article

The Way of Working Should Be Fit for Purpose

An enterprise Agile coach wrote to me just as my fourth book came out: “Your book is timely.”

When I asked why she thought that, she answered: “The entire Agile community is struggling with how coaches, Scrum Masters, etc. define and deliver value.”
READ MORE

The Invisible Costs of Freezing Budgets

Manager: you’re seeing a problem that your executives aren’t seeing.

The issue starts with your executives being tense about the current business landscape. As a result, you are more constrained than ever.

READ MORE

Project Lies and Vicious Cycles

let’s talk about project lies, like these gems:

“I’m 90% done.”
“The status is green.”
“It will be ready by the promised date.”
“The new feature works fine.”
“Users are loving it!”

READ MORE

Don’t Write Agile off Just Yet

This year (2023), I’ve seen a particularly high number of “Agile is dead” posts in my LinkedIn feed. This sentiment has been triggered and reinforced by mass layoffs of Agile roles. Here is my response.READ MORE

Why Agile Practices Fail

“Agile doesn’t work” pitfall #1: Organizations adopt practices, but practices are only effective when executed with the mindset (values, beliefs, and principles) that gave rise to them.

READ MORE

Agile Values: You Need the Whole Set

“Agile doesn’t work” pitfall #2: Rather than take the entire set, companies approach them piecemeal and therefore don’t achieve the potential.

READ MORE

Agile Is a System Thing

“Agile doesn’t work” pitfall #3: The Agile approach is designed for the entire system of value delivery, but companies apply it mostly in the build part.

READ MORE

How to Finish More Work

I often get this question: “My team works hard, but we struggle to achieve sprint goals and to finish as many stories/tasks as we’d like. What can we do?”READ MORE

Where Do WIP Limits Matter Most?

You know what WIP limits are. But what do they apply to?READ MORE

Your Company Needs a Clear Model for Work

I’m worried about a trend I’m seeing, which is jeopardizing companies’ product development.
READ MORE