That’s NOT Agile Coaching

I was recently reading an article on “Maintaining a sustainable agile transformation” that listed what it referred to as the “biggest  challenges organizations face during an agile transformation”. One of these challenges that I found interesting was described as “Coaching becoming and end in itself”.  While I agree with the intent of the challenge, it identifies a […]

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Preparing the soil for the seeds of Lean-Agile Transformation

I recently attended a workshop in Washington D.C. to get licensed to teach the “Drive Workshop” based on Dan Pink’s book “Drive”.  I had already been a big fan of Dan’s ability to synthesize meaningful patterns and actionable steps out of the research and application of what social, behavioral and brain scientists have been uncovering […]

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Is Transparency The Key Enabler of Agile?

Transparency IMO is perhaps the key enabler of Agile. It is at the foundation of building trust, the emergent nature of design and the ability to have effective inspect and adapt cycles. I recently experienced a breakthrough with a client that was experiencing discord between the Product Owners (POs) and the Chief Product Owner (CPO) […]

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The Elephant In The Room – Part III – Tools and Techniques

Enabling teams to better build understanding, open communication and trust is the lubrication that makes the human machines in a knowledge worker factory inter-operate smoothly. Without it gears grind, there are blow ups, and meltdowns, all of which result in highly ineffective and inefficient operations. It has been said in many fields of endeavor, including agile […]

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The Agile Scaling Checklist

When I first read The Checklist Manifesto by Dr. Atul Gawande it got me thinking about a checklist that could be effective and easy to use by my clients to help determine if a change they were considering making to a policy, a procedure, an organizational structure, facilities or a practice would improve their level or agility or […]

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Using Agile To Scale Agile – Part 5

Keep in mind that we should be using the concept of Plan / Do / Check / Act (PDCA) through out our agile transformation so that as we complete small iterations of transformation, we may evaluate our plans based on better knowledge and improve them as we go… this is at the heart of being agile.

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Using Agile To Scale Agile – Part 4

Don’t be tempted to select pilot projects that are off the radar and of little importance. You are just inviting those fearful of change to sabotage your efforts because the cost is low to them and the organizations.

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Using Agile to Scale Agile – Part 3

In my opinion keeping things simple, attacking small slices of the organizations and having embedded in the culture the idea of continuous improvement will help to ensure success in your agile transformation efforts.

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The Elephant In The Room – Part III – Tools and Tips for Addressing or Removing

My last post in this series “The Elephant In The Room – Part II” I discussed why this type of impediment is tolerated in many organizations.  I also explored how understanding  the context and motivation behind a team member’s poor performance can change other team members’ perceptions of it.  I discussed the importance of not labeling […]

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Scaling Agile Transformation Presentation at Agile Connect

Check out my presentation on “Scaling Agile Transformation – The Keys to Success”  that was recorded during Agile Connect.   The link will take you to the agenda page for the first day.  Scroll down to my talk and then register to view it… It is free 🙂 It was an great conference.  I enjoyed many of the […]

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