Giora Morein - The State of Agile and Post-SAFeism

This episode of DrunkenPM Radio features a conversation with ThinkLouder’s Giora Morein. During this discussion Giora offers his take on how things have evolved within the Agile space over the past few years and some of the challenges we currently face. For example, if you are trying to use Scrum to build twice the work in half the time, how do you make sure that all the extra stuff you are building is the right stuff? And what if you run out of valuable things to build? Giora and I cover a lot of ground during the interview, which culminates in Giora breaking down life in the world of Post-SAFe-ism.

SHOW NOTES

00:08 Podcast Begins

00:50 An update on ThinkLouder

02:15 Taking greater ownership of your organization’s Agile Transformation

03:20 Pivoting from the “You want more agile, you need more coach” mindset

03:45 Why an experienced Agilist and an agile coach are not the same thing

08:48 Have we moved on to the “cleaning up after the party” stage of agile? Have the thought leaders moved on?

12:27 Have we moved on to a less dynamic stage of the agile conversation? What new ideas in agile is Giora paying the most attention to.

16:14 If you can do twice the work in half the time, how do you make sure the additional work you are doing is the right work?

17:27 The new thing…. the language of innovation

18:10 It’s easier to sell increased velocity/speed to IT than it is to sell transformation of an entire business

19:57  It has to start with “What’s the business driver?”

20:45 The only way Giora and I are going to end up with flying cars

22:32 Use Agile to figure out how to best meet the organization’s business drivers (getting deep in Oklahoma)

23:34 Building the wrong thing really fast is not helping anyone

24:13 Micro-maturation in Scaling

24:34 Post-SAFe-ism

25:45 How to reach Giora

26:29 Podcast Ends

CONTACTING

If you’d like to contact Giora directly, here are some ways to reach him:

Web: https://ThinkLouder.com

Email: gmorein@thinklouder.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gmorein

Why Digital Transformation is More Important than Agile Transformation w/ Devin Hedge

In this interview Devin Hedge and I dig into some of the research he has been doing around the impact of Digital Transformation, how it impacts consumers and the role that things like Agile and Design Thinking play in helping companies move from an analog way of managing their work to a completely digital way of managing their work.

SHOW NOTES

• 00:08 Interview Begins
• 00:47 Introduction to the topic of Digital Transformation
• 01:58 Defining Digital Transformation
• 04:19 Is there conflict between digital transformation and the goal of having greater empathy for other humans
• 05:38 Using the Apple Store as a way to dig into the digital vs. deep empathy connection
• 08:03 Our addiction to the dopamine hit we get from our devices and our need to increase the hit
• 09:48 Are we letting our desire for the “hit” drive decisions which lead to inefficient business practices? 
• 10:39 How the articles in management magazines drive the pursuit of increasing the frequency and depth of the hit
• 12:55 Hopper in the tunnels = Stickiness
• 14:02 How are Design Thinking and Agile actually helping?
• 18:45 Can developing a level of comfort with constant change also become an addictive hit?
• 20:17 The constant influx of information can be valuable in some respects and have a deeply negative impact in others.
• 24:45 Agile can provide a set of tools to hope us cope with change
• 27:43 What are the challenges of creating a culture where change is the only constant?
• 30:54 Devin wanders into Dangerous Territory!
• 35:56 The tools and techniques we use are not destinations. They are ways to deliver more value faster. 
• 37:25 Why we need a User Centric approach
• 40:10 Summarizing the conversation 
• 41:42 How to get in touch with Devin
• 42:16 Podcast Ends

CONTACTING DEVIN

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devinhedge/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/devinhedge
• Web: http://devinhedge.com

Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) Deadline 12/31/17 - HOW TO EARN SEUs FAST!

The Scrum Alliance’s Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) designation is changing on Jan 1, 2018. If you meet the qualifications for the current version of CSP, applying before it expires on December 31, 2017 may provide you with a much easier path to the the practitioner level of certification offered by the Scrum Alliance.

You’ll find details on the current version of CSP here:
https://www.scrumalliance.org/certifications/practitioners/csp-certification

In order to quality for CSP there are a number of requirements that must be met including earning 70 Scrum Education Units (SEUs).

With the pending change, I have been recommending to all my CSM and CSPO students that they apply for CSP as soon as possible in order to beat the deadline. Many of them have come back with questions about how to earn the SEUs required for the CSP designation.

In this podcast, Scrum Alliance Director of Global Leaning and Assessment, Erika Massie and Scrum Alliance Learning Coordinator, Cody Wanberg break down the changes to the CSP certification, the timeline for the change AND we talk though different ways to attain the required SEU’s before the deadline.

It’s a short podcast, so no actual  show notes for this one. Just a few things to keep in mind…

• In order to qualify for CSP before the change you must have your completed application submitted to the Scrum Alliance before it becomes 2018 in Denver.
• Once you submit, the turnaround time you should expect is 8 weeks.

Here are a few of the ways you can earn SEUs…

• Watch the CST facilitated webinars on the Scrum Alliance website. There are 19 of these and they are an hour each. If you watch  them all, you’ll earn 19 SEUs.
• Watch the Scrum Foundations e-learning series to earn 1 SEU.
• If you took a CSM or CSPO, each class is worth 16 SEUs. If you’ve taken both, that is 32. AND, if you’ve taken CSM or CSPO more than once, you get the 16 for each time you take the class.
• During the interview, Cody and Erika explain that listening to something like the Agile Uprising’s Manifesto Author Review podcast series could be submitted under Category E - Independent Learning. You get 1 SEU for each hour of time spent listening. It is a great series and I highly recommend it. You an find it here.
• There are a number of additional ways to earn SEUs and you can find that detailed on the Scrum Alliance site. https://www.scrumalliance.org/certifications/practitioners/csp-certification/ways-to-earn-seus

Additional Questions

If you have questions for the Scrum Alliance about the changes to CSP or SEU’s, send an email to support@scrumalliance.org with the subject line CSP Application Question

Jurgen Appelo - How to Measure ScrumMaster Performance

One of the questions I have been asked with increasing frequency in the Certified Scrum Master and Certified Scrum Product Owner classes I teach is:

How do we measure the effectiveness of the ScrumMaster?

When this question is asked what people are often looking or is a way to evaluate ScrumMaster performance (separate from the Product Owner and the Developers). This is not an easy thing to do.

Whenever I have brought up this question with other folks who teach or coach Agile teams, the conversation always finds it way back to Jurgen Appelo’s work. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview Jurgen on his new project AgilityScales. After the interview Jurgen was kind enough to let me also ask him the question about ScrumMaster performance.


Jurgen is an entrepreneur and management thought leader who focuses his work on helping organizations change how they approach work management in order to support greater business agility.  He is the CEO of Happy Melly,   co-founder of the Agile Lean Europe  network and the author of a number of books including “Managing for Happiness”

His latest project AgilityScales is focused on inventing the future of organizational Agility. You can learn more about it by checking out the Agility Scales website or by watching the interview we did on the topic.

If you’d like to lean more about Jurgen, here are some links to check out.

• Web: http://jurgenappelo.com/
• AgilityScales: https://www.agilityscales.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jurgenappelo
• Medium: https://medium.com/@jurgenappelo
• Amazon: http://amzn.to/2hZD5Vb

Descaling the Enterprise with James Gifford

Finding a way to scale Agile within the Enterprise has been a very popular topic in Agile for the past several years. With options like SAFe, LeSS, DAD and many others, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that your organization may simply not be structured in a way that can truly support the introduction of Agile.

In this interview, James Gifford took some time away from coaching and his work on the Agile Uprising to talk about why the conversation should really be about how “Descaling the Enterprise”.

SHOW NOTES

• 00:10 Podcast Begins
• 00:44 The work James is doing now
• 01:45 Finding a job that provides you with a lab where you can run experiments
• 04:05 When you are coaching, how do you maintain the “child mind” when you walk in the door
• 06:10 Do you need to be technical to be a good Agile Coach?
• 07:41 What’s new at The Agile Uprising
• 12:50 Descaling the Enterprise
• 14:30 Making the argument for changing the dynamic of how we look at and structure companies 
• 19:11 Have you ever seen anyone tasked with creating flow through the entire organization?
• 23:17 Making the case for descaling OVER simply buying a scaling solution
• 25:10 How long does it take to implement the cultural and organizational change a descaling approach requires?
• 27:27 How do you convince the “C” level to buy into the upheaval a descaling approach will involve (over just buying the promise of a scaling solution.)
• 29:51 Two leverage points: 1. Scaling didn’t work, but we want what it was supposed to give us, 2. your business is threatened and you need a better response
• 30:50 How do you measure progress while you are descaling?
• 36:36 If you want more on this topic, please let us know!
• 37:00 How to contact James
• 38:52 Podcast Ends

LINKS FROM THE PODCAST

Agile Uprising Links
Coalition (The Message Board): https://coalition.agileuprising.com
Manifesto Author Review Podcasts: http://podcast.agileuprising.com/manifesto-author-review/
Lean Agile Intelligence
https://www.leanagileintelligence.com

CONTACTING JAMES

Email: james.gifford@scrummando.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/scrummando
Web: http://scrummando.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scrummando/

Jurgen Appelo - Agility Scales

Jurgen Appelo, the man behind Managing for Happiness and Management 3.0, is working on a new project to provide organizations with a platform they can use to develop the ability to innovate at scale and foster an agile mindset that spans the enterprise.  Agility Scales aims to be the “Waze for work”. The idea is to provide a navigation tool, that will help organizations achieve business agility using crowd-sourced business processes with peer to peer guides with the end goal of developing better capabilities around innovation and increased productivity.

What makes this project even more unique is that it is being crowd-funded. Agility Scales is currently open to investors who want to get involved in developing this new platform.

In this interview Jurgen and I discuss the Agility Scales project and the reasons for being one of the first Agile thought leaders to take a crowd-funded approach to developing a tool to support business agility.


If you’d like to learn more about Agility Scales and how to invest in the project:

• Web: https://agilityscales.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/agilityscales
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/agilityscales/
• Medium: https://blog.agilityscales.com

And if you’d like to learn more about Jurgen and his work:

• Web: http://jurgenappelo.com/ or http://noop.nl/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jurgenappelo
• Amazon: http://amzn.to/2z6qbPO
• YouTube: http://bit.ly/2jvC0Z6

Head First Agile with Andrew Stellman and Jenny Greene

Andrew Stellman and Jenny Green are back with a new book “Head First Agile: A Brain Friendly Guide to Agile and the PMI-ACP Certification”, which offers a strong foundational understanding in the most widely used Agile practices. The book is also intended as a PMI-ACP Exam preparation resource, providing complete coverage of the material included on the certification exam. 

In this podcast, Jenny and Andrew explain why they wrote the book, how PMI-ACP has evolved and why reaching a level where you are no longer concerned about the tools you use to get work done are traditional or agile is a great place to be.

SHOW NOTES

• 01:19 Interview Begins
• 01:50 Background on Jenny and Andrew
• 03:30 Who the book IS NOT for 
• 04:48 Who is book IS for and how it can help you move beyond simply going through the motions
• 06:29 The debate over principles vs. practices and it has impacted Andrew and Jenny’s approach
• 11:55 If you are new to Agile of have no experience working with Agile practices, how can this book help?
• 14:32 Why PMI-ACP prep is the secondary goal of this book. (And what the primary goal is.)
• 16:05 How the PMI-ACP exam has evolved and how Jenny and Andrew approached the topics for this book
• 19:23 How the authors ensured the book covers 100% of the material included on the PMI-ACP exam
• 20:21 Is is harder for a PMP to learn Agile, or harder for an Agilist to learn traditional Project Management?
• 21:40 Reaching the “Ri” level of project management where Agile vs. Waterfall is no longer a concern
• 22:43 Agile has moved beyond software, even reaching into construction, and how the is impacting PMI’s approach to Agile
• 24:46 Agile and the PMO: Is the PMO a dead man walking?
• 26:10 Scaling Agile is large organizations
• 27:44 What is the most dynamic/challenging area of Agile that we need to pay attention to?
• 28:29 Getting in touch with Andrew and Jenny

THE BOOK

You can find “Head First Agile: A Brain Friendly Guide to Agile and the PMI-ACP Certification” here: https://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Agile/dp/1449314333/

CONTACTING ANDREW AND JENNY

If you’d like to reach Jenny and Andrew, here is how to find them:

Their Website: https://www.stellman-greene.com

Andrew on Twitter : https://twitter.com/AndrewStellman

Jenny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jennygreene

Making Agile Work at HUGE Inc. w/ Lance Hammond and Robert Sfeir

In preparing for my How to Hack Agile for Digital Agencies at the 2017 Digital PM Summit I did a lot of  research and conducted a lot of interview. This conversation, with Lance Hammond and Robert Sfeir from HUGE Atlanta was the last one I did before the Summit. During this discussion Lance and Robert share many of the lessons they’ve learned in bringing Agile to HUGE and they provide clarity on what it takes to make Agile work in a Digital Agency.

SHOW NOTES

• 00:08 Podcast Begins
• 01:42 Some background on Robert and Lance
• 03:17 How long HUGE has been working on introducing Agile
• 04:40 Resistance from Design when switching to an Agile approach
• 06:08 Why Kanban may be a better approach for Design
• 07:39 How the Designers at HUGE approach their work without having all the requirements up front
• 09:30 Establishing Vision up front with the client and prioritizing options with them
• 10:33 The client needs to own the delivery from the very beginning and become part of the process
• 11:50 Making the client your partner in the workflow and decision making process
• 14:17 Why teaching the client how to work in Agile has to be an accepted cost 
• 16:07 Why those with experience in Agile transformation can be so beneficial for Digital Agencies and what you need to watch out for
• 17:52 Changing how the work gets funded 
• 20:22 How to change your Statement of Work to support Agile practices
• 21:47 Tips for convincing your client to want to use Agile to manage the work
• 24:11 Caring and feeding of the client during an Agile project at a Digital Agency
• 27:53 Should you include the client in the retrospective?
• 28:46 Do you need to have cross-functional, stable teams that are each working on only one project?
• 32:04 How long did it take HUGE to get to stable teams
• 34:02 Use Lean metrics to find and remove waste
• 34:20 How critical is it to move to a retainer (fund the team) model
• 35:30 You have to know why you want Agile, which approach you’ll take, and what you want from it
• 37:05 Scrum may have you thrashing for a bit before you switch to Kanban… and there is value in that
• 37:49 Why you need to switch the entire Digital Agency over to an Agile approach (including sales)
• 39:22: What is the hardest part about implementing/working with Agile in a Digital Agency
• 42:32 Defining what you are willing (and not willing) to try changing, when you switch to an Agile approach
• 44:30 How HUGE approaches estimating work
• 48:40 Why it is so important to watch and learn (inspect) before you start trying to change things (adapt)
• 50:45 Why Robert and Lance do not believe Scrum can work in a Digital Agency that wants Agile,  but why you need to try it first to unlock the value of Kanban
• 53:00 Contacting Lance and Robert
• 54:06 Podcast Ends

LINKS FROM THE PODCAST

HUGE
http://www.hugeinc.com/
Agile in Digital Agencies - Dave and Lance from the Atlanta Scrum User Group Meeting
https://www.pscp.tv/leadingagile/1YqxomWqrwMGv
(there is some static that persists until the interview begins at about 1 minute in)

CONTACTING LANCE

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/lance5684
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lance-hammond-7288914/

CONTACTING ROBERT

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertsfeir
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertsfeir/

Reframing Technical Debt as Technical Health - with Declan Whelan

In this interview Agile Alliance Board Member Declan Whelan makes the case for reframing Technical Debt and having organizations develop practices and programs supporting Technical Health. During the interview we discuss what technical debt it, how our perception of it has evolved and why taking a more positive and proactive stance for it can be so beneficial for organizations that are trying to improve flow and remain competitive in the marketplace.

Declan also shares details on the Agile Alliance’s OnAgile 2017 virtual conference which is taking place on October 25, 2017.

SHOW NOTES

00:09 Interview Begins

00:36 Background on Declan

02:35 What is Technical Debt?

03:55 How the definition of Technical Debt has evolved

05:11 Impediments to flow

06:15 Why it makes sense to think of Technical Debt as Technical Health

09:42 How does technical debt happen?

11:15 The environment (or system) may be set up to support increased technical debt

13:12 Explaining to management why technical wellness is so important

14:26 Measuring technical health (and debt)

15:58 Explaining the debt in dollars and showing the value of investing in technical health

16:22 How much faster could you go?

17:25 Why Declan enjoys legacy code and why some folks get frustrated with it

19:00 Finding the right people to work on it

20:16 Should technical debt go in the Product Backlog?

20:55 Employing the Boy Scout rule

24:25 Does Leadership and the PMO understand the importance of dealing with technical debt?

26:00 How the PMO can have a positive impact on technical wellness

30:55 OnAgile 2017 - the Online Conference (10/25)

30:04 What is Psychlomatic Complexity?

34:16 The things in Agile that Declan is focusing on learning about 

36:00 Contacting Declan

OnAgile 2017

http://bit.ly/2i3G0f6

CONTACTING DECLAN

Leanintuit http://leanintuit.com

Twitter https://twitter.com/dwhelan

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/declanwhelan/

Agile Alliance https://www.agilealliance.org/

Hacking Agile for Digital Agencies - DPM Summit 2017

My slides and the new canvas tool I used in my session today.

Thanks to everyone who attended.

http://bit.ly/2igwXLq

Bob Tarne - Agile and Design Thinking

Bob Tarne provides an overview of his upcoming PMI Global Congress presentation "Agile and Design Thinking, the Perfect Pairing for a Successful Project". Bob is a seasoned Project Management Professional whose work focuses primarily on helping organizations refine their approach to Agile. In this interview Bob explain what Design Thinking is and how it fits with Agile. He also talks about the book "How Successful Organizations Implement Change" which he contributed a chapter to. And the book "Project Managers at Work" by Bruce Harpham, which features a chapter all about Bob. During the interview Bob also shares details on the upcoming P2P Conference which will be taking place in Egypt on December 9-10.

If you are attending the PMI Global Congress and would like to check out Bob's session:
Agile and Design Thinking, the Perfect Pairing for a Successful Project
Monday, October 30 8:30 AM to 10 AM
http://sched.co/BKKk


The book “How Successful Organizations Implement Change” which was put together by Emad Aziz, is available here: http://amzn.to/2ym38ia


The book "Project Managers at Work" by Bruce Harpham can be found here: http://amzn.to/2ygxaVq

The P2P Conference is being held on December 9-10 in Cairo, Egypt
(link will be posted soon)

If you'd like to contact Bob directly, here is how to reach him:
http://twitter.com/‪btarne‬
http://zen-pm.blogspot.com

Tips to Prepare for TAC Panel Interview

The 2017 Scrum Gathering in Dublin is almost upon us and that means that a number of folks, who are working towards becoming Certified Scrum Trainers (CST) will be going through TAC Panels while they are in Ireland.

If you aren't familiar with it, a TAC Panel is one of the final steps to becoming a CST. A candidate will meet with a panel of members of the Scrum Aliance's Trainer Approval Committee and SA Staff. They will have an interview and then teach,  as they would in class.  For many, this panel is very challenging. Many candidates have to go through the panel multiple times before they get the certification.

So, in order to try and help with that, Anu Smalley and I put together a short video offering some tips for those who are getting ready for a TAC.

Agile Coaching: Wisdom from Practitioners

In this podcast Michael de la Maza and Dhaval Panchal talk about their new book “Agile Coaching: Wisdom from Practitioners”. Michael and Dhaval are the co-editors of the book which is full of stories, tips, and advice from experienced, Agile coaches and trainers. In addition to talking about the book, Michael and Dhaval also share their own thoughts on topics around coaching and they offer advice for those who are headed down the coaching path.

SHOW NOTES

01:28 Podcast Begins

02:01 Who is the book for

02:26 What misconceptions do clients have when an Agile coach walks in the door 

03:52 How do you provide coaching in an organization that is not ready for it

05:04 How do you (as a coach) coach yourself when you are trying to work with individuals that do not want your help

07:12 Some tips for getting started with a coaching engagement

10:27 What does it take to become an Agile coach

13:17 What is the job of an Agile coach

13:53 When the client wants to pay large sums for you to MAKE them agile

19:06 When will we evolve past waterfall?

23:41 Do you have to be an expert in Agile to be a good coach? What do you need to do before you can be qualified to be a coach?

29:01 Are there people who should not be coaches?

32:05 Getting in touch with Michael and Dhaval

THE BOOK

Agile Coaching:  Wisdom From Practitioners

http://amzn.to/2fEV31F

TO CONTACT MICHAEL

Michael Email: michael.delamaza@gmail.com

Michael Twitter: https://twitter.com/hearthealthyscr

TO CONTACT DHAVAL

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhavalpanchal/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dhavalpanchal

Edward Kay - Making Agile work in Digital

Edward Kay, the Founder of Tall Projects, has been managing software and digital projects for over 14 years. A few months ago Edward posted an article on The Digital Project Manager called “Agency Agile: 10 Agile Methods for Agencies”. In this interview, Edward and I discuss his article, some of the key things you need to do in order to get agile to work in digital, and why Scrum may be the one thing that just won’t work in an agency model.

SHOW NOTES 

04:04 - Interview Begins
04:48 - Background on Edward and Tall Projects
05:55 - How Edward got started doing agile
06:31 - How Edward’s clients develop a desire to try Agile
09:11 - Are the clients who want to “Go Agile” aware of what that will require and willing to take the steps needed to implement the change?
11:25 - Where in the organization is agile getting started?
12:17 - Why the clients bring Edward in
13:34 - There is no one true way
14:50 - Critical challenges facing Digital Agencies trying to adopt Agile
16:32 - Understanding how to look at work across the portfolio
17:32 - Different ways of measuring work in agencies that are using Agile
20:07 - “Why don’t we just smoke crack at work?”
23:52  - Tracking Happiness
25:10 -  Quantifying value and limiting WIP
28:26 - What is the client actually paying you for?
30:50  - Determining value at the project deliverable level
32:40 - Having a conversation about limiting WIP
35:38 - Getting the client to trust the practices agile team’s employ
36:16  - Multitasking is bad and doesn’t work… but it is still expected
37:45 - What Agile practices just do not work in an Agency model
38:49 - “The on system that is not well suited for Digital Agencies in Scrum”
41:15 - Kanban as an alternative for Digital Agencies
42:10 - What Agile tool/technique is the key to making it work in an Agency model?
43:17 - What is the piece that is missing when trying to make Agile fit in an Agency model?
44:18 - How to get in touch with Edward

CONTACTING EDWARD

Website - https://www.tallprojects.co.uk/
Email: edward@tallprojects.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardkay/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edwardkay or https://twitter.com/tallprojects
Edward’s article on The Digital Project Manager: Agency Agile: 10 Agile Methods For Agencies 

CSM Training and the 2017 Digital PM Summit

For information on the Certified Scrum Master class being held right before the 2017 Digital PM Summit, click here. Special Discounts are available for conference attendees. Contact training@leadingagile.com for more information.

For information on the 2017 Digital PM Summit, click here.

Justin Handler - Implementing Agile in Digital At O3 World

Justin Handler is the Head of Accounts at O3 World, a Philadelphia based Digital Agency. O3 World has been integrating Agile practices into their workflow for the past few years and Justin has been leading that charge every step of the way. In this interview, Justin shares stories about what has worked for O3, some things that didn’t, and he offers advice for Digital Agencies that are moving down the path towards Agile.

Justin is also one of the folks heading up the Digital PM group in Philadelphia. If you’d like to learn more about the group, check out http://twitter.com/dpmphilly or https://www.meetup.com/DPM-Philly/

SHOW NOTES

• 03:24 Interview begins 
• 03:44 Background on Justin and his role at O3
• 06:48 How O3 got started with implementing Agile
• 08:00 O3’s first experiments with Agile estimation practices
• 09:40 What O3 tried that didn’t work and what they learned from it
• 11:57 Debating the value of a Daily Standup and O3’s alternative solution
• 14:15 Does the client get access to the Trello Board and Slack?
• 14:34 The key to making Agile practices work in an Agency
• 16:05 Fitting UX into Agile at O3
• 19:25 Involving Developers with UX work
• 20:03 Capturing and prioritizing requirements at O3
• 22:30 Development and UX working in parallel
• 23:27 Helping the client with adopting Agile (or not)
• 25:39 Changing the nature of the relationship with the client
• 27:14 Advice for agencies getting started with Agile
• 29:23 How to reach Justin

JUSTIN’S ARTICLE

During the interview Justin references an article he wrote called “Agile In The Agency. Is It Possible?” You can find it here: http://www.thedigitalprojectmanager.com/managing-agile-projects-in-agency/

CONTACTING JUSTIN

Web: http://www.o3world.com

Email: handler@o3world.com

Twitter: @justinhandler

Making Agile work in a Digital Agency w/ Darren Petersen

Darren Petersen is a Senior Technical Project Manager at Lullabot. He’s also incredibly knowledgeable about Agile. In this interview Darren and I discuss how Agile has been implemented at Lullabot. We dig into what works, what doesn’t, why he moved away from Story Points and all, and how Lullabot has been able to get dedicated teams in place.

Note: During the interview Darren and I have a brief conversation about why it makes no sense to force yourself into the

As a (some user)
I want to (some action)
so I can (some benefit) 

format just for the sake of using it. I promised to get him an official answer. You can find that here.

SHOW NOTES

00:08 Interview Begins
00:47 Background on Lullabot
01:33 Managing 50 distributed team members
03:04 Using social media tools to stay connected with remote staff
05:57 Using Agile at Lullabot for client work
12:02 Making the case for some upfront planning, before using Agile during Development
12:50 Taking on the cost of teaching Agile to the client (who doesn’t care about Agile)
14:22 The way Lullabot sets up Teams to use Agile for client work
15:22 How can a digital agency maintain the business with dedicated teams
20:35 How dedicated teams impact the staff members morale and performance at Lullabot
23:27 Teaching customers to write decent User Stories
28:07 Should you force yourself into a User Story format when it doesn’t make sense? *
29:32 Why Darren doesn’t like using Story Points
33:00 How did Darren get so deep with Agile and what drives him to keep learning about it
36:19 Getting in touch with Darren
37:01 Interview Ends

CONTACTING DARREN

Twitter https://twitter.com/dsayswhat
Email: darren.petersen@lullalbot.com
About: https://www.lullabot.com/about/darren-petersen
Lullabot https://www.lullabot.com

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST

User Stories Applied by Mike Cohn http://amzn.to/2vKv4JI
Troy Magennis & Focused Objective http://focusedobjective.com
User Story Mapping by Jeff Patton http://amzn.to/2wckyOg
Agile Manifesto http://agilemanifesto.org

Agile 2017 - Mike Griffiths and Johanna Rothman on the PMI Agile Practice Guide

At Agile 2017 I had the chance to sit down with Johanna Rothman and Mike Griffiths to talk about the work they've been doing on the PMI Agile Practice Guide. Their work was part of a joint effort between the Agile Alliance and PMI and is intended to offer guidance for traditional PMs on how to begin applying Agile in their work. The PMI Agile Practice Guide will be released in September 2017.

For more video podcast interviews from Agile 2017, please follow @leadingagile or check out the LeadingAgile on YouTube.

Making Agile work at Digital Agencies w/ Jack Skeels

TLDR

Jack Skeels is the CEO and Founder of AgencyAgile. There are many organizations devoted to helping companies transform to agile, but AgencyAgile is the only one that is solely focused on helping Digital Agencies adopt Agile. In this interview Jack shares his thoughts on Agile and what makes it succeed or fail in a Digital Agency context.

SHOW NOTES

00:10 Interview Begins
00:40 Background on Jack and Agency Agile
01:24 How Jack ended up helping Digital Agencies adopt Agile
05:10 Trying out different types of Agile
06:10 Taking a job so you can run experiments in how to manage projects
08:12 You can’t make people trust
09:13 Jack’s initial questions for management: How much pain are you in? How much gain do you want?
09:52 What is the hardest part for a Digital Agency adopting Agile?
11:52 Transforming the agency AND their clients. Training is not enough
13:40 Do we need a new flavor of Agile tailored to Digital Agencies?
17:26 Does Agile actually make things work better? Are there actual business benefits?
18:38 How does AgencyAgile “sell” Agile to companies?
21:32 We need to stop disempower team members. They care as much as we do.
24:39 Can we actually get consistent cross-functional teams in an Agency?
25:22 Designing work stream teams of 25
26:07 Transforming the whole agency at once
27:31 Are there clients who are not ready to transform yet?
31:10 Letting go of learned behavior
32:30 What do we need for Agile to work in a Digital Agency?
33:19 Agile will work  when it becomes a management initiative NOT a Project Management Initiative
34:53 How you can learn more about the AgencyAgile approach
36:10 Books about Agile that Jack recommends
37:00 Jack response to “We can’t do Agile because we’re fixed bid.”
38:10 Advice from Jack for those who want to adopt Agile in a digital agency
39:07 Where you can learn more about Jack
40:11 Interview Ends

LINKS MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST

2017 Digital PM Summit: http://bureauofdigital.com/summits/digital-pm-2017/

BOOKS BY BAS VODDE AND CRAIG LARMAN

• Practices for Scaling  Lean & Agile Development http://amzn.to/2uCR6AV
• Scaling Lean & Agile Development http://amzn.to/2wXVKWG

CONTACTING JACK

Website https://www.agencyagile.com
Blog: https://www.agencyagile.com/insights/
Medium: https://medium.com/@jackskeels
Twitter : https://twitter.com/agencyagile
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackaskeels/

If you are interested in this topic, please stay tuned for more. In preparation for a session I am leading at the 2017 Digital PM Summit, I have been doing lots of interviews about how to make Agile work in a digital environment.

Are Stretch Goals OK? w/ Tim Wise from LeadingAgile

This week's LeadingAgile SoundNotes features a conversation between myself and Tim Wise on Stretch Goals. I had a student ask about them in class last week and did not have time to get back to it before class ended.

Even if you have formed an opinion about Stretch Goals, I'd encourage you to check this podcast out. I tend to be pretty anti-stretch goals, but during the interview Tim suggested a type of stretch goal that would actually be a very positive thing for a team to commit to.

You can find the podcast here.

Mission Statements & Developing Cross Functional Teams w/ Celeste Giampetro

In this podcast, PebblePost’s VP of Marketing, Celeste Giampetro, talked with Dave about the importance of defining a good mission statement, why Marketing needs more generalists than specialists now, how to develop cross-functional teams, and leading with vulnerability. During the conversation, they also spent time discussing different leadership techniques that will help you get the most out of your team.

SHOW NOTES

00:08 Podcast TLDR
01:44 Podcast Begins
02:11 Some background on Pebble Post and Celeste’s role there
03:31 Is having a mission statement or vision statement important?
04:03 What problem is Pebble Post solving and how are they solving it?
09:43 Why marketers need to focus on being more generalized than specialized.
11:49 When are you done being a startup?
12:58 How we ended up with so much specialization in the first place
13:48 How do you determine if your generalist actually has the focused skills you need.
15:09 How to find people who want to grow and then to mentor them
16:03 Leading with vulnerability and transparency
18:10 What value does a manager get from leading with vulnerability
19:42 An example of how leading with vulnerability and transparency backfired
20:31 The benefits of giving up the control and power; and how it can have a very positive impact on the organization
22:00 Making sure everyone knows the Mission and Vision Statement
22:18 Introducing cross-functionality into your team
24:08 Do Gen X and Millennials approach collaboration and cross-functionality differently?
25:18 What is the key to motivating people? “Can you extract from them their best work?”
27:07 The importance of learning about the people on your team before you start trying to direct their behavior.
28:07 On Managing people - “It’s al about relationship building”
28:55 Agile at PebblePost
30:32 Getting in touch with Celeste

CONTACTING CELESTE

Twitter https://twitter.com/stinapessa
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/celestegiampetro/
Pebble Post http://pebblepost.com

CELESTE'S ARTICLE

Step Aside, Specialist: Return Of The Marketing Generalist 

Agile 2017 Preview - Laura Powers

Laura Powers is has a LOT going on. She’s got a new role as Co-CEO of RADTAC US, she got classes coming up AND she has sessions set for Agile 2017 and the Scrum Gathering in Dublin. In this podcast I had the chance to catch up with Laura and hear about all she has going on, and we got to dig into the sessions she’ll be presenting at Agile 2017 and the Scrum Gathering in Dublin.

SHOW NOTES

00:10 Interview Begins
01:03 Laura explains her new gig at Radtac US
02:15 Laura’s experience London following the recent attacks
02:56 Laura and Kim Brainard are giving some Training From the Back of the Room classes
05:03 Laura’s participation in the Women in Agile Event at Agile 2017
07:24 Laura’s talks at Agile 2017
07:48 What about The Power of Play?
14:12 The Difference between Culture and Climate
18:02 Laura’s upcoming session at the Scrum Gathering in Dublin and Say Yes to No!
19:50 Improv,  the “Yes, and” culture and the Power of No
25:25 Saying YES! to more things than you can possibly do and how to fix that
27:58 Laura’s advice for newcomers attending Agile 2017
31:34 Getting in touch with Laura

CONTACTING LAURA

Radtac https://www.radtac.co.uk/about-us/page/3/
Twitter https://twitter.com/laurapowers

LINKS FROM THE PODCAST

• Radtac http://Radtac.com
• Training from the BACK of the Room
  Thursday, August 3, Orlando, FL
  Kim Brainard and Laura Powers
  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/training-from-the-back-of-the-room-tbr-1-day-graphic-facilitation-tickets-31829812827

LAURA’S PODCASTS

Agile Games http://agilegamespodcast.com
NLP Your Agile - Link will be updated soon

WOMEN IN AGILE

Women in Agile at Agile 2017
Date: Sunday, August 6, 2017
Time: 1-5 PM
Location: Orlando, FL - Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel (Agile2017)
https://www.agilealliance.org/women-in-agile-2017/

LAURA'S SESSIONS AT AGILE 2017

The Power of Play - Coaching Teams to Play at Work
Wednesday, August 9, 10:45 AM
http://sched.co/ATXu
It’s Not Just About Culture: Co-creating an Awesome Agile Climate in an Imperfect World
Thursday, August 10, 10:45 AM
http://sched.co/ATWv

Laura's Session at 2017 SCRUM GATHERING - DUBLIN

Say "Yes" to "No": The Power of the "No" in Agile
Tuesday, October 31, 11:00 AM
https://www.scrumalliance.org/sgdub

Personal Accountability Teams at Agile 2017

TLDR

Join a new experiment being run at Agile 2017! Get the most you can out of the biggest Agile event of the year by signing up with a Personal Accountability Team. Stick around at the end of the First Timer Orientation if you’d like to get set up with a team that will meet Daily in Orlando.

 Personal Accountability Teams at Agile 2017

The Agile Alliance is running an experiment to help interested First Timers form small teams who will hold Daily Standups each day in Orlando to get the most value they can out of Agile 2017.

We are just a few weeks away from Agile 2017. With over 270 sessions throughout the week plus a wide variety of other non-session activities, sponsor events, random unofficial activities, hallway conversations, late night "networking" activities, etc. There are LOTS of options. There are, in fact, more options than you could possibly take advantage of.

For many years, I attended big multi-day conferences with the same approach: throw myself headlong into it on Day 1 and participate in everything I could. This worked.... for most of Day 1. It started to fade on Day 2 and by Day 3 of whatever conference I was attending, I hid in my room a lot, I'd sit in the back of a session I was only partly listening to while I did work and often, and mostly just waited for it to be over so I could go home to my family.  Needless to say, this was not a very effective approach.

Several years ago, I tried an experiment at SXSW where I got together with a small group of people each morning for a Daily Standup. It was my first time at SXSW and I was completely overwhelmed. When I initially proposed the experiment at the end of a session on Project Management, I was looking for 2 things:

1. I wanted to have a group of people I could meet with each morning who would help ground me and who would listen to my goals for the day. For me, a big motivator on achieving those goals was knowing that I'd be facing the same people again the next morning.
2. I was looking for support. I didn't know a single person at SXSW and I wanted to have a small base of people I could sync up with. I hoped that we'd share tip and talk about what we had learned during the previous day, and that the collaboration would help us all get a better experience out of our time in Austin.

It worked pretty well. I have been refining this practice at every conference I've attended since. More than anything else, this is what helps me maximize the value I get out of any conference I attend.

In practice, it works just like holding a Daily Scrum, except the questions are a little different:

• What am I going to do today to get value out of my time here?
• What progress did I make on my goals from yesterday?
• What am I struggling with or what do I need help with here at the conference?

I think it is critical to keep in mind that "getting value" does not necessarily mean attending every session. Taking time for yourself, going for a walk, taking a nap before you head out in the evening, making sure you are eating right and hydrating... these are all as important as the conversations. With so much going on, it can be hard to give yourself permission to skip some stuff, but if you don't, you are going to miss a lot more.

This year at Agile 2017 the Agile Alliance is supporting an experiment in Personal Accountability Teams. If you would like to participate, all you need to do is to attend one of the First-Time Attendee Orientation Sessions being held at the start of the conference. As soon as the orientation is over we will walk over to the Open Jam, where we will help you find a small team you can meet with each day throughout the conference to support you and help you get the most value possible out of your time in Orlando.

If you'd like to know more, just reply to this post or attend one of the First-Time Attendee Orientation Sessions at Agile 2017.

AGILE 2017 First Time Attendee Orientation Sessions

• Sunday, August 6, 3:15 PM Panzacola F1&F2
• Sunday, August 6, 6:15 PM Panzacola F1&F2
• Monday, August 7 8:15 AM Panzacola F1&F2

Volunteering at Agile 2017

If you are involved with Agile, the biggest event of the year is the conference hosted each summer by the Agile Alliance. Agile 2017 kicks off on Sunday, August 6, 2017 and that means 2,500 Agilists will be descending on Orlando ready to pick up new techniques, share what they’ve learned and catch up with thought leaders and practitioners in the Agile space.

The conference is MASSIVE and it would not be possible without the Purple Shirt People who volunteer at the conference. In exchange for getting to attend the conference, the folks in the purple shirts are the ones who can help you navigate the week. Whether you are a first timer wondering where to go, or a seasoned veteran giving a talk, we all depend on the generosity of the folks who give their time to help make the conference happen.

In this podcast, Becky Hartman and Sarah Klarich share some details about volunteering at the conference, how it works, what you get in exchange for giving your time and how you can get more involved. If you are new to the conference, Becky and Sarah also share some tips on how to make it through the week and what to not miss.

SHOW NOTES

00:10 Podcast Begins
00:47 Background on Sarah and Becky
01:33 Getting involved with volunteering at the Agile Conference
02:58 How many people will be expected at Agile 2017
03:30 How many people are part of the Volunteer Team at Agile 2017
03:52 The time commitment and getting to see sessions at Agile 2017
05:13 The type of work the Purple Shirts are expected to do a the Agile Conference
06:19 The benefits of volunteering at the Agile Conference
10:18 Advice from Becky and Sarah on how to get the most out your week in Orlando
13:15 Tips for volunteers who are extroverts (like Becky)
14:05 Watch the Grandma comments!
14:18 Advice for introverts (like Sarah)
15:05 Get ready for Agile Therapy and some other new events at Agile 2017!
16:36 Dealing with FOMO at Agile 2017 (You can’t see it all - take care of yourself!)
17:40 Finding your conference wingperson
19:44 Sarah and Becky’s must see events at Agile 2017
21:36 How to get on the Agile 2017 Volunteer Wait List (or submit your name for next year)

Is PMP still worth it if I am doing Agile? - w/ Jesse Fewell

In each of my CSM and CSPO classes someone asks “Should I still get PMP?”

In this podcast I got the chance to check in with Jesse Fewell on the value of certification. Jesse and I have been friends since 2008 when we both started working on trying to find ways to get PMI to pay attention to Agile. We both come from a traditional background, have been heavily involved with PMI and now make a living teaching Scrum certification classes. 

Jesse and I debate the answer to the PMP certification question and along the way, discuss our differing views on the value of PMI-ACP, CSM and CSPO certifications. These are things we don’t always see eye to eye on, so regardless of your viewpoint, there is sure to be something in here to help you see things from a different perspective. 

We also have a brief conversation about what do to about PMO’s in Agile organizations.

Note: You may hear some odd background noise. This time it isn't me slurping coffee … #blamethefidgittoys

Show Notes

00:08 Podcast Starts

00:34 An update on Jesse’s recent and upcoming Agile PMO sessions, VirtuallyAgile.com and his Certified Agile Leadership Training classes

07:53 Does PMP Certification still matter? And if you are working in Agile, do you still need it?

09:57 If you are a traditional PM, are you in danger of becoming unemployable if you do not have agile?

11:50 Can a traditional PM avoid the trap of thinking they “get” Agile before they actually do?

14:26 Jesse’s involvement with PMI-ACP, it’s evolution and current relevance

16:20 What can you expect of someone who has PMP or PMI-ACP Certification?

18:10 PMI and Agile Alliance collaboration and what we can expect to see from it

20:10 PMI is working with the Agile Alliance… “It’s like the X-Men and the Justice League tried to plan something together”

21:10 “Everyone has the same mission - improve outcomes and people doing their job well”

21:43 It’s not a “standard”, it’s a “guide”

22:07 How much Agile will be in the new (6th) edition of the PMBOK?

23:00 For the skeptics… there is good on both sides of PMI and the Agile Alliance working together

24:30 Understanding the distinction between the work done by PMI and the Agile Alliance (stabilize and align vs. disrupt)

26:42 Will there be a new Agile certification coming from PMI?

29:26 If you know a PMP trying to decide between taking a CSM or a PMI-ACP course and they need advice on what to take

32:42 Dave and Jesse debate whether getting PMP is still valuable for a CSM or CSPO

36:17 “Most Agile people are punching above their weight…”

39:18 What do we do about the PMO if our organization is adopting Agile?

44:22 Want more Jesse? Here is how to get it….

45:02 Interview Ends

Links references in the podcast:

The Hybrid PMO (part of Seminars World) http://bit.ly/2tbOvM5

Solving the PMO Paradox (at Agile 2017) http://bit.ly/2sJ8wJj

Certifications and Agile Organizations Mentioned in the Podcast

PMP Certification http://bit.ly/29NtawC

PMI-ACP Certification https://www.pmi.org/certifications/types/agile-acp

CSM Certification http://bit.ly/ZtotC1

CSPO Certification http://bit.ly/1HeXnC5

Certified Agile Leadership Certification https://www.scrumalliance.org/agile-leadership

Agile Alliance: https://www.agilealliance.org

Scrum Alliance: https://www.scrumalliance.org

PMI: https://www.pmi.org/

IC Agile: https://icagile.com

Contacting Jesse

Website: http://www.jessefewell.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessefewell

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessefewell/

Contacting Dave

Website: https://drunkenpm.net

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo/