All articles in Blog

Agile Coaching, Agile Transitioning, Blog, General Agile, SAFe

Cooks, Chefs and Agile Scaling Models

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Chef Photo

I am often reminded of the difference between a cook and a chef in my agile practice. I have used this story numerous times with developers to explain agile development practices. Like me, it seems that some developers will always be cooks. While there are some who don’t know the difference, I have even run into some that prefer to be cooks instead of chefs. Not that there is anything wrong with choosing to be a cook, but it helps when one is aware of the choice and makes a conscious decision to be one.

Blog, General, Leadership

Yahoo! – Some Thoughts on Regaining Former Glory

By
Yahoo Building Photo

My topic this week is the fall of a company I (still) have a great deal of affection for, one that I continue to support. To me this company “was” the internet and their rise and past prominence represented what was best of Silicon Valley. More troubling is their subsequent lack of direction and downfall represents what can be thought of as the worst of Silicon Valley. I am not the first (and will not be the last) to weigh in on the tragedy that goes by the name of Yahoo!

Agile Coaching, Agile Transitioning, Blog, General, General Agile

The 3Ps of Agile Software Development

By
einstein

I am often faced with explaining the various aspects of Agile to people new to Agile and I have come up with a very simple way to remember (and explain) Agile. I present to you now the “3Ps of Agile Software Development” with the hope you find this useful to your own understanding and an aid in your ability to explain Agile to others.

Agile Team, Blog, Scrum

You Have a Friend – Another Reason Scrum Works?

By
Friends

Scrum teams that work are small, co-located, dedicated, stable and cross-functional. These elements are essential in working in the complex world of software development. Recently, I stumbled across another reason that may explain the gains found on proper scrum teams – friendships.

Agile Coaching, Agile Management, Agile Transitioning, Blog, General Agile, SAFe

Wagerfall

By
wagerfall certification

While other scaling frameworks have detailed flowcharts, organizational structure documents, etc., Wagerfall avoids such complexities. Mindy Minter, Head Architect at Great Big Company, praises Wagerfall for its simplicity. “We are big believers in the KISS principle. You can’t get more KISS than Wagerfall. Pay your fee. Get your certification. Claim you’re Agile.”

Agile Coaching, Agile Transitioning, Blog, General Agile

On Death and Dying and Agile Transformation

By
death and dying

Once we understand that the grief stages are in response to the loss of an idea, it is not a great leap to apply this to any company transformation. It is well known that there are some who will readily embrace change, but there are a great number that see any change as a threat.

Agile Coaching, Blog, Leadership

The VW Scandal as a Cautionary Tale – Cultivating Fear Always Ends Badly

By
culture of fear

My advice to leaders is to pay attention to the VW scandal and heed its warning. You will most certainly reap what you sow, karma will catch up with you and cultivating fear will always end badly.

Agile Coaching, Agile Team, Blog, Scrum

Stop the Sprint Slop and Shot Your Zombie Stories in the Head

By
zombie

“Zombie stories” are a great indicator of team maturity, the origin of which is mostly related to either stories that are too large, poorly written and poorly refined or teams that are pressured to plan more in a sprint than is possible or are victims of “false” dependencies.

Agile Coaching, Agile Management, Agile Team, Blog, Leadership, SAFe

Individuals, Teams, Systems – The Evolution of Agile at Scale

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Once upon a time I coached one of the most amazing agile scrum teams. They were able to deliver things that their management found quite unbelievable so much so that they conveyed a meeting to find answers to why this particular group of people were able to so greatly outperform others in the organization. As an aside I was not originally invited to the meeting but the team lobbies for me to be there as they considered me one of the team and, as a team member, partially responsible for their success.