Is it possible to find a company that does not say they are innovative? Is there any manager or VP that does not want more creativity? I’m sure such companies and people exist somewhere but I haven’t found one. We all want to foster innovation and creativity. Innovation In The Team Agile teams that are […]
Gaming The Penny Game
Last month I had the opportunity to provide an Agile and Scrum class to a private client. We had a great day learning and having fun. At one point a clever developer threw a twist into one of the exercises that had me worried. Let me set the stage a bit. The Penny Game The Penny Game […]
A Living Agile Product: The Hospital Patient
I recently had a sudden reason to do something I had not done since childhood. I went to the hospital as a patient. Surgery could not wait. I’m doing well now, moving on the road to full recovery. As I reflect back on the experience, I found things to learn about team work, skill boundaries […]
The Power of Smaller Teams
The issue of team size comes up very often in my interactions and online. People are very anxious about this detail and for good reason. The size of a team directly effects the culture and work they do, for good or bad. Documents Say… The Agile and Scrum literature, including training classes, recommend a team […]
Teams Over Projects
A team I have been working with recently had a crisis. The customer of their project had put everything on hold. In other words, the project was cancelled. The company had plenty of other work to be done so they were not worried about losing their jobs. The biggest worry for the team was breaking […]
Limiting WIP: People, Organizations and Scrum
(It’s been a long time since I have posted. I’m back at it now!) I have seen a common thread all through my career. A problem experienced seemingly everywhere, at all levels, including with myself. This problem causes all sorts of dysfunctions and symtoms, from frustration and poor quality to wasted effort and missed deadlines. […]
Agility Requires Clear Communication
The topic of communication has become a bit of an irritant lately. Certainly I’m not the best communicator in the world, so I work at it. I’m starting to wonder if many others have forgotten this key to productivity and enjoyment. I have many thoughts on this subject. Today I’ll address communication as an enterprise […]
Deep CSM Workshop
Last week I had the opportunity to be co-trainer in a Certified ScrumMaster Workshop. Mike Vizdos was the Certified Scrum Trainer leading the session. It was a small class with just four attendees. And they were awesome attendees with major contributions to the discussion! I learned some interesting things that I’ll try to pass on […]
Teamwork for real?
(I have much to say about the Certified ScrumMaster Workshop that just ended yesterday. This topic is burning my thoughts for some time now so it comes first!) Everyone “Does” Teamwork Recently I have been participating in the interview process for a technical position. The opening is on a customer engineering support team. Another of […]
Remember Your Foundation
I had the opportunity to work with Mike Vizdos for a one-day Scrum coaching session. A team in Chandler, Arizona was interested in finding ways to improve, to get outside eyes to help them see what they might be missing. We and the team had a great day. I re-learned something important about working on […]