I apologize for the break, I was off sick at the start of the week and am running on all fronts to catch-up. In addition I have an article on TDD Adoption Strategies that I'm churning away at that has taken a good chunk of time. I promise a more weighty piece early next week. In the meantime here are some of the many items that have caught my attention in the past few weeks:

Neuronal Networks – James Zull: "The single most important factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly." While this may seem strange for an Agile Coach - I think all coaching (and training) is about changing brains. In the Agile world we need to bring some scientific rigour to our efforts. How do we approach new situations? What techniques should we use?. James' book: "The Art of Changing the Brain" and John Medina's "Brain Rules" are having a profound effect on my thinking around my work. I will be proposing an Agile 2009 session for this one.

Agile Testing Overview Redux - Elisabeth shares a great set of slides that introduce the principles and practices of Agile Testing. She also draws the distinction between Agile and Traditional testing.

Perpetual multivote for pull scheduling: One way for Kanban'ers to figure what to do next.

Use Risk Management to Make Solid Commitments: James Shore adapts standard Risk Management techniques to Agile: "That's why the Risk Management practice in The Art of Agile Development is one of my favorites. It's all about being able to make and meet commitments, and we have three great tools in there: risk multipliers, risk-adjusted burn-up charts, and project-specific risks. Today, I'll show you how to use the first two to make solid commitments to your executives."

Improving On Traditional Release Burndown Charts - another take on the same subject from Mike Cohn.

Context matters for team trust - In a short item Esther Derby explains why ropes courses won't do much for building trust on your team.

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