When organizations set out to adopt Agile, they always have a business reason. It’s never just because they really love Scrum, or SAFe, or LeSS. But when the teams start doing all the Agile things, and they’re met with resistance from the organization around them, it’s hard to point to success because not much changed. So, we start defining success as “do the roles and ceremonies exist and are we following all the Agile dogma.” That’s a poor definition of success, and we have to get better at changing the organization around the teams. But that’s a different problem altogether. To do that, we ..read more

Today, the market for Transformation is a transition period. We see some companies looking for the next big thing, and others going back to what they know. Is this a sign that Agile is waning? Is it evolving? Or is Agile so deeply engrained in the way business gets done, people have just started calling it something else to deny the fact they just aren’t very good at it? Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Prior sit down to discuss this interesting moment in time for our industry and more in this episode of SoundNotes.   Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike, you can reach him at: L ..read more

Agile practices don’t automatically lead to Business Agility. In the presence of dependencies and organizational impediments that the teams have no ability to change, going through the motions of Scrum or SAFe isn’t going to lead to greater Business Agility either. So, you can train the teams all you want, but if it doesn’t lead to greater Agility, who cares? Listen as Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Prior discuss some common misconceptions about Agile Transformation, how training often leaves businesses wanting more, and some things to consider if you’re thinking about starting an Agile Journey of yo ..read more

People have debated whether or not SAFe is Agile for as long as it’s been around. LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer, joins Dave on this episode of SoundNotes to explore the roots of small team Agile and to discuss how SAFe stacks up against the ideals of the Agile Manifesto. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you’d like to contact D ..read more

There’s a layer to communication that is most important for understanding: intention. It’s the most often overlooked aspect because it’s hard to decipher if people are saying what they mean or if you actually understand what they’re saying. By hunting for a shared understanding of intention, you can more deeply understand what people are saying and why. If you aren’t aligning on intent, you could be missing the mark, which can be detrimental, especially in a business environment. In this episode of SoundNotes, Dave and Mike explore how improving communication can translate into an Agile work e ..read more

During Transformation, we need a way to measure its performance and improvements to the organization so that leaders continue to support the initiative. Metrics need to be used to help teams get better over time and drive the right kinds of outcomes that leadership is looking for. In this episode, Mike Cottmeyer shares his insights into different Agile metrics and what are the right ones that give leaders what they need to make the necessary changes to the system and improve overall performance. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: ht ..read more

In this episode of SoundNotes, Len Greski joins Dave to discuss leadership and emotional systems. Len is a Principal Consultant at LeadingAgile and he has a background in sociology. As Len explains, “The most difficult challenge in delivering great products is getting people to work together." During the interview, we explore emotional systems theory and how that can be applied within our organizations and teams to create sustainable change and deliver great products. The Bowen Family Systems Theory was developed by Dr. Murray Bowen. It is rooted in taking a systems view in studying families a ..read more

This week’s podcast was created as a response to a question we were recently asked by some of our CSM/CSPO course students. This one is for all the team members and Scrum Masters, the people on the ground who see why Agile could make a huge difference in their entire organization but just don’t have the title or agency to sign the contracts to make it happen. What they wanted to know is: How does someone who isn’t at contract-signing level create a conversation where they can get the leaders above them to be open to Agile Transformation?  Dave and Mike will unpack the answer, including di ..read more

So an Executive walks into a Daily Scrum and demands Team Member X who must immediately begin work on something that is not part of the Scrum Team’s commitment for the Sprint. If you are a Scrum Master, this has either happened to you, or it is going to… soon. What do you do?  You know this is not ok. The Executive, who may have the power to fired you on the spot. should know better too, but apparently, they are “extra-agile”. Your job is to protect the team from interruptions just like this. But your job is also not to get fired. In the heat of this moment, you may not have time to work ..read more

This week in SoundNotes, Chris Barton joins me to talk through a problem that shows up one way or another in every single CSM class I teach… How do I get my team to want to do Agile when they don’t want to do Agile? During the interview, Chris and I talk through different lenses you can employ to get a better understanding of what is driving the resistance and strategies for overcoming it. We also spend some time near the end of the conversation on how to influence when you have no sway. This one came from someone on a team who is earlier in their career and is paired with an older Tech Lead t ..read more