The Agile Daily Standup - AgileDad

Outcome-based product roadmaps offer many benefits over traditional, feature-based ones including a strong focus on the value a product should create. But how can you introduce this new approach when an organisation is used to feature-based plans and stakeholders find it difficult to trust an outcome-based roadmap? To address this challenge, I introduce a four-step process in this article. https:/...

How Did We Get 60 Seconds? Have you ever wondered why there are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour? People often take this for granted because it has been this way for thousands of years. If you can believe it, the ordering of our clocks took place nearly 4,000 years ago. Our clocks work on intervals of sixty because that is how the Sumerians and Babylonians did it. The ancient Babyl...

The Beatles Made a Mistake - Mike Cohn It should be a comfort to each of us to know that we’ll probably never make a mistake as big as the one The Beatles made during this week in 1966. Following the critical and sales success of the prior year’s “Rubber Soul” album, the Beatles released a new album, “Yesterday and Today,” in June 1966. The album was released in the US and Canada and contained son...

Stitching Agility Into Life and Work Today is June 26, or 6-26, a playful nod to Disney’s beloved blue alien, Experiment 626, better known as Stitch. As we explore the connections between this mischievous character and Agile methodologies, let’s dive into how Stitch’s adventures in "Lilo & Stitch" can teach us about flexibility, adaptation, and the power of ohana in our personal and...

Is The Product Owner an Order Maker or Order Taker? In Scrum, the Product Owner includes the perspective of what is valuable (and what is not) regarding the product's ambitions. As the team spends time and money working on the product, the Product Owner ensures this investment returns value to the stakeholders. Close collaboration with the people who have a stake in the product and the develop...

Pack Your Bags... Enrique Dans Says That Agile Is Done! In this episode of the Agile HateFest... LOL Enrique Dans tries to convince us all that "research" shows that Agile does NOT work. I for one am thankful that he told me before I spent over 20 years helping organizations achieve AMAZING & PROVEN success implementing Agile. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.ag...

10 Psychology Behaviors to Look Out For in 2024 Listen to learn more.. 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 Product Owner is assigned to a team The Product Owner is responsible for the product delivery The Product Owner’s sole job is to do backlog management The Product Owner is no Product Manager The Product Owner owns the Sprint Backlog and determines what the team does How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [fac...

Juneteenth marks a pivotal moment in American history, commemorating June 19, 1865, the day when Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and the enslaved were now free. This announcement came a full two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had officially outlawed slavery in Confedera...

Are we really still having this conversation? I had a student point out an article that explains why everything ties back to time. Yet again we debunked and show how everything should NEVER point back to time. It is so much easier to estimate and forecast without it!! How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [faceb...

Where is the BEST Price Point for your product or service? Too Expensive “At what price would you consider the product to be so expensive that you would not consider buying it? Too Cheap “At what price would you consider the product to be priced so low that you would feel the quality couldn’t be very good?” Expensive “At what price would you consider the product starting to get expensive, so that...

Why We Should Learn Everything The Way We Learned To Walk Watch  home videos of babies standing and walking for the first time  and two things in particular stand out: 1) They fall over a lot.  They are trying and failing constantly, which isn’t surprising considering how tricky standing up and walking can be. What  is  surprising is just how readily they get up again, without seeming to be at all...

Are Scrum & Agile Dead? - Mike Cohn I’ve always said I wanted Scrum and agile to go away. Is that happening? I don’t think a week passes without some article about their deaths appearing in my browser or email. Within a few years of the Agile Manifesto being written, I began to say I wanted agile to go away. I didn’t mean I wanted us to stop using them. Rather, I want them to win. I want agile...

How To Fix The Top 3 Most Common Scrum Issues 1. Avoid starting projects with a Sprint Zero Sprint Zero often doesn’t provide enough time for thorough planning and architectural decisions. Instead, advocate for a flexible approach. Ensure initial planning and setup extend beyond a single sprint. This way, your team can establish a solid foundation for future development without feeling rushed. 2....

The Top 5 Ways You Can Demonstrate Collaboration With Cross-Functional Teams In An Interview Share Stories Highlight Empathy Discuss Outcomes Use Metrics Reflect Flexibility 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/leehenso...

Sprint vs Kanban vs ScrumBan - A Question From Scott Do you know the difference? Join V. Lee Henson as we explore the differences between the three and what you need to know. 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/leehens...

9 Unwritten Social Rules Everyone Should Know Be direct when you are too tired to function. If someone turns down alcohol, let it go. Don’t stand in a door way.  Don’t make plans in front of those you don’t plan to invite. Never criticize someone’s laugh or smile. Respect your surroundings. If someone drives you somewhere offer to pay for gas every time. Don’t cut the line. Say thank you when some...

From Product Manager to AI Product Manager - Making the Transition Why focus on AI product management ? AI or traditional(??) Machine Learning has been driving business impact for a while (decades now). Search, recommendations, Ads, fraud detection and many such areas are heavily driven by ML algorithms AI is bound to have a large impact on business productivity going forward. There is some hype,...

Story Points Are NOT Trash! Recently, I noticed another ‘Story Points are trash’ article on LinkedIn. It was a popular post, with many people responding to AND agreeing with this statement. I disagree. 😱 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...

Why People Don't Listen and How We Can Encourage Them If your senior management team is ignoring you, it is probably  not  because they are stupid If the message does not inspire your intended reaction, you may  not  have been clear in your communication If your manager is ignoring recommendations from professional researchers, it is probably  not  because they don’t think understanding custom...

The Top 5 Undeserved Reasons Scrum Gets a Black Eye Micromanagement Sprints are mini waterfalls Excessive Meetings Story Points estimation gives a false sense of security We can’t work in two weeks Sprints How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook]  https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin]  http...

What Was I Made For? Who would have ever thought that I would have an episode completely inspired by the lyrics of a Billie Eillish song? Okay.. all of you who know me well realize that this is not so far fetched. As we remember a dear friend who passed on or we are trying to introspect on our own contribution to the world, it is time we ask the question.. What was I made for? How to connect with...

Managers Are Overworked and I'm Worried - Mike Cohn I’m scared, folks—not of zombies, spiders, or flying. I’m afraid of managers. Maybe I should say I’m afraid  for managers. I just read a new Harvard Business review article called  Four Reasons Why Managers Fail . It said managers have nearly three times as many direct reports as they did just six years ago. Managers also reported an average...

Everybody Hates the Product Manager Product managers are almost universally hated — and with (good?) reason. They just don’t get it. They make a lot of excuses. They never deliver, and when they do, it’s the wrong feature. And don’t get me started on how poorly they iterate, descope, estimate, roadmap, and “prioritize” their “backlog”. Being a PM is an almost impossible job  by definition . You’re...

Product Manager vs Project Manager - The Importance in the Difference Why should I care about the differences between product and project management? And why do the differences matter? Despite being distinct roles, product managers and project managers are often confused How to connect with AgileDad: - [website]  https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram]  https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [fa...