Xamarin Fix: "Xcode license must be accepted in order to be connected..." Issue

I just recently updated my Mac to Sierra and Xcode 8.2.1 and right away had issues connecting to the Mac using the Xamarin Mac Agent from my Windows PC.  I made sure that the versions of Xamarin on the Mac and Visual Studio on the PC were the same version but kept getting the error "Xcode license must be accepted in order to be connected and working against the Mac"

Read More
Agile Engineering Fred Mastropasqua Agile Engineering Fred Mastropasqua

Another Real World BDD Example (#2)

This is my second real world BDD examples that we use here at Clearly Agile. I've been given permission to share this piece of code from the client.

In this example, we have a scenario where a user can create something called a "Project" and it has to have a correct "Open Date". Which is when the Project is complete.

Read More
Agile Engineering Fred Mastropasqua Agile Engineering Fred Mastropasqua

You Might Be an Amateur Programmer and Not Even Know It

The Professionals are organized, communicate regularly, and go above and beyond, Amateurs do not. Now, the term "Amateur" here sounds condescending, but it's not meant to be. It is a state based in two orders: the persons' mindset, and secondly, what they physically can or cannot do. This concept also extends to programming, where we encounter the two types: Amateurs and Professionals.

In addition to the Amateur and the Professional types, there is a third type, verbosely named 'the Amateur Who is Called a Professional'. This third type has four subsets that are worth mentioning.

Read More
Fred Mastropasqua Fred Mastropasqua

Agile Trainers and Coach's opinions coming across as facts

I've started to notice a disturbing trend with some Certified Scrum Trainers and Agile Coaches; this phenomenon generally occurs when I join a Team as their new coach. I've found that the teams' previous CST's or Coaches have laid the groundwork to use their own personal methods as Scrum gospel. The CST or Agile Coach has established that their own personal opinion is a requirement, a must, and the only way. This way of thinking contradicts the fundamental purpose of the Scrum Guide.  The correct way of thinking employs a comprehensive understanding of the Scrum Guides. If there is no definitive answer to the query at hand, then the CST should offer up possible solutions, noting which solution they believe, based on their experience, is best. 

Read More
Business Agility, Frameworks Fred Mastropasqua Business Agility, Frameworks Fred Mastropasqua

Running an Effective Retrospective Meeting

ou want to run an awesome Retrospective meeting but you really don't know where to start. I've found that a true Retrospective is about learning from mistakes made during the sprints;  how to improve the team while increasing velocity where possible, and deciding what works and what doesn't.  All that made sense to me intellectually, but in reality, trying to accomplish these things sometimes, is not as clear.

Read More
Resources Fred Mastropasqua Resources Fred Mastropasqua

The Scrum Unmeetup

Fred "Mastro" Mastropasqua will be facilitating our first ever unmeetup where the audience determines what topics are to be discussed at the start of the meetup.

Read More
Resources Fred Mastropasqua Resources Fred Mastropasqua

Scrum for the Rest of Us (Non-Software)

I had the pleasure to work with The Braintrust Group and review their book to provide feedback and editorial comments. It has now been published up on Amazon. I definitely would recommend this book for anyone new or experienced with Scrum. It has a lot of interesting tips and real world problems/solutions as well as pitfalls to look out for....The great thing about the book is that the word "software" isn't used once.

Read More