Thank You
Thank you, everyone!
Nov
28
2019
Nov
27
2019
There Are Two Sides Of A Bridge… And The Bridge Is…
Last night, my wife, son, daughter and I watched the movie, Frozen II. We had a great time; the movie theatre was nice (gigantic screen--IMAX; huge reclining lounge chairs; fresh popcorns; refreshing water) and the movie was great! There is a line in the movie that I immediately correlated to lean agile; Elsa to Anna: ' There are two sides of a bridge...' My correlation of that line to lean agile is this: Side #1) intent. Give intent; not instructions. This will be more meaningful to people... they get to perform something in their own way. Let your people think!…
Nov
26
2019
Nov
25
2019
What Is The Focus of Team Backlog Refinement
Look at the upcoming stories -- these could come from: the program level (i.e. team's part of a feature/enabler, team's own context (i.e. refractors, maintenance, technical debt), other stakeholders (i.e. other teams' dependencies, spikes, commitments). Discuss ... have conversations of each story ... tip: try capping to 15 minutes per story... extend as necessary Estimate... albeit at a high level estimation Establish the initial understanding of the Acceptance Criteria per story
Nov
24
2019
General George S. Patton Quotes For All
For those product managers and product owners who are still telling teams on how to do things: 'Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results' -- George S. Patton 'If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you'll be amazed at the results' -- George S. Patton On moving the date of the first PI Planning so it's not a chaotic event... looking for a 'non-chaotic first PI planning' event (there is no such thing!): 'A good plan violently executed now is better…
Nov
23
2019
SAFe Is Like A Huge Production Play
In SAFe, just like a huge production play like 'The Nutcracker', each participant must know his/her role, know what he/she must do... and to do it well. The cast of 'The Nutcracker' know their role, they know what to do, and they do it very well... over and over again during their scheduled multiple performances over the Christmas holidays. It works, repeatable, and it is successfully executed... paying customers are delighted with the play and the cast's performances... they all go home with smiles. We can do similar outcomes in SAFe... when done right. ... otherwise, the resulting work will…
Nov
22
2019
The Power of Intent
Today, I tried to connect together a series of Bose speakers. I followed the instructions that came with it. For some reason, despite following the instructions, I cannot get it to work... all of them to emit sound together in unison from one source. So I decided to take a break from this frustrating exercise. As I reflected back, I decided to throw away the instructions and stepped back to see the intent of the instructions... what was the intent? Once I figured out the intent, I went ahead without any instructions and... the Bose speakers emitted sound together in…
Nov
21
2019
Slow Down…
Here is a suggestion to leaders of companies transforming to Lean Agile: Slow down... you might be moving too fast that your teams can barely keep up... fumbling... feeling frustrated. Slow down... get your teams feelin' groovy! Here is your song -- 'Feelin' Groovy' by Simon and Garfunkel: https://youtu.be/So0ZrTwf8vI
Nov
20
2019
Kanban … everywhere
Chick-fil-A... McDonalds... Firestone... Panera ... where else? My new book, "SAFe (6.0) Is Like ...", released in May 2023, is now available on Amazon. FREE!!! You will get a FREE SIGNED COPY when you register, pay, and complete a class by the Lean Agile Guru. What our students think about the Lean Agile Guru ("Author of SAFe (6.0) is Like ...") -- click here
Nov
19
2019
Simplicity… is Essential
Mazda applied the 10th Principle of the Agile Manifesto! 'Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.' -- Agile Manifesto Principle #10
Nov
18
2019
The Power Of Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance criteria not only serve as a way to confirm one's understanding -- via conversations and collaborations with others -- of the work on hand but it also: Can yield additional ideas Can present an argument that breaking down the work on hand into smaller set of work might be better Enable you to better estimate the work on hand
Nov
17
2019
The Snowball Effect
Start with a small win. In 'Sales' they call this first small win the 'icebreaker sale'. Toastmasters call their first speech as 'icebreaker speech'. Want to run a mile? Start with first few steps. Want to lose weight? Lose the first pound. Start running; start eating less; start fasting intermittently; start on a keto diet; start sleeping more, etc. Start somewhere and empirically move forward from there. Allow your agile teams and team of agile teams to aim for and achieve small wins ... the icebreakers... These small wins will accumulate... increase rapidly in size, intensity, or importance... this is…
Nov
16
2019
PMI goes Agile
Read this ... https://www.pmi.org/about/press-media/press-releases/project-management-institute-announces-acquisition-of-disciplined-agile
Nov
15
2019
FAB becomes BAF
Features and Benefits (FAB) is what we are all familiar with. With SAFe 5.0's customer centricity, this FAB is now BAF... Benefits and Features. Makes sense, right? Start using BAF!
Nov
14
2019
Nov
13
2019
SAFe is Goals Driven, Not Prescriptive
SAFe is goals driven and not prescriptive. A goal-driven approach makes SAFe flexible and easy to scale. Companies scale agile based on factors that deliver the greatest customer value. In other words, by determining what the intent, goals and objectives are, companies can choose to scale in a way that supports the creation and delivery of products and services that are customer centric, desirable, feasible, viable and sustainable.
Nov
12
2019
A Goal With A Strong Why
A goal with a strong 'Why' will not only pulls you forward but also pulls you through difficult times. Make your 'Iteration Goals' and your Team 'PI Objectives' driven by strong 'Why'.
Nov
11
2019
Take Any SAFe 4.6 Course Now And Get Certified, You Will Have Free SAFe 5.O Certification Path — Read On
Hello everyone! Great news from Scaled Agile, Inc. (SAI) -- the maker of SAFe. Read the image below. In that light, please go ahead and register to my -- Lean Agile Guru -- remaining 2019 SAFe classes!!! Why put off for tomorrow what you can do today?
Nov
11
2019
To All Veterans, Thank You
Let's take a moment of silence, this Veterans Day, to remember, thank and honor all our veterans. Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. Douglas MacArthur
Nov
10
2019
Coach and Rugby
Coach and rugby teams in a scrum This blog post is dedicate to my SSM class of Nov - 9-10! I think that they love scrum...and coaching!
Nov
09
2019
Fresh and Desirable
Want desirable -- fresh -- salad? Create it with friends! You want desirable product? Apply design thinking ... don't do it alone... collaborate... create it with 'friends'. This blog post is dedicate to my SSM class of Nov - 9-10!
Nov
08
2019
Nov
07
2019
Nov
06
2019
We Choose To Go To The Moon
Here is a model you -- Business Owners, Epic Owners, Solutions Managers, Program Managers, Product Managers -- can aspire to when you paint an aspirational vision to your teams: 'We Choose To Go To The Moon' -- John F. Kennedy. Watch it. Model it. Do it. Make it stick -- normalize painting aspirational goals!
Nov
05
2019
From Intent To Objective To Goals
Intent is a 'broad stoke of the brush' kind of sketch of what you want to achieve... without providing instructions on how to achieve it... to provide others an opportunity to lean in and think creatively on how to achieve it -- the intent -- in their own way. Example: intent: [I intend to] lose weight What does an intent look like if you want it to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound? And yet not providing instructions on how to achieve it? Make it SMART! Example: [I intend to] lose 50 pounds, one year from now. How about…
Nov
04
2019
Chilling with Hot Coffee
It's good to have downtime once in a while to combat 'staleness'. Give your team some slack... downtime... they'll come back refreshed with greater energy. 'Luxury in a cup' -- the foundational idea of the Starbucks business... and its true! I use it as 'downtime in a cup'. Man is meant to produce and rest enough ... not too much rest though ... otherwise the 'weeds will take over the garden'!
Nov
02
2019
Congratulations To…
Wesley So -- the first FIDE World Fischer Random Chess 2019 Champion ! Per Wikipedia: Wesley Barbasa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino-American[1][2] chess grandmaster and current World Fischer Random Chess Champion. He is a three-time Filipino Chess Champion and was U.S. Chess Champion in 2017. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ranked number two in the world and had an Elo rating of 2822,[3] making him the fifth-highest rated player in history South Africa -- Rugby World Cup 2019 Champion! Great day for sports! Glory -- after drills after drills ... scrimmages after scrimmages... practice after practice ... real games after real games ... -- won, in 2019,…
Nov
01
2019
The Curse of Knowledge
A lot of us, once we get so proficient on something ... and when we teach someone about that something, we tend to speed along ... forgetting something valuable: Teaching it from the beginner's eyes/perspective. The curse of knowledge... we forget that perspective. Model it... 1) model complex skills one step at a time and repeat when necessary 2) learners to follow along -- practice the small skills in small drills -- until mastery ... and then build on that with the next connecting skill. Go slow... don't speed along... break the curse of knowledge... teach it from the beginner's…