To summarize: your agile transformation is stuck. You’ve thought about your why, as in Becoming an Agile Leader, Part 1: Define Your Why. You’ve started to measure possibilities. You have an idea of who you might talk with as in Becoming an Agile Leader, Part 2: Who to Approach. Now, how do you create allies so you can unwedge […]
To summarize: your agile transformation is stuck. You’ve thought about your why, as in Becoming an Agile Leader, Part 1: Define Your Why. You have some idea for measurements. Maybe you’ve even started to measure to capture the data. Now, it’s time to talk to people across the organization. The question is this: Who do you talk
What does it mean to be an agile leader? Here’s what I’ve seen work: The leader recognizes a problem the organization needs to solve. There may be many problems, and the leader extricates one to start. The leader explores options with the people involved. Often, the leader asks this question, “What is the smallest change
Being an Agile Leader People tell me agile is past mainstream now, into the late adopters. I don’t buy it. Oh, agile has jumped the shark and made it into our vernacular. The result: I too often see agile as something the teams should do, without management using agile to improve the environment or their
In our projects, we solve problems all the time. We might solve customer problems—how to make this feature work the right way. We might solve project problems—how to get to continuous integration or how to build enough and the right kind of test automation to make it easier to release. We even solve so-called people
One of my colleagues wants to standardize all his agile teams on one process. He happens to like iterations, so he wants everyone to use two-week iterations. He wants them to use Scrum rituals and ceremonies. I understand what he wants to accomplish: gaining the ability to look across the projects and see the same
Impediments will occur on any project; agile projects are no exception to risks. Agile succeeds because you are more likely to see the problem before it becomes a disaster. Two developers got the flu. Your tester has jury duty. The team can’t figure out what the design should be for a specific feature and it’s
Build Your Agile Leadership In your organization, agile has helped your teams improve their value delivery. Although the teams retrospect, you expected more improvement. You think your agile journey might be stuck. Maybe it’s time for you to build a culture of agile leadership. Tip 1. Make your work transparent. Do other people know what
I spoke with a potential client last week. She said, “I’m waving the agile flag. But no one cares.” I wrote a Pragmatic Manager to sort through what I wanted to say to her. Read it at Feeling Alone on Your Agile Journey. If you feel stuck in the middle, or you’re alone, or you
Feeling Alone on Your Agile Journey? Do you feel as if you are waving the agile flag and no one cares? You know what you, your team, and your management needs to do. No one seems to be able to put your suggestions into practice. Worse, sometimes, it looks as if no one cares, except