Last we talked, I was arguing that if estimates are supposed to be accurate, we’d call them actuals. That’s not to say that estimates are meaningless. When used appropriately, they’re valuable and serve an important purpose. Instead, my point was this: Estimates are about mathematics. Expectations are about human connection. That difference matters. Speaking of …
Introducing Conditions of Satisfaction to a Team Read More »
Almost everyone agreed that we need to get better at estimation. I heard this recently from a team. It’s not the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Teams struggle with estimates; others needlessly obsess over it. And while I agree with the sentiment, it’s true but useless. It’s unactionable. In order …
If Estimates Were Accurate, We’d Call Them Actuals Read More »
I’m difficult but with purpose. I’ve said this about myself on numerous occasions, and I’m sure many of the bosses I’ve had over the years had a hell of a time managing me. Then again, like Grace Hopper said: You manage things. You lead people. And it’s not that I’m trying to be difficult. I …
Mike Cohn inspires a lot of my work. In fact, when I began this blog years back, Mike stopped by and offered a piece of advice on my first blog post that has stuck with me. He said he’d often track the number of questions he’d ask and compare it to the number of statements …
I’ve been mentoring a group of young Scrum Masters for the last seven months, and recently one of them asked me a question: How do I foster trust within my team? Immediately, two thoughts came to mind: But why? Whether family, friends, or colleagues, we’re surrounded by people most times of the day, and our …
The Scrum Guide doesn’t talk about the role of managers. So does that mean that one day we have managers, and then as soon as we begin an agile transformation, they suddenly disappear? Of course not. So what do we do with them? Many organizations use managers to direct the work of their reports so …
Who here just started a new job? Or maybe you’re about to start a new job? This is the situation I recently faced. It’s stressful, and it was important to me that I make a strong, lasting, and positive first impression. In fact, let’s talk about that today, but before we do, I’d like to …
I was happy to hear that many of you enjoyed the Product Owner tips I offered in my previous blog post so I thought I’d jot down a couple more today. If you’d like to read my previous Product Owner tips, you can find it here. So let’s get to it. Ruthlessly Prioritize I …
When Prioritization and Customer Empathy Aren’t Enough Read More »
Product Owners have a tough job. They’re required to take a swarm of opinions and coalesce those opinions into a single, unified vision. Undoubtedly, some stakeholders won’t agree with that vision, and they must invest time and energy in soothing the disgruntled. Further, if a Product Owner is thinking too far forward, the team gets restless …
Books like Mike Cohn’s Succeeding with Agile and Henrik Kniberg’s Scrum and XP from the Trenches were two of the first books I read as I began my agile journey. These books were useful to teach me about Scrum, but Scrum is simple to understand. People though? They’re a challenge. As Ronika Lewis eloquently put it: The …
