All articles about Agile

Blog, General, General Agile

Not Building a Car – The Need for More Appropriate Similes in Software Development

By

As humans we learn by analogy, metaphor and simile, adding new knowledge by initially relating the new to our existing understanding of the world. When we try to explain the software development process to the initiated (translation business stake holders), we use all kinds of similes to help them understand the process. The problem with similes is that they argue that something is like something else and many times people confuse the similes with metaphor, thinking that one thing is another. Not only do people confuse simile with metaphor, but many of the similes we use in explaining software development are not appropriate because they can cause more harm than good and they are not very accurate in their explanation.

Continue reading Not Building a Car – The Need for More Appropriate Similes in Software Development →

Agile Coaching, Blog, General, General Agile, Leadership

Thoughts on Agile Coaching

By

When I tell people I am an Agile Coach, unless they are in IT, I tend to get a lot of strange looks. Most of the time they will say something like, “I get the coaching part, but what the heck is Agile?” It is at this part of the conversation that they experience immediate regret as I launch into an endless barrage of commentary on Agile development.

Lately, however, I have begun to re-examine my own assumptions about what it the Coaching aspect of an Agile Coach is, especially now that there are so many professional coaches looking for work after the end of the regular NFL season.

Continue reading Thoughts on Agile Coaching →

Agile Development, Blog, General, General Agile

Agile = Antifragile Part 2

By

Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

I entered my previous post on the subject when I had just begun Taleb’s book Antifragile. As I continue my reading I have run into some very specific passages which lead me to theorize that the reason Agile development works so well is that it is a living, breathing example of what Taleb would call “Antifragile.” I am also coming to the conclusion that Taleb is a truly great contemporary thinker. As I examine my own career, I plan to take to heart many of his suggestions on creating one that is Antifragile.

While I am no in any way paid to sell this book, I encourage all Agile folks to highly consider adding this to their reading list.

Continue reading Agile = Antifragile Part 2 →

Agile Development, Blog, General, General Agile

Agile = Antifragile?

By

I am currently reading the book Antifragile: Things that Gain From Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I loved two of his other books, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable and Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets so I thought that I would give this one a go.

His central thesis is that there are systems that are not only robust, able to withstand randomness and chaos, but there are those that actually thrive on such events. He calls these “antifragile” as opposed to fragile systems.

Continue reading Agile = Antifragile? →

Agile Team, Blog, General Agile, Leadership

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us and Why Agile Works

By

In Daniel Pink’s bestseller Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, the author persuasively argues that what motivates people in the knowledge economy (of which software development is squarely seated) “is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. ”

People are no longer motivated by the carrot and stick approach of past Tayloristic, manufacturing, assembly line business. What motivates new workers, and what has been supported by a wide range of scientific studies, can be summarized by the acronym AMP which stands for Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose.

As an Agilist, I am always curious why in one company an Agile implementation succeeds and in another it does not. While there are many reasons for Agile implementations to fail, one thing that many have in common is that they fail to take into account the three factors Pink describes in his book.

Continue reading Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us and Why Agile Works →

Agile Development, Blog, General Agile

Recent Agile Speaking Engagements

By

Boy it’s been some time since I have blogged! I have been busy with all things business, personal and have had a great number of recent speaking engagements with any free time I have been able to find. I am passionate about Agile and love the opportunity that speaking brings.

My most recent gigs included a bunch of talks when my body was suffering a annoying fall head cold.

Continue reading Recent Agile Speaking Engagements →

Agile Management, Blog

Are You a Scrum Master? Be a Gardener.

By

I have recently been reading Jurgen Appelo’s book Management 3.0: Leading Agile Developers, Developing Agile Leaders. For those wondering what management’s role in an Agile organization should be then this is a good read.

In my current consulting gig I am coaching someone to replace me as a scrum master so we spend a great deal of time talking about Agile, Scrum and what it means to be a scrum master.

One of the things I have always used as a metaphor is the concept of Scrum Master (and managers) as gardeners. Though I may have heard it somewhere and forgot it or it may have reached my subconscious somehow, I came up with the metaphor of gardener because my in-laws live with me and are retired. They spend a great deal of time gardening. It is from their work bringing forth trees, flowers and mountains of vegetables that I took my cue.

Continue reading Are You a Scrum Master? Be a Gardener. →