Peter Alkema

AI 2018: Lessons for humans, selfies with robots

Leave a Comment / Innovation / By Peter Alkema

ITWeb’s “Meeting of the Minds” Artificial Intelligence conference took place in Johannesburg recently. Keynote speaker and professor of ethics Dr Aimee van Wynsberghe called for future-proofing AI with responsible design. Named one of Netherland’s top 400 influential women she is driving ethical-robotics thinking through her research and foundation work. She cited examples of human fatalities …

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“I Will” – A surfer’s code for a personal mission

Leave a Comment / Personal mastery / By Peter Alkema

World champion surfer and motivational speaker Shaun Tomson inspires thousands of people every year to take their next wave by committing to 12 simple and personal statements of intent. School kids, students, corporate teams and CEOs have all experienced the power of his message – one that was developed in the highs and lows of …

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“A Disciplined Viewpoint” with Scott Ambler and Mark Lines

Leave a Comment / Agile / By Peter Alkema

IndigoCube’s Business Agility 2018 offered expert insights from two leading Agile thinkers who have practiced their craft for decades with leading companies around the world. Building on their key roles in the Agile movement, they have developed and applied ways to help teams “Be Awesome”, especially in complex transformational journeys. Their Disciplined Agile framework drives …

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[Book Review] “In Math We Trust – The Future of Money” by Simon Dingle

Leave a Comment / Book Review / By Peter Alkema

Ambitiously sub-titled “Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency and the journey to being your own bank”, Dingle’s compact and very accessible book offers practical insights and a first-principles discussion of the “evolution of human trust”. Since the Bitcoin bubble of late 2017 most crypto-disciples have gone quiet – Dingle sees this as a natural inflection point in its unstoppable …

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St Stithians Raising Boys and Girls 2018 – “Educating for the Future”

Leave a Comment / Leadership / By Peter Alkema

I recently presented at the Raising Boys and Girls 2018 conference at St Stithians; we looked at the latest trends in technology, how they are shaping the world of work and what the likely implications are for education. Formal employment creates demand for skills but if companies are being disrupted and jobs are changing or …

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“Personifying Practices” – A theory of Agile teams, Part 2

Leave a Comment / Agile, My Agile Research / By Peter Alkema

My human-factors research on Agile software development teams is developing a theory about what is going on in their environment, specifically regarding the impact of management and leadership in large organisations. Part 1 – introduces the core category of “Personifying Practices” as a way of explaining certain human interaction Part 2 (this article) – constructs the theory in more …

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“Personifying Practices” – A theory of Agile teams, Part 1

Leave a Comment / Agile, My Agile Research / By Peter Alkema

My human-factors research on Agile software development teams is developing a theory about what is going on in their environment, specifically regarding the impact of management and leadership in large organisations. Part 1 (This article) – introduces the core category of “Personifying Practices” as a way of explaining certain human interaction Part 2 – constructs …

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[Book Review] Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?

Leave a Comment / Leadership / By Peter Alkema

This is an important question for leaders, and one that Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones attempt to answer in this book which is largely based on their work with firms and leaders in many different spheres. They argue that effective leadership requires a strong does of authenticity in how leaders interact with their teams; “know …

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Disruption at GREY; colouring outside the lines

4 Comments / Digital Disruption / By Peter Alkema

The advertising industry is grappling with disruptive forces and I was privileged to spend some time at GREY South Africa recently, talking about the technologies behind some key trends. The so-called fourth industrial revolution has seen the rise of cyber-physical systems like Tilley Lockey’s new bionc arm and a host of new capabilities that are …

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Factors affecting Agile team environments

5 Comments / Agile, My Agile Research / By Peter Alkema

This article provides initial results from ongoing research into Agile software development teams in large companies. Such teams usually depend on management’s policies and processes to establish and run their organisational environment, while they focus on the job of delivering great software. The Agile Manifesto specifies that such environments must be supportive and we must, …

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