Everybody is interested in improving productivity. It’s in the title of the book from one of the creators of Scrum – boost your productivity by a factor of 4! Yet, when I reflect on the work I’ve done helping organizations in their Agile transformations, I realize I’ve had a somewhat conflicted relationship with the topic […]
The four perspectives of a Product Owner
One of the challenges organizations face when moving towards Agile ways of working is the role of a product owner. We generally understand the idea of the one person ultimately accountable for return-on-investment for their “product”. However, go into a company doing Agile nowadays and ask one of the product owners if they are empowered […]
Organizational transformation II: Value Streams
As mentioned in the previous article, delivering high-quality products in a fast way is essential for organizations to be competitive. One of the alternatives to speed up software development and continuously deliver value to customers is through Value Streams Management. What is Value Stream? According to the Lean Manufacturing method, value is defined through the […]
Organizational transformation I: Agile Scaling Frameworks
It’s important to reflect on the use of agile practices. Are we applying and evolving Agility with a purpose? Are we copying the Agile framework only because it’s a trend? Do we implement Agile scaling frameworks for the sake of it? The Paradigm Of The 5 Monkeys The monkey paradigm is an experiment where researchers […]
Pair your agile transformation with a change management framework
Recently, they published the 14th State of Agile Report. The sheer amount of information this report shares with the reader is astounding. For the sake of processing it, I filtered some key insights. One of these insights struck me the most: the main reason for agile transformation failure is the general organization’s resistance to change. […]
5 essential skills of a Product Owner
A Product Owner (PO) is a constitutive part of the Scrum Team. The Product Owner represents the Stakeholders and is accountable for maximizing the value of products created by the developers. In agile, maximizing the value means creating a valuable product for the Stakeholders and customers that ensure the return of the investment. In this […]
Agile Contract: know the deal before you set it
You have probably been in the position where you had a project and the money to fulfill it, but not the manpower or knowledge to do it. You would’ve had to engage a supplier to get the work done. If we look at the Agile Principle ‘collaboration over contract negotiation’, we notice that while a […]
5 top skills to develop for a Scrum Master or Agile Coach
Are you looking to become a better Scrum Master or Agile Coach? Here’s where you need to focus on! We give you 5 essential skills for a Scrum Master or Agile Coach. So, you already know Scrum. Ok, what’s next? Before you start – Assess yourself honestly. Do you really know Scrum well? This article […]
Publication of the new Scrum Guide (November 2020)
Celebrating 25 years of Scrum, the new guide was presented on November 18, 2020 at an event held jointly by Scrum Inc. and Scrum.org; the companies of Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber respectively, co-creators of Scrum. Since that time, The Scrum Guide (November 2020) can be read and downloaded (in several languages, even) at: scrumguides.org Size matters […]
Letter of intent
Acme Inc. Av. Frederick W. Taylor 42 Gantt Building 1000 Gotham City NeverlandDear IT Manager,before you hire your next Agile coach to either kickstart or breathe some life into your Agile change initiative, take a step back and think about it. You might be surprised to hear this from me, but maybe that budget could […]