?" This is an appropriately challenging question. It was somewhat encouraging to hear that I was not alone in this challenge.

Other Attendees
There were several attendees that had recently been laid off and as part of their severance packages included some training dollars. Several of them were classic PMP's from the PMI. They were struggling with the basics of SCRUM since the material was very different from their backgrounds. However, their questions were valuable as they allowed the instructor to underscore key points and assumptions. The experienced Agilists were also add some stories from the front lines that added to the discussion. As with all training that allows you to "get away", the real value is in hearing those real world stories -- what have other people tried and not tried, what has work or not worked, etc.

Exercises
I take my hats off to the Scrum Alliance on the exercises they include in their training. These no doubt have been refined over the years. But given the relatively short time frame of a two day class (you take the certification test on your own after the class) the exercises most definitely gave us a chance to quickly plan, execute, adapt and repeat. It was both fascinating to watch and be a part of. In nearly all of the cases it taught me somethings(s) about myself.


Over the next couple of blog entries, I will share more about what I learned about myself and how I will apply it to my work.

The Importance of Common Language

I had previously written about “binary clarity” and how gratifying it was to hear others using that language after I left a position where I had used it frequently. The reason this was so gratifying was I realized the others had internalized what it meant. In short, the group had developed common language Further, they had internalized the importance of the concept.

Today, while attending a daily standup (I am now an observer, not an active participant) I heard the use of more common language. When I heard term used, I could tell everyone knew what it meant and what actions would follow.

I have an older brother that is now retired. He frequently comments on how he enjoys having his kids quote him. He likes to add, “Others will carry on after me”.  Common language is critical. It’s even more gratifying when you are the originator of the language.  It confirms that you have had an impact on the group and that others will “carry on”. 

Agility, Demos, and Credibility with your Customer

Once I had the opportunity to present at my company's annual User Conference. The Product Manager for the session set a goal that in hindsight was a pretty aggressive demonstration. When he walked through the outline, I thought, "Yep, that can be done" and the synopsis went out to the conference attendees. As frequently happens, work and life got in the way of the preparation time. I was fortunate enough to get some fantastic assistance from my colleagues on the requisite slides and that helped to further focus "the story" that the demonstration. I entered the conference feeling reasonably prepared.

For some reason the day before the presentation, "the buzz" around what I was going to demonstrate began to build. There was a Field Services employee that read the session synopsis and said, "You are going to do *that* during a live demonstration-are you crazy?" Shortly before the presentation, I ran into a customer that had intended to come, but then had another commitment. He apologized by saying that he was going to have to miss my "high wire act".  I was suddenly nervous.

Agile Performance Testing

Two recent events had me thinking about the subject line. One was a Webinar given by CloudBees titled, “ Adding Performance Testing into the Continuous Integration Process “ (the link is the Webex recording), the other was reading a blogpost shared by a colleague, "Combining Agile with Load and Performance Testing: What am I in for?” In essence both of these presentations ask the same basic question -- with all the focus on Continuous Integration and rapid feedback, "Why hasn’t development embraced Performance Testing as part of their development cycles?" The short answer from both — “It’s Hard”

Why So Much on Evernote and What is DevOps?

You may have been wondering what my last three posts were all about with topics like Outlook, Evernote (EN), and Getting Things Done (GTD).   I recently took a new position at my company.   I had come from a position that had never allowed to get organized or feel productive -- in work or life in general.    I took some time to try use these tools in a very prescriptive to way to get organized.   The prescriptive nature of the approach would allow me to "live the GTD lifestyle while I was not under constant pressure to get things done.     Now 2 months into the new position and the GTD approach to work and life is helping -- stay tuned.

You may be wondering what the the position is.  I joined a newly formed organization focused on "DevOps".  If you are not familiar with this burgeoning discipline, here is an "is"/"is not" exercise.    The source of this comes from "Continuous Delivery and DevOps: A Quickstart Guide ", by Paul Swartout.

• DevOps is another way of working whereby developers and system operators work in harmony with little or no organizational barriers between them towards a common goal.
• DevOps is not a way to get developers doing operational tasks so they you can get rid of the operations team or vice versa.

If you took that Wikipedia link for DevOps above, you would also find the graphic shown below that should give you the sense that DevOps is the intersection of Development, Quality, and Operations.

You can expect to see much more from me on DevOps as well as an occasional post on on productivity tips for GTD using EN and Outlook.

Send to Evernote or Add to Evernote?

In my last two posts, I discussed:

• Using the Bcc field to send a message to the Evernote inbox and create a note.
• Using the "Add to Evernote" Outlook Addin to create a note.

Are you confused about when to use one and when to use another? I encourage you to use each to see how if feels for you, but here is how I am currently using *both*. (Editorial note, this usage came out of my desire to apply the GTD (Getting Things Done) and TSW (The Secret Weapon) approach to Outlook and Evernote--EN).

Add to Evernote Button -- I use this when:

1. I am not immediately responding to an e-mail, but I know that I will want to later. I use EN to prioritize and make sure I don't forget.
2. I will not be responding at all, but I want to save it in EN for archival.

Bcc to Evernote Inbox -- I use this when:
I am responding immediately, and I would like it in EN either because:

1. I think I will need to respond later.
2. I doubt I will be responding later, but I still would like to archive it in EN.

I should add that both are functionally equivalent when it comes to putting the note into any folder or adding any tags that you would like. Although sending to your Evernote Inbox requires that you add folders and tags to the subject line in the correct order, which I sometime struggle to remember.   You also might get questions about what the folder and tag items on are on the subject line.

Using the Outlook Addin for Evernote

My last post talked about how I frequently "Bcc" my Evernote mailbox. That doesn't mean I don't use the "Add To Evernote" Outlook Addin -- in fact I use it quite a bit as well. Don't have this addin? If you are running the Evernote Windows client, you already have the addin, all you need to do now is enable it. Here is the basic process for enabling the Evernote for Outlook addin.

1. File
2. Options
3. Addins
4. Manage "COM add-ins" turning the checkbox on
5. OK

At this point the Evernote button should appear.  Your mileage may vary as discussion forums on this topic seem to be extensive.

Once you have this successfully working, you have two basic configuration options:

• Do you want a the note creation dialog to appear?
• Do you want the created note to appear as a New window?

Both of these are set within Evernote:
Tools -> Clipping Options (shown below). I prefer to see the creation dialog, but not the created note. Choose what works for you.

In my next post, I write about when I use "Bcc" vs the Add to Evernote Command Button

Bcc Can Be Your New Best Friend

In a recent post I queried for ideas around tools to manage my calendar. Specifically, I was looking tips around Outlook, Evernote (EN), and "Getting things Done" (GTD). The most helpful sources I found focused on:

Evernote Discussion Forums -- Very helpful community of EN users
"The Secert Weapon" -- specific techniques around using EN for GTD

The most useful tip (that I had been using intermittently) was the use of Bcc to get e-mail into Evernote. I found that I was doing this so frequently that I was willing to give the screen real estate in Outlook by having the bcc field visible all the time. Like most things in Outlook, you have to dig to find it. Here are those instructions in a nutshell for Outlook 2010:

1. Open a new New E-Mail message
2. Click Options menu to display the Options ribbon
3. Click "Bcc" on the "Show Fields" section of the Options Ribbon

Here is the link to the Microsoft KB article for various version of Outlook.

Calendar Before the Inbox

If you have worked with me or followed me on Twitter, you have frequently seen the #inboxero hashtag. While I used this mantra in my approach to my daily e-mail, I was not all that successful in practice (see www.inboxzero.com for some practical ideas). I recently took a different job within my organization and it has dramatically reduced the volume of mail that I get (thankfully). This change allows me to successfully apply the Inbox Zero concepts to my inbox, but I now have a different problem -- managing my calendar.

Previously, I had to give little to no thought on how I spent my day. I only had to sift through my inbox to find the most important crisis. So the "change cycle" that I am currently in is that my in box no longer "fills my day". To have some focus for the day, I now need to write down some goals and then put them on my calendar. Other than turning an e-mail into a meeting on my calendar, I have been wondering why there aren't there more tools to put tasks on your calendar.  Additionally, many of the "task managers" are good with "due dates", but not "doing dates".

Does anyone have any good recommendations for tools to help in this manner? I would be especially interested if they integrated with Evernote, Outlook, and GTD philosophy. If you do, please send me an e-mail or DM me at @AnAgileMindset.

Binary Clarity Defined

A phrase often heard at my workplace is "binary clarity". While it is often heard (mostly from my lips), it is less understood, and even less frequently internalized. Starting with the dictionary can help us:

Binary -- consisting of, indicating, or involving two.
Clarity -- clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity.

I especially like the last phrase in the clarity definition -- "freedom from ambiguity". Software and our language about the software we produce is filled with ambiguity, how can we ever be completely free from it? My answer has always to been to use language that is binary. By doing so we can dramatically reduce our ambiguity. Credit for this concept goes back over a decade to a Project Management Seminar that I took where the instructor used the phrase -- "Binary Completion Criteria".  Again, using the dictionary again, we find:

Criteria-- a standard of judgment or criticism; a rule or principle for evaluating or testing something.

I note the last phrase again -- "testing something".  When we put these three words together, it's clear that it is very relevant in our current agile/lean age. Our best criteria are tests. Tests can be expressed in binary fashion and their results increase our understanding. Anthony Boobier, writes in "Splitting a User Story",  If User Story A has completion that is binary; it is either 'Done' or ‘Not done’. He defines binary completion to mean mean the acceptance criteria must be met.   The best acceptance criteria is testable. Testing allows you to get to pass/fail == "binary"

Beyond the software itself, this can also be applied to our language. At a Webinar on Scrum and Kanban, Kent Beck made the statement, "Never underestimate the time you will spend defining 'done' ". I agree and add as a corollary, it is time well spent if it removes ambiguity. (See recent post with reference to "Done", "Done, Done" , and "Done, Done, Done").   For any task, we can decrease our ambiguity if our common language is binary: yes/no, black/white, etc.

Bottom line when I use the phrase -- "binary clarity", it is just a means to an end -- "Freedom from Ambiguity". In our daily work lives, what could be better than that?

Clarity with No E-Mail -- Part II

For those of you that read my previous post, you might be interested in the ironic conclusion.   For those of that did not read it, the quick synopsis was that "John Q. Public" was not interested in e-mails, unless they were from his boss.   He was ready to strangle the person responsible (unless it was his boss) for sending him so much e-mail from JIRA.   Both his (and my) suspicion was that a JIRA template was created so that he was getting added to the watch list for all new JIRA issues that met a certain criteria.   

"John" decided to dig into it further, and when he found no template, he asked the authors of some of the JIRA issues he was not "interested in".    The "template" in question was text file that the individuals were instructed to add him to the watch list of *every* JIRA issue they wrote.   Who instructed them to did this?    None other than "Johns" boss. :-)

A better ending that an O. Henry story!

A true story.....Clarity - with no e-mail

The following IM exchange is a true story -- the names have been changed to protect the innocent (and the guilty).   Things I noticed:

• The distinction between "binary clarity" and the nebulous  "done", "done done", and "done done done"..... -- more on this in a future post

• The lack of "personal clarity" for John Public -- also more in a future post

• John Public's concern over e-mail "from the boss" vs. those that can give him clarity.

• "JIRA" -- a free "plug" for JIRA from Attlassian -- I am not on their payroll.

john.public@company.com 10:21 AM

So James, the question is: "Can Consulting Company XYZ work on Ticket-1234? (I think that's what Joe was hoping...). Or does it have to be Fred?"

James Q. Public 10:22 AM

Ticket-1234 has been resolved.  The ticket is in "Resolved" status

so it would be waste of time

patience young man

I am not done w/ my updates

to that ticket

to achieve "binary clarity"

John Public 10:26 AM

"binary clarity" = "done"/"not done"?;)

James Q. Public 10:27 AM

exactly!

thank you for not e-mailing me on this;)

John Public 10:27 AM

I always thought there was "done", "done done", and "done done done".....

Hey, that reminds me - who do I talk to that can get my name off all the JIRA Tickets? It's flooding my email and I'm missing JIRA Tickets that I actually need to do something about....

James Q. Public 10:29 AM

interesting thought.......

JIRA tickets are how SW is changed

IMO 

we send too much e-mail "about work"

JIRA can do the same

and it is directly tied to the work being done

this whole "project" has been 

more about talking about work

rather 

than doing it

John Public 10:32 AM

So add a JIRA ticket to keep myself from arbitrarily being added to the Cc: list for all <project name> Jira tickets?:(

or is there some "<project name> JIRA master" that can remove me?

James Q. Public 10:32 AM

we all have "free will"

U can remove yourself from any ticket

that will be visble to those on the tickets

John Public 10:33 AM

I want to keep from being arbitrarily added in the first place.

James Q. Public 10:33 AM

*somebody* thought you should be added

John Public 10:33 AM

So if I have free will can I "strangle" that person?

(assuming it's not my boss....)

James Q. Public 10:34 AM

another interesting thought.....

John Public 10:34 AM

heh

James Q. Public 10:34 AM

I would think you would be > interested 

if that person were not your boss

John Public 10:34 AM

I'm very philosophical this morngin.....

James Q. Public 10:34 AM

because they are >> closer to the actual work

and >> grounded and facts 

I am adding you to tickets as we "speak"

:)

you will get no sympathy from me

as I am on more 

JIRA tickets than anyone!!

John Public 10:35 AM

No! NO! I'll stop "speaking"!! I'M SORRY!!!

James Q. Public 10:36 AM

because what you will get from the current

<project name> team is

1) stop sending me e-mails

2) comment in JIRA tickets

James Q. Public 11:30 AM

Still there?

John Public 11:30 AM

yup

James Q. Public 11:30 AM

these are e-mails that I think you would *crave*

<JIRA Ticket URL>

:)

"This is nothing more than best practices. "

this is not about "throwing work" to Consulting Company XYZ 

but KT for them to be more productive

are you clear on the current status?

John Public 11:34 AM

Ok. The way Joe had added it as a "Tab" on the Consulting Company XYZ Status report, he though it would be a longer term project that requried work to improve the speed of the builds.

And Sue was to coordinate between us and Consulting Company XYZ...

James Q. Public 11:34 AM

:)

so the "OK" means you are clear -- correct?

John Public 11:35 AM

So we don't believe that's an issue anymore - no room for improvement in the build process performance?

(just want to be sure what I'm saying OK to...):)

James Q. Public 11:35 AM

OK to "clarity"

as in your personal clarity

John Public 11:36 AM

or at least nothing that Consulting Company XYZ could help with, right/

Missing a feature - Is Your Mind Open to Your Creative Muse?

Without naming a software tooling I was recently using, I so surprised that it lacked a feature I wanted to use.  So surprised in fact, that I figured another user must have already entered it as a feature enhancement.    When I went to there enhancement request system, I could not find it.  I am active their forum and while I found an active discussion about the feature (and several proposed work-arounds), it is clearly not in the immediate future.  What was I to do?   Further, this was just one step along the way to solving a much larger problem.

After several days wondering what I would do and pondering the work-arounds discussed on the  forum, suddenly a solution to towards the larger problem emerged.   Strange, but I am convinced that if the original feature had existed, I would still be chasing the larger solution

What happened? Three key things that I can think of:

• I thought about more how my feature would have helped with with the larger problem.
• I collaborated with others on the forum to see their struggles and possible solutions.
• My mind continued the work the problem.

What can we theorize about this last point?   My spouse is a special education teacher and statistics show that a "practiced skill" must be repeated 27 times to completed with 80% accuracy.    I no doubt read about 2 dozen solutions on the forum/news group and I am sure my mind worked it at least that many times.

Stuck on a problem?  Seek out others, listen to them, think about what they are saying.   Then let your mind "riff" (27 times) on all of it.

Kanban It Is

Sometime ago, I posted that my team was using a "Wiki Version of a Kanban board".   We had been using this to track multiple code lines with status on builds, testing, and critical issues we had written up.    Re-reading that post now, I realized that a Kanban board would be for an individual release.   I had been using another Wiki page that was a Kanban page of sorts for over 5 years.    This allowed me to do *my* job during that tenure as it was exactly how *I* tracked the release.   As I showed more individuals, it became clear that not everyone thought like I did :-) 

I need a much simpler format (that actually looked like a Kanban board).   With the help of a colleague, we were able to quickly create a new Wiki page that actually is a Kanban board (pictured below).    There is no one that shows up at our daily stand up that is not able to understand "Considering", "Doing", and "Done".    This is  especially true of the release team -- they are much happier when they see everything in the "Done" column.

Is Your Mind Open for the Ridiculous?

A few weeks back, some colleagues of mine went on a visit to a customer.    This customer runs many of our existing products.    One of those colleagues and I had been recently discussing how we notify customers of our changes.    I was describing very excitedly sharing my belief that what I had been doing was some cutting edge/forward thinking on this topic. I was trying to paint a vision, and while this person remembered the vision, they did not know that it was *vision* and mentioned it to the customer as fact.  I got an e-mail as the meeting was taking place.   I was dumb founded that this colleague could not differentiate between fact and fiction -- what a ridiculous thought!

Just as I was thinking how ridiculous the idea was, I suddenly thought of a related idea that was not ridiculous at all.    This idea  did not have a huge fact/fiction delta and is something that we could deliver to our customers in fairly short order.    I would never have come up with this idea unless my colleague had not suggested such a "Ridiculous" idea.   Are you ready for ridiculous?  If not, try and move from a "Fixed Mindset" to a "Growth Mindset".

Old Tools, New Rules

My last few posts have been about relatively "old" technology.   Today I add one more -- the telephone, even if we are not using the "phone" in much different way: more teleconferences, iPhone, Bluetooth devices, etc.   

I have had two recent conference calls where it has become painfully obvious that the individuals have forgotten the polite use of the mute function on any device.    While it understandable that a short conference one can be excused for some background noise and a sigh or heavy breathing (yours truly has been guilty while walking up 12 flights of stairs), the most common offense is typing at a keyboard while having the phone close.   I recently attended a meeting where 75 attendees spent 34 minutes trying to get a conference-ed in attendee to mute their phone.  

Here is some simple advice for both Attendees and hosts:

Attendees:

• Desk phone - mute the phone and have visual a indicator of whether or not you are mute.   Better that you have headset.
• Mobile device -- a head set with a speaker is a *must*.   Mute as needed.
• Join the meeting on time, announce yourself.   If you are late, don't announce yourself.

Hosts:

• Start the meeting on time -- announce who is physically present, take a roll call of those conference-ed in.
• Ensure that physically attendees speak so those on the phone can hear.
• Provide a mobile friendly "1 touch dial" i.e. ",,," to pause where a pass code is required.
• If your attendees aren't "mute friendly", make sure you know how to mute them!

Are you "Dog-Fooding"?

If you are reading this, I am sure the title does not surprise you.     The term was first popularized by Microsoft in the mid 90's.     I had been using the term where I work and I was puzzled that the team thought it was odd.    I continued to use it and one team member posted on the wall the picture below.   I claim no allegiance to the brand depicted, I was just happy the concept had "gotten through").     This immediate feedback loop provided by using your own software has now been dubbed "dogfooding" and is used and understood in Agile circles without hesitation.

Are you dogfooding?   If not why not?   Perhaps it's because your software is not suited to the business that you are in.    However, if your organization can you use your software and you are not using it, what does that so to your customers? You should *find* a way to use your software and be your own customer.    If you start dogfooding, you will will begin to see the beneifits of the immediate feedback that it provides.     Eventually you will find yourself saying to yourself, "Kibbles & Bits, Kibbles & Bits, I'm going to get me some Kibbles & Bits"