One thing that defines good agile teams is the habit of "learning from feedback." This idea is not something agile teams invented though, even if it is core to being agile. I imagine that cavemen gave each other feedback on their hunting and gathering techniques and continually improved, as measured by not being hungry and… Continue reading Should we do a PIR?
Another new year comes along
I ended last year with a road trip to Melbourne, which is the city I was born in. My wife, daughter and I have a fantastic time, partly because we caught up with family, partly because we took the time to enjoy things together and also partly because of the simple fact that we were… Continue reading Another new year comes along
That’s a wrap
After a long article last week, I thought I would finish the year with a short one. I began the year with a goal to "publish a blog article every two weeks" but I modified it slightly to include "not go two weeks without an update" which meant that I could not publish one article… Continue reading That’s a wrap
My agile coaching mindset is unstable and evolving
In my last article, I compared agile coaches to the catering corps in the army, saying that we support the troops rather than leading them or engaging in heroics. Cooking and cleaning for the heroes sounds like like a humble, servant leader thing to do. But does that metaphor really drum up an image of… Continue reading My agile coaching mindset is unstable and evolving
Agile coaches – special forces or catering corps?
I was talking to someone recently about becoming an agile coach. I am an agile coach so I told them that coaching is a cool thing to do and agile is a cool thing to be involved in. Annoyingly though, they are already agile and their team is already working well as a unit. They… Continue reading Agile coaches – special forces or catering corps?
Goal trees and goal wording
I set different goals, sometimes as small as a todo list item, such as "reschedule meeting" and sometimes as large as "Expand human settlement to at least 3 new star systems". Some goals are tracked diligently, while other are simply ticked off a list when they are achieved. Some are incredibly short term (do before… Continue reading Goal trees and goal wording
Setting goals if you are using GQM
I talked about setting a goal in my last article, and also referred to an approach called "GQM," or "Goal - Question - Metric". I thought that this time I would drill a little deeper into coming up with a goal. How does the goal fit with the Question and the Metric The focus I… Continue reading Setting goals if you are using GQM
Should I replace my hunch with data?
Sometimes my approach to coaching is to pay attention to what is going on, form hunch and then act on it. Similarly I sometimes just enter into conversations with people to hear their views and then discuss whether we should act on their hunches. I believe that doing this can lead to some good insights… Continue reading Should I replace my hunch with data?
Hunches, spirals, data and ongoing improvement
In my last article, I gave some thought to using data. Rather than saying you should use data, which you should, I looked briefly at the limitations and dangers of using data. This time though I thought I would start looking at how to use data for coaching teams and finding ongoing improvement. I use… Continue reading Hunches, spirals, data and ongoing improvement
Using data is good but watch out
A lot of product teams use a lot of data and I think that is great. I am even in the process of helping some teams better use the data that is available to them. However, doing so has reminded me that "using data" and "benefiting from using data" are different things. This article is… Continue reading Using data is good but watch out
James King 