I lead from the heart, not from the brain. Which according to a Fastcompany article, which includes some great research conducted by the Institute of HeartMath, is exactly where leadership needs to be headed. We now know that the heart and the brain are in a constant two-way communication and that the heart sends more information to the brain than vice versa. The signals the heart sends affect the brain centers involved in our decision-making and in our ability to perceive. In other words, each beat reflects our current emotional state. If we’re angry, irritated or frustrated, the hear ..read more

Agile has been all the rage in software development for many years now. Its popularity exists mostly among smaller teams that iterate quickly and release frequently. Agile software development promotes an environment of rapid feedback and continuous improvement. At its core, it helps teams ship fewer high quality features instead of shipping a bunch of features that don’t quite work. In general, agile is highly regarded in the software development word. But in some larger organizations, agile is often the subject of much criticism and can be found difficult to adopt. After all, how do you get ..read more

Are you a consultant, agile coach, or employee of a company? Lol. That’s all of you!  Here’s the hard truth: You are not as effective as you possibly could be. I know first-hand what it’s like going into a company and not having the faintest clue as to what they are really like. Yes, I got the “brief,” I’ve had the meetings, I even had a few 1-on-1’s, but I really haven’t gotten the whole story. Often, it’s 100% my fault too, as I had not set up the engagement to allow me greater time to sit down and more fully understand the culture…Hey. I’m still human. Oh, and it’s even harder in ..read more

During one of my CSM classes, I was discussing with a student that her company still has office hours and they are “required” to be online at 9AM… In our new world, why is this still a thing? (Unless you actually have a meeting at 9AM… which changes the context)… I find it fascinating that in many corporate contexts that: conformity equates to productiveness (in terms of perception). This is not true. In Agile, our most powerful evidence of effort is delivery. Don’t miss this point. Almost nothing else matters. Progress Status Sign Offs Productivity metrics Performance metrics ..read more

You don’t “manage people.” You should be (leading) people and (managing) the work. Or said better, love on people and unblock them. — Agile Peter Go to our upcoming courses page to sign up for one of our classes so you can get more wisdom like this ..read more

“As organizations (and societies) grow larger and more complex, the people at the top (whether managers or analysts) depend less and less on firsthand experience, more and more on heavily “processed” data. Before reaching them, the raw data – what actually goes on “out there” – have been sampled, screened, condensed, compiled, coded, expressed in statistical form, spun into generalizations and crystallized into recommendations.” – John W. Gardner in Self Renewal: The Individual and the Innovative Society It is a characteristic of information processing systems that they systematically ..read more

Sprint Planning Meetings for 2-week sprints should take 4 hours or less. However, the first one you ever do will be the worst 10-12 hours of your life up to that point! — Agile Bob Join one of our upcoming classes to make your Spring Planning better. Otherwise don’t be surprised when this bites you ..read more

Be exceptionally useful. I understand specialization, but not at the cost of usefulness. The most successful people I know are exceptionally useful in a multitude of ways. — Agile Peter Learn how this can help you and your team. Go to our upcoming courses page to sign up for one of our classes so you can get more wisdom like this ..read more

Saying “Failing fast is ok” is not helping. People simply don’t want to fail. Instead, say “Learning fast is ok” and see how often people will take risks, even when they end up failing fast! — Agile Bob Go to our upcoming courses page to sign up for one of our classes so you can get more wisdom like this ..read more

People who hustle are always to be respected. Whether it’s posted on social or not. Cheers to the quiet hustlers and the builders in the shade. — Agile Peter Scrum Teams should be respected. Working in sprints is hard. Go to our upcoming courses page to sign up for one of our classes so you can get more wisdom like this ..read more