Partnership & Possibilities

Today I invented a phrase (at least I think I invented it because I haven’t heard anyone else say it): “Avoidable Heroism.”
I invented it in response to a question, “Should my team work on the weekend to meet a commitment made under their control?”
Now, I don’t know the background behind this question. Maybe it’s […]

I’m attending Agile 2010. Are you?
If you’re serious about adopting, grounding, or extending Agile mental models, values, principles, methods, and practices where you work, you’ll find answers to your current concerns, and stimulate new questions to consider, at Agile 2010. With 214 sessions ranging across 5 days and 16 thematic stages, you’re sure […]

While in Washington D.C. last month, for the first time I visited the U.S. Library of Congress. Guided by writer and experienced LoC researcher David Schmaltz, I received a temporary library card to research early management thought.
In the glorious reading room under its amazing dome, I held two precious books. One, an (out of […]

Lately I’ve reinforced my interest in learning to learn. I get several benefits from it. First, I learn how to learn better for my own purposes. Second, I learn more about how other people learn. Third, if I apply what I learn about how other people learn, I can become a better consultant/coach/trainer. And, magically, […]

For some time, I’ve been ruminating on how to answer folks who query, “How do I convince people that Agile is better?”

High Performance
supports and reinforces
Creativity/Innovation
supports and reinforces
Constructive Conflict
supports and reinforces
Commitment
supports and reinforces
Trust
Derek Neighbor’s post about Patrick Leoncioni’s team dysfunctions model prompted me to share a model I developed many years ago for work with self-directing teams. Esther Derby and I use the model as part of our “Secrets of Agile Teamwork: Beyond Technical Skills” […]

Values vs. Principles vs. Practices in the Iron Cage of Death*: Three Go in, One Comes Out
Discussions about where to start with Agile approaches tend to devolve into “you got your practices in my values”…”no, you got your values in my practices.” Trying to bridge the gap, some folks say, “look at the principles for […]

Tom Cagley posted an interview with me at his Software Process and Measurement-Cast blog. Tom begins the podcast with part 7 in his series of audio essays, “Traceability, A Radical Approach Based on User Involvement.” The interview with me starts about 25% of the way in. We discuss Agile, Agile Adoptions, Retrospectives and upcoming events.

Nick Oostvogel describes a creative activity to revive boring retrospectives and tell the shared story of the project (Gather Data). He calls it Mr. Squiggle.

I’m enjoying lots of tweets from the Lean/Kanban conference yesterday and today. It’s new and fun to “attend” a conference from a twitter-remove, and I still wish I could have attended in person. From all reports, it’s a wonderful conference.
Following the #lkconf thread, I’ve read much discussion about the new Lean Software & Systems […]