Pragmatic Agilist

As agile divas coaches, we are prone to think things like:  "agile is never going to work in a company [like this one] with a horrible, toxic culture. [but I will take the money and give it a shot.  What the hey, it's job security.]."  In fact, "company philosophy or culture" was one of the top two "leading causes of failed Agile efforts" for the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 "State of Agile" Surveys administered by the Scrum Alliance.  And I don't think the 2013 results are out yet. One pictures the coaches of the world flouncing around in art deco silk wraps and soft curlers waving our collective hands and wailing things about "not being able to work under these conditions!"  It's poison I tell you, poison! From the excellent http://www.theculturedoctor.com.au/blog But let's turn the question around.  If we, as agile coaches, have a preference to work solely with small groups of (kind) super-geniuses in ...

I was privileged to hear Sallie Krawcheck speak last week at a Chicago meeting of a women's networking organization she co-owns, called 85 Broads .  Those of you who are interested in women's networking should definitely look into this organization.  And the rest of you should please keep reading, because this is not going to get all hissy--there's something for everyone! From http://crossroadsworshipteam.com/uploaded_images/Suprise-attacks-748698.jpg At the 85 Broads meeting, a young African American woman stood up and asked Sallie, "what if nobody wants to network with me?  I don't look like anyone else I meet in my male-dominated industry." Krawcheck, who has made a phenomenal career out of building relationships with sponsors and coworkers, responded brilliantly, saying that people from any minority group within their work environment need to proceed with caution. Paraphrasing, Krawcheck's suggestions were: Understand the unwritten rules an...

In 2006, Ivor Jacobson famously summarized , "Most important, agile is about social engineering."  And indeed one of the things that makes so many agilists so dar ned loveable is that we are , as a frie nd of mine put it yesterday, "the kind of people who want to create a work place where you can go and still be a human being."  Not a "resource," not an "FTE," but a human!  It's an inspiring dream! http://www.pbpp.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/human_resources/5364/how_to_apply/494613 B ut you kno w what ?  I t's not a goal you can atta ck directly , even if you are, for some reason, under the impression that you're in charge.  In fact, in my view, a lot of us are completely wrong about what the "lead" and " lag" measures are for a successful "agile" transformation of an orga nization . "Lead" measures, you will recal l, are the little things you can observe which reliably indic...