Product-Centric and Customer-Focused: Agile Mentor’s Podcast – Episode 14
In August, Scott was interviewed by Brian Milner on the Agile Mentors Podcast brought to you by training partner Mountain Goat Software. Product-Centric and Customer-Focused As someone who works in the product development space, terms such as product-centric and customer-focused are likely heard during meetings or while conversing with colleagues, managers, marketing analysts, and product […]
Correcting Assumptions via Systems Thinking
Identifying the system your assumptions build is a giant first step in helping teams improve. Let’s use systems thinking to briefly examine a causal loop that either increases or decreases the team’s confidence. We begin with the assumption that “teams must be held accountable, because people do not naturally hold themselves accountable.” The domino effect this […]
Toastmasters and ScrumMasters: Agile Leadership and Effective Communication
I was recently part of a panel on Scrum training, along with other agile leaders in our area that I respect both for their knowledge of agile and for their professionalism. Anyone would say they are successful. Just before we started, I realized that three of the five panelists were part of Toastmasters. Coincidence? Au […]
Three Difficult Questions for Managers and Leadership
The largest of the first sessions at the Agile Open SoCal Conference was on anti-patterns. It was facilitated by one of our coaches and Dave Brown, a wonderful agile leader at First American. And it was disrupted by me. The attendees from numerous companies at various stages listed over two dozen common problems. These people […]
6 Similarities Between SAFe and LeSS
Although there are significant differences in how change is approached, here are some similarities between SAFe and LeSS, aka, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and Large Scale Scrum (LeSS). Similarities Between SAFe and LeSS Both SAFe and LeSS address organizing multiple teams in an agile work environment (stating the obvious here, perhaps, but just to be […]
Agile Adoption Preparation Signals Future Success
Agile Adoption Preparation I’ve recently been coaching at a company, and I’ve seen the most impressive agile adoption preparation ever. And we haven’t even “started” yet. “Normal” Agile Adoption Preparation Most companies call us in to help kick-off their agile adoption, but they have: Already decided on the approach (Scrum) and details (sprint length, day of […]
Agile Leadership Makes a Difference
Agile Leadership Makes a Difference Wow, I almost got sucked in…. Now that Agile 2015 is here, I was looking through the self-promotion of talks to see what was interesting to me. I was struck by one about Human Systems Dynamics. And for a moment, I was captivated by all the models (I’m a models […]