I have a problem with the way many people talk about Scrum. They say “agile/Scrum,” as though they’re the same thing. No, no, no. Scrum is just one way to approach agile. It’s a terrific project management framework, especially for cross-functional teams that work on one project at a time. Scrum does not say anything […]
Is your agile transition proceeding well? Or, is it stuck in places—maybe the teams aren’t improving, maybe the people are multitasking, maybe you are tired and don’t know how you’ll find the energy to continue. You are the kind of person who would benefit from the Influential Agile Leader workshop. Gil Broza and I co-facilitate.
I am shepherding an experience report for XP 2016. A shepherd is sort-of like a technical editor. I help the writer(s) tell their story in the best possible way. I enjoy it and I learn from working with the authors to tell their stories. The writers for this experience report want to pair-write. They have
In The One Question You Should Ask About Every New Job, Grant says, Ask people to tell you a story about something that happened at their organization but wouldn’t elsewhere. There are four categories of stories: The human-ness of senior management (or not) Promotion opportunities for anyone How the organization fires/lays off The consequences for
Define Your Agile Success I bet many of you are working to use agile in your organization. Is your agile approach working for you? If you think you could use agile better, maybe it’s time to define what agile success means to you. Consider these three questions: What is valuable to us? How will we
A colleague asked me for some tips about writing. With hundreds of articles, blog posts, and 10 books, I know what works for me. I suspect some of these ideas will work for you, too. Tip 1: Write every day. Write for 15 minutes every day. This practice exercises your writing muscles. For me, it’s
I have several public workshops this year. I’m offering the Influential Agile Leader with Gil Broza April 6-7, 2016 in Boston and May 4-5, 2016 London. If you have not read some of my writing about leadership, take a look at these previous newsletters: ▪ Lead Your Agile Transition Through Influence ▪ Creating an Environment
How can you use certifications in your hiring? In Part 1 and Part 2, I discussed the value of certifications and hiring traps. Let’s see how to be positive about certifications and use them during the hiring process. I’ve already said that a certification might be a sign of perseverance and interest in the field.
In Part 1, I discussed the issue of certification vs. experience. One of the problems in using certifications to discriminate for or against people is that some people might have the experience you want, and might not have the certification paper that represents that experience to you. Here’s an example. I coached a project manager
There are a ton of certifications these days. Many demand only that you sit through a 2-day or even 1-week class and then take an exam. Some certifications demand that you prove you have worked in the field for some number of weeks/hours the previous year or so. Most certifications do not demand that you