New Disciplined Agile Certifications from PMI with Scott Ambler

My interview with Disciplined Agile co-founder, Scott Ambler, on the new Agile Certifications being offered by the Project Management Institute.  We also discussed how things with Agile have evolved at PMI since it acquired Disciplined Agile and Alan Shalloway's FLEX in 2019.

You can find the interview here.

Flipping Options to Change Behavior w Braden Cundiff

Changing behavior is difficult. It doesn't matter if you are talking about change at an organizational or a personal level. Getting people to do things differently is a tall order.

In this episode of the podcast, Braden Cundiff joins me to talk about his new whitepaper  Flip: Archetonics of Project to Products and his model for creating lasting behavioral change.

You can find the interview here: https://bit.ly/3xbeMrV

Driving Change When You Don't Have Agency w/ Sinakka Waugh

Sinakka Waugh, the Founder of Your Clear Next Step and host of the Even Better Podcast joins my colleague Jeff Howey and me to talk through different tactics you can employ when trying to create change in an organization when you may not be empowered to do so. 

You can find the interview here

Understanding the Product Goal with Don McGreal

In my continuing quest to get sorted on the Product Goal I reached out to Don McGreal. Don is the VP of Learning Solutions at Improving, the co-Author of The Professional Product Owner book, the co-founder of TastyCupcakes.org, and a Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainer. 

The was one of the most impactful conversations I have had about Product Goal and it left me with not only a much deeper understanding of why it exists and how it can help, but how it is going to reshape the way I think about, and work with, the Product Backlog.

You can find the interview here.

The Value Management Office with Sanjiv Augustine

Sanjiv Augustine took a break from putting the finishing touches on his new book From PMO to VMO: Managing for Value Delivery to join me for an interview about Value Management Offices. During the interview, Sanjiv explains what a VMO is, how it is formed, how it works,  and why any organization working towards business agility needs one. 

He also offers a message of hope for the project managers who tend to look at Agile like the thing bringing an early end to their career.

You can find the interview here: https://www.projectmanagement.com/blog-post/69143/The-Value-Management-Office-with-Sanjiv-Augustine

The Product Goal with Dave West

This interview with Scrum.org CEO, Dave West, is one in a series of podcasts I am going to post on the topic. Dave not only helped me get a better understanding of the concept, but he challenged me with something towards the end of the interview that helped me shake off my dogmatic blues and re-embrace the idea of Scrum being a framework that is meant to be adapted. 

I've raised my concerns about the Product Goal in a few other interviews recently, but I got to a point where I knew I needed help getting my head around it. So I reached out and I am deeply indebted to the folks from Scrum.org who were kind enough to share their time and wisdom with me.

You can find the podcast here.

Catching up with Melissa Boggs

Melissa Boggs spent two years as the Chief ScrumMaster at the Scrum Alliance. In January she took on a new role as the Vice President of Business Agility at Sauce Labs. In this interview, we talk about what she learned in her time as Chief SM and what advice she has for others heading down that path, and why you should "just jump". 

You can find the interview here.

Coaching Stances with Dan Eberle

This episode features an interview with Dan Eberle. Dan is an Agile Coach, working at the New York Times and leading a few Agile-centric communities of practice. During the conversation, we discuss different coaching stances, how to develop your skill with employing them, how to measure your success as an Agile Coach, how being an internal coach differs from coaching at a consulting company, some tips for those moving towards a coaching role, and things to watch out for as you head down that path.

You can find the interview here:
https://www.projectmanagement.com/blog-post/68980/Coaching-Stances-with-Dan-Eberle

Agile Coaching Ethics with Shane Hastie

If you’ve been working as a coach or a consultant for any length of time you have run into situations where you have to make a decision about what the “right” thing to do actually is. Sometimes, it is pretty obvious, sometimes, not so much. Some professional organizations have established standards that credentialed professionals promise to adhere to. The International Coaching Federation has the ICF Code of Ethics and the Project Management Institute has a Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. In January of 2020 the Agile Alliance launched the Agile Coaching Ethics Initiative. In January of 2021, they launched a draft of their Code of Ethical Conduct for Agile Coaching along with a set of scenarios to help clarify what is, and is not an appropriate response in a variety of complicated situations.

You can find the interview and more on this topic here: https://bit.ly/2Q1zWbI

The Metrics Cookbook with Derek Huether

Derek Huether is out with a new book - Metrics Cookbook. If you are trying to figure out which metrics to pay attention to and why this book (and this podcast) are what you need. During the interview, Derek and I talk about why he wrote the book, what problems it addresses, and then we dig into a specific example of how taking a fresh look at metrics was just what a company needed to realize they were trying to take on way too many projects at once and take corrective action so some of the projects actually reached completion. 

You can pick up the book here: https://amzn.to/3uE8fo9

Video version of the interview: https://bit.ly/3osfv3c

Audio version of the interview: https://bit.ly/325dpx2