Once upon a time I used to run projects. To be honest I am probably a better BA than a PM, but I have run quite a few projects and my projects always seemed to come through OK. So when I encountered agile projects with product owners on them, I was pretty relaxed. I had… Continue reading The problem with project managers and product based thinking
Category: Agile fables
Jason’s coaching journey. The mysterious cheat sheet
The mysterious cheat sheet In this long read, we continue to learn about Jason and his experience as an agile coach. In this episode Jason and Sonja stumble on some useful tips for coaches when they stumble on a coaching cheat sheet left behind by one of the ancient coaches and they learn some great… Continue reading Jason’s coaching journey. The mysterious cheat sheet
Jason’s coaching journey – the struggling coaches
Some context before we start This is the second in a series of long articles about Jason, who is an agile coach. In the last episode, Jason was coaching away happily when suddenly it all came crashing down. In this episode we look at how he reacts and how his friend Sonja tries to help… Continue reading Jason’s coaching journey – the struggling coaches
Jason’s coaching journey episode one. The big slap
The great thing about agile coaching is that you are helping people to help themselves. So if you get some traction, then people usually enjoy the journey and start to build momentum. Then they help themselves (with your support) and you can clearly see the value of your effort. But it is not always as… Continue reading Jason’s coaching journey episode one. The big slap
Somehow I missed agile going mainstream
I recently stumbled on this article again - Original article talking scrum. Actually someone posted it in LinkedIn . The ideas seemed so clear and so right when I read the article. In fact it seemed like something "the old guard" had ignored in their ignorance. This was fresh, free thinking that the old guard… Continue reading Somehow I missed agile going mainstream
A choose your own adventure for agile coaches
Following a discussion I had in a recent class on agile coaching, I said I would create a "Choose your own adventure book." I have only done 3 pages but if you are interested then have a look https://kingsaddress.wordpress.com/ If people like it then I might add some more content but for the moment it… Continue reading A choose your own adventure for agile coaches
Understanding velocity – setting the scene
Velocity is possibly the most used, most loved and most misunderstood measure in agile projects. You will often see a rough chart like this one near your local agilistas ... or you might find that they have a beautiful electronic version. But what is velocity and how do people use it? This is the first… Continue reading Understanding velocity – setting the scene
Do you really need to celebrate failure to improve continuously?
Last century I learned about something called TQM which was all about empowering teams and improving processes. Now I am learning about agile and design thinking concepts. These are great approaches and we have learned many things over the years, but some things have not changed. For example, one thing common to all of these… Continue reading Do you really need to celebrate failure to improve continuously?
When did the buses in Perth go agile?
It is commonly accepted wisdom that agile development is an IT thing, now making its way out into "the business". But it appears to me that the bus drivers in a city called Perth went agile without the IT guys showing them the way. (warning - this is a bit of a long read). According… Continue reading When did the buses in Perth go agile?
If you want to scale agile you should use a coach. But watch out – some are working for evil agile
If you want to scale agile beyond one team you should probably use an agile coach to help you on your journey But watch out - some have signed the agile for evil manifesto and might not be a good fit for where you and your team want to end up. This is the manifesto… Continue reading If you want to scale agile you should use a coach. But watch out – some are working for evil agile
James King 