How to be agile When You are Trying to be Agile
It’s amazing how the meaning of this simple word can dramatically change by how it’s written. Agile (Big A) has structure and is comprised of set of disciplined practices designed to get results, whereas agile (little a) is simply ‘do-whatever’ with little or no discipline and structure. I often find that people are confused by the differences. Want to be Agile? educate yourself: understand what it is and what the impacts will be to your organization educate...
Read More4 Steps to an Agile Transformation
I often find that people new to Agile have a tough time understanding that Agile processes are empirical and there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all model that will work for every organization. Scrum, XP, Crystal, Lean and other Agile methods all have their practices that provide guidance and tools but none of them are going to tell you the recipe for success. This is one of many reasons why hiring an Agile Coach is a good idea. A good Agile Coach will practice what they preach and use...
Read MoreAgile Just Don’t Go ’round Here
One of my favourite scenes from Tombstone is when Ike Clanton says to Wyatt Earp, “Listen, Mr. Kansas Law Dog. Law don’t go around here. Savvy?” After Wyatt replies that he’s retired, Ike reiterates “Yeah, that’s good, Mr. Law Dog, ’cause law don’t go around here.” A common theme that has been emerging from the classes I’ve been delivering and conversations I’ve been having are along the lines of “wow, we need to change...
Read MoreTurns out being Agile IS all About Culture
I attended a great session on Agile vs Traditional last night with the Toronto Agile group and while there weren’t many traditional folks there, the session helped validate much of what I believe is the most important aspects of ‘becoming agile’. The panel included Mishkin Bertieg, Scott Ambler, Colin Doyle, Orhan Kalayci and Winifred Menezes and you can see details and bios of these folks here. Although the even was supposed to be a shootout between traditional vs agile...
Read MoreGet Lean Change
