LiminalArc SoundNotes

Why are so many Agile coaches and ScrumMasters getting laid off? Is it because Agile is disappearing? Or is it because they’ve gotten so dogmatic about the rules and ceremonies surrounding Agile that they’re more of a burden then they are valuable? In our latest episode of SoundNotes, Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Prior explore the how to balance the competing priorities of the Agilists and the leaders...

Join us for today’s podcast where we dive into the world of Kanban and Agile methodologies to unravel the thought process behind large organizations who want embrace Kanban. If you’re considering Kanban, or you’re currently grappling with workflow challenges, this video will equip you with some Kanban strategies to help you seamlessly implement and optimize Kanban in a dynamic enterprise environme...

Mike and Dave sit down to have another debate with ChatGPT about dealing with dependencies in Agile. Mike asserts that dependencies kill Agility and that they’re meant to be broken. ChatGPT says that it’s all about managing dependencies and that while dependencies may limit Agility, they can also foster collaboration and synergy. The debate quickly rolls into a conversation about dealing with lega...

Mike Cottmeyer debates ChatGPT and sits down with Dave to discuss what it really means to scale Agile. Over the course of the podcast, Mike and Dave explore the difference between Agile principles and practices, cloud migration, and what the Agile industry can learn from the US Air Force’s concept of Agile, Open, and Digital. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike, you can reach h...

Our guest, Troy Magennis, has been described as a national resource in the Agile community. He’s a published author and frequent speaker on forecasting and modeling Agile projects. Today, Troy joins us to discuss how many of the metrics the Agile industry uses actually prevent companies from achieving the change they so desperately desire. Together, we’ll explore some ways the industry gets metric...

When organizations set out to adopt Agile, they always have a business reason. It’s never just because they really love Scrum, or SAFe, or LeSS. But when the teams start doing all the Agile things, and they’re met with resistance from the organization around them, it’s hard to point to success because not much changed. So, we start defining success as “do the roles and ceremonies exist and are we...

Today, the market for Transformation is a transition period. We see some companies looking for the next big thing, and others going back to what they know. Is this a sign that Agile is waning? Is it evolving? Or is Agile so deeply engrained in the way business gets done, people have just started calling it something else to deny the fact they just aren’t very good at it? Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Pr...

Agile practices don’t automatically lead to Business Agility. In the presence of dependencies and organizational impediments that the teams have no ability to change, going through the motions of Scrum or SAFe isn’t going to lead to greater Business Agility either. So, you can train the teams all you want, but if it doesn’t lead to greater Agility, who cares? Listen as Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Prio...

People have debated whether or not SAFe is Agile for as long as it’s been around. LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer, joins Dave on this episode of SoundNotes to explore the roots of small team Agile and to discuss how SAFe stacks up against the ideals of the Agile Manifesto. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile:  https://www.leadingagile.com/gu...

There’s a layer to communication that is most important for understanding: intention. It’s the most often overlooked aspect because it’s hard to decipher if people are saying what they mean or if you actually understand what they’re saying. By hunting for a shared understanding of intention, you can more deeply understand what people are saying and why. If you aren’t aligning on intent, you could...

During Transformation, we need a way to measure its performance and improvements to the organization so that leaders continue to support the initiative. Metrics need to be used to help teams get better over time and drive the right kinds of outcomes that leadership is looking for. In this episode, Mike Cottmeyer shares his insights into different Agile metrics and what are the right ones that give...

In this episode of SoundNotes, Len Greski joins Dave to discuss leadership and emotional systems. Len is a Principal Consultant at LeadingAgile and he has a background in sociology. As Len explains, “The most difficult challenge in delivering great products is getting people to work together." During the interview, we explore emotional systems theory and how that can be applied within our organiza...

This week’s podcast was created as a response to a question we were recently asked by some of our CSM/CSPO course students. This one is for all the team members and Scrum Masters, the people on the ground who see why Agile could make a huge difference in their entire organization but just don’t have the title or agency to sign the contracts to make it happen. What they wanted to know is: How does...

So an Executive walks into a Daily Scrum and demands Team Member X who must immediately begin work on something that is not part of the Scrum Team’s commitment for the Sprint. If you are a Scrum Master, this has either happened to you, or it is going to… soon. What do you do?  You know this is not ok. The Executive, who may have the power to fired you on the spot. should know better too, but appar...

This week in SoundNotes, Chris Barton joins me to talk through a problem that shows up one way or another in every single CSM class I teach… How do I get my team to want to do Agile when they don’t want to do Agile? During the interview, Chris and I talk through different lenses you can employ to get a better understanding of what is driving the resistance and strategies for overcoming it. We also...

In this week’s episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Senior Consultant, Matthew Oatts joins me to talk about what to do when you are placed in a leadership role, but not given a lot of clarity on what you are specifically supposed to do or how you are supposed to do it. How do you lead people when you don’t have clear boundaries or you don’t have clarity on what your leadership is looking for. Often...

Agile Transformation is more than just installing Agile processes or Agile principles. It’s more than simply training your team on Agile methodology. But if that’s the case, then what is the actual path to becoming an Agile organization?  You must create the conditions where Agile processes can be deployed and exploited for better outcomes than you had before—so you can get more value, better ROI,...

Finding, supporting, and retaining people with skills and talent is never easy. Over the past few years, between the pandemic and the great resignation, it has become even more challenging. What attracts the next generation of talented change agents? How can you help them grow into the skilled transformation ninjas you need them to be? If you are part of one of the older generations, how can you b...

What is PSTIR? PSTIR is an acronym for a change management model we use at LeadingAgile to explain our approach to creating lasting change. It stands for Prepare, Socialize, Tailor, Implement, Reinforce and it is a series of collaboration and implementation activities that enable our clients to be part of the change while leveraging the LeadingAgile reference architecture. In this episode of Sound...

In this episode of SoundNotes, Dave is joined by LeadingAgile Chief Marketing Officer Tim Zack. Tim offers his unique perspective on how to communicate within an organization during an Agile Transformation to influence lasting change. The biggest part of an Agile Transformation is asking people to work differently at a job they might have been doing for years. People are naturally resistant to cha...

This week on SoundNotes our Founder and CEO, Mike Cottmeyer, joins Dave to discuss why simply showing up and having the answer for the customer is not enough. During this conversation, Mike explains the process he follows when engaging with clients to ensure he is truly hearing them and understanding the way they see the problem, and how that begins a series of steps that enables him to work with...

This week LeadingAgile Senior Consultant Matthew Oatts joins Dave for a different kind of interview. This is the first of two interviews we will be posting with Matthew and they both focus on what it is like to work here at LeadingAgile and how to make the most of your early days with the company. Because LeadingAgile has a unique point of view and approach to organizational change and Agile trans...

At LeadingAgile our approach to helping organizations transform the way they work is deeply rooted in First Principles. These are core beliefs we all have in common that shape the way we work. People who work here come from different backgrounds and have different experiences, but First Principles are things we all believe to be true. In our interactions with clients, these core beliefs are an ess...

Lance Kind, Daryl Kulak, and George Walters join for this podcast episode about software. Daryl and George describe how they help companies answer the question: Is your software getting better or worse? LeadingAgile Studios team mission is to help companies going through an Agile Transformation resolve the problem of where the software is the leading impediment to a company's success. LeadingAgile...

Spike solutions are one of the ways extreme programming teams " figure out answers to tough technical or design problems ". Their use has evolved over the years and as they've been adopted by Scrum Teams. There are also many teams out there who may be using spikes in a way that creates more work without solving problems. In this episode of SoundNotes, Stephen Cavaliere joins Dave to talk all about...