The Agile Daily Standup - AgileDad

Dolly Parton Can Improve Your Teamwork... - Mike Cohn Would you like to get a check from Dolly Parton for $500? I would. In an effort to reduce the number of students who dropped out of high school in her home county, she promised all 7th and 8th grade students she would give them each $500 if they graduated from high school. She added a catch: They’d only receive the money if a buddy they chose a...

The 13 Commandments of Strategic Thinking If your team can’t use your strategy to make real decisions, it’s not a strategy. Strategy is made of principles, not plans.  You can’t script the future — but you can guide decisions. You have six key stakeholders.  Strategy must serve all of them — not just shareholders. Customers are special.  They bring in the money. Everyone else takes it out. Solve b...

Turn Complainers Into Problem-Solvers “Everything’s wrong. Nothing works. This place is falling apart.” And then… the grumble list begins. Oh gawd, every single problem without a hint of a solution! We’ve all got that team member, right? The one who turns up to meetings like storm clouds ready to rain on everyone’s parade? How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [ins...

Product Management Is Broken - Here's How To Fix It Five fundamental shifts are redefining what it means to be a  product  manager in 2025. These aren’t minor adjustments or trend-driven pivots. They represent a complete inversion of core PM practices that have guided the profession for over a decade. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://w...

Help Me Understand - Become a Better Listener Stop, Collaborate, and Listen How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook]  https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin]  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Is Agile Disappearing? - Not Again... For the last two years, we’ve seen a fairly drastic change in the agile landscape. Large companies have laid off hundreds of thousands of agile and tech jobs ( 287k in 2023 and 152k in 2024 ). The job market for new jobs is also very different. You can’t just search for Scrum Master or Agile Coach like you used to. Maybe it’s because big firms have started tre...

Don't Doubt the Power of Fast Feedback - Mike Cohn Every year when summer rolls around, I start dreaming about getting out on the water: sailing, rowing, kayaking, wake surfing, and so on. If it’s a water sport, I probably love it. And every time I work with a product that doesn’t quite meet my needs, I start thinking about how important it is to get real user feedback early and often. Today, thos...

Keeping Team Meetings Relevant Team meetings are a crucial part to the success of any team. They can be a tricky problem to solve because generally you are trying to perform a balance between having fun while focusing on what’s next. I don’t think team meetings should be overtly structured, but when running them there are always a few goals I need to achieve in each one. And when I speak to those...

Conflict Management - Mid-Meltdown Edition if Marcus was running a bakery, what would that look like?” Emma stopped mid-rant. “What?” “I’m serious. Marcus the micromanaging bakery owner. Paint me the picture.” She looked at me like I’d suggested we rob a bank together and then buy a radio station with the funds. But then something shifted. A tiny smile crept across her face... How to connect with...

Happy 4th of July - One Flag, One Firework, One Nation Thank You For Listening to This Special Episode! How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook]  https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin]  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The Lazy Facilitator... “You’re such a relaxed, laid-back, and maybe even lazy facilitator!” I received this feedback during a recent Liberating Structures workshop. It was meant as a compliment, though the “lazy” part needed some clarification. 😄 I do take it as a compliment. If you’re the busiest person in the room as a facilitator, something *probably* isn’t quite right. When I started facilit...

Are You Refining Your Backlog Enough (or Too Often)? - Mike Cohn Hi V. Lee, Ever felt like your backlog refinement meetings are either way too long or painfully unproductive? You’re not alone. Backlog refinement can be a game-changer—or a time sink. The difference? How well you understand the purpose. So, let’s get clear.   Refinement is when a team and its product owner look at the top items on t...

20 Powerful Leadership Quotes That Will Transform Your Thinking As leaders, we are often busy — busy leading, managing, and chasing our business goals. If continued endlessly without any break, this can lead to stress and burnout. I find it helpful to take a step back from time to time, and reflect and ponder over our roles as leaders. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agileda...

Is AI Killing My Coding Creativity and Critical Thinking? “Why solve the puzzle when ChatGPT can solve it for me?” That’s a question I never thought I’d ask myself as a young coder. But today, it echoes louder in my mind than any compiler error. I started coding because I loved creating things from scratch. I enjoyed the frustration of debugging, the thrill of getting something right after failing...

Do You TikTok? If So... Why? It is a legitimate question... I am still trying to figure out why people do this.. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook]  https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin]  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

How To Improve Your Teams Motivation Motivation isn’t pushed — it’s ignited. When people feel seen, heard and trusted — they don’t just show up, they step up. Motivation impacts everything at work — without it people in the team do the bare minimum leading to slow progress, missed targets and poor results. Demotivated people are also highly contagious — they can bring the entire team down with the...

Stop Using User Stories.. I Think Not Someone Asked me to review an article about user stories... Lets just say it is a mixed review. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook]  https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin]  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The Coaching Question That Makes People See Their Impact “The team did all the work.” That’s when I dropped my sneaky question: “What would not be like it is — had you not been part of it?” The silence got longer and at one point I thought she had frozen in time. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook] ...

Is There a Silent Genius In Your Meetings? The most valuable voice in your meeting is the one you never hear. And for that you need a sneaky coaching question. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook]  https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin]  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

You Too Can Do Amazing Things! It's the Friday NOT so Agile Episode time.. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook]  https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin]  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

All About The Definition of Ready Many teams use a Definition of Ready to check if Product Backlog items are ‘ready for Sprint.’ Often, the acronym “INVEST” is used as a checklist. PBIs are considered ready when they are independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small, and testable. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/ag...

The One Question That Changes Your Entire Meeting For The Better “What’s one thing we do in these meetings that wastes everyone’s time?” How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook]  https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin]  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Leadership Scripts for the 3 Conversations That You Can't Afford to Mess Up Letting Someone Go (Without Burning Down the House) Giving Feedback That Actually Lands Talking to Someone Who Has No Idea They’re Underperforming How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook]  https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ -...

Celebrating Fathers - SPECIAL EPISODE Happy Fathers Day! How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook]  https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin]  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Happy Friday the 13th... It is Time For Change! Despite its spooky reputation, Friday the 13th has been a surprisingly positive and even lucky day for many people throughout history—especially when you look past superstition. Here are some great things that have happened (or regularly happen) on Friday the 13th: 🌟 Historical Wins & Milestones Hollywood Gold: "Friday the 13th" (1980)...