Archives

Video Resources

Just added new videos to the Resources section of the website. Enjoy. Most are fun. Here.

Read More »

Are there Project Managers in Scrum? No (but…)

Scrum has only 3 roles: Product Owner, ScrumMaster and Implementer. Who is responsible for ‘the project’?  Well, that would be the whole Team. What do we do with George, who was a Project Manager (PM)?  Well, we have to talk to George.  Maybe he would make a great ScrumMaster or a great Product Owner.  Or […]

Read More »

Our Favorite Scrum Mistakes

Ah, Valentine’s Day! A day for a simpler love than “love your enemies.” Even the simple love is quite complex.  Well, as long as one is not besotted like Romeo below the balcony. Or Juliet above. When one is besotted, then love is truly simple. Other days, it is not. Or so I am told. […]

Read More »

Do we Estimate in Scrum? Yes!

A really smart and experienced colleague says we should not estimate.  Specifically: in Scrum we should not estimate. Now, to get into the deep inner-workings of Lean and Continuous Flow…well, I am not going to go there today. As a minor point, I will say the latest Scrum Guide to me, says we estimate in […]

Read More »

“If you wait for perfection, you might wait too long.”

I guess I will take credit for this quote (see title). “The relentless pursuit of perfection.”  I mostly like that idea. (That was the slogan of the Lexus brand.) But ‘waiting for perfection’ usually means analysis paralysis. Or maybe other things. To me, it reflects a  key idea behind lean-agile-scrum. It is an idea expressed in […]

Read More »

Agile – Penny Game Rules

As attendees of my courses know, I like to use the Penny Game.  So, I wanted to share more. Rules: 1. Say: “We are about to see who is the best penny processor in all of [city] today.  And the winner, with the best single round, will win $20.” 2. Select 4 players (these will […]

Read More »

3 Methods to increase Business Value

Yesterday I enjoyed talking to Southern Fried Agile, the local one-day agile conference in Charlotte.  My topic was: Three Steps Toward Greater Business Value. I was pleased to see many participants wanted to discuss this subject. So much so, that the organizers decided to run the session twice. I am happy this is considered an […]

Read More »

Agile Release Planning is not about the Plan

Here is one key observation about release planning from the past week and a half. I have been working in France.  I have worked with 3 different companies, and a bunch of great people. In the third class, we did a 2-day workshop.  The Workshop was mainly about agile release planning, using the real work […]

Read More »

The PO – The Team – The Daily Scrum

I have some different views on this topic, and wanted to share them. Your comments are of course welcome. I am NOT asking what is or should be in the Scrum Guide. Or whichever ‘scrum bible’ you use. (In general, I prefer the Scrum Guide.) I am sharing my thoughts and experiences, together, taught me.  […]

Read More »

Release Planning: Completing the Plan

[This post is one of a series on Release Planning. The series starts here.] As discussed in the previous post on Release Planning, the user stories are now ordered. Now we must complete the Release Plan. So, we must make the trade-off between scope and date. There are three ways to do this: 1. Fixed […]

Read More »