Archive for the 'Leadership' Category

Agile 2010 & the Flood

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

When the rains came down and the flood waters rose in Nashville TN one month ago, it became clear the Agile Alliance would have to “respond to change” rather than “following the plan” for our annual Agile 2010 conference–with the conference scheduled to open in only 14 weeks.
Leaders and the conference team at the […]

LoC & Mary Parker Follet

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

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 […]

Love me, Love my great new idea…or not

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

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

Feeding each other

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

I’ve been fortunate to have experienced many great team building moments, activities and events on several great teams. One of the best, involved feeding each other.
In Fearless Change, Mary Lynn Manns and Linda Rising counsel that a pattern called “Do Food” “makes an ordinary gathering a special event” and reference Christopher Alexander’s pattern “Communal […]

Personal Retrospectives

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Agile retrospectives aren’t just for teams or organizations. Individuals (like you and me) also use them as a way of taking stock and choosing how to move forward—reflecting, inspecting, and adapting to the changing conditions in our lives. Chronological milestones serve as a great prompts for a personal retrospective (e.g., year’s-end, birthday, anniversary, solstice, etc.). […]

alt.net Seattle

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

A group of people in the alt.net community in Seattle have organized a conference in just a couple of months. They decided to use an Open Space Technology format and asked me to facilitate the conference. My company, FutureWorks Consulting, agreed to sponsor the conference by donating my time, so I jumped at the chance. […]

Comments Needed

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

As of this morning (Feb 23, 2009), hundreds of potential presenters have submitted 922 possible sessions for Agile 2009. Each of those 922 sessions needs feedback to become the best it can be. Think of it as a massive multi-player perfection game (MMPPG). All of us need your help to make sure our sessions give […]

Managing Agile

Thursday, January 1st, 2009

In this video from the ÖreDev conference, I present some ideas about the changing role of managers in organizations that have adopted Agile methods.

Is your Agile team ready to learn collaboration skills?

Saturday, December 6th, 2008

I’ve been on the road a lot and away from my blog lately. I’m glad to be back and happy to announce the latest iteration of:
Secrets of Agile Teamwork: Beyond Technical Skills
February 24-26, 2009, at the Kennedy School in Portland, Oregon.
Invest in three days with Esther Derby and me learning the interpersonal tools and skills […]