The Practical Agile Blog
Don’t Confuse the Target With the Goal
Don't confuse the thing you're measuring or doing with the thing you're actually trying to accomplish. This is an recap of my non-AI Video #3 A few years ago, I was talking with a husband and wife who were visiting Hawaiʻi. At the time, I was doing a lot of executive...
Getting Back to My Roots: Project Leadership, Coaching, and Fractional Consulting
Over the last several years, my professional life has gone in a few different directions. I’ve continued consulting and training, but I’ve also spent a significant amount of time working in real estate, renovating properties, managing construction projects, building...
The Agile Team That Was Free Until Executive Control Took Over
I’ve carried this story in my head for years, sharing bits and pieces during trainings, almost like a form of group therapy. But now, I’m putting it all down — in full detail — in the hope that telling it will finally help exorcise this demon once and for all.
I Survived 25 Years of Agile. Now I’m Ready to Talk About It.
This is the first of two 25-year retropsectives. I have decided to step off the Agile certification path both in training and in consulting. What began as a passion for improving project performance somehow turned into selling certifications for other companies. The...
Imposter Syndrome: A 40-Year Journey
Looking at my career from the outside, it might seem like I’ve always had everything figured out. I’ve built a successful business, consulted for Fortune 50 companies, and led major initiatives across industries. But here’s the truth: for most of my career, I...
How Agile are you? Agile Maturity Assessment
Agile Assessment Access & Pricing For many years, I have offered this Agile assessment for free. Thousands of people have used it, and I’m glad it has been helpful. However, I am no longer able to provide it at no cost, so I’ve introduced a small fee to keep it...
The True Value of a Team Performance Coach: Beyond Frameworks and Rules
In the dynamic realm of team performance coaching, my passion extends far beyond mere frameworks. While they serve as the foundation for many teams, the essence of my role is deeply rooted in effectiveness and performance coaching. Navigating team conflicts and...
Beyond Titles: A Lifelong Commitment to Lean Principles and Value Alignment
In a world defined by ceaseless evolution and intense competition, my journey as an Organizational Design Coach has been a thrilling ride. Although my titles have varied over the years, my dedication has remained unwavering towards lean principles, organizational...
The Liberation of Remote Work: Why I’ll Never Go Back to the Office Full Time
Working from home has irreversibly changed me. The very thought of returning to the routine of a full-time office job feels antiquated, almost absurd. It’s been four continuous years of remote work for me, and I’ve embraced every second of it. While I occasionally...
The Overlooked Agile Topic: Psychological Safety
Psychological safety is an essential aspect of Agile teams that is often overlooked, despite its significant impact on team performance and collaboration. This concept involves creating an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas, asking...
Why Companies Struggle to Embrace the Lean Startup Approach (and How to Overcome It)
You've probably heard of Eric Ries' groundbreaking book, "The Lean Startup." The methodology has revolutionized the way many entrepreneurs and businesses approach product development and innovation. But, despite its proven success, some companies still struggle to...
The Challenges of Implementing Agile in Business Environments
It is worth pondering the reasons behind the failure of some organizations in adopting agile methodologies successfully. Consider the following observations. Organizational Commitment to Cultural Change Primarily, the lack of unequivocal support from management for...
Applying the Stacey Model: When is Agile the Right Fit for your Project?
The Stacey model is a framework developed by Ralph Stacey that categorizes complex problems into four domains: simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic. The model considers the degree of certainty of the problem and the level of agreement on what needs to be done....
Waterfall is not always bad
#agilecoachingtip Waterfall is not always bad! Some projects are inherently phased-based. One recent example was a vendor selection project that I was asked to assess. It was being mismanaged using Scrum. I could list a hundred different examples like that. Can...
2020 Scrum Guide Changes and Observations
The following video addresses my interpretation of the 2020 Scrum Guide changes and their impact both to those currently studying for the PSM I or PSPO I exams and for those who want to understand what these changes mean to their current implementation of...
The king is dead! Long live the king!
I watch every few years as someone tries to crown a new king. You know what? Agile is dead, but it is also alive and well.
Agile Consulting Manifesto
My Agile Consulting Manifesto. While delivering successful software development projects for over 20 years and seeing the profession that I am so passionate about become damaged by misinformation, framework saturation and a complete loss of credibility, I have come to...
I may be stating the obvious—you can’t be Agile without being Lean.
In the Agile Practice Guide published by PMI® and the Agile Alliance®, there is the Venn diagram shown above. It is a simple yet useful visual that most of us long-toothed Agile practitioners clearly understand. Unfortunately, I am finding through my training...
What is next after Agile training? a.k.a. How to address common Agile challenges
I have been practicing Agile for 17 years and have been providing Agile training and consulting for over 7 years. I have experienced, with my clients, the growth and maturity if their Agile programs and have seen some common themes and challenges that they all face...
Who Owns Quality in Agile?
In Scrum, the expectation is that the entire Scrum Team owns quality, but what does that really mean? Isn’t the Product Owner only worried about value? Doesn’t the team own all the testing? Don’t they really own quality? Like many other concepts in Agile the answer to...
What’s next on your Agile journey?
Hello Agile Adventurer: My son Zach and I hiking in Maine. As an avid hiker, I tend to focus on the journey not so much the destination. The same is true with Agile. All of you are in a different place on your Agile journey. Some of you are well into your Agile...
An Agile software development approach could have prevented this – just saying.
UPDATE: January 30, 2018 The Washington Post published an article with more details: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/01/30/heres-what-went-wrong-with-that-hawaii-missile-alert-the-fcc-says/?utm_term=.84e766af06c6 It is interesting that one of...
How Agile Are You? Free self-assessment.
Take our Agile self-assessment by clicking on the button below: When you receive the results of your self-assessment, you can identify our level of Agility on the above Agile maturity matrix.What is an Agile Maturity Model? A model that is...
Who Owns Quality in Agile?
In Scrum, the expectation is that the entire Scrum Team owns quality, but what does that really mean? Isn’t the Product Owner only worried about value? Doesn’t the team own all the testing? Don’t they really own quality? Like many other concepts in Agile the answer to...
Agile 2.0 – It’s about People and Connections! It’s not about Scaling.
Andrew Carnegie once said, Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. His observation is spot...
Certifications, Integrity, Values: Where do you stand?
As an Agile Coach and Trainer, I try to stay current with certifications. I don’t believe that these certifications necessarily make someone more effective, but for me, they are a structured way of staying current with industry best practices.
Using Kanban to run your start-up aka Stephen Covey was the first Agile Coach
I presented on this topic last night at our monthly Agile Meetup in Honolulu along with Chuck Liddell from the Agile development shop KapuHonu. Honolulu has a thriving startup community. I decided to present on this topic after attending the kickoff of the extremely...
Did you know that the PMI-ACP exam is changing on July 15, 2015?
In December 2014, a new PMI-ACP® Exam Content Outline was published which goes into effect in July 2015. The new content of the exam was determined by PMI through both a study and a survey. The following is a description of their approach: “Recently, a Role...
Do you know where you are going with your Agile implementation?
What every executive needs to know! Over the past decade, I've been involved in more than 20 Agile projects. Whether as a team member, Product Owner, Scrum Master, or Coach, I've had the opportunity to play a role in many successful projects. These days, however, I’m...
Are you implementing Scrum but realize you are better suited for Kanban?
I have found that very few organizations are starting out with Kanban as their first choice for their Agile implementation. Almost every organization that I have been exposed to through training and coaching began their Agile implementation with Scrum. Unfortunately,...
Does your organization need an Agile Coach?
As we love to say when answering many questions pertaining to Agile, “It depends.” Not the answer you want to hear, but let me elaborate. Extreme Programming (XP) introduced the term coach into the Agile community. The role was intended to both be a mentor on XP...
Who makes a better Scrum Master: a developer or a project manager?
Who makes a better Scrum Master: a developer or a project manager? I am guessing that this is a contentious topic, so it is that much more fun to talk about… The Agile Manifesto was written by software developers. There weren't any “traditional” project managers in...
Why Scrum “Master”? What about Scrum Apprentice? Maybe we need a Scrum Jedi?
I learned the term Scrum Master back at the turn of the century (I like how that sounds). I first heard it from Ken Schwaber himself. At that point in my career, I was a true and tried project manager that had recently earned his PMP. I was a self-taught project...
The Agile Success Algorithm
al·go·rithm algəˌriT͟Həm/ noun 1. a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations Those of you reading this are more than familiar that Agile is all the rage. Executives like to say that their organization is going "Agile"....
Running an Effective Sprint Planning Meeting
To start with, for a Sprint Planning meeting to be truly Scrum, it adheres to the following guidelines outlined in the Scrum Guide. In summary, for a one month Sprint it has a time-box of 8 hours. It is typically performed on the first day of the Sprint and is...
Can You be Agile in Your Acquisitions?
Originally Posted Management Concept's Blog: http://blogs.managementconcepts.com/can-you-be-agile-in-your-acquisitions/ This is one of the most common issues facing organization choosing to switch to Agile. Can you acquire goods and services in an Agile fashion? Can...



































