Category Archives: Better Agile

Courage

I have suggested in other posts that a tremendous amount of improvement can be made in five areas: ScrumMaster leading the removal of impediments Product owner executing the 85 percent to 33 percent rule (like the 80 to 20 rule) Team having more fun! Team reducing technical debt all of the time Continuously better business […]

A re-write….

I have taken an article out of context and re-written it below. Here is the original. See how you like the re-write: If social psychologists have proven anything during the last 30 years, they have proven that the actions we take leave a residue inside of us. Every time we act, we amplify the underlying […]

Changing people (that would include you)

I am involved with Scrum as a coach and trainer, and occasionally, I get the question, “I would really, really like to do Scrum (better), but I need to change X, Y and Z.” And X, Y and Z are people, or groups of people, at that person’s organization. And, just to remind us of […]

Do Scrum and Kool-Aid go together?

Occasionally I hear the complaint, “Oh, you [scrum, agile, lean, x] guys have drunk the Kool-Aid. You don’t care how reality intrudes, you’re just going to propose your [x] solutions.” What does this person mean? He or she might mean, “Completely on faith, without any support of reason and facts, you are a strong advocate […]

Change and how we feel

Why is it that we change? And how do we feel about it? And how does change stick? My business is to change people, including myself. As a change agent, one is always interested to know more about why people change.  Maybe better: How do we get people to change, and stay changed? One idea […]

Greater Joy

One of the famous phrases from this season (in the Christian part of the world) is this: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” A slightly similar agile saying is this: “If you are not having more fun, you are not doing it right.” This is very […]

Spontaneous Order

I will not remember this well (knowledge decay), but there is a great quote from Fujio Cho (now Chairman of Toyota) at the beginning of Liker’s The Toyota Way. Something like: “There are many things you do not understand, and therefore we ask, ‘Why don’t you just go ahead and take action? Try to do […]

Scrum Tools

Revised slightly: 6/19/2021 A course attendee asked about Scrum tools. First, in the Agile manifesto it says, “Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools.” Naturally, being geeks, the first thing we want to talk about in or after the course is [drumroll…] tools. We have to have a sense of humor about this. First, I […]

Some Agile Principles

Let’s discuss some agile principles. I often say the dance steps will be ugly if you don’t feel the music. There is a heated discussion now about the principles that underlie Scrum. I hope no one hurts himself.  By which I mean, in jest, that we often have the biggest fights about abstract things. On […]

Ready to listen?

From Catherine Louis: I’m getting ready for a 4-day training session in Mt. Hood Oregon teaching new handlers how to work with their K9’s toward becoming an operational search and rescue team. One of the “Ahaaa!” moments in training is teaching the handlers how not to ignore the K9’s innate behavior. One very small example […]