Agile Complexification Inverter

Every time I meet Ty Crockett at an event he shakes my hand and mentions how many people he's helped to understand their team's Definition of Done or Ready using the card deck I create some years back.  He's not bragging (but he should be) he's thanking me.  But the fun thing is that Ty has evolved a better practice than I did.  Maybe it's the repetition and small variations that has lead to the improvement.  Yeah - I think that's it. I may get this wrong ... but Ty's variation goes some thing like this... Start with a big board. Divided into 3 sections.  Introduce the concept of Brainstorming... Add dividers to talk about how to organize the outputs of the brainstorm.  I usually print out DoD cards but do not show them to the team until we have a discussion on the types of things they need to consider.  For example: Here is a section out of the PSM course that I always ask teams to consider… They create their own cards ...

I was invited to participate in a Scrum Alliance Webinar.  Maybe you would like to listen to us in a discussion of techniques to collaborate at scale (remotely and with many people).  The topic is one that I've got some experience in discussions - yet I never seem to get to done... Collaboration at Scale: Defining Done and Ready and NO for Distributed Teams   With Joel Bancroft-Connors , Agile Organizational Coach; David A. Koontz , Agile Transition Guide; and Luke Hohmann , CEO and Founder of Conteneo, Inc. 14 February 2018 11 a.m. ET (USA).   #ScrumWebinar18 The Scrum Guide is pretty clear on the criticality of the definition of Done: "When a Product Backlog item or an Increment is described as "Done," everyone must understand what "Done" means. However, the Scrum Guide ALSO says that the definition of Done can "vary significantly per Scrum Team." This leads us to examine when and how the definition of Done should vary, how distr...

I've been a fan of Triangle Man for some time... Then the other day... years, and decides later I saw this Hugh Lieber art work. Hugh Lieber And once again I fell for Triangle Man.  And that got me thinking of the 3-4-5 right triangle... When I think of right triangles - it's the one I imagine...  although I spent many years using the classic drafting 30-60 degree triangle. And then this sound track starts in the back of my mind... THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS Particle Man (Tiny Tunes) Lyrics Particle man, particle man Doing the things a particle can What's he like? It's not important Particle man Is he a dot, or is he a speck? When he's underwater does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead? Nobody knows, Particle man Triangle man, Triangle man Triangle man hates particle man They have a fight, Triangle wins Triangle man Universe man, Universe man Size of the entire universe man Usually kind to smaller man Universe man He's...

Knowledge workers in the 21st Century must have many areas of deep knowledge, while also be capable of collaboration across multiple other domains with dissimilar T-shaped individuals.  This description of a person is a metaphor.  Compare it to the shape of the "I" in the classic saying there is no "I" in Team. I first read about Scott Ambler's term "Generalizing Specialist" - but it's so hard to remember the proper order of the words... get it backwards and it has an inverted meaning... T-Shaped is easier to remember.  A generalizing specialist is someone who: Has one or more technical specialties (e.g. Java programming , Project Management , Database Administration , ...).  Has at least a general knowledge of software development.  Has at least a general knowledge of the business domain in which they work.  Actively seeks to gain new skills in both their existing specialties as well as in other areas, including both technical...

I was working with a failing team some time ago.  I use "failing" to describe the outcome of the team - not the people on the team.  Are you OK with that description? An issue arrose in the stand up - a team member that was to verify the quality of a procedure did so and reported that there were a few records that didn't match expectation in the data set.  Upon inquire the number of records not matching was over 2000.  Most people acknowledged immediately the exaggeration - I could tell by the laughter.  After about 10 minutes of discussing the details of the problem - it appeared the team had a handle on the specific situation. I stopped the discussion and inquired if they could name the impediment.  One team member did a great job of describing the impediment as a _communication gap_ .  Wonderful - I could work with that - the problem had a name and it didn't include anyones Proper Name. "If the problem has a first name; we are going to hav...

Great artist sign their work. There is one part of the original Macintosh I'd like to frame on the wall. Apple part number 810-0374 - the case. It contains signatures of Macintosh design team in raised human font. Folklore about the Macintosh design team's signing party . Great artist sign their work Are you an artist? I was thinking about this story...  imagine telling it like this. Some years ago, when the computer industry was not yet launched, and might fold on any quarterly earning report on Wall Street, there was an SOB that drove many team members crazy.  This SOB parked a motorcycle along with a piano in the lobby to inspire the designers.  Some people believe this SOB didn't know how to build teams.  Yet he did know how to build products.  And he did build one of the most successful late 20th/21st Century organizations.  Compare it's operation to that of conglomerates it's revenue size and you will see a stark difference.  T...

Time is something that puzzles me... I tend to "spend" a lot of time thinking about TIME. I don't truly know how to not "spend" time... if you find a good TIME-Bank, with a savings plan... let me know, please. I quickly calculated how much I will spend this year - 8,760 hours.  A few years ago I had a unique opportunity to spend about 8,772 hours while most of you only had the standard year - I spent New Years in New Zealand and got some extra... I think I spent it on the plane flight back to Dallas. Here's a great talk about how we use our time and what we may wish to consider doing with the very very little "free" time we have. The Time You Have (in JellyBeans)

I've been called to task - asked why I teach teams to distinguish between Task Hours and some non-denominational non-specific non-absolute unit.  The latest team I guided used PEZ!  In the daily stand up a person might be heard to say: "Yesterday I was working on the code to DisCombobulate the GUID so that we could distinguish customers from guest and the task to peek into the hashed session state was harder than I anticipated - I will need 2 more PEZ to get that done today." Benefits of "Task Points" Because it works and is more fun.  Not a sufficient and rational reason. Because it's a fractal of the concept of Story Points.  Not a practical enough reason. Because it encourages transparency and acknowledges that we are really bad at estimates.  Not sure we wish to propagate that notion. Because Scrum has a value of Openness  and in that spirit can we admit that a team of 7 people doing 50 "hours" of tasks a week is really a poor met...

So you have the new Apple Watch - yes, it's quite nice, and you love the convenience of all your notification right on your wrist.  Did you notice that when the VP was asking about the project, as you were describing the challenges you paused, lifted your arm, checked the latest notification that she was a bit put-out by the exchange.  Although you went on to tell her that your team had overcome the challenges with an innovative solution.  The VP disengaged in the dialogue and walked away.  Wonder why? What was the unintended message of your body language during that encounter? Did you signal that you were busy, late for an appointment, not interested in the conversation, that you were dismissing the participant - what did your raised arm and glancing at your watch tell the VP?  Is that truly what you wished to signal? We have had 10 years to learn to use a iPhone and now in meetings you will notice people signaling that they are prepared to engage i...

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought the technique needed to move forward was one thing, yet the person leading (your leader) assumed something else was what was needed?  Did you feel misaligned, unheard, marginalized?  Would you believe that 54% of all leaders only use ONE style of leadership - regardless of the situation?  Does that one style of leading work well for the many levels of development we see on a team? Perhaps your team should investigate one of the most widely used leadership models in the world ("used to train over 5 million managers in the world’s most respected organizations").  And it's not just for the leaders.  The training is most effective when everyone receives the training and uses the model.  The use of a ubiquitous language on your team is a collaboration accelerator.  When everyone is using the same mental model, speaking the same vernacular hours of frustration and discussion may be curtailed, and alignm...

We are desperately searching for a term for people that connotes the best of human kind.  The creative, sensing, combinatorial synergistic, empathic solutioning persons that have yet to been labeled with a role name that works. Some of the old terms: Staff , Workforce , Human Resource , My Team , Army , Company Shakespeare created 1700 words in his time.  He mutated verbs to nouns, and vice-a-versa, transformed verbs into adjectives, and formed words from whole cloth never before heard.  This skill is rare, but there is a poet that can create the term we need in the twenty-first century. What should this term define? 21st Century Human Resource ; the generalizing specialist. Yes, but what more?  What less? Suggest your poetry in the comments, let us see if we cannot do 1/1700 as well as The Bard. By-the-way; who create the phrase "coin a word"? How Ofter do you use the 10 Most Cringe-Worthy Workplace Phrases? So, if you want your colleagu...

Let's Invert the typically wrong headed view of Software Development project management as a construction project.  We can map it the other way just to see if it works... to have some fun, to explore the meaning of phrases we toss around quite frequently. Site Landing Page Normally Project Management terms come from a construction domain.  We are going to apply the lexicon of modern software to the construction of a home.  We will follow the construction project and meet some of the people doing the work. This is a very small (8 homes from $600,000 skyward) program in my 30-40 year old neighborhood. About 6 months ago I saw the programs landing page go up.  It gives casual observers and some of the stakeholders a general idea of the intent of the program.  And most importantly who to contact for additional information if you happen to be interested in their products. The Refuge program has 8 product projects and has them running independently. ...

I'm from the Carolina's where legend has it that our family commonly just hunkered down in the home on the coast and waterways than to head for inland shelter. Now that's from the old school days of barely improved (read paved) roads. They counted a storms severity by how high on the back porch steps (about 15 - top to ground) the water reached.  I don't recommend this action in todays world of long range forecast and transportation options. I do recommend a drink or two in a hotel bar, far far away. This is the week that Harvey came ashore in Texas.  I live on a hill in the little old town of Grapevine outside Dallas and Fort Worth.  And thank you all for letting me know that a storm is coming... I didn't get out and walk Malibu before the rain hit, so I grabbed a hat and we went anyway.  Much nicer walk with the drizzle, I'd say. I'll raise a glass to you - if you were not smart enough to do the responsible thing, at the last responsible moment. ...