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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 […]

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The importance of the Product Owner

It is probably true that the Product Owner is yet more important than the ScrumMaster for the success of the team. The ScrumMaster should, almost by himself, triple the velocity of the team. He or she is the ingredient without which it does not happen. And the Product Owner can execute the 85-33 Rule — where […]

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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 […]

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Change

Taylor Swift just won the Grammy, I think, for album of the year. Maybe a few other Grammys, too. Taylor Swift has a song out called Change. Maybe “old” now by music industry standards. Watch the video here. In 1988 there was a movie with Uma Thurman called “Dangerous Liasons.” OK, Uma Thurman was not […]

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Leading Lean Software Development Chi Feb 10-11

Also wanted to make a quick post about this course. Mary & Tom Poppendieck recently completed their new book (of basically the same title). They will be leading this course in Chicago on February 10-11. They gave essentially the same course in Chicago last year just after Agile2009. Everyone was happy with it. The lean […]

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Certified ScrumMaster course in Ottawa Feb 3-4

Just a quick post to mention this course. We were up in Ottawa recently and enjoyed it. (Although cold to a guy from NC.) This should be a good course, and hope you can attend. For details, see here: http://bit.ly/9aSHmd  Subscribe in a reader

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Paying for courses

Apparently paying is a complex subject. This post is mainly for those who wish to pay for our LeanAgileTraining courses, but others are welcome to read it. First, there are many ways to pay: check, cash, wire transfer, credit card, barter, etc. If you have a question about this, contact Cassandra Wagner. Second, the “easy” […]

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Free Speech

One of the great themes of Agile is freedom. There is no doubt that some take freedom in the wrong way, and what they get is more like anarchy, which is not freedom. But, from what I see, most people don’t really understand freedom. Based on actions, they seem to think it means, “I am […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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