This weekend I was fortunate to participate in the new Everything Super Talkcast series from Corpus Optima. My friend and colleague Bryan Campbell and I talk about agile principles and implications for the future. Check out Episode 5 of the series at Corpus Optima, or the complete Everything Super series on Facebook. Many thanks to Dave Guerra, CEO of Corpus Optima, for the invitation and to Eric Stanlee for hosting these live events.
A discussion from Mike Cohn on how leaders and managers are able to lead a self-organizing team.
Recorded at an APLN Dallas meeting, Mike shares his thoughts and experiences with self-organizing teams, a topic that confuses many. How much freedom does a team really have? What responsibilities does a team has to the broader organization? How much direction should we provide to a team?
Follow this link to Mike's presentation and audio downloads to hear his answers to these questions and more.
As good technicians we like to solve problems. That’s a good deal of the reason we got into the software business to begin with; we like to take on a problem, solve it, and see instantaneous, tangible results. Often though, what we are not good at is determining whether or not a particular problem is ours to solve. This phenomenon translates to agile teams and the broader organizations that support those teams as well. A response of “that’s not my problem” is traditionally frowned upon as being inflexible and not in keeping with the “team” spirit. But is it really?
Read more...Your team is moving down the agile path and becoming more self-reliant. They no longer need you to tell them exactly what to do all the time. Now what do you do?
If this is a question you are asking yourself, be sure to watch this video from Michele Sliger
A Manager's Role in Agile Development: The Light Bulb Moment
Because agile teams are supposed to be self-organizing, many "classic" management tasks are no longer important or even appropriate. In this video, Michele Sliger shares stories about how agile adoption has affected people like you and how it has changed individuals—their perceptions of agile, their leadership styles, and even their personal lives.
Here is a very entertaining and informative look at how an agile software development team ought to work. While all teams will find different ways to be successful, this is a very useful benchmark for any team to compare themselves with to discover if they are respecting agile values or if they are shaving too many Yaks.
Watch Brian’s Agile Development Practices 2008 Video.
Although the Agile Manifesto has helped many organizations change how they build software, the agile movement now suffers from backsliding, overselling, and a resulting backlash. Brian Marick believes that is partly because the manifesto is focused outwardly; it tells the business how the development team will work with it. What it does not talk about is how the team must work within itself and with the code. Watch Brian’s presentation to find out whether you’re really doing agile or if you are agile in name only.
- Pollyanna Pixton’s Collaborative Leadership: A Secret to Agile Success
- Agility: What’s In It for Me?
- You Want That When?
- The Art of Burndown
- Agility: Its Advanced Citizenship
- Individuals and Interactions
- What is Wrong with Waterfall?
- Succeeding With Agile: A Guide To Transitioning
- The Role of Leadership in Software Development
- Requirements Truths