Hey Reader, Have you ever noticed how some (a-hem, maybe few) agile change seems to take off like a rocket, while others (mostly) struggle to get off the ground? As someone who's passionate about helping teams thrive in an ever-changing world, I've spent a lot of time thinking about what makes agile change tick. And I've come to a realization: the success of agile change depends on understanding the hidden patterns that drive human behavior. One of these patterns is the need for meaningful...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, What if all the excessive communication at the office were to be eliminated? Imagine you could get away from the tyranny of collaboration as if doing stuff together worked all the time, especially now in the era of AI, distributed teams and systems? There ACTUALLY is a way for that and it’s simple. If you deal with teams that are remote or distributed, the “hybrid” mode must actually be “remote-first”. Basically, it means that: 1️⃣ we focus on asynchronous communication most of...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, I hope June is treating you well, now that the summer is in full mode (at least here in Quebec, Canada). We're moving into a bonanza of agile retrospectives. Several posts are out and more on their way. This is such a controversial side of agility and I think it lacks a lot of serious coverage. That's what I've been doing and will continue to do in July. The first topic is auditing your retrospective to see if you are making one of the 3 most common categories of mistakes and what...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, In the past year or so, a lot of teams decided that “scrum is not for us”, whatever that means and quickly decide they are “more of a kanban team”. These are true words I’ve seen used all the time. And what’s surprising? So many team coaches seem to be latching on this is and now everybody is rushing for more kanban courses and whatnot. While it’s no secret that many teams feel disillusioned with Scrum and are eager to explore the benefits of Kanban, there’s a catch – Kanban is...
5 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, Today, I want to bring you perspective on something we all face: problems. Should we solve every problem that comes our team’s way? It might surprise you, but the answer isn’t always yes. Some issues are better left alone, at least for a while. Not every problem needs a solution. Sometimes, they just need time. Choosing Your Battles: not every problem is a problem. I can think of at least two types of problems that benefit from our waiting before acting: Temporary Issues: Like a...
6 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader Sometimes it gets annoying how people polarize agility so much. But it’s also an easy way out to just say “it depends” or “the answer is in the middle”. I think one particularly unhelpful polarization in agile has been the output vs outcome one. And I must admit I was there advocating for outcomes for some time, as an early scrum master some 12 years ago and many more years after that. That being said, we should all learn. The world adapts, we adapt. And today I’m here to tell you...
7 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, Today’s edition is about an insight for maximizing your effectiveness as an agile coach or consultant. True, Start With Why, Simon Sinek’s book is very famous and very inspiring. Yet what I learned in the business and coaching world is that the single most important thing for results is uncovering what the very next step forward is. And in order to move forward you need to know where to. And this is defined either by desire (towards something) or by pain (away from something). And...
8 months ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, By now you probably had a couple of sprint planning or maybe even releases done this year and you’re maybe faced with the reality that your team still doesn’t seem to finish all the work they plan. Just like last year! It’s possible to be plagued by this carry over, and this is an insidious problem, as I talked about in the latest YouTube live (link below). But I wanted to talk to you about three strategies around planning that are very specific and were not discussed in the...
8 months ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, As we set sail into a new year, how about an attempt to navigate the waters of "Balancing Innovation and Stability." The ability to strike this delicate balance is the key to sustained success in the ever-evolving landscape of agility. Why Balancing Innovation and Stability is Crucial Too many people read the book 📘 Lean Startup and think that the reality of companies are supposed to be like that. While that book is an awesome read, it’s more likely your organization is well...
9 months ago • 4 min read