Why do we plan agile transformations as waterfall projects? It sounds hilarious, yet I‘ve seen it over and over again: Agile transformations are planned as a project with big upfront planning and a strict timeframe. We need to understand: ? An Agile transformation is...
Why do some management boards think agility wouldn‘t affect them? Don‘t limit your agile transformation to the “delivery organization“! You cannot require Product Owners and Product Managers to create clear priorities and goals … and then have 10 “most important“...
If you don‘t set clear goals & priorities on top management level, you‘ll stir unhealthy conflict & confusion in teams. It‘s not uncommon for managers to spend half of their workday resolving conflicts that bubble up to them. Many of these conflicts stem from...
A hybrid agile/waterfall organization should NOT be your goal. An agile/waterfall hybrid is a temporary state that exists during transformations. It‘s not the state you‘re aiming for. Agility and waterfall come with different values and beliefs. You cannot simply...
These are NOT what makes you agile. ? The grass is always greener on the other side. Debating whether scrum or kanban or something else is better will not get you anywhere. Sure, some are a better fit for certain circumstances; but if you arent‘t agile, neither choice...
If you start having trouble finding stories – or wondering whether the story is already in there somewhere – your backlog is probably too long ? The idea of a product backlog is that of a short-term buffer. A backlog lasting about 6 weeks is good; a backlog lasting 6...
If you can change direction every 2 weeks ?, but you only decide to change direction once a year ?, you‘re not agile. Agility is far too often confined to the delivery organization. But without agility on the portfolio level, you‘re not actually using that delivery...
Agility is much more than teaching teams to deliver in sprints. If your goal is to tackle the challenges of today, you'd better become agile on all levels. Traditional budgeting often works somewhat like this: ? Management decides to pursue a business opportunity?...
Whether you use SAFe, LeSS, Scrum, Kanban … is NOT the important success factor for agility. Just as picking the best electric guitar is not gonna make you a rock star. ? Frameworks and models are just 20% of what makes you agile. What really makes or breaks agility?...
While sprint reviews or system demos are meant to focus on feedback from users, so that you can deliver more value… …some PMs and POs are afraid that user feedback could challenge their plans/backlogs. What I see play out almost every week is the struggle to adopt an...