Author Archives: Daniel Spencer

We know that without trust it’s doubtful the team will succeed, much less achieve the overall mission.  But what do you do when trust is lacking?  In-depth books have been written on the topic, but I would like to submit a simple proposal: Trust = f(x), where x = distance.  Why distance?  Let’s take a simple example from the corporate world.  Let’s say someone from another department sends me an email and says “Hey Daniel,Continue reading “Trust = f(x), where x = ?”

IF  an agile engineering team delivers solutions that provide tangible value to the delight and satisfaction of its customers in a predictable, measurable and transparent fashion allowing for fast feedback, continuous improvement and pivots THEN why can’t an agile BUSINESS team do the same?

If you delegate it you will not understand Nor will you appreciate The journey your team is taking. Ultimately you won’t be able to support your people And their success will be limited by your feigned concern. Agile – the only response is to embrace it. You have a choice to make as a leader. Be part of the journey. Be agile.

January’s coming to a close and our Top 10 New Years’ Resolutions are in *, which include: losing weight/diet, going to the gym, and being more healthy.  In other words, we want to be “fit”. We want to feel better, we want more energy, we want to sleep better, we want to climb stairs without huffing and puffing.  Fitness allows us to do things we couldn’t otherwise do. For example, surfing (trust me, losing 5Continue reading “Making Agile Resolutions”

Lately I’ve been noticing a pattern: everyone feels the need to attend the scrum team’s daily standup.  By “everyone”, I mean functional managers, project managers, architects, agile coaches — you name it. What are these people doing there?  Ostensibly it’s to: Be ready in case the team “needs help” Jump on any issues that arise Show management support Help resolve technical questions All of which sounds good.  But it does leave me wondering: “why doesContinue reading “The Agile Fishbowl”

“What are you staring at?” said the coach next to me.  I was looking up in the air, blank-faced, dumbfounded. It had been brewing for months.  The same old impediments, the tired retrospectives.  “We keep raising this issue ..”, or “we’re at the mercy of another department..”  or “there’s no budget”. I stared up again.  All that was missing was a sign saying “Warning: Agile Glass Ceiling”. What is this glass ceiling?  It’s where: TheContinue reading “The Agile Glass Ceiling”

Scrum Masters, ever feel like you’re “herding cats” instead of building high performing teams? Chances are this may be related to the sheer number of teams you’re working with. One would expect scrum-related activities to increase with each team you’re part of. Typical activities would include facilitating ceremonies, administering agile tooling, reviewing agile metrics, and of course, agile coaching. These are what we’d expect with the Scrum Master role, and the overhead associated is fairlyContinue reading “The Scrum Master / Project Manager Curve”

At some point each agile engagement begs the question of performance management.  By this I mean how goals/objectives are leveraged to manage team members’ performance.  “What’s that got to do with agile?” you might ask. Plenty.  People act according to their organization’s mission and directives.  You know, those yearly Goals and Objectives, with the company’s mission followed by departments objectives and measurements.  And of course the awkward annual performance review based on, let’s say: 50%Continue reading “The Team Recognition Dilemma”

Agile is all about teams.   We can all relate to this in terms of Scrum, with teams swarming to deliver on their user stories.  But how does it work in Scaled Agile (SAFe)?  Who are the teams besides the Scrum teams?  To answer this question, it’s important to start out with some definitions. What’s a Team? To elaborate, I think it’s important to define the word “team”.  Actually, let’s start with what a team isContinue reading “The Power of The Troika”

Earlier I blogged about the Seven Agile Sins and covered some frequent agile anti-patterns.  I should have mentioned an eighth sin: failing to plan.  That’s right, I’m talking about the “P” word. Why do some agilists want to throw out planning?  Perhaps it’s due to to the Agile Manifesto, which cites “responding to change over following a plan.”   So these eager agilists suddenly drop planning like a bad habit and “embrace change” like fanatics (note:Continue reading “The “P” Word (that’s Planning)”

If you are an agile trainer, you may “parachute in” a client’s site for a week or two, conduct training and then be off to your next engagement.  But If you’re an agile coach, you stay with the client.   You “come along for the ride” as they say.  Hence the client’s journey becomes the coach’s journey.   Implementing the Transformation So you’ve embarked on a scaled agile transformation.  You followed the “Implementing 1-2-3” process (i.Continue reading “A Coach’s Journey”

Here is a list of nasty agile anti-patterns: Top-down vs. Self-Organizing Process-oriented vs. Agile Mindset Focusing on Wrong Metrics vs. Business Value Driving to Dates instead of Delivering on Cadence Doing Everything vs. Prioritizing Value Cutting Corners, e.g. Ceremonies, System Demos, .. Scrummerfall, aka the Worst of Both Worlds

Last week I attended Sean Van Tyne’s UX Boot Camp for Agile Development in Santa Monica, California. Besides bringing a wealth of UX information, Sean was able to convey the importance of UX’s role in a technology corporation.  Added to the mix was UX’s place in today’s Agile world, plus a bunch of hands-on labs where students could put their UX skills to the test. My takeaways: 70% of projects fail due to lack ofContinue reading “My UX – Agile Boot Camp Experience”

Welcome to the new website from Soli, Inc. “Soli” is a musical term indicating a piece to be played by a small section of the orchestra. Like Scrum, the soli requires a dedicated team working together!