Badass Agile

Here's a habit I'm willing to bet you have adopted without even noticing... You think without thinking. To me, this means that we often accept what we read, see or hear because it's familiar. With so much visual communication, if something looks similar to a trustworthy source, it must be trustworthy. The more an idea is repeated, the more it is amplified in our minds. Our ideas are as likely to c...

Hesitation Kills. Don't let your company fall into extinction - or even fall behind your competitors - before you finally learn this lesson. Unlike any other time in history, the market is screaming for solutions.  Great Resignation, political and identity divide, social media, web 3.0, cryptocurrencies…all of these are new forces that companies are caught with their pants down in dealing with. Gr...

The best learning experiences are those where you meet yourself for the first time. -Who are you? -Why are you here? -What do you fear? -What do you believe? ***JOIN THE FORGE*** Sign up for more info about our online leadership immersion experience. https://badassagile.com/the-forge/ ****** Follow on CLUBHOUSE: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/club/badass-agile Don't forget to join us in the Badass...

We place value on being spectators...observers to the wisdom of others. But what does 'being in the know' really buy you? -How much time do we waste on social media trying to know the latest? -How many meetings do we attend for the purpose of being looped in or informed? -How many books do we read hoping it will transform our practice...only to forget most of what we learned, and give up when it d...

Only Uncertainty can give you Certainty. ***JOIN THE FORGE*** Sign up for more info about our online leadership immersion experience. https://badassagile.com/the-forge/ ****** Follow on CLUBHOUSE: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/club/badass-agile Don't forget to join us in the Badass Agile Listener Lounge on Facebook for member exclusives, livestreams and previews! https://www.facebook.com/groups/ba...

You want to help your company be more agile, so you create all of these extraordinary processes and guides, and then you go to your next project and find none of it works? How can this be? When we talk about impediments to flow, we don’t talk about the notion of rigidity. The only time things are rigid is pretty much when they’re dead. That’s when we become stiff, brittle and breakable. In life, w...

I love changing perspectives, and I love having my perspective changed. Better still, I look for ways to merge creativity with my study and practice of agile. I welcome you to the Agile Horizon (www.theagilehorizon.com). Commencing with the March issue, we will bring progressive ideas to our worldwide audience. In the process, we will build a unique creative experience for writers and thinkers - i...

I’m pleased to announce the public lauch of “The Forge Professional” - a corporate/team edition of my leadership immersion program. The Forge Professional condenses key learnings from the year-long program into 12 weeks. Working in cohorts of 10-12, you’ll learn how to achieve bold outcomes with effortless effectiveness. As part of the experience, we will practice these skills on your toughest cha...

We've lost the art of being direct and decisive. Yet...isn't that what agility demands? Fearless leaders are in short supply. We're too nice. ***JOIN THE FORGE*** Sign up for more info about our online leadership immersion experience. https://badassagile.com/the-forge/ ****** Follow on CLUBHOUSE: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/club/badass-agile Don't forget to join us in the Badass Agile Listener L...

Two decades into this Agile thing, we're still struggling to get results. Why is that? After 20 years of theory AND practice, we're not much better off. We probably make better-quality software, and we probably make it faster - which certainly pushes up some business metrics.  But I still see too many organizations missing the point. Courage, trust, and accountability must accompany an efficient p...

We have got to put Agile thinking into other parts of the business. With millions of certified professionals hitting the marketplace, you’re going to have to figure out how to compete quickly. Here are some key areas where you need to help business react to trends, lead the industry, and solve their own problems efficiently. 1. Sustainable Business - Buyers are more actively concerned with the way...

***JOIN THE FORGE*** Sign up for more info about our online leadership immersion experience. https://badassagile.com/the-forge/ ****** Follow on CLUBHOUSE: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/club/badass-agile Don't forget to join us in the Badass Agile Listener Lounge on Facebook for member exclusives, livestreams and previews! https://www.facebook.com/groups/badasslistenerlounge/ Follow The LinkedIn P...

We preach agility and moan about the lack of mindset change, but are we agile in ceremony, or in life? An Agile Mind: -Is flexible, does not get stuck on things. It doesn’t dwell on challenges, discomfort, bad fortune, etc. -Does not judge -Is comfortable with what IS -Does not seek knowledge or safety -Learns by doing -Is self-reflective and self-aware -Is focused on their offering - value, happi...

The more we try to learn the 'rules' of Agile practice, the more we should be learning that there can be no rules. ***JOIN THE FORGE*** Sign up for more info about our online leadership immersion experience. https://badassagile.com/the-forge/ ****** Follow on CLUBHOUSE: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/club/badass-agile Don't forget to join us in the Badass Agile Listener Lounge on Facebook for membe...

Here’s how you know you have no competition. When you interact with people, notice if: -They make promises and then don’t keep them -They make excuses -They become harder to find when work has to be done -They complain about not knowing what to do, but fail to observe definitions, instructions or frameworks -They avoid conversations and actions that require change mindset -They talk about work, bu...

At the end of each year, I like to look ahead to the currents and opportunities of our craft. While I see some progress here and there, I don't see potent shifts.  I'm learning that it's better to create them.  Will you join me?   Despite the prevalence of retrospectives and the value of looking back to celebrate wins and inventory lessons, I've found it more powerful to look ahead.  The future is...

In the debate on measurement, we seem to have strong views on what we DON'T want to examine, but little to say on what we will put our hands up to be accountable for. We can't forget that a team is not just accountable to itself and the end customer. ***JOIN THE FORGE*** Sign up for more info about our online leadership immersion experience. https://badassagile.com/the-forge/ ****** Follow on CLUB...

One of the best things that has happened because of this podcast is inspiring courage worldwide. There's a fine line between recognition and impact.  I like hearing when people enjoy the show, but I like it more when what I say breaks your patterns of thinking and challenges you to not only think differently but to DO differently.   To be bold. To do more. The only way to generate courage in the w...

Nothing good - no uncommon outcome - is easy, otherwise, everyone would be doing it, and it wouldn't be uncommon.  How do you know if you're performing like an uncommon badass? Here are some guidelines  -If you are comfortable, you're not growing -If you're locked into a predictable pattern that you can do in your sleep, you're not growing (think of the RULES that we've defined for running standup...

What are the key learnings that made me radically more effective? After 200 episodes, it's time to reflect! -First, some gratitude. Thank you to all who have listened to and supported the show. To all who have become members of The Forge, and supported me across multiple platforms, products and experiments.  You have taught me everything I know, and I'm nowhere near done. -Next, let's think about...

We have a duty to seek the truth, even if it doesn't align with our existing beliefs.  To red-team our ideas; to challenge what is accepted and permitted without scrutiny. Otherwise, we fall to dogmatism and to preaching what we think is right just because we think it's right. ***JOIN THE FORGE*** Sign up for more info about our online leadership immersion experience. https://badassagile.com/the-f...

In a race to keep your talent, offering what YOU think they will like is a short route to failure. People want to matter. That can be hard to do when dealing with one person, much less 10,000. Nevertheless, if you want to be the envy of your industry, start thinking about how to make people feel like they matter. ***JOIN THE FORGE*** Sign up for more info about our online leadership immersion expe...

Let's have a little controversy today. People are afraid of commitment. They're starting to say we should change the word - eliminate it all together.  I'm fine with minimizing estimates.  I'm super fine with re-negotiating scope based on changing priorities on the ground. But I'm not OK with allowing words like commitment, accountability, and promises to leave the lexicon. Agile is about change. ...

It's my experience that what you avoid - whether it's because it scares you, or you believe you're no good at it - will find you.  Specifically, your inability to face and conquer your discomfort will continue to cause pain in your career, your happiness and your personal life. ***JOIN THE FORGE*** Sign up for more info about our online leadership immersion experience. https://badassagile.com/the-...

THE ONE FAILURE THAT KILLS ALL TEAM PROGRESS.....and how to solve it. Perhaps the most important thing Scrum teaches us to do is make and keep small commitments with consistency. On these points, I've spoken many times but I want to reveal that of all the human challenges I encounter in teams, it is this. Why can't people keep their word? -This problem exists everywhere - within our projects and b...