This week, Justin Thatil, your host, welcomes Mike Guiler and Anitra Pavka. Today, they address the product discovery phase and some of the challenges the engineering Team usually faces while identifying what they will build and which special skills will be required to perform the task effectively. Also in this episode, they explore interviewing techniques and usability testing.   Key Takeaways Interviewing users is universally helpful. Interviewing users is so important that it should be done every week. We need to be informed, and the only way to do this is by talking to the use ..read more

This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Mike Guiler to discuss the journey of a Project Manager shifting to fill the Scrum Master accountability. This episode mainly focuses on those Scrum Masters who are newer to this accountability and have a Project Management background. In this episode, they explore what happens when a Project Manager is assigned Scrum Master’s accountabilities which can develop differently depending on the person’s expertise and ability to learn and embrace Agile principles.   Listen to this episode to learn about the main aspects of a successful tran ..read more

This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by their colleague, Mike Guiler. In this episode, they explore how a Product Manager shifts from just management to leadership and how this transformation influences the role. Dan, Justin, and Mike discuss tools and strategies, including OKRs, Story Mapping, and Hackathons, among others.   Key Takeaways Product management must study the market and users, becoming customer-centric and ensuring it is still viable for the business at the same time. It takes more than one individual to effectively perform the discovery function. It's a ..read more

This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Mike Guiler to continue the conversation that started in the last episode, where it was discussed how organizations can support their Managers. This time, they explore how Managers can help their Teams to shift to a more Agile approach.   In today’s episode, Mike, Justin, and Dan dive deep into the reasons managers must be prepared to accompany their people in changing to Agile, sharing information, and asking the right questions to ensure the Team’s involvement.   Key Takeaways When an Organization is shifting it is crucial to ..read more

This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Mike Guiler to explore how organizations can better support their managers. In this episode, they discuss two adoption patterns, the grassroots and the top-down approach, and the distinction between being a Manager and a Leader.   Key Takeaways The grassroots adoption pattern and the top-down approach in an Agile Organization: Grassroots starts at a Team level. The top-down approach begins with the boss. If an Agile Team is self-managing: What does a Manager do? A Manager must decide whether he wants to be just a Manag ..read more

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by an external guest: Seth Maust, President and Founder of Five Star Life, an organization that aims to change perceptions of education, sports, and culture. Seth began 20 years ago researching why so many children were dropping out of school because they did not value education and ultimately did not value themselves. Five Star Life focuses on dismantling this root issue by ingraining a different curriculum they created that guides students in developing successful mindsets.   Key Takeaways Five Star Life focuses on attacking the root cause of student d ..read more

This week, your host, Justin Thatil, is joined by three of his colleagues, Mike Guiler, Jim Beale, and Mariano Oliveti. In this episode, they explore the topic of accountability in Agile Teams and organizations. These four Agilists share their insights and experience on the role of accountability while explaining the value of tools such as OKRs and KPIs and the influence of a true leader in encouraging Teams by involving them in the whole process, trusting them, and enabling them to be self-directed and reliant.   Key Takeaways Why is accountability so important? How do we keep accounta ..read more

This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by two external guests for Kanban University: Joey Spooner, Vice President for Community Development and Product Management, and Todd Little, Chairman of Kanban University.   In this episode, experts from Kanban University join the podcast to share their expertise with the audience. Listen to this conversation and learn about the trajectory of Kanban University and its fantastic community. Also, they dive into a profound exploration of what Kanban Methodology really is and how it can improve what you are already doing.   Key Takeawa ..read more

This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by an external guest, James D Murphy, a United States Air Force Veteran, F15 Fighter, and instructed pilot. James founded a company called Afterburner Inc. and is now the CEO of Afterburner Capital; he wrote seven books and is an expert on the Agile Delivery Framework.   In this episode, they discuss the concept of flawless execution, meaning an execution that is as impeccable as possible (nothing is perfect!). James shares how he combined his military training with his work as an entrepreneur and expert in the Agile framework.   Ke ..read more

This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil, your hosts, are joined by Erica Menendez and Mariano Oliveti to discuss what it takes to deliver high-quality Agile Projects.   In this episode, they dive deep into what a successful Agile project looks like and describe the necessary steps to be taken in order to reach it.   Key Takeaways Clarify the purpose The company should have a purpose The culture you create should be in support of the purpose The products should align with that purpose Deeply understand the real needs of your users and meet those Adopting Agility can i ..read more