December 2008

agile, MPD

Who Should Be a Product Owner?

At a recent workshop, one of the participants asked me this question, “We want to start a new Scrum team. But we are confused about who to ask to be the product owner. We have a choice of someone who doesn’t know how to be a product owner, is 10 time zones away, but knows

HTP, interview

Defining Fake Auditions

George asked in a comment what a fake audition was. Finally, I’m ready to discuss this. (Sorry for the delay, George.) A fake audition is when the audition is incongruous with the situation. In the situation described in A Second Chance Audition, the candidate cared about the outcome of the first audition, but the audience

MPD

Why Projects Don't Need Specialists

I taught several PM workshops last week in Israel. The Israeli project managers have the same concerns that my US students do–it’s difficult to imagine moving to Agile or even just integrating agile methods into your project if you have specialists. Specialists increase project delays in these ways: They aren’t available when you need them.

HTP, References

Using LinkedIn for Recommendations

While I draft an answer to George’s fake audition question, let me address Alex’s question about using LinkedIn for recommendations. I use LinkedIn, especially for coaching recommendations. I don’t know if it helps me get more clients, but I keep thinking it should 🙂 Just remember, a recommendation is not a reference. A recommendation does

MPD

Jon Stewart and the Automaker Bailout

Orac’s post, Jon Stewart on the Detroit bailout, points to Stewart’s perspective on the bailout. (Watch the video; it’s hilarious.) Some paraphrases and quotes from Stewart: ‘Congress… doesn’t know what the financial industry does and doesn’t want to look stupid.’ (paraphrase of Stewart) “The auto industry has a product that’s tangible and easy to complain

HTP, References

I Check References Each and Every Time I Extend An Offer

Jurgen surprised me in a comment, when he said that only the worst employees provided references. He said he doesn’t check references. I was astonished. I check references each and every time I extend an offer. I check references for people who do work on our house. I check references for people we ask to

MPD

I'm Disappointing Already

I can’t tell if this is a compliment or not, but David Anderson is already disappointed with the Agile 2009 program. Since we haven’t even opened the submission system yet, never mind chosen the program, I’m surprised. What David is reacting to is my organization of the program committee. (The potential compliment is that David

hiring strategy, HTP

A Second Chance Audition

John Cook pointed me to this gem: a second look – generosity 3. It’s the story of a fake audition that was dissatisfactory and how another real audition helped the author get a great job. Avoid those fake auditions. People don’t perform as well as they would in more real circumstances.

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