That’s It. That’s the One.
o be honest, I won’t miss Mad Men, the overwrought fashion show with vellum-thin treatments of politics, feminism, and pop culture we’re asked to nod and wink at. Emotionally, I’m not drawn to Don’s downward spiral like I was with Tony Soprano or Walter White, who seemed to struggle on more fertile and less claustrophobic […]
A Week Later: Reflections on SXSW 2015
ost of us go to SXSW for the music, the parties, and the brisket. But we come back year after year for the ideas and the connections. The 50,000-some people who come to Austin are like ‘idea marbles’ rolling around in a big bowl. You never know if you’ll actually bump into another that will […]
Play Yourself
recently read the following passage in Geoffrey Bellman’s “The Consultant’s Calling”, and it rang true to me. I’d add that I think his message applies to employees as well as consultants. Establish a consulting role that asks you to be–to “play”–yourself. Being a consultant is more comfortable than playing one. Even if you play the consultant role […]
Support the Professionals
I’ll never forget the day I reconnected with my friend Babak Ardalan a few years ago. He’s a seasoned program manager who I’d worked with on big projects for Nissan, Infiniti, Toyota, and others. When the conversation turned to work, he told me he’d dropped all of the standard project management artifacts and was running his current projects […]
People Do Change
I had a mentor who once said to me, “You can only change people this much.” And then he put his forefinger and thumb together to show it just wasn’t going to happen. Until recently, I believed him. People are pretty much made by their environments and don’t change much over time. But now, at my […]
Product Owner = A Leader with a Passion
At the end of the day, if you don’t have a leader who has a passion for the product, it doesn’t matter how good your team or delivery process is. And no amount of well-facilitated workshops, brainstorms, roadmaps, standups, or demos will change that. If your leader is not a rabid fan of the end product […]
Fast User Story Workshop
Over the past few Sprints, we’ve found that many of the stories we’re trying to estimate or prioritize need more information. Of course, much of the details behind each story should come out during the Planning Session (which we hold the day after the Grooming Session). But, since we are trying to get through many stories at once, […]
Between Lean Startup and Steve
I’ve been reading Lean Startup again. A wonderful book that has compelled thousands of companies (and many of my friends) to throw ideas, companies, and employees against the wall, then pivot if they didn’t stick. I like the simple, almost thoughtless, approach of Lean Startup: “Don’t hesitate. Let users tell you what works with your customers.” Of course, […]
Mapping The Creative Process To Scrum
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to better map the creative process to scrum. I know there are a bunch of good books out there that cover this topic, but, after reading them, I still am not clear what to do next. In the effort to keep this super simple (and to give the creative folks […]
Standup: Focus on the Stories
I’m not a big fan of the typical round-robin agenda for standups: What I worked on yesterday, what I’m working on today, and blockers. I find that format often encourages folks to sing for their supper, to develop an on-the-spot narrative of what they’ve been up to and why they’re worth their salary. I don’t […]
Catch Someone
