A few posts back, I asked if an agile team should be expected to call their shots. In other words, should we expect that over time, an agile team should be able to accurately predict what they’ll be able to deliver at the end of the iteration? My asse…
I noticed at the recent agile conference that there were lots of people who billed themselves as agile coaches, and several sessions on coaching. Seemed like more of both than in past years. I consider myself a coach, too, though not with a capital C. I usually coach managers or teams, and sometimes coaches. Mostly, [...]
Jurgen Appelo, the wildly popular Dutch blogger, makes lists, among other things. His latest is the Top 100 Agile Books. He’s worked out a formula that takes into account reviews, average ratings, and continued interest. Not perfect, but I’m not going to complain, because I made the list–twice! Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management [...]
My three books on agile made this list of “The Top 100 Agile Books” by Jurgen Appelo. He used an objective method of ranking books based on Amazon.com and GoodRead.com quality ratings and popularity. His blog explains the approach. Uncle Bob Martin and I were each fortunate enough to have two books in the top [...]
I finally got around to something today that had been on my to do list for over a year: record a short video showing how to load user stories into www.PlanningPoker.com by copying them from Excel. Here’s the video: My thanks to my daughter, Savannah, who learned Camtasia for Mac while I was traveling last [...]
Hey folks… here is the deck I am doing this morning at Agile2010. I am pretty excited to do this talk… I finally feel like I’ve got the slide sequence and story right. It’s amazing what a good night sleep will do for you! My talk is in E-2 on th…
I’m a big believer in 1:1 meetings on manager-led teams. It’s a way to connect with people, stay in touch with progress, learn about problems early, coach, work on career goals, offer feedback. But if you are the manager for a self-organizing team, you need to adjust the way you do 1:1 meetings. First, unless [...]
It’s summer and I’ve been thinking about sailing. I didn’t get to do any this summer, but I can still think about it. Thinking about sailing reminded me of the 1995 America’s Cup race between the US and New Zealand. That race is a great illustration of the importance of both getting close to our [...]
Okay… we are going to do a Saturday evening edition of Interesting Post… Tomorrow I am going to get up early, do a little hike through the woods, bring home bagels for Kimi and the kids, toss the football with Noah, and then head to the airport for…
What do I look for day-one coaching an agile team? The first thing I want to know is if the team is really a team? Do they have everything (and everyone) they need to deliver an increment of working software? Do they plan together, do they work toge…