My podcast this week is from the speaking book. Enjoy! The podcast: The video: https://youtu.be/9pe4m8IFDHI The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s Writing WIP for April 12, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This excerpt is from the speaking book. This chapter focused on a future vision based on your personal expertise and experience. Sometimes, you might offer an example of what actually occurred at a specific organization. That's called an experience report, a case study, or a lessons learned report. Experience repo ..read more

My 60 seconds of Writing WIP is from the speaking book. Enjoy! The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s Writing WIP for April 5, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This excerpt is from the speaking book. After the little giggles or murmurs in response to that story, I ask people to put their hands up if they're supposed to multitask between at least two projects. Then I say, “When I get to your maximum number of projects, put your hand down.” I increase the number of projects by one and remind people to put their hands ..read more

My 60 Seconds is from the speaking book this week. Enjoy! The podcast is here: And the video is already on my YouTube channel. (I realize you can tell the time of year and when I need a haircut from the videos, but I decided that's part of my “charm.”) The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s Writing WIP for March 29, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This excerpt is from the speaking book. Start With Your Audience's Problems Your audience comes to your presentation because they have problems and want solutions. So the ..read more

I have never found Gantt charts to be useful. When I say that to my clients, some of them tell me they do find use in Gantt charts. Specifically, the people who like Gantt charts say they can predict where the project is headed. In addition, they can see the various interdependencies across the work. They say they know—from the Gantt and without a doubt—when the project will finish. All my experiences negate theirs. In fact, I find that Gantt charts tend to obfuscate the reality of the project. In innovative products, the interdependencies can change any day. As for the date? The Gantt chart ..read more

This week, my writing WIP is from the speaking book. Enjoy! Or, watch the video. The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s WIP for March 22, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This excerpt is from the speaking book. Do You Worry About Imposter Syndrome? Imposter Syndrome occurs when you feel as if you are not competent. You might even feel as if you had nothing to do with your previous successes. When you speak, you might worry your audience sees through your supposed competence. That's why I recommend you only speak fro ..read more

I started this series by discussing why managers didn't perceive the value of agile coaches and Scrum Masters in Part 1, resulting in layoffs.) Then, in Part 2, I asked those unemployed agilists to review their functional skills, the skills people need to do a product development job well. While those skills are useful, they are not enough. That's why I then asked people to review their product-oriented domain expertise and agile-focused domain expertise in Part 3. If you have sufficient functional skills, domain expertise, and agile expertise, use the advice in Part 1 to iterate through your ..read more

You're an unemployed agilist. And even if you can find an agile coaching or Scrum Master job, the pay is so terrible, you don't want to take it. That's because potential employers think these jobs are staff positions. Your previous managers and potential managers don't see the value of someone in your position. That's because these managers think agile coaching and Scrum Mastering is a staff job, not a line job. Staff jobs only offer intangible and peripheral value, as I briefly discussed in Unemployed Agilists: How to Show Your Value to Support What Managers Want, Part 1. But line jobs offer ..read more

Every day, I hear more stories of agile coaches or Scrum Masters losing their jobs. Why? Several reasons: No manager cares about “agile” even if they care about agility. So, selling “agile” into the organization doesn’t create any traction for change. Agile coaches and Scrum Masters are staff positions, not “line” jobs. Worse, many agile coaches and Scrum Masters do not add more value or realize the value they are supposed to deliver. You might not like these ideas. But they are the reality of what my clients discuss with me. If you want a new job that will allow you to support more agility ..read more

This week, the 60 seconds is from the as-yet-untitled speaking book. Enjoy! Listen here: The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s WIP for March 8, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This excerpt is from the speaking book. Is Your Content Good Enough? Let me turn this question around and ask why you want to speak. I suspect you have some hard-earned experience or expertise. If you have general expertise or experience, ask yourself how you can narrow your focus to showcase your expertise so you can satisfy your audiences ..read more

Do you want to improve your nonfiction writing skills? I offer a 6-week writing workshop to do just that. You'll learn how to write faster and better, all while educating, influencing, and entertaining your readers. (That's a big part of how you sell your nonfiction ideas.) You write. I offer you specific feedback on your writing. In addition, I offer general feedback to each cohort. That way, you can all learn from each other. There's a reason I called the book and the workshop “Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer.” That's my promise to you. (Hint: You can safely ignore much of what your Engli ..read more