In Part 1, I wrote about what the value stream map looked like for expert-focused “cross-functional” teams. In Part 2, I discussed cooperative teams that have working agreements on when to do code review or make other decisions as a team. While those teams exhibit somewhat more agility, cooperative teams are still not collaborative. So […]
In Part 1, I wrote about what the value stream map looked like for expert-focused “cross-functional” teams. While those teams are cross-functional, they are not collaborative. However, these expertise-focused “teams” are not the only type of non-collaborative agile teams. There are also cooperative teams. Cooperative teams still tend to work sequentially, focused on each person’s
We talk about cross-functional agile “teams” as if they are the norm. That’s what I show in this image: some responsible person creates a ranked backlog that the cross-functional, collaborative team works on. That team delivers increments of value on a regular basis. At some point, the team will demo their work and retrospect on
This is Johanna Rothman’s March 2026 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Most of us have heard of—or suffered through—schedule delays. That’s when the project or program feels tremendous pressure to deliver some specific value by a specific date. To achieve those dates, we often heard lies such
This week’s podcast is an early part of the Continual Planning book. I thought this was the Introduction when I wrote it. Maybe, maybe not. (Insert laughter here.) The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for March 13, 2026, where I read an excerpt of just a
Maybe your team does have Ready criteria for their backlog. But they look at the backlog item, and they say, “Oh, this is way too big. We have no idea how to start.” That “no idea” often means the work is too large, unclear, or not based on a specific customer with a specific need.
The Writing in Public podcast returns! Life, including many travel changes, etc, interrupted my normal schedule. But I’m back and starting a new nonfiction book about continual planning. Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for March 6, 2026, where I read an excerpt of just
Does your team feel as if they can’t really start when they take an item off the backlog? The team says the item feels too big. Or the team realizes they need someone else from some other team to solve this problem. Worse, the team needs to decompose the item more to make sure they
This is Johanna Rothman’s February 2026 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Jim, one of my trusted advisor clients, was all gung-ho on AI last year. He told me that his AI work allowed their senior management team to define their strategy, “once and for all.” That strategy was
Several of my clients claim they have plans. But I don’t see the elements of a plan in what they do. Instead, I see wishes that the future will unfold in a particular way. I also have wishes. But the more we confuse them with plans, the less likely we will get the future we