Recently I was working with a group who are responsible for the installation of software and hardware, which they then train end-users to use. This work was being scheduled by a project manager. Unfortunately, there were many dependencies and uncertainties in the installation, which...
Read More
Two concepts most new Agile teams get wrong are working agreements and values. If teams adopt values at all, they are most likely to follow the Scrum or XP values. These are a total of seven values that are mentioned in both Scrum...
Read More
Image taken from the 2008 film “Hancock” (Colombia Pictures) starring Will Smith and Charlize Theron Extreme Programming Pairing One of the more controversial techniques that XP employs is Paired Programming. Paired programming is when two developers work on a single task,...
Read More
BMX stunt riders, just like any other eXtreme Sport, takes a lot of practice to get right. When learning a trick, a lot of practice is required. Most of that time, of course, is spent failing, sometimes in spectacular ways. Before a...
Read More
This is an adaptation of a model that I came across recently on http://LeadingAgile.com. My model is slightly different from theirs, but it serves a similar purpose – to chart the Agile Transformation of an organization. The Dimensions BUDGET &...
Read More
Last week at our regular Lean & Agile discussion group, I was introduced to a quadrant tool, used to gage how in control team members are feeling. There are some similarities between this, and the Cynefin leadership framework, but it...
Read More
In “Teamwork is an Individual Skill” Christopher Avery suggests that collective leverage and power does not come from distributing and delegating accountabilities, but from collectively demonstrating responsibility for the entire result, with each member doing their best to make their...
Read More
Agile teams have the sacred goal of delivering value. So perhaps Agile teams be made accountable for the value that they create? This seems reasonable. However, there are problems with this. For one thing, it is very open-ended. How is...
Read More
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been working on a succinct definition of ‘agility’ – what it means for an organization to be ‘agile’. It seems apparent to me now that this has little to do with what...
Read More
On my continued journey through Eric Ries’ book “The Lean Startup”, I am now at chapter 11, ‘Adapt’. In this chapter, Ries posits that not only should be product be adaptable, but so should the organization as a whole. To...
Read More
