Category Archives: Agile Project Management

Myth 3: Leaders & Managers will figure out what their agile role is magically

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We have done a huge disservice to leaders and managers, as well as teams.  There are plenty of people that will say we don’t need managers and leaders. People can lead themselves. While there is an aspect of this that may be true, there are a lot of steps to get close to that idea.

This article will explore what leaders and managers need to do to succeed as they get started with agile or to help teams move from individuals to a team or even a high-performance team. It builds on Agile Leadership Myth #2: Self-Organizing Teams Don’t Need Any Help.    Continue reading →

Agile Leadership Myth #1: Telling people “You Are Empowered” Actually Works

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A major challenge we run into when helping organizations shift or improve is leadership misconceptions. Agile leadership myths cause a lot of these misconceptions. We need to help avoid falling into the trap of these common myths because they limit our success. A root cause of many of the myths is that people simply don’t know what else to do. For example, Myth #1: ‘telling people “you are empowered” actually works.’  Leaders often don’t know what else to do, other than tell teams they are empowered. We see this with Development Teams, Scrum Teams, Delivery Teams, AND Leadership Teams.

A bit of background — there are many agile leadership myths out there. These myths (or assumptions) limit leaders ability to improve, help others, and succeed. Many myths seem to occur at a nonconscious level, meaning they function like many biases. People are not even aware, consciously, that they are happening. Continue reading →

Limit Engagement, Limit Success – Scientific Management Problems

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We require environments where people can provide input and ideas. If we limit engagement, we limit success. We still have organizations who either believe or act like they believe some types of workers are “stupid.” This idea dates back to the ideas surrounding Scientific Management, Fredrick Taylor, and Henry Ford. The concept of the stupid or unskilled worker that I mentioned was common in the early 20th century. In various writings about agile and agile ideas, we often refer to or see references to avoiding Scientific Management, Classic Scientific Management, or Taylorism. These management ideas limit engagement from people, which is going to limit success.

Understanding the past can be quite helpful to see where you might be able to improve today.  Continue reading →

Agile Commitment — Classic Pig & Chicken (Part 1)

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The Pig & Chicken is a cartoon that many in the agile community are familiar with. I know some will see it and ask, why is this one being rehashed (I know this because I reviewed it with a few people and they asked). Some will be quite annoyed, since many “strongly dislike” the cartoon (which is fine – please add your comments!). So, for anyone reading this and thinking any of those things, please read on. I’d like to say “don’t worry, I have a plan”, but only you can judge for yourself how it pans out! Tweet the Agile Safari Cartoon!

agile-safari-pig-and-chicken-part1

What Is The Pig & Chicken Cartoon?

For readers who are not familiar with agile (or any agile folks who have not seen the cartoon), the ideas is that the pigs are the team (or Scrum Team). The chickens are everyone else. Continue reading →

Mile High Agile Conference 2012 – April 3rd!

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Agile Denver is hosting the 2nd Mile High Agile conference, in Downtown Denver, Colorado on April 3rd, 2012!  Last year, the first, there were nearly 500 people!!

I am sure many people are already registered, but if you have not, The Early Bird pricing is $125!!!  Through February 16th.

The Agile Cooperative will have a table again – Stop by and say hello!  If you are going to be in from out of town – let me know!

On a related note:  Michael Spayd and Lyssa Adkins will be teaching Coaching Agile Teams in Boulder, Colorado on April 4th and 5th.  An excellent class on agile coaching and coaching in general.  You can view a description of the course on their website, agilecoachinginstitute.com… or just register!