How to start an agile transformation (the move most coaches skip)Hey – quick note from the field. Most transformations I see still start with training and a rollout plan… and then people wonder why nothing *really* changes. In this issue, I’ll show you the first move I use instead. Why I start with people, observation, and evidence – and how that speeds everything up. Most agile transformations start the same way: pick a team. Train them. Coach them. Roll the next team. Repeat until the whole company has been “converted.” It can work. But it’s also how you…Read more
New Scrum Master and Product Owner TrainingsI’m opening up my Scrum Master and Product Owner trainings to the public this year. I’ve been running these formats in-house for client teams for a while – and this year I wanted to make them available beyond company walls, too. What makes my approach a little different Impressions from past Scrum trainings There are many solid Scrum trainings out there. Mine just leans extra hard into experiential learning. That means: Games & simulations instead of “just” talking about Scrum Realistic…Read more
You’re Killing Breakthroughs Before They Even BeginWhy your breakthrough ideas die before they ever start – and why the root cause sits in the portfolio layer, not the teams. You’re Killing Breakthroughs Before They Even Begin Innovation collapses at the portfolio layer – long before the work starts Let me start with a few scenes you’ve probably lived through: Approval for an innovation initiative requires a detailed feature list and effort estimation – before a single customer has been interviewed. A team is told to produce a 10-year ROI…Read more
Make agile values stick after the trainingMany teams leave agile workshops inspired, only to revert to old behaviors days later. This article explains why agile values fade so quickly and shows one effective way to make them stick long after the session. How do I make agile values stick after the workshop? One great way to make agile values stick after the workshop is by creating emotionally memorable experiences that people practice together, remember later, and recognize in their daily work, for example through experiential games…Read more
The 75-Year-Old Study Most Leaders Still MisunderstandLast time I already mentioned a classic motivation study from the 1940s that should have changed how companies lead people. And despite the results, managers keep focusing on the wrong motivators. Let's look at this study in a little more detail. Here’s the mirror-image effect every leader should understand. The 75-Year-Old Motivation Study Every Leader Still Gets Wrong If you ever needed proof that managers and employees live in two different realities, here it is: the top motivators…Read more
The Strange Discovery That Modern Leaders Keep IgnoringMost leaders today talk about motivation as if it were obvious: you set targets, attach rewards, maybe add pressure, and magically people perform. But the idea that humans do great work because they want to, not because they’re pushed or paid, is surprisingly new. And it didn’t come from management theory. It came from a series of weird psychological experiments that almost didn’t happen. The story of intrinsic motivation starts long before anyone had a name for it – and its lessons hit…Read more
When Velocity Becomes a CultEver seen a team celebrate record-high velocity while customers quietly vanish? This satirical fable will make you laugh, cringe, and maybe rethink what you measure next sprint. The Velocity Cult (A modern corporate fable about rewarding A while hoping for B) Let me tell you about Sophie. She joined bright-eyed, caffeinated, and carrying just enough imposter syndrome to fit right in. Day one, her manager pointed at the wall-sized Jira dashboard glowing with KPI green. “See that number? That’s…Read more
Most agile transformations don’t fail because “people resist change”. They fail because we design the change in a way that produces resistance.Read more
Hey – quick note from the field. Most transformations I see still start with training and a rollout plan… and then people wonder why nothing *really* changes. In this issue, I’ll show you the first move I use instead. Why I start with people, observation, and evidence – and how that speeds everything up. Most agile transformations start the same way: pick a team. Train them. Coach them. Roll the next team. Repeat until the whole company has been “converted.” It can work. But it’s also how you…Read more
I’m opening up my Scrum Master and Product Owner trainings to the public this year. I’ve been running these formats in-house for client teams for a while – and this year I wanted to make them available beyond company walls, too. What makes my approach a little different Impressions from past Scrum trainings There are many solid Scrum trainings out there. Mine just leans extra hard into experiential learning. That means: Games & simulations instead of “just” talking about Scrum Realistic…Read more
