Arguing Agile: Product Management, Business Leadership, & Org Design

In this episode of the Agile Podcast, Brian Orlando answers some questions from comments and feedback (mainly) about Product Ownership. 0:00 Non-relevant Intro 0:28 CSM & CSPO in a Consultancy 1:55 Aligning on Problems, not Solutions 3:45 Connect with Company Direction 4:34 Prioritizing & Being Accountable for Prioritization 6:47 Building Consensus 7:58 Project Example where Consensus Buil...

On this episode, Brian Orlando talks with William Lee about their careers in the United States Air Force. Also discussed are the topics of the old GI Bill versus the new, Post-9/11 GI Bill, separating from the military, and some random stories from our military service. We try to tie the topic back to Agile via a roundabout discussion of Leadership as we see it in the Military and in Corporate Ame...

n this episode, Brian Orlando and Om Patel talk about career progression. Starting from college and progressing to Enterprise Agile Coaching and everything in between, we review the tips, hurdles, and strategies to get you where you want to go. 0:00 College 4:59 Impact of Bad Instructors 7:15 Career Starting Paths 9:40 A Tangent about RPG/Mainframes 12:03 Weirdness 12:55 Career Path into Agility 1...

Brian Orlando and Om Patel talk about the times when you know its over. This episode we're joined by two special guests! 0:00 When its Time (Om) 1:59 Outstaying Your Welcome 5:51 Car Talk 7:57 Intangible Company Value 9:59 More Car Talk 11:14 Little Things Add Up 12:13 A New Guest 12:44 Feeling Stagnant 14:52 Your Ego & Titles/Roles 16:46 The Case for Stagnancy 19:20 Inauthenticity at Wor...

Brian Orlando and Om Patel talk about the differences between working within Big Organizations versus Small Organizations (for the most part). 0:00 Introductory Banter 2:01 Doing it All Yourself 4:55 Creating & Agreeing on a Roadmap 7:00 Clashes with Traditional Project Management 10:58 Leads in Large/Scaled Organizations 16:12 Having an Agile Coach at the Lead Level 18:34 When Brian was a Mat...

Brian Orlando and Om Patel go back to basics in part two of our walkthrough of each of the Scrum Events! In this episode, we talk about the Sprint Review and Sprint Planning. We discuss our experiences and the different ways to approach and facilitate each event. We also briefly discuss Backlog Refinement which it totally not an "event." 0:00 Design Thinking & the Sprint Review 10:48...

Brian Orlando and Om Patel talk about working within the confines of the PMO! Whether it is the Project Management Office, the Product Management Office, or some combination thereof, in this episode, we cover it all. 0:00 What is a PMO (Project Management Office) 7:45 Traditional PMO, Day in the Life 13:12 An Agile PMO 18:38 Retrofitting a PMO to encompass Agility 25:13 Nobody wants to do Maintena...

Brian Orlando and Om Patel discuss the riveting topic of Agile Budgeting! In this episode, we compare and contrast Agile budgets versus Traditional budgets. We also discuss the effects budgets have on timelines as well as walk through several examples that could affect budgets (some more than once). 0:00 Budgeting for New Projects 4:01 Old School Budgeting 12:40 The Value Stream Approach 17:10 The...

Brian Orlando and Om Patel go back to basics in part one of our walkthrough of each of the Scrum Events! In this episode, we talk about the Daily Scrum and the Sprint Retrospective. We discuss our experiences and the different ways to approach and facilitate each event. 0:00 Daily Scrum - 3 Questions 13:36 Daily Scrum - Walk the Board 19:37 Why Do the Daily Scrum at All? 28:47 Daily Scrum for a Ne...

Brian Orlando and Om Patel discuss topics related to Agile Teams. In this episode, we talk about team size and its effect on team effectiveness, as well as how to measure the business value of the teams' output. 0:00 Utilization Fallacies 8:25 Team Size (Sub-Optimizing) 16:31 Team Size (When to Divide) 21:55 Tracking Business Value 29:28 Effects of Changing Team Members 37:40 Dedicated vs. Di...

Brian Orlando and Om Patel talk at length about Psychological Safety. Later on, Brian and Om are joined by a Special Surprise Guest to talk about the challenges of joining a new team and about unlearning habits as a Scrum Master. Also, our apologies for the audio/video sync problems that plagued this episode. There were some gear issues that will be resolved after some changes. Contents: 0:00 Psyc...

Brian Orlando and Om Patel discuss Agility and some common challenges that organizations face before Brian takes off on a rant for the rest of the Episode about Scrum Masters; why we need them, and why people think they don't. 0:00 Agility & Toyota 12:23 Organizational Challenges 17:26 Can't Afford a Scrum Master 26:06 Let's Rotate our Scrum Master 36:59 More things a Scrum Mast...

Brian sits down with Om for ROUND 2! In this Episode, we discuss some different methods to handling Sprint Planning, how not to get fired as a "effective" Scrum Master (hopefully), and "Meet them Where they Are" as a mantra. 0:00 Intro 2:26 Sprint Planning & a New PO 15:33 Division of Planning What & How 35:05 Leads outside of the Teams 47:54 Tips for Not Getting Fired...

Brian Orlando and Om Patel sit down to talk about anything and everything; including Story Mapping, Story writing, roles in SAFe, and offshore Scrum Masters. 0:00 Product Owners and Scrum Masters 10:11 Story Mapping (Part 1) 25:38 As a System Stories 31:55 Story Mapping (Part 2) 39:18 Coaching Tools 42:22 Nerdy BA Stuff 46:00 LinkedIn Click-baiting 48:57 SAFe 58:18 Hiring the Right People 1:10:46...