Mile High Agile 2011 April 7th

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Should be a great event in Denver. The Agile Cooperative will have a table if anyone has questions! Hopefully we can listen to some of the great presentations and spend some time at the table!

Agile Denver is excited to announce our first annual conference, Mile High Agile 2011: Elevating Agility. Our one-day conference was created to further Agile Denver’s mission of creating and sustaining the world’s best agile community. We foster this by creating opportunities for people to connect to other agilists, user groups, events, jobs, technical communities and vendors. Agile Denver has been the heart of the agile community in Colorado and we are in our 11th year and still growing. This conference will extend your agile knowledge regardless of your role or experience level in your organization.

Lean Business Analysis – Free Webinar

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On February 8th (2011), I will be presenting Lean Business Analysis.

We will discuss the fundamentals of lean software development, review common software ‘wastes’, and look at what lean means to business analysis and product management! It starts at 12PM EST.

Update: If you are interested in this webinar/presentation please email or call at 720-663-8044.

UPDATE: We will be scheduling another Lean Business Analysis Webinar soon. Email us if you are interested and we will notify you when we do the next one.

RMIMA – 12-10-09: “Agile: Myth or Reality”

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Quick update on a presentation I am doing in a few weeks at the Rocky Mountain Information Management Association (RMIMA). The presentation is targeted at folks who want to get a basic understanding of agile and Scrum, why so many people promote it, and what issues and challenges are brought to the surface when you move towards agile. Here is the abstract:

Agile – Myth or Reality

Why do we keep hearing more and more about agile? When will it arrive? Has it already arrived or has it departed? The presentation will provide an overview of agile & Scrum to demystify it. What is a standup, a sprint, why do people talk about chickens and pigs? Understanding why many people are “agile fanatics” requires clarity about the types of issues that agile can resolve.

Building on the overview of agile, the presentation will review common “software project challenges” and review why agile is often cited as a solution to these problems. Can “being agile” really solve these issues and reduce risk? Are these problems actually related to the software project? Finally, the presentation will review why Agile can’t solve all problems, although we often seem to only hear about ‘agile magic beans’. The session will review issues that agile may expose, but cannot solve, and how those issues can make or break your agile success.

Learning Objectives:
– Understand the basis of agile & Scrum.
– Understand how agile minimizes risks and why people promote it.
– Understand types of issues that agile exposes but cannot address.

If you have questions or comments please post them here (include your email and add “private” to the post if you would prefer a direct response via email).

Learning from Washington, the Inauguration, and the Constitution

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Read This If: You’re looking for some interesting observations on scope, change management, and iterations as well as willing to consider that maybe some projects are not that tough, in perspective.

2009 seems to be moving right along! Was 2008 tough or not so much? Will 2009 be better or worse? Are things sometimes LESS challenging than they appear?

The recent inauguration and oath of office that the US President takes has me considering just how small some project problems actually are. I was listening to a NPR story about the oath, and a few things jumped out (note that LISTENING to the podcast provides more than reading the article summary).

So where is the oath found? It is the last paragraph in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. It reads “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

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Stopping the Fake Subject Matter Expert (SME) from Derailing Your Project

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Read This If: You want to ensure you are basing your projects value on input from true subject matter expert (for any type of project).

A fake subject matter expert or SME can derail a project. Improvements to your business should be based on the best information you have access to, not outdated or incorrect information. The acronym “SME” seems to pop-up everywhere. I agree that saying “subject matter expert” does not flow as well as SME, but the phrase drives home that the person should be an expert (and in the right subject)!

Subject matter experts are used on projects from IT Strategy, to business process improvement, to software development, to organizational change . . . to name a few. They are supposed to impart the wisdom of what is actually happening, and often, what is needed. But if they are NOT an expert, then what? Are you basing the success of your project on poor information?

So what exactly is a fake SME? The basic premise is that they are someone who appears or pretends to be a subject matter expert, but is not. There are many types, but let me outline some of the more common ones:
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