Topic: Agile

Stop Blaming Teams: See the System

Problems are typically predictable outcomes of flawed organizational systems and project structures

There's No One Right Way

Learn how to navigate the complexities of Agile practices and make informed decisions that balance trade-offs.

Better Planning with Two-Sided Dependencies

Learn how to improve planning and reduce delays by managing dependencies effectively.

AI Transformations Are Hard-Agile

AI requires the same organizational agility, decentralized decisions, and cultural shift as Agile.

Making Work More Human

Maximize Productivity by Minimizing Context Switching

Transforming Agile Practices with the Kano Model

Unbundle the Value

Just Do Something Different

We Don't Know

Beyond Practices: Behaviours and Goals in Agile

Focus on behaviors like improvement and collaboration. Practices are secondary.

Achieving Agility Through Strong Mechanics

It's easy to copy the idea of what to do. It's much harder to actually do it.

Avoiding Agile Must-Dos

Agile means adaptability, not rigid practices; focus on outcomes over process compliance.

Making Progress Through Questions

Drift to Waterfall

9 Golden Rules for Agile Teams: Principles to Improve Collaboration

Some universally applicable guidance for Agile teams I've found helpful.

Avoiding the Practice Trap: Fostering Genuine Agility

Foster agility through mindful problem-solving, experimentation and continuous improvement.

The Team Dependency Matrix

Just Enough Kanban

The Power of Predictable Delivery

An Agile Alternative to “Fixing”

Instead of applying one-time fixes, empower teams and manage constraints.

Where Are The Problems?

Why Work Waits

How I Use Scrum to Teach Agility

My Agile Sketching Experiment

2021 Schulich MBA Agile Presentation

The slides and an overview of a 2021 talk I delivered to an MBA class about Agile

Making Change Where Change is Possible

Test-Driven Goals: A Scalable and Effective Pattern

Comparing and Remixing the Gemba Walk

Quick Jira Control Chart Aging WIP Hack

SquadView

A custom tool for visualizing the relationships between groups and entities in your organization.

Burnup Forecaster

An Excel workbook that uses historical throughput to provide probabilistic forecasts for project completion.

Janky but Effective

Too many organizations strive for high efficiency and order, but often it just worsens outcomes

Kanban and Pulling Out Agility

Navigating the AI Shift With the Wardley Doctrine

Unmasking the Invisible Overhead of Meetings

People Are the Heart of Any Practice

From Big Bang Projects to Iterative and Incremental Development

The Hidden Costs of Over-Collaboration

Starting Agile With Retrospectives and Continuous Improvement

One-Time Efforts

How Agile Coaches Can Empower Teams To Deal With Uncertainty

Experimenting With Controlling Cycle Time Instead of WIP

Don't Write User Stories, Tell Stories

Manage the Value, Not the Work

Avoiding The Pitfalls of Cross-Functional Super Teams

Cross-functional teams good, but avoid super teams; use enabling teams to reduce cognitive load.

Rethinking Retrospectives

Running, Falling, and the Core of Agile

Revisiting the Guidance on Cross-functional Teams

Empowering Teams Instead of Telling Them What to Do

Learning Agile with ChatGPT

Snapshot: Introducing Ready Options to a B2B Service Team