James King

When I was at school, I used to take great joy in arguing with my friends. When I want to University I learned to argue more seriously – putting forward strong, logical arguments for the position I chose to take in an essay. At work I have learned to put forward strong, considered arguments and…

I was dispensing advise to some teams on minimising WIP, keeping focused and pacing themselves, when I could almost hear my parents and even my grandmother giving me the same advice. So here are some of the tips that I heard as a child, that still seem to be good advise in an agile context.…

I sometimes still say that “agile is a mindset” rather than a set of processes and frameworks. I still think this is true – but I sometimes hesitate because I think people will interpret the word “mindset” as something different to what I think it is. For me, a “mindset” is a set of attitudes…

Sometimes I make good decisions based on the information that I have available. Sometimes I make bad decisions. Sometimes I wait for more information and sometimes I act quickly on a hunch. I have written about this sometimes in the past. You would hope that good decisions lead to good outcomes, but sometimes, in fact,…

There is a Sherlock Holmes story where the famous detective is trying to understand how a race horse disappeared. In it Sherlock is talking to a police officer: Policeman “Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?” Holmes “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.” Policeman…

“Look within Grasshopper, and you will find the answer you seek” Said the guru to the traveller When I read books on self improvement and EQ, one of the first things I often encounter is the recommendation to “pay attention to how you feel and react.” I interpret this to mean, that we should notice…

As an agile coach, I like to think that I can help teams to see their work in a new way and hence start to find better ways of working. I also like to think that my “Agile Experience” gives me an edge that people in the team will not have. However I am sometimes…

I have been assessing some teams recently, in order to diagnose where they can create further improvements in their performance. This assessment will be valuable in helping the team decide where to focus their attention in continuing their growth. Really though? Is both those statements really true? I guess the following needs to be true…

I work with a team who cancelled their showcase. Due to a combination of holidays, vampire infestations and other one off occurrences which led to only having one developer available for the sprint. The developer and the stakeholders did not want a bunch of people, all looking at the poor, single, developer and asking what…