Johanna Rothman received a variety of responses to her recent writing on agile architecture. In this article, she attempts to clarify her case for having an architect on some—but not all—agile programs, depending on a number of factors.

In this personal experience story, Daryl Kulak relates the day he spent behind bars. He was there to participate in a program that pairs prisoners with software developers “from the outside” to explore the art and science of agile software development. “It’s like a code retreat,” Kulak notes, “except it’s inside a prison.”

Ken Schwaber and Bob Payne chat about the product owner (PO) roll and the complexity that can emerge when we ask too much of the product owner. This has always been a key role and we have sometimes dode the project a disservice by focusing the PO on the needs of development.

We all know what it’s like to be frustrated with someone else when that person isn’t being as responsive as we would like. It’s especially easy to do when our own work or responsibilities are on the line. In this tale from Naomi Karten, she shows that a lack of response doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of care and explains how very important it is to have the full story before you get too worked up.