Agile + DevOps East 2021 - Consultant

Many teams have a relatively easy time adopting the tactical aspects of agile methodologies. Usually a few classes, some tools’ introduction, and a bit of practice lead teams toward fairly efficient execution. However, these teams are quite often simply going through the motions—neither maximizing their agile performance nor delivering as much value as they could. Borrowing from their experience and lean software development methods, Bob Galen and Mary Thorn explore high-performance team patterns, which are the thinking models of mature agile teams, including large-scale emergent...

Good refinement makes development more predictable, leads to better solutions, and enables the Product Owner to set the right priorities. Still, many teams fail to unlock the full potential of refinement. Not only is the time spent on refinement often limited, but many of the refinement meetings I join are also inefficient. I meet teams that spent half the meeting watching the Product Owner entering the new backlog items in the workflow system. Although they poker the user stories afterwards, little time is left to discuss the best solution and risks that need to be avoided. I will focus...

You are leading an Agile transformation. There will be some people who resist, who doubt, and you’ll need to care for them. There will also be some people who are very supportive—perhaps too supportive. They will need some attention too, or they can actually damage efforts to mature your organization’s transformation. As part of the leadership team in an organizational transformation effort, you are a pragmatic prophet. There are truths and principles to get across to your people, but also, there is reality and pragmatic considerations to manage. While the principles should hold fast, the...