Is Agile Delivering The Business Outcomes You Are Looking For? with Jessica Wolfe

Jessica Wolfe is back to discuss what kind of things organizations need to pay attention to and track in order to understand if their implementation of agile is actually providing them with the business results they are looking for. All too often organizations fall into the trap of simply thinking that doing the thing (agile) creates the desired change. This is not always the case. 

During the interview, Jessica shows how Lean Agile Intelligence can be used to figure out what you need to track and how it can show you that the problem you actually have may not be the problem you thought you had. 

You can find a video version of the podcast here.

You can find an audio version of the podcast here.

Cultivating a Soulful Transformation Community w Jardena London

Jardena London joins the podcast to talk about the launch of the Transformational Leader Community that she has created to help foster a more soulful approach to organizational change. If you'd like to read more about Jardena's approach, you can also check out her book Cultivating Transformations: A Leader’s Guide to Connecting the Soulful and the Practical 

The interview is available in video here: https://youtu.be/zOa4IZT_V2c

The interview is available in audio here: https://on.soundcloud.com/VwTsU

An Abundance of Opportunity with Chris Li

A student wrote in asking about how to deal with: 

• PO can’t or won’t prioritize the backlog

• Team members are always taking on special side projects in the company

• The team is 35 people spread across several time zones - both on and off-shore

• Everyone is working on new products and also supporting up to 30 applications

• Everyone is expected to be at 100% utilization at all times.

• The Sprints are 4-5 weeks long (the size varies depending on the work to be done)

• One hour is allocated for Sprint Planning

This is a lot to address here so I asked my good friend (and fellow CST) Chris Li to join me to talk through these challenges.

 The video version of the interview can be found here: https://bit.ly/3SgK2jL

An audio version of the podcast can be found here: https://bit.ly/3xwfWkg

What it Takes to Enable Business Agility with Karim Harbott

Karim Harbott joins me to discuss his new book, The 6 Enablers of Business Agility: How to Thrive in an Uncertain World, and the challenges faced by organizations who try to adopt practices that could lead to Business Agility but are thwarted by a continued commitment to a command and control mindset. 

The podcast can be found here: https://bit.ly/3GwO2rg

The book, which I highly recommend, can be found here: https://amzn.to/2Zn4aLh

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

Untapped Agility with Jesse Fewell

In this very special video episode of the podcast, I’m joined by Jesse Fewell, whose new book Untapped Agility is full of insights, tips, and tactics that you can use to help gain support for your adoption of Agile. Jesse and I go way back. We worked together a lot during the initial phases of getting The Project Management Institute and the Scrum Alliance to talk back in 2009-2010. It was great to catch up with him and I highly recommend his new book. 

Click here to watch the interview on ProjectManagement.com

Business Agility with Richard Cheng and Karim Harbott

Business Agility is something people have been talking about for several years but it is one of those terms that can mean different things to different people. In this episode of the podcast I am joined by my friends Richard Cheng and Karim Harbott to clarify what Business Agility is, why nailing down a definition can be so tough, why it is so important and how you can get started with helping your organization take steps in enabling it. 

You can find the interview here.

Business Planning for Agile AND Traditional Time Horizons with Ross Beurmann

 In this interview with Ross Beurmann we dig into the topic of how to handle business planning when you've got both traditional (waterfall) and Agile work happening concurrently within the organization. 

Here is the interview -> Business Planning for Agile AND Traditional Time Horizons with Ross Beurmann

You can also hear an update on how Ross's son Tom is doing with his effort to enact lasting social change within his local government. If you missed that interview, you can find that one here.

The Business Agility Canvas with Karim Harbott

The transition to Agile is challenging for any organization. It’s even worse when you do not understand the strategic and business reasons behind the change. This is one of the primary reasons so many Agile transformations fail to achieve lasting change.

Karim is a seasoned Agile Trainer, Executive Coach, and a founding partner of Agile Centre. He also currently serves on the Scrum Alliance Board of Directors. He created The Business Agility Canvas to help organizations clarify the business drivers leading their change to Agile.

In this episode of the podcast, Karim explains the six enablers of business agility and how to use the Business Agility Canvas.

You can find the interview here.

Scaling Product Development with Ellen Gottesdiener and Andy Repton

Earlier this fall at the 2018 Large Scale Scrum Conference in NYC, Ellen Gottesdiener and Andy Repton led a session called “What is Our Product” (https://less.works/sessions/2018-less-conference-new-york-what-is-our-product-88). During the course of their presentation they showcased many of the tools they use with clients to determine what the product they are building actually is. In this interview Ellen and Andy explain why this question is not as easy to understand as it seems and why it is so critical to product success. During the course of our conversation they walk through some of the tools they use to help clients deepen their understanding of the product, how to make sure it is strategically aligned, and how this can even be done with massive organizations that are developing infrastructure products. 

You can find the podcast and more details on their session here: https://www.projectmanagement.com/blog-post/49746/Scaling-Product-Development-with-Ellen-Gottesdiener-and-Andy-Repton

The Business of Portfolio Management with PMI Fellow Iain Fraser

Iain Fraser is a PMI Fellow, a former Chair of the PMI Board of Directors and the author of The Business of Portfolio Management. The book focuses on helping businesses deepen their perception of business portfolio management, and how strengthening their practices in that area can help them thrive in a business world where the only constant is change. 

 In this episode of the podcast, I had the chance to speak with Iain about his book, how his experiences in working in Portfolio, Program and Project management have evolved over time. How business agility fits into the work he does and the great impact that volunteering has had on his career. 

When you are listening to this interview, one thing I hope you will take not of is how Iain talks about the various aspects of business agility. His use of traditional practices, Lean and agile practices are all aimed at helping organizations develop greater adaptability at the business portfolio level. These various practices are discussed (and employed) without a value judgement being placed on any of them. They are used as needed all in the service of helping organizations learn to cope with change.

The Business of Portfolio Management

Amazon https://amzn.to/2NzAe2S

PMI https://bit.ly/2LesWol

Fishpond https://bit.ly/2Li99V5

Contacting Iain

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/iain-fraser-8a42b1/
ProjectManagement.com https://www.projectmanagement.com/profile/iainfraser55
Email Iain.Fraser@jacobite.co.nz

PMI 2018 Global Congress Workshop

Business Change Management - Heading for the Future https://bit.ly/2JLrILY