AGILE AUTHORITY BLOG
The Case for Installing SAFe As-Is (well, not really)
Here I make the case for installing SAFe as-is. Note: Be sure and read to the end! The Case for Installing SAFe As-Is Installing SAFe as-is is appropriate when you have all of these situations: We need to “scale Agile up” to levels higher than Team-level Each team needs consistency of using ScrumXP or Kanban XP practices are needed to improve the quality of the [...]
Frameless Approach to Agility Improvement
As an Agile coaching community, we have gone astray. We have become obsessed with installing frameworks. We lead with frameworks instead of empathy. I'm not preaching, I'm guilty as charged. Now is the time for a great reset within the Agile coaching community. We need to stop leading with framework installations (SAFe, Scrum, LeSS, Kanban, etc.) and get back to the basics of Agile. Ivar [...]
Framework Installation vs Custom Agile Ecosystem
Framework installation vs custom Agile ecosystem - which is better? When we install a framework (Scrum, SAFe, LeSS, DAD, Kanban, etc.) without understanding what the team/organization truly needs, we are creating what Lean calls muda. Muda is waste. Muda in the form of unnecessary meetings, redundant practices, solving non-problems, additional low-value artifacts, new role confusion, change fatigue, ... the list goes on and on. [...]
Abby-Normal Agile Transformations
Ever wonder what the “Young Frankenstein” movie has in common with Agile transformations? Me neither. Until now. While channel surfing recently, I ran into the great Mel Brook’s classic movie. It still holds up today. In summary, some Agile transformations have an “abby normal” brain. Bear with me and I’ll try to explain... Situation - the Abby Normal Brain Dr. Frankenstein’s dimwitted assistant, Igor (pronounced [...]
Simple Agile Scaling
Simple Agile scaling - is it an impossible dream? As humans, we have a natural propensity to over-complicate things. Growing up, I always enjoyed looking closely at Rube Goldberg cartoons to see the incredible convoluted solutions he would come up with to do the simplest of tasks. For example, this Goldberg invention for squeezing toothpaste onto a toothbrush requiring 16 convoluted steps from A to P: [...]
Daily Standup Greatness!
How to achieve Daily Standup greatness? Let’s start with how not to! “Yesterday I …, today I …, no impediments.” These are the infamous 3 questions associated with the Daily Standup (also called Daily Scrum). Using this format for your Daily Standups is a guaranteed way to ensure this event sounds like a verbal status report, is boring, and is considered wasteful by the team [...]
“The trainer is an excellent instructor. He conveys AGILE in such a way that we wonder why we aren’t already using it!”
Manager, Kaiser Permanente
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