I was running projects when I first encountered agile techniques. I still remember the joy of reading the book “Agile Project Management” and seeing clearly how I could improve the way I ran projects. Even before that though, I had adopted improved ways of working that were really just common sense, even before I knew that they were agile). In particular I found agile approaches brought two very powerful things to project delivery: We leverage the community to deliver, rather than aligning resources to critical paths; and We continuously manage risk using a “sense and respond” approach rather than “Planning … Continue reading Perhaps product based thinking is holding agile back

I have been having a lot of online meetings lately and they obviously have their challenges. Rather strangely though, online meetings often seem more efficient than face to face meetings. There is no waiting for a meeting room and no trouble booking a room. Best of all, people are eager to get through the agenda and get out of the meeting. I was wonder if, when people are face to face, they might start to expect the same etiquette and efficiency that they expect online. But not all meetings are meant to be efficient, something I had forgotten that until … Continue reading Sunset on the pub based retro?

I was talking to a friend of mine who is also coaching people at the moment. His team are currently distributed and working from home, due to the current pandemic. We talked about how both the pandemic and the need to work with people you are not in physical contact with creates has an ongoing impact on energy and motivation. We get through a day’s work well enough, but I think it is like there is a small leak draining my energy during the day. Like a tap dripping in the background or a battery slowly running flat even when … Continue reading Stress-o-meter cards for retros

Editor’s warning – a long article with personal comments and opinions. Probably 10 minutes to read. My daughter Kiran recently published an article on the growth mindset. After she published her article, I spent some time thinking about the topic in a little more depth. I decided that would be much easier to teach a class full of kids, if they all have a growth mindset. Here is my reasoning: Kids with growth mindsets will seek opportunities learn from and will regularly ask for feedback that they can use improve their learning. They are also more fun to be around … Continue reading Growth mindsets and lucky coaches

I was speaking to my daughter about a growth mindset recently and she agreed to post a summary of what it is. As my daughter Kiran explained, it is pretty obvious that a growth mindset is good, because it involves perseverance, confidence and other important traits. It is equally obvious that a fixed mindset is bad, because it involves self-doubt, giving up and other unhelpful things. Therefore you should adopt a growth mindset and be confident that you will get where you want to go. Kiran pretty much takes this for granted and her view is frequently reinforced by her … Continue reading Is a fixed mindset OK?

This is an article about what a growth mindset is and what a fixed mindset is. This article is actually by Kiran who is James’s daughter. She is 8 years old and has actually taught a class for agile coaches when she was in year 1. (That was me Kiran writing that too if you did not know). I learnt about this in Kindergarten!!! You kind of need to know what the other one is to understand the other. Growth mindsets and fixed mindsets are complete opposites as you will see in this article. So what is the difference? It … Continue reading What a growth mindset and a fixed mindset is (explained by an 8 year old)

My 8 year old and I now share an “office” My daughter and I are both “working from home” now, so I thought that I would compare our approaches and the experience we are having at the moment. My daughter is at school (grade 3) and I am an experienced worker who had worked at home, in cafes and even on planes. My daughter has received a face to face education for 3 years (plus kindergarten) but she is suddenly doing her schooling at home for the first time. I am also working from home, though the term “work” is … Continue reading I should be an expert at remote work. My daughter has never tried it before.

I am known for my simple, “dodgy, ” approaches to workshops and problem solving. So it may not surprise you that I have prepared some dodgy analysis in the following graph. Analysis of the value of solving the problem This graph shows how you can prioritise the time and energy of your team. Some activities (building trust) are valuable while others (random meetings) are not. Some things are easy (going for a coffee) and others are a lot of effort (Building mastery in core skills or truly satisfying customers). Using this dodgy analysis approach I have listed succession planning as … Continue reading Succession planning is easy so just do it