Small Reversible Steps (SRS)

When: 9am – 11:30am; Friday, Mar 11, 2022 to Saturday, Mar 12, 2022
Where: London, Ontario; Private

This information is about a private class.

If you are interested in private training, contact me to discuss options, pricing, and schedule.

About this Workshop

This workshop teaches the value of small, reversible steps in Product Development.

Photo of Storm Trooper walking in small steps, by Daniel Cheung found at Unsplash

Product development is risky. One of the revolutionary breakthroughs of Agile teams — and of XP (Extreme Programming) in particular — is the practice of always keeping the product in a releasable condition while adding functionality in small, reversible steps.

2 Hours of non-stop hands-on fun. A series of Lego® challenges illustrate the importance and benefits of incremental development, refactoring, and simplicity.

Photo by Bonneval Sebastien of people making Lego model, found at Unsplash

The workshop also teaches the Test Driven Development pattern — no experience necessary! We’ll use Lego® challenges to experience Test Driven Development. You will write actual tests and build a product incrementally. (A small product, but the concept scales to large systems.) This is a perfect illustration for managers who want to understand the value of Test Driven Development and Continuous Delivery.

This curriculum is adapted from the excellent exercises published and made freely available by Mike Bowler. He explains:

Most of these exercises have been jointly developed by Mike Bowler of Gargoyle Software and Bryan Beecham of Iceberg Ideas. All of these are used by Mike and Bryan in classes they teach and conference sessions they’ve given around the world. Bryan created the original TDD and Refactoring exercises and then together they created even more. The collaboration exercise was heavily influenced by Ellen Grove of Agile Partnership (though I do not include that exercise in the online version of this workshop).

Their work produced insightful and fun exercises — I have adapted those exercises for online delivery and enhanced the experience with my own additional content.

Course Topics

Test Driven Development cycle
Refactoring versus rework
Focus on quality
Pairing

Incremental design & development
Experimentation
Simple design
Testing

Who Should Attend?

I’ve conducted the workshop for Development Managers, Architects, Designers, Product Owners, Business Analysts, Testers, and programmers.

This workshop is primarily for people involved with project delivery or product development. And, broadly speaking, the concepts are applicable in the management of complex problems and empirical process control.

What You Need

Mixed Lego Pieces

A mixed set is best, or wide variety of random pieces. The “Classic” series have sets of ~250 pieces that are perfect.

Quiet Place & Computer

Webcam is required. A good internet connection is important. Consider using headphones unless your room is quiet.

What You Get

SRS Certificate

Track your progress in my personal training series. Read about the series here.

Alumni Discounts

All alumni earn a lifetime of discounts for my future courses.

Unlimited Reruns

The door is always open. Join my future sessions of this course at no charge. Redeem here.

Earn PDUs

Earn credits for Project Management Institute® or other professional memberships.

What People Say

“David is an exceptional trainer. Nobody should think twice if given a chance to take his classes.”
— PSU participant

“David is an exceptional speaker and has an exceptionally high level of knowledge and experience.”
— Director of DevOps & Services, D+H Corporation

“Very professional and knowledgeable instructor. It was an interactive class so never bored. I highly recommend for anyone and any level.”
— Senior Technology Executive

“David is a knowledgeable teacher with a wealth of experience, and he is a caring coach who will help you understand how to use Scrum and grow as a professional.”
— Former Teacher, Transitioning to Scrum Master

“David explains each concept in a manner that not only engages the participant but also encourages and challenges. I sincerely thank him for this wonderful and engaging material.”
— PSU participant

“David is a great presenter. The tools he uses to deliver the content are brilliant. I really enjoyed it and will keep an eye out for future opportunities for my team.”
— Director Product Development, Deighton Associates

“David is a brilliant, positive, uplifting individual who is just a joy to be around. He is one of the most inspiring teachers I’ve had the honour to learn from. Taking a course with David at the helm is a ticket to your future success.”
— Scrum Master, Georgian College

“In over 25 years in business, I have taken dozens of professional development courses and seminars, including 16 courses as part of an executive MBA, and against that backdrop I would rank David among the most effective facilitators I have had.”
— Program Director, BMO

“David is the epitome of what trainers should strive to be. David is a practicing trainer, where he not only provides world-class trainings but lives the Agile mindset in practice...I hold him in a very small number of trainers I have no hesitation recommending to my clients.”
— VP, Contino

“Dave was a great instructor with vast knowledge. The insights provided help clarify some questions or confusion. The interactive tooling used in the class (Mural) was impressive and the scenario based group session really helped to solidify the material.”
— Forensics Security Engineer

“I recommend the PSU course to someone that wants to learn about Scrum, UX practices and even some Product Backlog guidance. Hands on exercises in the class helps bring the concepts together. I enjoyed taking this course and will be applying learnings at my workplace.”
— Senior Manager, Development

“David is one of the few experts that can blend the world of UX & Scrum. He calls upon his rich experience with design teams to share examples of how to improve performance. Exercises are spread out through the course giving the participants ample time to experience the learning.”
— VP Sales

“A dynamic, content-packed, hands-on class with lots of scenarios and case studies. The instructor was open, committed, helpful, punctual, fun, and a true coach (Socratic in many great ways). It was great to hear examples of real life application from his expertise in the area, a great learning experience overall.”
— Customer Value Architect

I have trained thousands of Scrum & Kanban practitioners worldwide.

Saskatchewan Telecommunications - SaskTel

As Professional Kanban Trainer (PKT) with ProKanban.org and Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) with Scrum.org, I work to improve the profession of software delivery. I help organizations deliver products and services of the highest possible quality and value.

My career highlights the intersection of business, technology, and education. With broad experience, I help organizations and teams understand agility at all levels: practice and delivery, leadership and stewardship, organizational design and culture.