Blog: Agile & Business

Special Offers: Today thru Sunday

May 3, 2013

Today thru Sunday, for that limited time, we have a special promotion on this course. Intermediate CSPO + Workshop in Charlotte, May 21-23. 10% off to members of the local Agile or PMI groups. (Or those who join today.) Details are here or here. Today thru Tuesday, for that limited time, we have a special […]

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Empirical Process Control

May 1, 2013

Empirical Process Modeling Ken Schwaber and others talk of Empirical Process Control ideas as being key to understanding Scrum.  I think this is good sense. Mr. Schwaber got these ideas from Babtunde Ogunnaike and W. Harmon Ray, who wrote the process bible: Process Dynamics, Modeling and Control.  A big ole book, mainly about chemical processes. We […]

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Scrum 201: Desire

April 24, 2013

Any sports coach knows the Team must have desire. In my classes I talk to people about how much improvement they expect to make in 1 year, with 1 team.  Often their expectation is in the 20% range. I use Henry Ford’s famous quote: “Whether you think you can, or you can’t, you’re right.”  So, […]

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Scrum 201: Team

April 23, 2013

We want all Scrum teams to become hyper-productive. Why? Well, so they can enjoy life and be satisfied.  And feel like they accomplished something.  In part, this requires they reach hyper productivity without working any extra hours. Second, I assume hyper-productivity means greater business value delivered.  This of course will not always be the case. […]

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Why should the PO attend the Daily Scrum?

April 22, 2013

Umm. Good question.  We partly discussed this in an earlier post. First, the Scrum Guide (2011) does not require that the PO attend the Daily Scrum.  If you asked Jeff Sutherland his preference though, he would say it is better if the PO attended regularly. OK, but why? Well, first, the Team needs to know it […]

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Latest ‘Agile Release Planning’ ebooklet

April 13, 2013

I am pleased to announce that I have completed a full edit of the booklet. It covers: * Vision * Product Backlog * Business Value * Effort * Risks, Dependencies, Learning, MMFS, and other * Ordering the Work * Drawing the line * “Communications Plan” * The Fix-It Plan * Other things * Release Plan […]

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Leading Fearless Change Workshop – Apr 12th!

April 4, 2013

I recommend that all agile advocates and all ScrumMasters and Product Owners learn more about making change happen. Change both in the large ( the organization adopting Scrum or better) and in the small (changing to fix each impediment). Mary Lynn Manns will be leading a 1-day workshop on change. In Charlotte. April 12th. I […]

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Making Change Happen

April 4, 2013

Things need to be a lot better at work.  And they can be, in every way. Thus, we need for people or the organization to change.  And we hope we know the direction. And we hope we know the specific changes. In Scrum, we believe in fairly big changes. In Lean these are called kaikaku.  […]

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Selling the Benefits of Scrum

March 28, 2013

Two other CSTs (scrum trainers) made some comments in a Google Group, which got me thinking.  They reminded me of an exercise I normally do in my Scrum classes. Every class is different, but imagine a class that is mixed. Some people are new to Scrum, some have a few months experience, some have 9-24 […]

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Blue Pill and Red Pill

March 28, 2013

During a course in Romania, a participant asked me: “don’t you think you are setting false expectations? Scrum may help, but it will not help that much. This sets false expectations and disappoints people.” Good comments. Good concerns. I don’t agree that we are setting false expectations; although I think some issues must be addressed. […]

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