Category Archives: Key problems

Agile-Carolinas Mtg: Waterfall vs Agile – key discussion points

Agile started as a reaction to Waterfall (cf. definition of waterfall in Dr. Royce’s paper). Perhaps not so much a reaction to Royce’s Waterfall, but to how Waterfall was being played in the wild. The reaction was expressed many ways, but a simple short explanation is in the Agile Manifesto (4 lines) and the Agile […]

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The illusion of control

Daniel Mezick has a good post in LinkedIn today: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/danielmezick_the-command-and-control-military-gets-agile-activity-6761443011659370496-itMo About the illusion of control, and the idea that control is an emergent property.  (There’s that darn word emergent again.)  See the article he links to: “The ‘Command and Control’ Military Gets Agile.” https://www.infoq.com/news/2010/06/c2-military-gets-agile/ *** Some quick thoughts. Of course it is an illusion that […]

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Get them Climbing again

It is typical for a Scrum team to start Scrum, get some improvement, and then plateau. That is, find some comfortable level of productivity, and just flatline there. Which I guess is fine, if that level were as good as that Team could do. But the level isn’t, and as they say, anyone can see […]

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The Crisis and Agile:  What is it? — What do we do?

This is a talk or group discussion I want to have soon.  See what you think. My goals are two: To help in general, and to help get us all get back to work, which I think is very valuable about now.  (Reasonably safely, of course.)  But we have several impediments. You see above the […]

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Managers and Team Members: Transparency Needed NOW

With the current state of the Coronavirus and responses to it, most knowledge workers are WFH. Prior to this, many managers could see most of the state of things just by walking around the office and talking to people.  Information and status were fairly visible. (Yes, Agile/Scrum could make things even more visible, but even […]

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Autonomy

Do people have the right to be themselves? Do people have the right to tell the truth? Can people be themselves? At work? *** Some people seem to believe that they give up their freedom as soon as they walk in the door of the company. Perhaps many many people believe this, to a notable […]

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Michelin’s Agile Journey

Kevin Cosgrove, a great Canadian guy, made a wonderful presentation at Agile Carolinas last Wednesday night. I have three big takeaways, although it includes many great ideas.  (Others might have different take-aways.) 1. Team’s should be 100% dedicated. And (mostly) Michelin was NOT doing this at one time, but NOW is doing this. And a […]

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What should I do if I cannot get a real Team?

Question: What should I do if I cannot get a real Team? Answer: First, let’s assume you are doing something important.  That it is the next most important thing to do at your company (eg, a release).  If so, you would do best to get a real Team.  And Scrum will have a bigger positive […]

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Necessary Conditions

To have a decent Agile-Scrum Team, here are my conditions: An important set of work An ability to define that work well enough (clearer requirements) A team that wants to do that work — an inspired team would be great A team that is willing to try Scrum The courage to face the truth Someone […]

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The Fuller Picture of Scrum

Very happy to post another short video showing my fuller picture of Scrum. A number of basics with a picture. The key thing, that I think many do not mention — and it’s important — is putting the “chickens” into the picture. Enjoy!

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