The Agile Daily Standup - AgileDad

When will Scrum ever die? A recent student sent me a blog post to review that was published by a professional scrum trainer. After careful review my hope was that things would go down a path to call out the evolution of Agile to support Scrum, but sometimes things do NOT go as planned... 

Join us as we discuss more about the stable framework and dive deeper into sustained continual improvement.  Training quality programs Non-conforming product management The incident avoidance register

Is there truly a magic metric to measure team performance? Is it velocity? How about lines of code delivered? Do we have a real answer to this question? I believe it is the TPS Report.. (Don't forget the cover sheet... I can get you a copy of the memo) Join V. Lee Henson as we explore what we can and should be measuring. 

Have you heard of a team working agreement before? If you’ve been working in an Agile team, chances are your team has created them during the formation of the project and scrum teams. They’re probably posted on a wall in your team’s shared space if you work face-to-face. And if you’re in a remote team, they’re probably saved in a file-sharing system. Team working agreements are a good idea. But of...

Here are the top 10 tips to get a more restful nights sleep:  Get out and work out - This is a two-parter. It may seem obvious, but going outside during the day matters, as our bodies use daylight as one signal to tell our brains when to be awake and when to be asleep. Drink less alcohol - That third nip of gin — or whatever poison you pick and whatever number is your line-crosser — might fee...

The goal of MVP, as defined by Eric Ries, is to validate critical assumptions about the product idea and get maximum validated learning with minimal effort. The value of MVP is to learn as quickly as possible, minimize risk and increase your chances of success by experimenting. Creating value for customers is not the goal. This is because creating products, e.g., writing software, is one of the mo...

Join us as we continue to explore The STABLE framework! In this episode we discuss the 5 Stable Principles:  Anything repeatable can be improved Improvement requires repetition, reflection, and change Sustained improvement requires systematization Improve systems, respect people Speak using data https://www.amazon.com/Stable-FrameworkTM-Operational-Implementation-Development/dp/0692144005/ref...

One way to increase energy is to ensure teams have what London Business School Professor Lynda Gratton called an igniting purpose . No one’s passion is ignited by “meet the important deadline.” Similarly, a bonus for meeting a deadline may motivate in the short term but bonuses do not ignite passion. Passion is ignited when team members share an intrinsic purpose. They can envision users’ lives be...

Understanding the difference between Intentional and Unintentional debt can be challenging! Join V. Lee Henson as we explore the 7 deadly sins of technical debt.  https://www.agiledad.com/_files/ugd/a58352_3070a0c5fdfe412e8e430a85ef216d9e.pdf Unintended features or gold plating Poorly designed architecture Lack of product backlog management and visibility Outdated defects and bugs Lack of tes...

Denzel Washington gave some pretty sound advice when he said Dreams without goals are just dreams and they ultimately fuel disappointment. Join V. Lee Henson as we discuss the journey and the arrival of seeing dreams through to fruition.  MUST watch Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FB9i7P9Zs4

What does a VP of Product do?  Product vision/direction and alignment to that direction Overall product roadmap prioritization and communication Team management, coaching, and growth Cross company feedback and alignment Managing dependencies, resources, and risk mitigation for products/features you’re building and launching

Are you interested in learning about the STABLE Framework and how it helps us do Agile better? Today we will study The Hidden Factory. What is it andhow does it help us identify and eliminate waste. 

One of the most common mistakes I see when organizations attempt to scale is the struggle to gather meaningful feedback and reporting metrics. It is so important that we do not track things at the individual level yet I see it happening everywhere I visit. How can we solve this issue and make scaling SEXY again? 

Join V. Lee Henson, President and Founder of AgileDad as we discuss an email I got from Mike Cohn where he talks about the importance of Limiting WIP, Little's Law and how we should stop starting and start finishing work! 

What does a song from 1984 teach us as a precursor to the Agile Manifesto? It teaches us to treat people with dignity and respect. Join V. Lee Henson, President and Founder of AgileDad as we discuss ways to choose our words more wisely. 

What are the top 5 tips to host a perfect Retrospective?  Set the stage Evaluate goals and last actions Generate Insights Define new actions Properly close the retrospective

MANY people have asked me how Agile works at Tesla? With the help of Joe Justice and some team members from Tesla, I was able to pull some sneak peeks at what they do to get things done. 

Giving teams problems to solve instead of specific tasks —I focused on the goals but not on how to achieve them. In the case of OKR, I asked my teams to propose key results (KR). Inviting them to co-create goals — On top of that, I understood that leaders should invite others to co-create goals. I have repeatedly found that engineers often have the best ideas (“What”). Showing trust instead of exe...

What are the 6 Concrete Ways to Improve Collaboration? I thought you would never ask.... Join us as we review this article from Alessandro Zanetti - https://medium.com/serious-scrum/scrum-master-6-concrete-ways-to-improve-collaboration-45f01ca630f8 where we learn the six techniques that really are effective:  Work with clear goals Improve sprint planning Create the culture of asking why Coach...

Is all hope lost? Or is it not too late for us to refocus and truly have hope for our future? In this Agile- Not so agile episode of The Daily Standup Podcast, you will learn the three tips to help you regain hope in humanity.  Find something to keep you grounded spiritually and emotionally Lose yourself in the service of others Find ways to filter out negative inputs and bias Remember it is...

For all of you who asked about Stable Framework, here is a super fun episode with the creator of the STABLE Framework! 

What is the difference between Fire Fighting Vs Fire Prevention and why is it important for us to understand both? Join V. Lee Henson, President and Founder of AgileDad as we explore how to idetify the problem and what to do to solve it!  

In a recent article by David Pereira, he discussed: I’d be a billionaire if I’d get a dime every time a developer complained about Scrum events. Recently, I noticed an increased resistance towards Scrum. Developers challenge whether the framework helps them get their work done or gets in the way. Join V. Lee Henson as we explore the keys to optimizing meetings.  Don't forget to go to the Agil...

Identification and understanding of roles has long plagued many Agile Organizations. There seems to be a great deal of confusion about what a ScrumMaster really does and how it differs from what a coach does. I also have seen organizations severely minimize the ScrumMaster role and try to implement the single internal coach solution, both of which are VERY bad! In this episode we explore the diffe...

One of the most asked questions I have gotten recently is how do I become an Agile coach? I do not know that anyone has broken down all of the steps and shared just how long it really takes to see these things come to pass. Join V. Lee Henson as we discover what it takes and how to get there.