Join Brian and his guest Randy Hale as they delve into the world of Lean Portfolio Management to drive Agile transformations and make informed decisions for greater business success.

Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian sits down with Agile Transformation Coach Randy Hale to discuss Lean Portfolio Management.

Listen in as they explore strategies for navigating organizational culture, redefining metrics, and addressing uncertainty to make informed business decisions and drive successful Agile transformations.

Listen Now to Discover: [01:18] - Brian Milner welcomes Randy Hale of Agile Velocity to the Agile Mentors podcast to discuss Lean Portfolio Management.

[02:40] - Randy shares the definition of Lean Portfolio Management.

[04:07] - The first steps to implement Lean Portfolio Management.

[06:41] - How to engage finance and accounting teams in the conversations and emphasize optimizing value delivery.

[09:35] - What's broken with traditional budgeting?

[10:15] - How Lean Portfolio Management helps organizations more easily align with customer needs and adapt to swiftly changing market conditions.

[11:56] - Why traditional budgeting processes often lead to delays in responding to unexpected changes.

[14:15] - How cultural factors can hinder an organization's adaptation to changing circumstances.

[14:30] - Mountain Goat Software has designed the best training to help you stand out in the market. With live interactive courses and a mixture of lecture time and frequent breakout rooms to keep you engaged every second you're learning. All their courses are designed to give you the skills that agile teams and organizations value. For more information and the class schedule visit Mountain Goat Software today.

[16:19] - The key components in Lean Portfolio Management.

[18:34] - The value of early detection for proactive responses.

[19:31] - Randy discusses the impact of organizational culture on transformation efforts and the importance of adapting processes within a compliance-based culture.

[21:26] - Brian and Randy discuss the challenge of selecting meaningful metrics for effective decision-making.

[24:48] - Randy highlights the importance of addressing uncertainty and focusing on critical factors using a scenario where a projected $5 million in revenue failed to meet expectations due to unvalidated assumptions.

[25:21] - Brian discusses the common-sense principle that the further you are from a future event, the less precise your predictions can be.

[26:29] - The million-dollar point of the conversation.

[27:01] - The default way of tracking things that is disconnected from reality and the real value of what you deliver.

[28:57] - You can connect with Randy at Agile Velocity or via LinkedIn.

[30:32] - Don’t forget to subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts. If you have feedback or ideas for the show, just email podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com.

[31:04] - For further discussion about Lean Portfolio Management or any other topic on the Agile Mentors Podcast join the Agile Mentors Community.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Certified Scrum Master Training and Scrum Certification

Certified Scrum Product Owner Training

Advanced Certified ScrumMaster®

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner®

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

17: Getting There From Here: Agile Transformations with David Hawks

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Randy Hale is an Agile Transformation Coach with over a decade of experience guiding companies through Agile transformations. Randy's hands-on knowledge and training have helped businesses of all sizes embrace Agile and Lean thinking for greater success including Fortune 500 companies like Nike, Petco, and Charter Communications.

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Join Brian and his guest Lance Dacy as they address the interplay (and the skepticism) of combining Agile and data science. Tune in as they explore the art of crafting Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) to create impactful and efficient solutions.

Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian sits down with Lance Dacy to delve into the nuances of aligning data science with the software development mold while dispelling the myths along the way.

Listen in as Lance shares his wealth of experience and insights guiding listeners through the step-by-step process of building MVPs in data science projects and sharing how Agile principles seamlessly apply to both worlds.

Listen Now to Discover: [01:13] - Brian introduces Lance Dacy on the Agile Mentors Podcast. Since listeners appreciated the previous data science and agile episode, Lance is here for Part Two, this time discussing how data science fits into the software development mold.

[02:00] - Addressing the skepticism of combining agile and data science; Lance has both expertise and practical experience.

[02:43] - Lance emphasizes that he understands the “naysayers” concerns but aims to help others comprehend the synergy.

[03:05] - Waterfall might be better: sorting out the different perspectives on Agile development and data science.

[04:45] - The importance of scoping and architecture in software development projects.

[05:15] - Challenging the notion of perfectly defined objectives.

[05:46] - Most software projects lack a completely predefined understanding.

[06:39] - How Agile's empirical process and mindset of experimentation align with data science.

[07:30] - Presenting a real-world MVP example combining business drivers and data science techniques.

[08:04] - Clarifying what Agile is—a philosophy based on values, not a step-by-step process.

[09:03] - The importance of sustainable pace and productivity in Agile.

[10:10] - Introducing the concept of MVP and acknowledging the evolution of data science techniques.

[11:00] - Discussing MVP in the context of data science, and aligning it with empirical approach.

[11:38] - Highlighting the role of MVP in testing assumptions, mitigating risks, and user feedback.

[12:00] - Exploring data science's practical relevance for consumers to forge a relatable discussion.

[12:47] -Acknowledging familiarity with technology, uncertain about tactics.

[13:00] - Highlighting how AI and data science are pervasive in everyday technology use.

[13:29] - Examples of AI data science integration: search engines, online shopping recommendations, social media content, smart homes, and more.

[14:42] - Introducing common uses of data science: customer segmentation and marketing techniques.

[15:19] - Applying clustering techniques like K means for automated segmentation.

[15:34] - Lance shares his paper on supply chain optimization, using an ant colony algorithm.

[15:56] - The techniques and purpose of supply chain optimization.

[16:23] - Exploring data science applications: collaborative filtering, matrix factorization, neural networks.

[16:42] - Clarifying data scientists' approach: not a random process but based on problem-solving with models.

[17:18] - Iterative development as a primary reason for MVP in data science.

[17:57] - Using real-world performance data for model improvement.

[18:21] - Risk mitigation as a critical aspect of MVP: linking risk mitigation to surviving challenges and learning from them.

[19:51] - Starting with an MVP reduces risk by avoiding overly complex models without sufficient feedback.

[20:19] - Setting stakeholder expectations with an MVP: providing tangible insight into data science trade-offs and early deliverables.

[20:39] - Highlighting operational considerations of deploying and maintaining data models, addressing challenges in data pipelines, infrastructure, and monitoring.

[22:17] - An MVP approach aligns with Agile principles for data science.

[22:35] - Brian clarifies the misconception that MVP means sacrificing quality for speed.

[23:30] - Lance agrees, addressing the misconception, and emphasizes MVP's importance in learning and improvement.

[23:32] - Have you thought about training with Mountain Goat Software? With classes such as Mountain Goat Software, Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) developed by Mike Cohn, and team home software for better interactivity during classes you can’t go wrong.

[24:00] - Brian suggests transitioning to walking through a model or example of creating an MVP.

[24:07] -A tangible framework for mapping data science work to MVP steps, acknowledging the contextual nature of the process.

[24:50] - Lance acknowledges the complexity of the steps, so they’ve been posted below under resources.

[25:11] - The importance of problem definition and defining the scope of the MVP.

[26:34] - The challenge of gathering and preprocessing data.

[27:20] - Selecting a simple model that is easy to interpret and implement for faster training times, easier troubleshooting, and adherence to the principle of parsimony.

[29:12] - Using feature engineering to select the most relevant features for the model.

[29:33] - Choosing a manageable number of features for the model, rather than attempting to incorporate all available data and avoid overcomplicating or overfitting the model.

[30:11] - Lance emphasizes the importance of selecting a simple model and conducting feature engineering based on the insights gained from that model.

[30:36] - Training the chosen machine learning model using pre-processed data, typically by splitting the data into training and validation sets.

[31:15] - The challenge of evaluating the model's performance and the importance of using the appropriate metrics.

[31:34] - The goal: create a model that is good enough for gathering feedback that aligns with the concept of MVP.

[31:53] - Lance describes the last step of building an MVP: deploying the MVP by integrating the model into a suitable platform or application.

[32:26] - The importance of making the MVP accessible to end users.

[33:00] - The crucial feedback loop for making improvements to the model and features, and refining, scaling, or reconsidering the approach.

[34:09] - Why you might want to initially deploy a slightly higher-level model.

[34:57] - The parallel between the steps of creating an MVP in data science and the principles of Agile.

[35:18] - Brian adds that in data science, feedback not only comes from customers and users but also involves analyzing results and outcomes as a form of feedback to refine the model.

[35:53] - The importance of relying on scientific expertise to analyze the results of the model and evaluate its accuracy and validity.

[36:10] - In data science, the feedback loop also involves analyzing the outcomes and results, similar to the iterative process of receiving user feedback in software development.

[37:00] - Lance draws parallels between software development and data science by comparing the process of building software features with the steps involved in creating an MVP for data science.

[39:21] - Lance offers some practical examples, beginning with a recommendation system.

[41:06] - The decision tree approach and its benefits for stakeholders.

[43:00] - Lance talks about churn prediction to gradually incorporate more nuanced data.

[43:55] - MVPs for chatbots and the benefits of starting with simple scripted responses in a chatbot MVP.

[45:59] - Managing multiple projects.

[46:24] - The effectiveness of using logistic regression and decision trees for MVPs.

[47:00] - Lance emphasizes the importance of managing stakeholders' expectations.

[47:53] - Lance discusses the need to consider the context when interpreting model performance metrics and involving stakeholders in these discussions.

[49:16] - The importance of collaboration between data scientists and stakeholders for delivering valuable solutions.

[50:11] - Lance draws a comparison between data science and software development in terms of the challenge of coordinating work across different specialized areas.

[51:00] - Lance highlights the importance of feedback and iterative adjustments for success.

[53:24] - Again, you can find Episode #54: Unlocking Agile's Power in the World of Data Science with Lance Dacy, here.

[53:48] - We’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic and your suggestions for future topics. Just email podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com. If you enjoyed the episode, the best way to support us is to share it with others and subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

[55:00] - Don’t forget to check out the Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule, including, Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and Advanced Certified Scrum Master (ACSM) and Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (ACSPO) classes. I'd really love to see you in class!

References and resources mentioned in the show: 6 Reasons Why I Think Agile Data Science Does Not Work | by Ilro Lee

Why Data Science Doesn't Respond Well to Agile Methodologies

Lance’s SMU Paper (Ant Colony Algorithm and Traveling Salesman Problem)

#54: Unlocking Agile's Power in the World of Data Science with Lance Dacy

Certified Scrum Master Training and Scrum Certification

Certified Scrum Product Owner Training

Advanced Certified ScrumMaster®

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner®

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Reasons for Quick MVP in Data Science are to support: * Iterative Development * Feedback Loop * Risk Mitigation * Setting Expectations * Operational Considerations

Steps of the MVP: * Problem Definition * Gather and Preprocess the Data * Select a simple model * Feature engineering * Train the model * Evaluate the model * Deploy the MVP * Collect Feedback * Iterate * Decision Time

Examples of MVP in Data Science (Logistic regression and decision trees are often used as initial models due to their simplicity, interpretability, and relatively quick development time.)

Recommendation Systems: Instead of building a complex recommendation engine, a company might start with a simple rule-based system (e.g., recommending the most popular items) to gauge user interest and system engagement.
Churn Prediction: An MVP might involve creating a basic model based on a few key features (like usage frequency and customer complaints) to predict which customers might churn. Later versions can incorporate more nuanced data and sophisticated algorithms.
Natural Language Processing (NLP): For a chatbot, the MVP might involve scripted responses or basic keyword matching. Once deployed, user interactions can inform the development of more advanced NLP capabilities

Conclusion With Rapid MVP, context is crucial with regard to our general benchmarks (F1-Score, ROC-AUC, MAE, RMSE). You should strive to always consider the context of those benchmarks with the problem being solved. In some medical diagnostic tests, even an F1-score of 0.95 might not be good enough due to the severe consequences of false negatives or false positives. We also likely need to compare the model's performance metrics with a simple baseline (e.g., random classifier, mean prediction) to determine how much value the model is adding. Always align the model's performance with business objectives. Even a model with a high ROC-AUC might not be suitable if it doesn't meet the specific precision or recall targets set by the business. Isn’t it better to find ways to know that earlier than later?

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Lance Dacy is a Certified Scrum Trainer®, Certified Scrum Professional®, Certified ScrumMaster®, and Certified Scrum Product Owner®. Lance brings a great personality and servant's heart to his workshops. He loves seeing people walk away with tangible and practical things they can do with their teams straight away.

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In this new episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian welcomes Maarten Dalmijn to discuss the secrets to setting impactful sprint goals, fostering collaboration, and bridging the gap between team objectives and stakeholder expectations for Agile success.

Overview In this new episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian is joined by Maarten Dalmijn, author of the new book, Driving Value with Sprint Goals: Humble Plans, Exceptional Results to share his invaluable insights into the art of crafting effective sprint goals.

Maarten shares his wealth of knowledge including how to navigate the challenges of setting sprint goals while ensuring alignment with stakeholders' expectation, and optimizing team structure while fostering a collaborative environment that ensures success.

Listen in as Maarten and Brian explore the essence of sprint goals, the strategies behind their formulation and the impact they have on Agile projects.

Listen Now to Discover: [1:06] - Today, Brian is sitting down with Maarten Dalmijn, of Dalmijn Consulting and author the book Driving Value with Sprint Goals: Humble Plans, Exceptional Results that’s the number one new release in software design and engineering on on Amazon to discuss sprint goals.

[2:16] - Maarten explains the concept of sprint goals using the analogy of a military commander's intent during missions.

[3:22] - Brian shares how sprint goals serve as a commander's intent for the team's work.

[4:07] - Maarten highlights that a sprint goal is not about completing a list of tasks but rather identifying the most important objective for the sprint.

[5:24] - The challenges of conceptualizing sprint goals.

[5:58] - Unable to set a single spring goal? Maarten addresses the question of setting a sprint goal for teams with multiple purposes or projects.

[7:29] - Scenarios where setting a single sprint goal might not be feasible.

[8:31] -The challenge of staying focused on the sprint goal when encountering obstacles.

[9:44] - Maarten shares an example of the importance of knowing the underlying business objective when setting a spring goal.

[11:08] - The importance of managing stakeholder expectations by communicating and aligning stakeholders with the sprint goal to prevent last minute surprises.

[12:19] - Brian draws a parallel between sprint goals and TV episode titles, highlighting the need to share the sprint goal in the sprint review to prevent surprises and encourage stakeholder engagement.

[15:28] - Are you thinking about getting certified as a Scrum Master? If so, check out the resources and training options with our sponsor, Mountain Goat Software. They run interactive certification classes every week that include 12 months membership in the Agile Mentors Community.

[16:10] - Setting achievable vs. challenging sprint goals and what Maarten advocates for.

[19:46] - Brian shares a teaching example.

[20:12] - Maarten introduces the acronym "FOCUS" to assess the quality of sprint goals: Fun, Outcome-oriented, Collaborative, Ultimate, and Singular and shares each one’s role in creating effective sprint goals.

[22:12] - Maarten discusses the importance of stakeholder management and its connection to clear vision and strategy within organizations.

[22:47] -The role of team structure in setting sprint goals.

[24:17] - Managing stakeholder pushback during sprint reviews. Maarten underscores the importance of working as a team with stakeholders to foster effective communication and alignment.

[26:50] - The impact of planning and road mapping on the ability to set sprint goals.

[28:21] - What stakeholders ultimately want.

[29:18] - You can find Maarten’s book, Driving Value with Sprint Goals: Humble Plans, Exceptional Results on Amazon. It’s part of the Mike Cohn book series.

[29:50] - To continue the discussion, Join Us in the Agile Mentors Community, there’s a discussion about every episode of the podcast on there.

[30:30] - Your feedback is valuable, we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to email us by clicking here. We'd love your thoughts about today's show and suggestions for future episodes.

[31:04] - If you enjoyed the episode, the best way to support us is to share it with others and subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Dalmijn Consulting

Maarten Dalmijn

Driving Value with Sprint Goals: Humble Plans, Exceptional Results

Certified Scrum Master Training and Scrum Certification

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is the SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Maarten Dalmijn of Dalmijn Consulting is an accomplished speaker at Fortune 500 firms, governmental bodies, and global conferences, who thrives at the nexus of Product Management and Agile. With a decade of versatile experience spanning roles from Marketing Manager to Scrum Master, he empowers teams to transcend the Feature Factory and achieve impactful value delivery. Maarten is the author of the recently released Driving Value with Sprint Goals: Humble Plans, Exceptional Results.

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In this episode of Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian, and Scott Dunn delve into the biggest question challenging teams right now: Should they return to the office or continue to embrace remote work? Join us as we navigate the complex factors in the office vs. remote debate.

Overview Across industries, the call to return to the office is gaining momentum among management circles. In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian sits down with Scott Dunn, to unravel the layers of the working in the office versus remote settings debate.

Listen in as they discuss various perspectives and considerations such as productivity, work-life balance, leadership styles, personality types, and even economic factors that influence the decision to have your team in the office or at home and what truly defines an effective workspace.

Tune in as Scott and Brian share valuable insights into the ongoing debate that's reshaping the modern work landscape

Listen Now to Discover: [01:31] - Brian welcomes guest Scott Dunn to the show to discuss their feelings toward management saying it’s time to return to the office post-Covid.

[02:48] - Everyone’s affected in one way or another by the return to the office vs the prevailing “squishy” remote work policy.

[04:01] - Where are you really the most productive?

[04:16] - The basic needs of a generation: why “fully remote” is so appealing to Gen Z.

[05:55] - Words straight from the Agile manifesto that supports in-person work and face-to-face communication.

[06:44] - Quantifying what’s been lost from being face-to-face to being fully remote.

[07:13] - How open working sessions and working side by side but independently boosts productivity.

[07:41] - The tools that elevate remote collaboration and help facilitate small group dynamics when working remotely.

[09:31] - Remote work and the allure of opening the talent pool combined with less turnover is a game-changer.

[10:26] - How to run a focused remote work trial to assess applicants and gather insights.

[10:58] - It's about more than just the comfort or preference of the leadership team.

[11:23] - The most critical factor in determining if you have a hiring problem.

[12:03] - How to deal with the issue of unequal contribution and improve team dynamics.

[12:39] - Why managers have concerns about remote and how to alleviate them.

[13:27] - How to enhance team accountability and empower team members by implementing measurable tracking to ensure everyone's pulling their weight.

[14:48] - Drive positive change by experimenting and then taking action.

[19:41] - The Agile Mentors Podcast is proudly sponsored by Mountain Goat Software with a range of training options, from Scrum certifications to skill enhancement, visit www.mountaingoatsoftware.com.

[15:25] - How to balance support for employees with managerial accountability.

[16:00] -The correlation between happy employees and productivity. Simon Sinek's insights highlight the connection between employee happiness and success.

[17:07] - The vital (and challenging) responsibility of leaders to not only guide teams but define the expectations of the company culture.

[19:00] - Open dialog and constructive conflict: Patrick Lencioni’s approach to vulnerable leadership for trust and psychological safety.

[19:35] - How to spark healthy conflict and promote results.

[20:00] - The importance of acknowledging personality differences, diverse working styles, and ideal working conditions.

[20:37] - How to encourage open dialogue to address concerns and foster employee ownership.

[21:14] - Leading the conversations about remote work to the right approach.

[21:40] - Embracing personal user manuals for improved teamwork.

[22:14] - How to embrace a balanced approach that values different work styles.

[23:35] - How introverted and extroverted differences can impact experiences: How constructive feedback promotes awareness and inclusive adjustments.

[26:16] - Why remote work decisions should be rooted in culture and individual fit rather than an across-the-board, fixed policy.

[27:09] - How a hybrid approach accommodates diverse work styles.

[27:29] - Remote teams, as shown by a Harvard Business Review study, can be more productive, especially when employees overwork to prove their worth from home.

[28:11] - How to help employees align with teams that suit their work styles.

[28:45] - Consider implementing a system where teams choose to be fully remote or not, allowing for a comprehensive evaluation of factors like productivity, team happiness, and innovation.

[29:02] - How to help fully remote teams take ownership of their success.

[29:32] - Weighing all the factors in the remote vs. in-person debate is essential, for aligning goals, ensuring meaningful decision-making, and opening the door to change.

[30:33] - How the critically important remote work decision will impact future Scrum teams', economic considerations, and overall work-life balance.

[31:10] - We don’t claim to have definitive answers but hope you enjoyed our conversation on navigating complex workplace challenges.

[32:09] - Your feedback is valuable. We'd love your thoughts about today's show or any suggestions for future topics for the show. Email us by clicking here.

[33:24] - We'd love to see you in one of Mountain Goat Software's classes, you can find the schedule here. If you enjoyed the episode, share it with others and subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Miro

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is the SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Scott Dunn is a Certified Enterprise Coach and Scrum Trainer with over 20 years of experience coaching and training companies like NASA, EMC/Dell Technologies, Yahoo!, Technicolor, and eBay to transition to an agile approach using Scrum.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

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In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian welcomes Agile coach Reese Schmit who shares her tips for breaking recurring anti-patterns in teams and organizations through the power of the why.

Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian is joined by Agile Coach Reese Schmit to discuss identifying and tackling recurring Agile anti-patterns in teams and organizations. Reese shares her valuable insights on the significance of understanding the "why" behind Agile practice and avoiding the trap of "cargo cult Scrum." Listen in as she shares her tips for fostering transparency, collaboration, and trust among team members and how rediscovering the purpose behind Agile practices can lead to a world where people are excited and happy about their work.

Listen Now to Discover: [01:10] - Brian sits down with guest Reese Schmit, a coach, trainer, and mom, from the Agile 2023 Conference in Orlando, to discuss identifying and tackling recurring Agile anti-patterns in teams and organizations.

[03:10] - Reese talks about her revelation during an open jam session at the Agile 2023 Conference, where she realized the prevalence of the same anti-patterns across different teams and organizations over the past 15 years.

[05:04] - Brian and Reese discuss the frustratingly common situation of organizations claiming uniqueness but facing the same Agile challenges.

[06:19] - Reese highlights the misguided approach of blindly adhering to Agile frameworks like Scrum without understanding the principles.

[06:38] - Overplanning and white-knuckling the backlog = irrelevant user stories and wasted efforts.

[07:25] - Reese shares her journey as a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) and her initial motivation to uncover the reasons behind the persistent issues in Agile implementations.

[08:54] - Brian uses the analogy of a road trip to bring home the concept of why teams need a clear goal to keep them engaged and aligned with the Agile transformation rather than just imposing Agile practices on them. [09:35] - Organizations driving without a clear destination end up with confusion, disengagement, and a sense of going through the motions.

[10:32] - Reese emphasizes the importance of a clear "why" at all levels - from product features to team goals.

[11:16] - Reese shares her early experiences as a Scrum Master, where she lacked a clear understanding of a "cargo cult" mentality in your organization.

[12:24] - The critical role of understanding the "why" behind Agile practices.

[12:28] - Brian references Dan Pink's ideas on autonomy, mastery, and purpose, about the importance of understanding the "why" and measuring progress.

[13:07] - Lack of autonomy results in disengagement, ineffective retrospectives, and helplessness to fix issues.

[13:56] - Reese emphasizes the significance of recognizing the capabilities of team members and trusting them to build better products, teams, and organizations.

[14:38] - Brian mentions a talk by Dr. Anne-Marie Charrett, a psychologist, that discussed the issue of trust within teams and what that entails.

[15:40] - Reese shares her approach to building product teams based on expertise and interest rather than imposed structures.

[16:46] - Brian emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the team's preferences when organizing them around products.

[17:37] - Reese highlights the challenges faced in true Agile transformations, and why merely renaming roles or events does not lead to a shift in mindset or a genuine transformation.

[18:15] - What true Agile adoption requires.

[19:16] - Missing Opportunities: Organizations that fail to embrace Agile's inspect-and-adapt principle miss out on the chance to improve products based on real user feedback, optimize ROI, and focus on delivering the highest value to customers.

[19:41] - Today’s show is brought to you by Mountain Goat Software's Advanced Certified Product Owner® Course, a two-day training course led by a certified Scrum trainer.

[20:16] -Understanding the "why" allows for better adaptation and problem-solving.

[21:26] - Reese emphasizes that Agile issues are often complex and not solved by one-size-fits-all solutions.

[23:37] - Brian shares how presumptive fixes can lead to misunderstandings and reduced trust.

[25:46] - Recognize that team members are capable and intelligent professionals to foster trust and collaboration.

[26:58] - Reese emphasizes the need to help organizations acknowledge when their information or assumptions are wrong.

[27:30] - The importance of having a clear sprint goal (hint: it transforms ceremonies into meaningful events where collaboration happens).

[30:35] - Clear communication about the purpose of events enhances effectiveness.

[31:48] - Avoid pointless meetings.

[32:12] - Overcoming inertia is essential to make meaningful progress.

[32:58] - Reese humorously references a book on becoming healthy, which boils things down to the simplest terms, (eating veggies, sleeping enough, drinking water). Agile success can also be obtained simply, too by focusing on the fundamental principles.

[35:31] - Rediscovering the purpose behind Agile practices can lead to a world where people are excited and happy about their work.

[36:56] - Making a pact for improvement: Brian encourages listeners to take the lessons from the discussion and make a pact to focus on the core principles and purpose behind Agile practices.

[37:09] - Your feedback is valuable, so email us by clicking here. We'd love your thoughts about today's show and suggestions for future topics for the show.

[37:47] - If you enjoyed the episode, the best way to support us is to share it with others and subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Daniel Pink

Drive

Anne-Marie Charrett

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner®

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Agile 2023 Conference in Orlando

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is the SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Reese Schmit is an Agile coach, trainer, and mom with nearly two decades of experience in the software industry, she wears multiple hats. With a deep understanding of Scrum, Kanban, and Agile methodologies, she fosters change through empathy, driving customer value, and continuous improvement. An avid volunteer for Agile organizations and conferences, she balances her time between coaching and enjoying life with her family and pets.

Healthy as F*ck: The Habits You Need to Get Lean, Stay Healthy, and Kick Ass at Life

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In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian welcomes Don McGreal to discuss the revision of the Scrum Guide and the delicate balance between staying true to the core principles of Scrum while allowing for necessary flexibility.

Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian is joined by Don McGreal, to delve into the topic of revising the Scrum Guide.

Don shares some of the behind-the-scenes of the decision-making process, and the rationale behind the crucial revisions that have shaped the latest version of the Scrum Guide.

Listen in to gain a deeper understanding of the principles that guide Scrum and how they continue to evolve and the delicate balance between staying true to the core principles while allowing for necessary flexibility.

Listen Now to Discover: [01:11] - Brian welcomes us to the show and introduces his guest, Don McGreal, the Founder and Vice President of Learning Solutions for Improving, author of “The Professional Product Owner” and a big name in the Scrum.org community to talk about revising the Scrum Guide.

[04:27] - Don shares how he got involved in revising the Scrum Guide.

[05:21] - One team, one group focused on the product.

[06:57] - What a scrum team consists of now and why they made the change.

[08:11]- We don't expect you to have a title on your business card.

[08:53] -The switch from role to accountability.

[10:51] - Ten people on a team, one Scrum master, one product owner: It's not illegal in Scrum to take on more than one set of accountabilities or have a bigger team but there are risks involved.

[12:51] - Three people using Scrum to work through treatments for a child with autism.

[13:34] - Why the team decided to stick with the term "developer."

[16:22] - Other terms, including "sprint" and 'backlog" that caused debates and why they stuck.

[17:39] - Scrum sounds different because it IS.

[18:20] - True Leader: the hot-button topic in the scrum guide that people are still debating, and how they landed on their decision.

[19:52] - Clarifying the term "serve" and the need for true leaders who empower the team and make things happen beyond just serving.

[21:21] - Today’s show is brought to you by Mountain Goat Software's, Advanced Certified Product Owner® Course, which aims to enhance product owners' skills, confidence, and credibility. The course offers lifetime access to materials and interactive software for valuable and enjoyable breakout exercises. Additionally, participants gain access to Mike Cohn's Agile Mentors Community, with 12 months of ongoing coaching and support.

[22:00] - The decision to drop the three questions from the Daily and the new approach.

[22:47] - A significant addition to the Scrum framework – the concept of a product goal representing the journey towards a vision.

[23:40] - The (results-driven) power of the product goal as inspired by “The 4 Disciplines of Execution." and how it’s changed how backlogs are managed and success is measured.

[25:00] - Changing the measure of success: measuring success by value rather than checking things off a backlog list.

[25:26] - The vision is the big idea-the product goal is the milestone. It's a step towards the vision.

[26:21] - In the revised Scrum Guide, the product goal is now part of the product backlog, emphasizing a commitment to achieving objectives with sprint and product goals focusing on the overall goal, not every task, while the Definition of Done ensures the increment's success.

[29:28] - Before the new Scrum Guide, teams working on multiple products had debates on having one prioritized backlog or multiple lists.

[30:12] - How the introduction of the product goal in the Scrum Guide directed teams towards having one focused direction, (preventing everything from being equally important).

[31:06] - How emphasizing one strategic focus helped teams with multiple products alleviate challenges with prioritizing and improved their approach and alignment.

[31:43] - Product backlog with mixed products lacks direction. Product goal provides focus without excluding other items.

[33:15] - Some of the controversial changes, like making refinement an event and concerns about terminology like "master" in Scrum roles.

[34:49] - The term "immutable" in the Scrum Guide means unchanging, which some find bothersome, but it serves to maintain consistency and distinguish genuine Scrum from modified versions.

[36:49] - It's immutable, and it isn't suffocating. It's a lightweight framework described in a 13-page document—there's a lot of wiggle room in there—give it a shot and give it its best chance to succeed by following these simple rules.

[37:28] - Change it if you must but then stop calling it Scrum.

[38:05] - The sacred text about Scrum is meant to be easy to take on, helpful…AND flexible.

[39:22] - Learning from the early days: streamlining a 200-300 page document with legal complexities into the current Scrum Guide, while aiming to distill its essence and promote simplicity and accessibility.

[40:48] - You can find out more about Don and Improving by visiting their website. Additionally, Don's book, "The Professional Product Owner," can be found on Amazon.

[41:07] - If you enjoyed the episode, the best way to support us is to share it with others and subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback is valuable, so feel free to email us by clicking here.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Scrum Guides

Improving

The Professional Product Owner: Leveraging Scrum as a Competitive Advantage

Scrum.org

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner®

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is the SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Don McGreal is Vice President of Learning Solutions at Improving, and author of the best-selling book: 'The Professional Product Owner: Leveraging Scrum as a Competitive Advantage', and a Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainer who has authored and taught classes for thousands of professionals around the globe.

The Professional Product Owner: Leveraging Scrum as a Competitive Advantage

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Are your retrospectives boring? Join us on the latest episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast as Brian shares valuable insights on how to supercharge your retrospectives. Discover the three root causes behind boring or ineffective retrospectives and unlock tips to enhance their effectiveness.

Overview Today on the Agile Mentors Podcast Brian Milner shares valuable insights on supercharging your retrospectives.

Listen in to discover the three root causes behind boring or ineffective retrospectives, plus Brian shares his tips on ways to enhance their effectiveness.

Tune in as Brian unveils some innovative ways to breathe new life into your retrospective themes while creating more meaningful connections within your team and fostering a deeper understanding of the bigger picture.

Listen Now to Discover: [01:18] - On this last podcast episode for July, Brian offers insight into the three root causes behind uninteresting or ineffective retrospectives and tips to enhance and revitalize your retrospectives.

[01:58] - Are your retrospectives boring? To supercharge your retrospectives: don't just go through the motions; take ownership, connect the dots, and make things happen.

[02:45] - Scrum Guide Tip: to progress towards resolving the biggest issues, put action items from your current sprint into your next sprint's backlog.

[03:25] - You don't have to solve everything in one sprint.

[03:51] - Showing your team their recent successes can help with motivation.

[04:22] - How to make your retrospectives less boring. Boredom buster #1: make them effective—avoid repeating the same issues.

[04:43] - Boredom buster #2: transparency is vital in boosting collaboration and trust—create a safe space for open discussions (use anonymous voting to gauge team comfort).

[06:10] - Equal say for all (including Scrum Masters), how anonymity empowers everyone and leads to collaborative problem-solving.

[07:05] - How setup systems for topic submissions can keep your team from forgetting important issues. [07:36] - Make your retrospectives diverse: different perspectives bring fresh ideas.

[08:32] - This is your chance to be creative and invent your own themes to activate your team's brain in a different way.

[09:42] - Fun takeaway! Brian shares his one-of-a-kind idea for a unique retrospective theme you can use with your team.

[11:49] - Pop culture, the flavor of the day, or non-traditional, Brian shares some more ideas to liven up your retrospective.

[12:33] - Or try something completely different: discuss industry trends, company uniqueness, and personal highlights to connect to the bigger picture and deepen team connections.

[13:39] - How unleashing the human connection can lead to stronger bonds and better teamwork.

[15:40] - Why you should experiment with new ways to revive your retrospectives.

[16:48] - New guest episodes are coming up in August! Do you have an Agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us here.

[16:51] - A message from our sponsor: Better User Stories, a one-day live online training course with Mike Cohn to improve your user story writing, so your team can do its best work, faster.

[17:22] - New guest episodes are coming up in August! Do you have an Agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us here.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Scrum Guides

Mountain Goat Software’s Better User Stories

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is the SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

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Join Brian Milner in another episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast series on unlocking the secrets of a sustainable pace. Today he’s delving into the power of "No" in Agile. Tune in to discover the truth behind feature usage, prioritize value-driven choices, and tips for mastering the art of saying no without losing your job.

Overview Today on the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian Milner sheds light on the power of saying "No" in Agile organizations.

"No" is an integral part of a healthy Agile organization. Learn how prioritizing value-driven choices empowers success in delivering the highest value to customers every time. Listen in as Brian shares valuable insights on establishing shared desired outcomes to ensure alignment and effective decision-making within teams and organizations.

Tune in for practical tips on mastering the art of saying "No" with confidence, navigating challenging conversations, and preserving relationships and job security along the way.

Listen Now to Discover: [00:53] - In this episode of our summer series on practicing sustainable pace, Brian Milner talks about how important it is to say no, without losing your job.

[01:40] - Challenging the 64% Myth: Unveiling the Truth Behind Feature Usage (famous Standish Group study on feature utilization and Mike Cohn’s research).

[2:15] - The 2019 Feature Adoption Report | Pendo.io White Papers and The Surprising Power of Online Experiments.

[02:49] - Slack's monetization woes - unveiling the reality: 70% of features fail to deliver.

[03:13] - Product development philosophy: switching course to design features people care about.

[04:49] - Unlocking Agile's Key Principle: Product owners must practice saying NO daily in the mirror.

[06:34] - Saying no to unlock actual value - selective deliveries for maximum impact and prioritizing quality over quantity in our deliverables.

[07:17] - Saying no isn't always easy.

[07:32] - Tips for navigating the art of saying no while preserving relationships and job security.

[08:50] - How establishing shared desired outcomes in Agile ensures alignment and effective decision-making and fosters collaboration and value to customers.

[10:11] - For product owners: how prioritizing value-driven choices ensures success for both the product and the organization.

[12:56] - How developers can foster understanding and acknowledge their role while exploring how choices will impact the team and process.

[13:39] - A strategic dialogue on overtime requests' downstream effects and impact.

[14:54] - NO should be a regular occurrence in a healthy agile organization.

[15:08] - A message from our sponsor: Better User Stories, a one-day live online training course with Mike Cohn to improve your user story writing, so your team can do its best work, faster.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Standish Group

Are 64% of Features Really Rarely or Never Used?

25: Scaling with Henrik Kniberg

Product Ownership in a Nutshell

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

Mountain Goat Software’s Better User Stories

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is the SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

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In this week's episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian Milner dives deep into the importance of experimentation in Agile organizations. Tune in to learn valuable tips for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Developers to embrace an experimental mindset.

Overview Experimentation is at the heart of Agile's DNA, fueling innovation and continuous improvement.

Today on the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian Milner explores the fundamental role of experimentation in Agile organizations.

"Agile is a framework that allows teams to find the best ways of working together, and this can only be achieved through continuous experimentation." Brian offers his tips for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Developers to embrace experimentation in their respective roles.

Experimentation is a cultural value. Listen in to gain insights into the power of experimentation to unlock the full potential of Agile within your organization.

Summer is a great time to explore new approaches and experiment with Agile practices. Join Brian as he shares practical tips and real-world examples to help you embrace an experimental mindset on your Agile journey.

Listen Now to Discover: [00:53] - This is the second of our special July episodes where we're taking a break from interviews and focusing on some quick tips you can use.

[01:21] - Today, we're diving into the topic of experimentation.

[02:53] - What Google says about experimentation

[03:46] - What is Empiricism, and what does it have to do with Agile?

[04:09] - Unlike traditional product development, Agile operates on a research and development paradigm focused on experimentation and inventing new solutions rather than mass production.

[04:35] - Experimentation is really at the heart of what we do in Agile.

[05:03] - Experimentation is a cultural value.

[06:10] - Wipe the word failure out of your vocabulary.

[06:42] - Experiments can go either way, and that's okay. It's just the facts.

[07:09] - Three tips for Scrum Masters to embrace experimentation.

[10:04] - Three tips for Product Owners to embrace experimentation.

[11:44] - How Developers can embrace experimentation.

[14:03] - Finding the right balance for your team.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is the SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

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In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian takes listeners on a discovery of what sustainable pace is, what it isn’t, and how embracing a culture that is pro work-life balance can lead to not only enhanced well-being for your team members but also help them be more productive.

Overview Today on the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian Milner is walking listeners through the hidden drawbacks of pushing teams to their limits in a fast-paced work environment and the benefits for work and employee well-being of maintaining a sustainable pace.

Brian takes a look at the resurgence of the "crack the whip" mentality and the impact of prioritizing excessive work hours over sustainable practices.

Listen in for Brian's tips for creating a culture that embraces sustainability and work-life balance and the transformative impact it can have on individuals, teams, and organizations alike.

Listen Now to Discover: [00:53] - Join us in July for quick shorter episodes and valuable insights designed to enhance your Agile journey. We'll be back with full episodes in August!

[02:11] - Diving into the topic of sustainable pace: uncover the drawbacks of pushing teams too hard in a fast-paced work environment and why sustainable pace is essential for productivity and employee well-being.

[03:49] - The resurgence of the "crack the whip" mentality and its impact on employee morale and quality of work.

[4:33] -The philosophy of hardcore work, including a specific example involving Elon Musk and the importance of finding a sustainable work-life balance.

[6:04] - Discover the impact of stress on software development through a study by Tsuneo Furuyama to learn how long-term stress factors contribute to 71% of software faults.

[7:25] - Pushing people to work nights and weekends has a negative effect on the quality of work.

[7:43] - The origin of the concept of sustainable pace in XP and the importance of maintaining a sustainable pace for long-term success.

[8:57] - The true meaning of sustainable pace: how to embrace the balance between productivity and personal well-being.

[10:14] - The negative consequences of rushing and time pressure in software development.

[10:49] - How pushing teams beyond their sustainable pace actually results in more errors, bugs, and delays.

[11:14] - A sustainable pace leads to faster and more efficient releases in the long run.

[11:53] - There really is something to work-life balance.

[12:13] - Brian shares three tips to promote a sustainable pace.

[12:56] - A downstream effect of having high stress in your life.

[14:14] - What a sustainable pace is all about.

[15:31] - Coming up on next week’s show.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Tsuneo Furuyama Study

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is the SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

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In this episode of Agile Mentors, Brian sits down with Lance Dacy to discuss integrating Agile and Scrum practices into the world of data science.

Overview In this episode of the "Agile Mentors" podcast, Brian sits down with Lance Dacy to discuss integrating Agile and Scrum practices in the world of data science.

Tune in to gain insight into the importance of feedback, the stages of the SAS Enterprise Miner initiative, and how frameworks like OSEMN can enhance the data science process.

Listen in to learn how to strike the right balance between technical knowledge and product ownership and why culture is crucial in successful Agile implementation within the data science domain.

Listen Now to Discover: [01:16] - Brian introduces his guest Lance Dacy, referring to him as "our San Diego Zoo guy" and the topic of today's show using Agile or Scrum practices in a data science world.

[02:27] - Lance shares his background in data science and how it fits into the world of Agile.

[05:06] - The big reason so many people are against using Agile for data science and where the big rub is.

[09:02] - Who cares if it’s Agile or not? Lance shares Jeff Salts's poll about data science and introduces CRISP-DM.

[11:05] - The six steps of the cross-industry standard process for data mining.

[14:18] - Adopting a Scrum-like approach and treating data science work as smaller phases makes it possible to classify and organize tasks effectively.

[15:59] - Does anyone remember the Rational Unified Process?

[17:57] - It’s up to you to come up with ideas—once you have them, here's how we get it done.

[18:18] - In the world of data science, implementing frameworks like Scrum can lead to misconceptions and failures—the key lies in understanding the layers of data science, navigating the complexities of the work effectively, and making informed decisions.

[23:06] - The vital importance of feedback.

[23:45] - The stages of the SAS Enterprise Miner initiative.

[27:25] Brian introduces the sponsor for the podcast, Mountain Goat Software, and their two-day Certified ScrumMaster Course that’s perfect for anyone who wants to understand Scrum and add value to any team.

[28:23] - How the product owner fits in when discussing working with big data.

[29:50] Lance introduces the OSEMN process and explains how to solve a problem like a data scientist.

[30:47] - When it comes to the role of a product owner, the technical knowledge required depends on the nature of the product.

[31:42] - While Scrum lacks explicit guidance on backlog construction, the OSEMN framework themes (obtain, scrub, explore, model, interpret) can be incorporated to align sprint goals with specific aspects of the data science process.

[33:47] - The framework or the structure of how you carry it out is less important than the kind of agreement.

[35:07] - It's a cultural rather than a process problem. Lance delves into the debate on applying Agile Scrum to research.

[36:37] - A fundamental misunderstanding about daily scrums.

[37:18] - None of us are smarter than all of us together. Agile and Scrum work well when you know how to solve the problem, and there's a relatively clear path to victory.

[38:49] - Brian shares his biggest piece of advice to people considering this in the data science

[39:28] - “Data science is just the work that we're trying to do, tailor your process for your team and your culture and always inspect and adapt to try to make it better.”

[41:08] - If you have feedback for the show or topics for future episodes, email us by clicking here (if you have yet to get a response, send another one as something has gone wrong in the process). And don’t forget to subscribe to the “Agile Mentors” Podcast on Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. And if you are a data scientist or work in big data and found the information in this valuable, let one of your co-workers know about it.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Data Science Process Alliance

CRISP-DM

OSEMN

Scrum and Data Science

Agile Mentors Blog Topic: Decision Science - What methodology fits best?

Certified ScrumMaster Training and Scrum Certification

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is the SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Lance Dacy is a Certified Scrum Trainer®, Certified Scrum Professional®, Certified ScrumMaster®, and Certified Scrum Product Owner®. Lance brings a great personality and servant's heart to his workshops. He loves seeing people walk away with tangible and practical things they can do with their teams straight away.

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Unveiling the truth behind Agile coaching! Brian sits down with Lucy O'Keefe to debunk the misconceptions, share the keys to effective coaching, and share their insight on the one-two punch of training and coaching for sustainable success.

Overview In this episode of the "Agile Mentors" podcast, Brian sits down with Lucy O'Keefe to debunk the misconceptions and unveil the true role of Agile coaches.

They share their personal stories and revelations and explore the pros and cons of moving from Scrum Master to Agile coach.

They'll walk listeners through the transformative power of external perspectives, navigating conflicts, and the collaborative mindset that fosters meaningful change. Plus, hear Lucy's invaluable advice on finding mentors and embarking on the journey to becoming a certified Team Coach.

Listen Now to Discover: [01:10] - Brian welcomes CTC Agile Coach & Trainer Lucy O'Keefe, to the show for today’s discussion on the true role (and the common misconceptions about) of an Agile coach

[02:17] - Lucy shares her initial misconception about agile coaches and how it shaped her perception of their role.

[03:02] - Brian relates his experience with the term "Agile Coach" and his revelation when delving into the subject.

[04:16] - Lucy and Brian reflect on their transitions from exceptional Scrum Masters to agile coaching roles.

[05:53] - The pros, cons, and trade-offs of transitioning from a Scrum Master to an Agile coach.

[06:32] - The shift in focus that comes with Agile coaching and what to consider to determine if this change aligns with your preferences and career aspirations.

[07:12] - There's nothing wrong with being a kick *** Scrum Master. The world needs lots more like you.

[07:51] -How your role as a coach involves assisting your team and organization in their pursuit of progress (or debunking the myth of perfection in Agile).

[08:11] - An Agile coach is NOT merely an elevated Scrum Master.

[08:33] - The two opposing misconceptions about Agile coaching and the multifaceted aspects of coaching by Bob Galen.

[09:20] - Lucy emphasizes the importance of wearing multiple hats and the diverse skills required as an Agile coach.

[10:26] -Avoid the “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” scenario and ensure effective communication.

[11:16] - Learn to read the signs and strike the right balance to avoid frustrating situations and empower meaningful progress.

[11:54] - Professional coaching requires a willingness to engage deeply and tackle tough issues.

[13:38] - Knowing where to step in and when it's time not to step in.

[14:07] - Brian introduces the sponsor for this podcast episode, Mountain Goat Software, and their exceptional Scrum certification classes that go beyond a traditional online whiteboard for a fun and effective way to achieve learning objectives.

[14:52] - Effectively communicating the value proposition of having a team or enterprise coach.

[15:41] - The dynamics of internal and external coaches within organizations. And the transformative impact that external coaches can have on an organization’s ability to address impediments effectively.

[16:58] - Lucy shares how to approach coaching with a collaborative mindset, helping organizations see the value of change rather than imposing it and the questions. Agile coaches conduct assessments to uncover hidden issues to guide organizations to the areas for improvement.

[19:18] - Resistance to change often stems from fear of the unknown rather than change itself.

[19:57] - The most important thing to understand to help organizations reach the outcome they want and make the changes they need to make to get there.

[20:15] - Brian draws a parallel between the value of a coach and that of a therapist and how an outside viewpoint proves highly beneficial in understanding and addressing systemic issues within teams.

[21:29] - Asking the right questions to resolve the underlying issues through Agile coaching.

[22:42] - What coaches can and can't help with—knowing your limits as a coach and the lines NOT to cross to keep your coaching journey on track.

[23:40] -Don't settle for just training; go for the one-two punch of training and coaching—the winning combination that propels sustainable change.

[25:48] -Why would you need to take a class? Even Bob Galen realizes he always needs to grow and learn in what he’s doing to avoid becoming irrelevant.

[26:37] - Act with curiosity, but not curiosity for our own sake.

[27:30] - Lucy offers her advice for people who want to become a Certified Team Coach (CTC).

[29:02] - How to find the mentors that will offer you the most growth.

[29:55] If you have feedback for the show or topics for future episodes, email us by clicking here (if you have yet to get a response, send another one as something has gone wrong in the process). And don’t forget to subscribe to the “Agile Mentors” Podcast on Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode.

[30:49] - Remember that Brian and Mike will speak at this year's Agile 2023 Conference in Orlando in July.

References and resources mentioned in the show:

42: The Importance of Self-Mastery with Bob Galen

Agile2023!

Certified Scrum Master Training and Scrum Certification

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Subscribe to the "Agile Mentors" Podcast on Apple Podcasts

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Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is the SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Lucy O'Keefe has over 28 years of IT experience and has worn multiple hats in the Agile world - developer, Product Owner, and Scrum Master and now, as a Teaching Assistant, where she leverages her diverse background to ensure students have an exceptional training experience.

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Join Brian and Agile pioneer Jim Highsmith as they dive into the riveting saga of 17 tech rebels who defied convention, unleashed their passions, and revolutionized the world of software development.

Overview In this episode of the "Agile Mentors" podcast, Brian sits down with Agile pioneer Jim Highsmith to share how 17 tech rebels reshaped the software landscape.

Jim shares captivating stories from his time working with NASA and Nike to the collaboration of 17 nonconformists that led to the Agile Manifesto and transformed the software industry.

Listen in for a behind-the-scenes look at the circumstances that led to the birth of Agile and how camaraderie, collaboration, and a human-centric approach sparked a wildfire of support for the Agile movement. Tune in to this episode for insights, lessons, and a glimpse into the future of Agile from an industry legend.

Listen Now to Discover: [01:10] - Brian introduces Jim Highsmith, a renowned figure in the Agile community. Jim is an experienced software developer, writer, and storyteller. His latest book, "Wild West to Agile," has become a sensation in the industry, earning the top spot as a new release on Amazon. He also co-authored the Agile Manifesto and the Declaration of Interdependence for Project Leaders, co-founded the Agile Alliance, and served as the first president of the Agile Leadership Network.

[03:57] - Jim recounts his journey working on the NASA Apollo program and how the constant advancements in technology shaped the course of the Apollo project, offering valuable insights into the era's challenges and adaptability.

[08:47] - Jim shares a fascinating story from his time at Nike, where outdated requirements left a project stagnant for 18 months.

[10:34] - How waterfall methodologies left companies trapped and projects taking too long and costing too much.

[11:53] - Setting the stage for the revolutionary Agile movement.

[13:16] - A problem so painful leadership was on board to find a solution.

[14:48] - A message from our sponsor: Mountain Goat Software has courses from Certified Scrum Master Training and Scrum Certification to Certified Scrum Product Owner Training that equips you with the sought-after skills valued by top-notch teams. Visit the Mountain Goat website for all the details.

[15:40] -Jim reveals the connections and common ground that started the manifesto meeting.

[18:21] - An agenda-free meeting with 17 nonconformist experts seeking common ground and how an encounter with Steve Mellor led to an unexpected alignment of intent.

[21:01] - 17 individuals, each with nonconformist perspectives, agree.

[21:17] - Why did 17 audacious techies revolutionize the world? And what lessons can we learn from their experience for the future?

[23:39] - Where Agile's lasting impact lies and what keeps it at the forefront of change.

[24:39] - Putting aside competition for collaboration and cooperation that led to change.

[25:30] - What keeps Agile at the forefront of change? Brian shares a nugget of wisdom from Jim's book about Agilists.

[26:38] - Finally, a language that spoke to us all!—how the Agile movement shattered the notion of interchangeable cogs and embraced our humanity, sparking a wildfire of support.

[27:59] - Jim shares his thoughts on where he thinks the Agile movement is headed and why he thinks the agility of organizations and people will be a definite advantage in the future.

[29:56] - Brian mentions his high recommendation for listeners to pick up Jim’s book, Wild West to Agile: Adventures in Software Development Evolution and Revolution.

[31:38] - There are a ton of podcasts out there; thank you for taking the time to listen to this one. And don’t forget to subscribe to the “Agile Mentors” Podcast on Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode.

[32:05] - If you've considered taking a CSM or CSPO class, check us out at Mountain Goat Software. Or join the conversation in our Agile Mentors Community.

[32:32] - If you have feedback for the show or topics for future episodes, email us by clicking here, and I'll get back to you ASAP.

References and resources mentioned in the show: Jim Highsmith

Jim Highsmith on LinkedIn

Wild West to Agile Agile Manifesto

Agile Alliance Agile Leadership Network

Certified Scrum Master Training and Scrum Certification

Certified Scrum Product Owner Training

Advanced Certified ScrumMaster®

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner®

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Subscribe to the "Agile Mentors" Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Jim Highsmith is an experienced software developer, writer, storyteller, and industry pioneer recognized for his instrumental role in the birth of the Agile movement. His latest book, "Wild West to Agile," has become a sensation in the industry, earning the top spot as a new release on Amazon. Jim continues to inspire and guide Agile enthusiasts worldwide through his insightful stories and expertise.

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Gain insights into building cohesive and agile teams that bleed into each other and explore how conflicts can be transformed into opportunities for growth and improvement when Brian and his guest Julie Chickering delve into how to create team safety.

Overview: In this episode of the "Agile Mentors" podcast, Brian sits down with Julie Chickering to explore the topic of team safety. They dive deep into the concept of psychological safety and its impact on team dynamics and productivity. From navigating conflicts and encouraging participation to embracing multiple perspectives and detaching personal worth from ideas, Brian and Julie provide valuable insights and actionable advice for Scrum Masters and team members alike. Join them as they uncover the secrets to creating a cohesive and psychologically safe environment where teams thrive and excel.

Listen Now to Discover: [01:12] - Brian welcomes Julie Chickering back to the show. Teams need to feel safe and agile to be successful; that's a foundational aspect of a team. So, we're talking about team safety today.

[02:12] - Julie shares how one Manhattan bartender described her team that works well together; she says it feels like "we bleed into each other."

[04:11] - Sometimes people misuse or abuse the safe space, having each other's back as a license to be rude.

[04:57] - From pointing fingers to fixing problems together.

[05:39] - Julie shares a book called "The Culture Playbook" by Daniel Coyle and a quote on distinguishing between relational conflict and task conflict.

[06:38] - Protecting team dynamics: Learn how to navigate conflicts that escalate into personal territory and regain focus on improvement.

[07:37] - Effective strategies to steer discussions back to areas of agreement and keep the focus on facts.

[08:09] - Embracing multiple perspectives: Explore scenarios where opposing ideas are equally feasible and the importance of making a choice and moving forward.

[08:51] - Sometimes safety is misconstrued and used to stop discussions.

[09:17] - How to encourage participation based on comfort levels and through smaller group sharing.

[10:00] - The true meaning of safety.

[10:54] - Tension-free environments don't always lead to productive cultures: why disagreements are vital for meaningful discussions.

[11:33] - Detaching personal worth from ideas so you can focus on finding the best solution (vital as the Scrum Master).

[12:42] - How to facilitate conversations by focusing on facts and using visual aids to encourage objectively analyzing multiple ideas.

[13:00] - Nurturing sensitive team members: strategies to create a sense of safety for individuals who are more susceptible to critique to ensure them of the value of their contributions.

[14:13] - Why you should avoid labeling opinions as “wrong” and how assuming positive intent fosters a sense of safety.

[14:45] - The challenge of assuming positive intent (especially in written communication).

[15:21] - How to empower team members to define operating agreements that foster a sense of safety and a respectful working environment.

[17:23] - This podcast is sponsored by Mountain Goat Software's Certified Scrum classes, including Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Advanced Certified Scrum Master (ACSM), and Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (ACSPO). Mike Cohn taught his first Scrum classes in 1997, and since then, more than 24K people have chosen to train with Mountain Goat Software. All certified classes include a twelve-month Agile Mentors Community membership.

[18:08] - How to open communication lines when unintentional offenses occur during interactions.

[18:49] - Scrum, though a simple framework, becomes complex when people's dynamics come into play.

[19:22] - Brian shares that achieving psychological safety requires a cultural shift and agreement among team members to express opinions freely.

[20:54] - Julie shares why psychological safety matters.

[22:09] - When the swirl of uncertainty and lack of safety is removed, teams can accomplish more due to increased productivity and effectiveness.

[22:34] - Brian shares some tips for Scrum Masters to make psychological safety a focal point if it is lacking within their teams.

[23:40] - Julie discusses the importance of understanding and supporting team members beyond Scrum practices and offers advice on ensuring everyone on the team is heard.

[25:15] - The secret to team cohesion: how sharing coffee preferences can build a sense of safety and collaboration within your team.

[25:51] - Julie explores the challenge of fostering a sense of team and safety at the corporate level and why starting at the team level is the key to cultivating a culture of trust and psychological safety, even in the face of external obstacles.

[27:31] - Julie delves into why teams work in a particular way and how aligning work practices with the desired outcomes can positively impact results.

[28:04] - How fostering psychological safety improves human interactions and drives better products, higher quality, and faster delivery.

[28:51] - How to address safety concerns with higher-ups.

[29:53] - The dangers of dismantling high-performing teams prematurely: the importance of nurturing team cohesion and the pitfalls of overlooking this critical aspect.

[30:42] - Brian shares how protecting the team sometimes involves making tough decisions and advocating for a better fit for both the individual and the team.

[32:06] - Julie’s parting advice encourages teams to assess their current state, ask critical questions, and collaboratively work towards creating a more cohesive and psychologically safe environment.

[33:06] - If you have feedback for the show or topics for future episodes, email us by clicking here. And don’t forget to subscribe to the “Agile Mentors” Podcast on Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode.

[33:46] - Look for a different type of show coming to you during our July "break."

References and resources mentioned in the show: The Culture Playbook: 60 Highly Effective Actions to Help Your Group Succeed

Certified Scrum Master Training and Scrum Certification

Certified Scrum Product Owner Training

Advanced Certified ScrumMaster®

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner®

Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule

Join the Agile Mentors Community

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Julie Chickering is the brains and brawn behind JC Agile Consulting, believes that Lean and Agile practices are packed with potential — to enable positive culture change, business agility, and breakthrough results. Julie is a past president and board member of the Agile Project Management Network (APLN), a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), as well as a traditional Project Management Professional (PMP).

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Lance Dacy joins Brian to discuss breaking down stories to get things done.

Overview There are ways to break stories down into two- or three days worth of work across the team. But sometimes, they can be taken down to a level that devalues what your team is trying to deliver.

Lance Dacy is a Certified Scrum Trainer® with the Scrum Alliance®

Today on the show, Lance joins Brian to discuss some of the questions you need to ask when breaking stories down. We discuss how to organize teams for the best outcome and share different systems and processes to determine how far is enough when breaking down stories to help your team deliver a usable product to the end user.

Listen now to discover: [01:37] - Brian introduces us to Lance Dacy, his guest and neighbor.

[02:29] - Brian shares how you can suggest a topic for a future podcast episode by emailing your suggestion to podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com.

[02:57] - Today, we're talking about getting work into its smallest component.

[03:21] - Lance shares the four things teams need to do to be sure they are all speaking the same language when transitioning to Scrum.

[03:44] - The make-or-break consequences of organizing teams for the best outcomes.

[05:49] - Lance shares his insight on breaking things down into tasks in the product backlog.

[07:47] - Lance uses a car cleaning analogy to break down the story into smaller tasks.

[09:40] - In backlog refinement, we will start rounding out those acceptance criteria or conditions of satisfaction and make them their own story.

[10:58] - Lance shares his system for determining how far is 'enough' when breaking down stories to be ready.

[12:33] - The goal for each sprint planning session.

[13:09] - Using the INVEST criteria to assess the quality of a user story.

[13:48] - How small is too small?

[15:17] - I love metrics, BUT metrics CAN BE misused.

[15:55] - The key to not being surprised.

[16:37] - Brian shares the importance of the V in the INVEST criteria.

[18:14] - Vertically slicing stories to deliver something usable to the end user (the product owner).

[21:42] - Using the SPIDR approach to splitting stories.

[22:24] - Asking the right questions to create paths that lead to stories that turn into relevant products.

[25:55] - The importance of interfaces when splitting up stories.

[28:22] - The pros and cons of spikes—why they should be the exception and NOT the rule.

[32:01] - Lance circles back to the consequences of creating your teams—focusing on the deliverables.

[33:37] - Remember, releasing the product is independent of your sprint time box.

Listen next time when we'll be discussing… Transformational Leadership with Tricia Broderick

References and resources mentioned in the show What does INVEST Stand For?

The S.P.I.D.R. Approach to Splitting Stories

HOW TO SPLIT A USER STORY by Richard Lawrence

Mountain Goat Software

Agile Mentors Community

Scrum Alliance

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode's presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Lance Dacy, known as Big Agile, is a dynamic, experienced management and technical professional with the proven ability to energize teams, plan with vision, and establish results in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment. He is a Certified Scrum Trainer® with the Scrum Alliance and has trained and coached many successful Scrum implementations from Fortune 20 companies to small start-ups since 2011.

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Henrik Kniberg joins Brian to talk about creating the Spotify Model.

Overview There are ways to get things done, and then there are the best ways to get things done. But the only way to arrive at the right way of doing things is to try and fail, to see what works and what doesn't.

Henrik Kniberg is a Certified Scrum Trainer who has worked with teams like Spotify and LEGO to help them implement agile culture in their fast-moving and fast-growing environments. He's also the co-creator of the Spotify Model.

Today on the show, Henrik joins Brian to discuss his accidental introduction to Spotify and how he inspired the company to transition to Scrum. We discuss the leadership model that helped the startup scale while holding its own against behemoths like Apple and Google. Plus, an inside look at his time as a designer with Minecraft.

Listen now to discover: [01:55] - Brian shares Henrik's Agile Product Ownership in a Nutshell that's become required viewing.

[02:22] - Brian shares some of the places on Henrik's resume, including Lego, Minecraft, and Spotify.

[03:42] - Henrik shares his love for playing accompaniment musical instruments.

[04:08] - Brian shares his professional musical background.

[04:35] - Introducing the Spotify engineering culture videos that have sparked a thousand conversations about scaling challenges.

[05:10] - Henrik shares the story of his accidental introduction to Spotify and how he inspired the startups to transition to Scrum.

[8:26] - Henrik describes how the lack of off-the-shelf scaling frameworks led to his work with Spotify.

[08:45] - Standard Scrum, by the books, works for small teams, but for scaling at larger teams like the one at Spotify, it's hard to find a "one size fits all" approach.

[10:59] - How realizing 'this is what's helping us swim' during their impressive growth got all the technical leaders of Spotify on board with using Agile.

[12:50] - Henrik shares the leadership model that helped Spotify scale up.

[14:58] - How Spotify used the speed of innovation to stand against goliath-like competitors like Apple and Google.

[16:30] - Convincing the investors that being able to iterate quickly (rather than through roadmaps) was the key to winning the game.

[18:09] - Fueling future inspiration—why Spotify instituted the twice-a-year hack weeks for their entire organization.

[21:36] - Henrik shares why leadership is the key to culture and driving change in an Agile organization.

[24:19] - Brian shares why it's wise to make a change where you can benefit a company rather than hanging on to the now-extinct gold watch at retirement.

[25:53] - "Go ahead and copy the Spotify model… and don't worry about someone telling you that you're doing it wrong because that's just you adapting."

[26:44] - How the Spotify culture videos had the opposite outcome from what Henrik had planned.

[29:54] - Brian asks Henrik an important Minecraft question (as posed by his daughter.)

[30:36] - Henrik shares insider information about the guiding principles for designers at Minecraft (and how that led to the creation of Striders).

[32:34] - Brian shares why copy/paste is only sometimes best.

[32:46] - Henrik shares how creating video games differs from life applications.

Listen next time when we'll be discussing… Getting to Small with Lance Dacy

References and resources mentioned in the show Agile Product Ownership in a Nutshell

Spotify Engineering Culture - Part 1 (aka the "Spotify Model")

Spotify Engineering Culture - Part 2 (aka the "Spotify Model")

Mountain Goat Software

Agile Mentors Community

Scrum Alliance

Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode's presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Henrik Kniberg is former member of the board of directors of the Agile Alliance and enjoys helping companies succeed with both the technical and human sides of software development. A Certified Scrum Trainer he’s worked with teams like Spotify and LEGO to help them implement agile culture in their fast-moving and fast-growing environments. He’s also the co-creator of the Spotify Model.

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Scott Dunn joins Brian to talk about how Agile teams and organizations respond in difficult economic times.

Overview Right now, the word recession is being bandied about, and big companies like Apple and Facebook are already beginning to scale back. But economic downturns can present opportunities for the right individuals.

Scott Dunn is a Certified Enterprise Coach and Scrum Trainer with more than 20 years of experience.

Today on the show, Scott joins Brian to discuss why now is the moment to hone in on your mission and determine your job market value and how Agile training can prepare you for any opportunity that comes your way.

Listen now to discover: [01:52] - Brian shares how the word recession triggers companies to batten down the hatches.

[03:19] - How leaning into Agile in an organization creates a natural operating cost reduction.

[04:52] - Studies show organizations that invest during recessions are better positioned at the back end of it to, you know, accelerate like a rocket out of it.

[06:55] - Scott explains how the Japanese concept of ‘danger opportunity’ offers teams a chance ‘to really do Agile’ and operate efficiently with less.

[9:34] - How difficult times help companies prioritize and hone in on their mission and vision and stop trying to be everything to everybody.

[12:57] - How organizations create unease and lack of employee trust.

[14:46] - How Agile can help workplaces bring humanity back when responding to change.

[16:18] -Scott shares a conversation with his daughter about voting with your feet and your values.

[19:16] -Scott explains why companies need to invest in top talent to lower their technical debt.

[20:17] - Why times like these require ruthlessness in proving out your theories.

[22:10] - Scott shares why down economic times are opportunities in disguise for individuals to determine the types of environments they want to help flourish.

[25:13] - Determining your job market value and the importance of looking at the total package of an opportunity.

[28:30] -Is it really Agile, or is it Agile in name only?

[31:33] - How taking classes at Mountain Goat can prepare you to bring your knowledge and skills to any opportunity.

Listen next time when we'll be discussing… Scaling with Henrik Kniberg.

References and resources mentioned in the show Mountain Goat Software

Agile Mentors Community

Scrum Alliance

Jim Collins The Hedgehog Concept

Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode's presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Scott Dunn is a Certified Enterprise Coach and Scrum Trainer with over 20 years of experience coaching and training companies like NASA, EMC/Dell Technologies, Yahoo!, Technicolor, and eBay to transition to an agile approach using Scrum.

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John Miller joins Brian to talk about Agile in the classroom. Overview

Agile classrooms help students develop skills that will serve them long after they've left the classroom.

John Miller is a Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC) and the Chief Empowerment Officer for Agile Classrooms.

Today on the show, John joins Brian to share how he started introducing the Agile framework to educators. He walks us through how Agile classrooms help students solve complex problems while developing decision-making skills. He'll share how converting to an Agile classroom creates deeper, more fulfilling student and teacher relationships and the steps teachers can take to make their classroom an Agile classroom.

Listen now to discover:

[01:27] - Brian introduces John Miller and explains how, as a CEC, he's reached the highest rung on the Scrum Alliance certification ladder.

[03:33] - How John got started with bringing Agile to the classroom.

[06:09] - The collaboration between John and the educators to achieve the goal of creating a self-managing classroom.

[09:45] - John shares how he went from thinking he'd ruined one class's education to watching them become one of the best self-managing groups he's ever seen.

[12:16] - How children's lack of preconceived notions about how things are supposed to work helps them create teams that work.

[13:48] - How an Agile classroom empowers students of all levels and learning abilities.

[14:36] - The five levels of choice in an Agile classroom.

[15:44] - John shares the objective of Agile classrooms to help students solve complex problems by developing choice-making skills.

[17:55] - Brian shares that "Scrum is a sports analogy."

[19:33] - Dark Scrum vs. Bright Scrum. John shares the formula he created using Ron Jeffries' term Dark Scrum.

[24:06] - Is Agile dead, or are people just doing it wrong?

[25:13] - John shares the levels of classrooms where Agile works best. Plus, which one did he work with that made him more nervous than high-level CEOs?

[27:12] - John explains how the different dynamics lead to different success outcomes for incorporating Scrum into the classroom.

[28:42] - What size classrooms achieve the most benefits from working with Scrum?

[29:44] - John shares the steps teachers can take to make their classroom an Agile classroom.

[31:20] - How converting to an Agile classroom creates deeper, more fulfilling teacher-student relationships.

[31:53] - How Agile in the classroom acts as a bridge to industry and a life skills primer.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Agile Mentors Community

Scrum Alliance

Agile Classrooms

Dark Scrum

Agile Manifesto

McGregor's Theory

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode's presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

John Miller is a Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC) and the Chief Empowerment Officer for Agile Classrooms. Since 2012, John's mission through Agile Classrooms has been to help educators take a more innovative and creative approach to guiding faculty, managing their schools, and teaching students.

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Roman Pichler joins Brian to talk about Product Roadmaps.

Overview

Product roadmaps help teams plan their everyday work and how their products will change over a year. But then, products evolve, and new data is collected and shared. Companies must then decide how to adapt and progress. So, how can we then create a product roadmap?

Roman Pichler is an internationally renowned product management expert specializing in product strategy, leadership, and agility.

Today on the show, Roman joins Brian to discuss how to create helpful product roadmaps that create value for the end users in a Scrum based context to move forward and simplify product management.

Listen now to discover:

[00:06] - Brian introduces Roman Pichler, one of his 'agile heroes.

[00:35] - Brian shares about the book Strategise, 2nd Edition.

[02:54] - Roman answers the question, "What is a Product Roadmap?"

[03:58] - Roman explains if product roadmaps are helpful in an agile Scrum based context.

[05:31] - Roman discusses using outcome-based goal-oriented roadmaps to determine a company's product value.

[07:33] - Roman shares some examples of goals on a product roadmap.

[08:12] - Why a goal-oriented based roadmap is all about outcomes.

[09:35] - Brian shares insight into Roman's downloadable Go Product Roadmap.

[10:07] - Roman shares how the latest version of the Scrum guide fits in with protocols, product goals, and outcome-based roadmaps.

[11:54] - Why Roman adds time frame constraints into his product end goals.

[14:41] - Roman shares the two things you need to succeed with collaborative product road mapping in an agile space.

[16:40] - Roman explains how to incorporate time frame constraints into your roadmap.

[19:40] - The difference between an internal and external product roadmap for public consumption.

[21:11] - The importance of an impact analysis when determining whether to stick with a specific delivery date or fully meeting a goal.

[25:00] - How to get precise estimates for your team.

[26:15] - Roman shares his 'sweet spot' for making outcome-based investment decisions.

[28:40] - Roman advises setting dates on (internal) roadmaps for contract-based environments.

[29:06] - Roman shares Apple's trade-off decision when they launched the original iPhone in 2007.

[31:40] - How to use goals to track the most valuable metrics.

[34:41] - The importance of understanding the needs of the stakeholders.

[35:19] - Roman shares the importance of balancing expectations with empathy for improved collaboration.

[39:12] - Brian shares a funny story about the difference in polite communication between Americans and our friends on the other side of the pond.

[40:46] - Roman shares why you shouldn't relinquish product road mapping in an agile space too soon.

Listen next time when we'll be discussing…

Agile and education with John Miller.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Roman Pichler

Strategise

Go Product Roadmap

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode's presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Roman Pilcher is a leading product management expert specializing in product strategy, leadership, and agility. He has advised product leaders and taught product managers and owners for over 15 years, pioneering agile product management practices. Roman shares his knowledge through his training courses, books, and podcast. You can find his popular Product Vision Board and Go Product Roadmap on his website.

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Brian speaks with Stacey Ackerman about working with Marketing teams using Agile.

While the majority of teams using Agile are based in software, one of the fastest growing areas for Scrum teams is in Marketing. There’s a natural fit as Marketers are used to using such practices as A/B testing and getting quick results that feed their next steps.

As you can imagine, there are a unique set of challenges that a marketing team presents that other Scrum teams don’t necessarily have to deal with as well. In this episode, Stacey talks us through the process that marketing teams follow when attempting to apply agile principles to their work.

Listen now to discover:

2:28 - what’s different about the way marketing teams approach agile?
8:51 - what is the Agile Marketing Navigator and how are teams using it?
15:05 - Stacey goes over the different roles
17:43 - what are the chief problems marketing teams deal with in adopting this?

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Product Roadmaps with Roman Pichler!

References and resources mentioned in the show

Agile Marketing Manifesto
Agile Marketing Navigator

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? It would be great if you left a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us as podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Stacey Ackerman is one of the few agile coaches and trainers that got her start in marketing. After graduating from journalism school, she worked as a content writer, strategist, director, and adjunct marketing professor. She became passionate about agile as a better way to work in 2012 when she experimented with it for an ad agency client. Since then she has been a scrum master, agile coach and has helped with numerous agile transformations with teams across the globe. Stacey speaks at several agile conferences, has more certs to her name than she can remember and loves to practice agile at home with her family. As a lifelong Minnesotan, she recently relocated to North Carolina where she’s busy learning how to cook grits and say “y’all."

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Mike and Brian take audience questions in the “best of” from the Agile Mentors Community’s monthly coaching calls.

Twice a month, there is an open Q&A session we offer as part of the Agile Mentors Community where anyone from the community can join in and ask either Mike or Brian questions. These are open discussions and allow the users to ask their own questions that are unique to their situations. We call these “Coaching Calls” because they are there to help coach the members and help them overcome obstacles along the way.

Everyone who takes a class with Mountain Goat Software receives 12 months membership in the Agile Mentors Community and they are able to attend these calls and ask questions. Take a listen to some of the best questions we’ve received over the past few months to get an idea of what these sessions are all about.

By the way, we are aware there are a few places where the audio is not perfect in this episode and apologize for the less-than-ideal audio in several places. This is because these answers come from live sessions and there were a few streaming hiccups while delivering them.

Listen now to discover:

3:10 - Brian: How to conduct fun retrospectives when you aren’t allowed to use cloud-based tools?
7:40 - Mike: How much planning is needed to ensure we complete items in a Sprint?
11:50 - Brian: Do you change the story points on an item if it turns out to be bigger than you thought?
14:50 - Mike: Why use Fibonacci numbers to estimate?
18:05 - Brian: Should Product Owners attend a Daily Scrum?
20:25 - Mike: What’s the best practice for capturing Non-Functional Requirements?
23:00 - Brian: How do you get your first experience as a Scrum Master if you have none?
26:46 - Mike: Tips for starting out with a new team?

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Next week we will be taking a very short break of just one week. We are trying to practice a sustainable pace approach and are taking just one week off in order to do that.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Funretrospectives.com
Agilementors.com

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? It would be great if you left a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us as podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Mike Cohn is co-founder of the Scrum Alliance, and founder of Mountain Goat Software. He’s a veteran of applying Scrum and agile principles and practices to help organizations build better products and ship them on time.

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This week, Brian Milner is joined by Julie Chickering to talk about the wild world of Project Management.

Overview

Brian Milner and Julie Chickering discuss how the world of project management can blend successfully with an Agile approach. There seems to sometimes be an attitude that it’s an either/or decision with these two. In this podcast, we take a look at how to blend them, how project managers fit in, and how these two disciplines can coexist.

Julie brings her experience to this discussion having come from the project management realm.

Listen now to discover:

3:42 - Brian asks Julie about the general distrust between these communities
6:15 - Julie shares that 50% of the PMP exam now is on Agile practices
8:38 - Julie brings up the dreaded status report - Green / Yellow / Red
12:10 - Julie brings up the politics of Green / Yellow / Red
15:10 - Julie talks about the cost of poor quality
16:26 - Are we in the Agile community making PMs feel wrong?
17:22 - Brian discusses Outcomes vs Output
26:10 - Brian asks about PMs who are in companies making transitions. What happens to the project managers?

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing...

Brian and Mike Cohn share some of the best questions from their live coaching calls on the Agile Mentors community.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Monty Python
Project Management Institute
The Cowman and the Farmer Should be Friends from Oklahoma!
HBR article on Output vs Outcomes
From Project Manager to Scrum Master - 3 Tips for Making the Transition
Agile Project Management by Jim Highsmith
The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility by Michele Sliger and Stacia Broderick
PM Illustrated: A Visual Learner’s Guide to Project Management by Mike Griffiths - free on Kindle

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? It would be great if you left a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Julie Chickering is a certified Scrum Trainer as well as a CST, PMP, PMI-ACP CSM, CSPO, and Path to CSP Educator. She believes that Agile practices are packed with potential — to enable business agility, and breakthrough results. Julie loves to help people implement agile even when the environments are messy, people are complicated, and situations are challenging. She brings real-world experience working with people at all levels to adopt and roll out realistic Agile strategies organization-wide.

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Lyssa Adkins joins Brian to talk about the wonderful world of Agile coaching.

Overview

When you think of the term “Agile Coach,” what comes to mind for you? This term has meant many different things over the years. Are we talking about a role or an approach? Lyssa Adkins, author of Coaching Agile Teams, joins Brian to dive into this topic. Lyssa has written and spoken about this topic for years and many would say she had a large hand in defining what we now call agile coaching.

Listen now to discover:

02:05 - Brian shares a story about Lyssa from the Vienna Scrum Gathering conference

06:40 - Lyssa answers the question, “What is an Agile Coach?”

08:10 - Lyssa explains the unintended consequence of using the term “coach” in her book

12:02 - Lyssa talks about the “X-Wing Diagram” and the 5 coaching stances

18:50 - Lyssa talks about not colluding when someone in power pushes something you disagree with

27:04 Lyssa talks about coaching in a remote world

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Project Management with Julie Chickering.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Adkins

Agile Coach Competency Framework

Developing Great Agile Coaches whitepaper describing 5 coaching stances

What is an Agile Coach? talk with Lyssa Adkins and Michael Spayd

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Lyssa Adkins has been one of the foundational voices in the Agile community for years now. Her book Coaching Agile Teams has been a best seller for over 12 years now. She released an audio version of this classic book on its 10th anniversary. In 2010, Lyssa co-founded the Agile Coaching Institute which has developed over 10,000 people in the knowledge, skills, and being-ness needed to yield genuinely competent agile coaching. She is a member of the ICAgile working committee and has served as a reviewer for the Scrum Alliance’s Certified Enterprise Coach certification program. Lyssa is also dedicated to amplifying women’s voices and is a founder of TENWOMENSTRONG #WomenInAgile programs.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

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David Hawks joins Brian to discuss the process of an organization becoming Agile.

When you read through the Scrum Guide, the picture it paints is of the desired end result - what the team/organization should look like when finished. There’s surprising little said though about how you get from where you are to where you want to eventually be. Enter the topic of Agile Transformations. There is a journey that organizations undertake when they decide to adopt Agile and like any journey, it’s always helpful to have a guide to help you get there who has been through it before. David Hawks joins Brian to share his experience in helping countless organizations make this journey to become Agile.

Listen now to discover:

03:10 Brian asks David what the biggest hurdle is that organizations have when adopting Agile?

05:24 David explains that multiple levels the organization needs to focus on in the process

11:00 David talks about “Implementing Practices over Outcomes”

16:30 Brian asks what individuals who aren’t leaders can do to help?

20:20 Brian asks David to explain how his Path to Agility helps address these issues?

29:35 Brian talks about the Spotify Engineering Culture videos example

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Agile Coaching with Lyssa Adkins!

References and resources mentioned in the show

Path To Agility & Agile Velocity

SAFe and LeSS

Yellowstone spinoff 1883

Oregon Trail

Spotify Engineering Culture Video 1 and Video 2

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

David Hawks is the CEO of both Agile Velocity and Path to Agility. He is a Certified Scrum Trainer as well as a Certified Enterprise Coach with the Scrum Alliance - their top two certifications. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems degree from the University of Texas at Austin. His love for his beloved Longhorns from UT is only eclipsed by his love (and expertise) in tailgating prior to their home games!

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

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Mitch Lacey joins Brian to talk about building quality into our work.

Overview

The Scrum Guide says the developers own quality and that it is both a right and responsibility of the team. What does that look like though? What do we mean when we say quality? How do teams practically go about building quality or is it just “baked in?” Join Brian and Mitch Lacey as they discuss this all important secret ingredient to the Scrum framework and hear why it’s so vital to a team’s success.

Listen now to discover:

2:25 Mitch explains what we mean by quality

6:48 Brian asks Mitch how to tell when you are “gold plating” things?

12:30 Brian asks about the developer who thinks the code needs to be perfect before they release

16:55 Brian talks about the last stage of the creative process is releasing

21:25 Mitch relates self-accountability to a recent Soccer(Football) match

22:34 Brian and Mitch discuss the infamous “Squirrel Burger” story

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

David Hawks joins us as we discuss transformations.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Test Driven Development

“Squirrel Burger” story

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Mitch Lacey is an agile practitioner and trainer. Mitch has been managing projects for over fifteen years & is credited with many plan-driven & agile projects. He is the author of “The Scrum Field Guide,” a book targeting teams adopting agile and Scrum practices. He has published many papers, including “Adventures in Promiscuous Pairing,” “Transitioning to Agile: Key Lessons Learned in the Field,” “The Impacts of Poor Estimating -& How to Fix It,” plus a variety of papers for Microsoft and “Immersive Interviewing -Building Great Agile Software Teams.”

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

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Brian takes some of the most popular questions about Scrum from Quora.com and answers them.

Overview

If you are unfamiliar with it, Quora.com is a site people in the technology industry go to to ask and answer questions. For a change of pace, I decided to take a batch of the most popular questions from the site and provide my own answers to them. If you have questions you’d like to include in a similar episode in the future, make sure to email them to podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com.

Listen now to discover:

01:14 Brian explains the premise behind this episode’s topic

02:25 Question 1: Why do iterations in Agile start from Wednesday to Tuesday rather than Monday to Friday?

09:00 Question 2: Are Burndown charts even useful?

16:14 Question 3: Who decides sprint duration in a Scrum project?

18:50 Question 4: As a Scrummaster, how do you deal with people being late or refusing to come to Daily Scrums?

24.32 Question 5: Can a User Story be used for bugs?

26:54 Question 6: Can Agile work without a Scrummaster?

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Join us next time where we will be discussing the topic of Quality with our guest Mitch Lacey.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Send your questions for a future episode to podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com.

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenter is:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

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Scott Dunn joins Brian to talk about what it means to be product-centric

Overview

Being product-centric has become a recent buzzword and objective for companies. But what does it mean? Is it the next stage of becoming agile? Or is it something that should drive an agile transformation in the first place? In this episode Scott and Brian discuss their definitions of what it means to be product-centric, and whether this is different to being customer-focused. They also look at the limitations that can stop teams from being more focused on the customer and long-term product value, such as being forced to fight those daily fires.

Listen now to discover:

00:23 - What does the term product-centric mean?

07:13 - Is there a difference between being product-centric and customer focused?

14:47 - Are nonprofits customer-focused entities?

22:02 - Does product-centric mean putting quality first?

28:23 - How does a disconnect between leadership and teams affect things?

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Next time, I’ll be answering questions you’ve sent into the show as well as addressing other common agile questions.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Impact Mapping and Story Mapping

The Scrum Guide

Kano Model for prioritization

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Scott Dunn is a Certified Enterprise Coach and Certified Scrum Trainer with more than 20 years of experience in management, project management (PMP), engagement management, and software development (MCSD). He is passionate about strengths-based teams and a solutions-based approach to people and organizational issues.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

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Lance Dacy joins Brian to dig into cross-functionality.

Overview

You will often hear people say that Scrum teams are cross-functional. But what do we mean when we say that? Are we talking about a jack of all trades but master of none? Do we want team members who can do anything? How does a cross-functional team actually work together and what should we do as agilists to support and nurture cross-functionality in our teams? Join as we discuss these and other aspects of cross-functional teams.

Listen now to discover:

02:00 Lance tells us how he defines cross-functional teams

04:34 Brian compares cross-functional teams to the A-Team

08:58 Lance talks about generalists vs specialists

12:39 Brian talks about T-shaped individuals

18:05 Brian discusses the Equity Couch

24:10 Brian describes the Market of Skills tool

27:45 Lance talks about personality profiles

29:20 Brian asks Lance about how to handle cross-functionality on specialist teams

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Scott Dunn joins us again to discuss the term ‘product-centric.’

References and resources mentioned in the show

The A-Team

Market of Skills by Lyssa Adkins

OSEMN Process

What does Scrum mean by Cross-functional?

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Lance Dacy is a Certified Scrum Trainer®, Certified Scrum Professional®, Certified ScrumMaster®, and Certified Scrum Product Owner®. Lance brings a great personality and servant heart to his workshops. He loves seeing people walk away with tangible and practical things they can do with their teams straight away.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

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Kert joins Brian again to talk about Kanban

Kanban is a pull system of working where work is ‘pulled’ in based on a team’s capacity. Whether it’s a card from a backlog, or a bin of items on a manufacturing floor, the concept of pulling in work is common to both kanban and scrum. It supports the idea of being agile because whenever you’re pulling work in, you’re basing it on the latest feedback and emergent needs so that you can focus on delivering the most value. Listen now for an overview of Kanban as well as common mistakes to avoid.

Listen now to discover:

00:48 - The origin of Kanban’s meaning

04:34 - How the principles of Kanban are expressed in Scrum

07:00 - Common misconceptions people have about Kanban

09:00 - The five pillars of Kanban

12:58 - How to get started

19:41 - How to improve your current Kanban process

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

I’ll be joined by Lance Dacy as we talk about cross-functional teams.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Kanban University

The Official Guide to the Kanban Method

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Kert began his professional career as a Software Engineer in NASA's Space Shuttle program, affording him practical insights into the daily challenges faced by engineers, designers, and testers. Driven by the belief that learning unlocks potential, Kert has pioneered educational programs for Dell, Rockwell Collins, Amazon.com, and Capital One Financial. Kert is one of the few trainers world-wide to be actively credentialed as both a Scrum and Kanban trainer by Scrum Alliance and Kanban University, respectively.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

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Brian and Mike talk about why and how to use Story Points in estimating.

Overview

To estimate or not to estimate. There are many different views on the matter. It’s important then to start with why. Why would we spend time estimating in the first place? What is the benefit of that effort? Do all Agile teams need to estimate? Join Brian Milner and Mike Cohn as they discuss estimating using Story Points in order to plan for things such as releases.

Listen now to discover:

1:51 - Mike talks about the 3 reasons why would we estimate in the first place?

4:30 - Brian asks about the #NoEstimates movement

8:00 - Brian talks about the marketing aspect of his conference talk this year

9:42 - Mike defines what a Story Point is

14:30 - Mike talks about using Story Points as a performance metric

21:20 - Mike talks about consistency in point scales across teams

25:58 - Mike talks about working with contractual constraints when using Story Points

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Join us as we dive into Kanban with Kert Peterson. We’ll talk about this close relative to Scrum and discuss how these two can coexists in today’s Agile world.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Agile Estimating and Planning by Mike Cohn

Agile Estimating and Planning online ecourse by Mike Cohn

Woody Zuill of the #noestimates movement (and Mob Programming)

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Mike Cohn is co-founder of the Scrum Alliance, and founder of Mountain Goat Software. He’s a veteran of applying Scrum and agile principles and practices to help organizations build better products, and ship them on time.

Show edited by Rhett Gill

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Brian and Mike talk about how to capture requirements with User Stories.

User Stories are not native to Scrum. We actually borrow the practice from XP. Traditionally, requirements were gathered in huge binders that were very detailed and complex. These were considered complete and were locked down when development began. Teams quickly found that change was a constant and this method of capturing requirements didn’t allow for requirements to emerge. Enter User Stories.

Listen now to discover:

2:15 - Mike talks about the history of User Stories

4:00 - Mike discusses the problem User Stories is attempting to solve

4:58 - Mike talks about making lunch

7:30 - Mike talks about when NOT to use User Stories

10:26 - Mike and Brian talk about The Beatles

14:00 - Is As a User an ok way to start a User Story?

15:00 - Mike talks about Job Stories

19:55 - Mike talks about some common mistakes people make with User Stories

23:00 - Is the So That clause needed?

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Mike Cohn returns to discuss Estimating with Brian. Mike has written a book about this (Agile Estimating and Planning) and will share his insights on this important topic.

References and resources mentioned in the show

User Stories Applied - by Mike Cohn

Better User Stories course - by Mike Cohn

Billboard interview with Paul McCartney where he talks about using personal pronouns

Intercom who makes chatbots

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Mike Cohn is co-founder of the Scrum Alliance, and founder of Mountain Goat Software. He’s a veteran of applying Scrum and agile principles and practices to help organizations build better products, and ship them on time.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development

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Brian and Kert talk about the final component of the Scrum Framework - Artifacts.

Overview

The term “artifact” seems a bit strange, doesn’t it? Why would the authors of Scrum include this as a component of the framework? What are the main artifacts that Scrum prescribes? And what are some of the other artifacts that are not required but many teams see as helpful to the running of a Scrum team? In this episode, Brian and Kert will discuss this final component of the Scrum framework in the Scrum Framework series and give you pointers on how to make the most out of the Scrum artifacts.

Listen now to discover:

3:45 - hear Kert and Brian talk about the roots of this term

6:15 - Kert talks about his experience with documentation working at NASA

9:15 - Kert talks about the two backlogs in Scrum

12:30 - Brian and Kert talk about what level of detail is needed in backlog items

16:12 - Who is the therapist on a Scrum team?

19:00 Is tasking out everything required for Sprint Planning?

23:41 - Kert talks about how Ken Schwaber called Scrum, “The Art of the Possible”

31:27 Brian and Kert talk about the Definition of Done

33:24 Brian talks about a tool to facilitate the creation of a Definition of Done

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Mike Cohn returns to discuss User Stories with Brian. Mike has literally written the book on User Stories (User Stories Applied) and shares his wealth of experience and knowledge on the subject.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Married at First Site - Lifetime TV Network

Larry Maccherone talks about Kanban Metrics

David A. Koontz’s exercise for creating a Definition of Done

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Kert began his professional career as a Software Engineer in NASA's Space Shuttle program, affording him practical insights into the daily challenges faced by engineers, designers, and testers. Driven by the belief that learning unlocks potential, Kert has pioneered educational programs for Dell, Rockwell Collins, Amazon.com, and Capital One Financial. Kert is one of the few trainers world-wide to be actively credentialed as both a Scrum and Kanban trainer by Scrum Alliance and Kanban University, respectively.

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Join Brian Milner and guest co-host Scott Dunn as they discuss why the retrospective is an important part of agile and how to use this meeting to help teams to improve continuously.

Overview

In this episode, Brian Milner is joined by guest co-host Scott Dunn, Certified Enterprise Coach and Scrum Trainer, to get insights into delivering retrospective sessions that energize and inform the whole team — while ensuring they are effective at meeting goals.

A sprint retrospective is a great way for teams to reflect on the previous sprint but this meeting can become stale if you sleepwalk your way through the same agenda every time. Brian and Scott discuss the Scrum Master’s responsibility to take ownership of the retrospective and the importance of developing a toolkit of techniques that you can use and adapt to engage and motivate your teams.

There are many great retrospective ideas in the Agile community, including variations and additions on the basic questions and creative facilitation techniques. Sharing their experiences and offering advice to Scrum Masters on how to empower their teams, drive participation and unlock creativity, Brian and Scott discuss the importance of innovation and how to establish a culture of trust and accomplishment to maximize the value of this meeting.

Listen now to discover:

· 00:03:00 - Why Scrum Masters need to establish safety for retrospectives to work

· 00:07:00 - How to structure a retrospective to motivate teams

· 00:09:00 - Why it is not the Scrum Master’s responsibility to resolve all impediments

· 00:11:00 - How to empower your team to have more agency over the work and make a difference as team members

· 00:13:30 - Why Scrum Masters need to take ownership of the retrospective

· 00:19:00 - Why you need to change up your retrospective to engage your team

· 00:19:30 - How to conduct fun and engaging retrospectives

· 00:23:58 - How to influence and shape your team’s culture

· 00:26:10 - How to get value from a retrospective with an introverted team

References and resources mentioned in the show

· Strengths-based Leadership - Gallup

· Training from the Back of the Room – Sharon Bowman

· Marcus Buckingham

· Agile Retrospectives - Making Good Teams Great - Esther Derby and Diana Larson

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

· Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

· Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Scott Dunn is a Certified Enterprise Coach and Certified Scrum Trainer with more than 20 years of experience in management, project management (PMP), engagement management, and software development (MCSD). He is passionate about strengths-based teams and a solutions-based approach to people and organizational issues.

Training From the Back of the Room!: 65 Ways to Step Aside and Let Them Learn

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Join Brian Milner and Julie Chickering as they discuss the true purpose of the Sprint Review and why it is a mistake to call this event a ‘demo’.

Overview

Brian Milner talks with Julie Chickering about Sprint Reviews, addressing the myth that the Sprint Review is primarily an opportunity to ‘demo’ the increment to stakeholders.

As an experienced Project Management Professional, Julie shares her perspective on the Sprint Reviews from a project management viewpoint. She shares different ways to approach this event and offers advice on what components are needed for a good quality Sprint Review.

Brian and Julie agree that the Sprint Review meeting is probably the most important Scrum event for product people as it encourages collaboration and generates the feedback required to increase the chances of creating a successful product. However, opinions on who should attend the meeting, how it should be run, and how to collect relevant feedback can change quite considerably from one organization to another.

Are you holding Sprint Reviews every Sprint?

Do you have Stakeholders in your Sprint Reviews?

Are you getting valuable feedback from your Stakeholders in your Sprint Reviews?

Brian and Julie discuss why you should be answering “Yes” to each of these questions and share their tips on how to make your Sprint Review more effective.

Listen now to discover:

· 00:06:06 - How the Scrum Review saves time in the long run

· 00:10:20 - The benefits of reducing the distance between the developer and the end user

· 00:11:49 - The Stakeholder feedback window – how long should feedback take?

· 00:12:19 - Why you should never skip a Sprint Review

· 00:12:30 - Why Stakeholders need to be constantly engaged for a Scrum team to be successful

· 00:13:49 - The integral role of the Product Owner in Sprint Reviews

· 00:17:05 - Why you shouldn’t cancel a Sprint Review even if work isn’t “done”

· 00:21:36 - Why you need to clarity the definition of “done” to Stakeholders

· 00:27:19 - Tips and feedback to anyone wanting to improve their Sprint Reviews

· 00:31:02 - The importance of preparation before Sprint Reviews

· 00:34:29 - Methods of collecting feedback

· 00:39:32 - The best order for a Sprint review

· 00:41:36 - How to coach stakeholders to increase team productivity

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Sprint Retrospectives with guest co-host Scott Dunn. You’ll learn the primary importance of this Scrum event and how to run effective and engaging Sprint Retrospective meetings that boost productivity and lead to positive change.

References and resources mentioned in the show

· Daniel Pink – When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Take a second to leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Julie Chickering is a certified Scrum Trainer as well as a CST, PMP, PMI-ACP CSM, CSPO, and Path to CSP Educator. She believes that Agile practices are packed with potential - to enable business agility, and breakthrough results. Julie loves to help people implement agile even when the environments are messy, people are complicated, and situations are challenging. She brings real-world experience working with people at all levels to adopt and roll out realistic Agile strategies organization-wide.

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This week, Brian Milner is joined by Julie Chickering to talk about the best practices and common pitfalls to avoid during the Daily Scrum event.

Overview

Brian Milner and Julie Chickering discuss the true purpose of the Daily Scrum and how to make this 15-minute meeting more efficient.

According to the Scrum Guide, the Daily Scrum is to inspect progress towards the Sprint Goal, synchronize activities, and create a plan for the next 24 hours. Debunking the myth that “The Daily Scrum is a Status Meeting”, Julie and Brian share their first-hand experience of this misconception and show Scrum Masters how to transform the Daily Scrum into a purposeful and collaborative planning session led by the Developers, for the Developers.

You’ll learn how to get your Daily Scrum under control and discover new approaches to encourage productivity, accountability and collective ownership as well as Daily Scrum formats that encourage teamwork.

Finally, Brian and Julie dive deep into the struggles brought by remote working and the many alternatives to tackle this issue.

Listen now to discover:

02:00 - The purpose of the daily scrum and common misconceptions
11:00 - How to use the sprint backlog to prioritize work
00:12 - The importance of teamwork and striving for smaller stories that flow
14:56 - How to encourage developers to take ownership of the Daily Scrum
00:20 - Suggestions for Daily Scrum formats to encourage teamwork
00:22 - When to update items on the Sprint Backlog to benefit the Daily Scrum meeting
00:25 - How to encourage accountability and collective ownership of work
00:27 - How to monitor and assess unplanned work and forecast velocity
00:35 - Guidelines for problem identification and problem solving during the Daily Scrum
00:38 - How to adapt the Daily Scrum for distributed teams in a remote world
00:44 - The benefits of cross training
00:45 - The 16th minute concept
00:47 - Ken Schwaber’s clockwise scrum methodology

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing...

Julie joins Brian again to explain the true purpose of the Sprint Review and why it is a mistake to call this event a ‘demo’.

References and resources mentioned in the show

· Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber

· The Scrum Guide

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

· Enjoyed what you heard today? It would be great if you left a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

· Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Julie Chickering is a certified Scrum Trainer as well as a CST, PMP, PMI-ACP CSM, CSPO, and Path to CSP Educator. She believes that Agile practices are packed with potential — to enable business agility, and breakthrough results. Julie loves to help people implement agile even when the environments are messy, people are complicated, and situations are challenging. She brings real-world experience working with people at all levels to adopt and roll out realistic Agile strategies organization-wide.

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In this episode, Scott Dunn and Brian review the key aspects of leading an effective sprint planning meeting: its purpose, how it works, who attends, and ensuring yours are achieving the desired result.

Overview

Brian Milner and Scott Dunn discuss product ownership and leading a sprint planning meeting. 2020’s Scrum Guide introduced new guidance: sprint planning must go beyond the WHAT and the HOW of product backlog items to the WHY, specifically why is the sprint valuable?

Scott shares his firsthand experience of how to run an effective sprint planning meeting, including focusing on the ‘Why?’ plus practical advice on increasing an agile team’s motivation and engagement.

You’ll learn why the product owner-development team relationship is the linchpin of sprint-planning success and the primacy of preparation, forward vision, and a value-driven mindset.

Final advice includes better communication of expectations with distributed team members and aligning with the evolving nature of the tech landscape through trying new approaches.

Listen now to discover:

· 04:00 – How asking ‘Why?’ adds value and motivates, empowers, and engages teams

· 07:00 – Why the relationship between the product owner and development team is the linchpin of success

· 10:00 – What level of detail Scrum teams should be striving for during a sprint planning meeting

· 12:00 – The purpose of a sprint review and what needs to change in order to support inclusive collaboration

· 14:00 – How to leave room for discovery with minimal documentation

· 15:52 – How flexible requirements and ongoing conversation enable collaboration and employee engagement

· 17:00 – How to remain focused on driving value when facilitating sprint planning meetings

· 19:00 – The mindset shift required to define value through conversation and negotiation

· 21:30 – Craig Larman methodology - culture follows structure

· 22:00 – Why assigning work during sprint planning kills collaboration and team spirit

· 26:00 – The purpose of the sprint planning meeting and how to maximize the time allocated

· 27:30 – The restrictions of forward planning and how to find confidence in emergent architecture to align with the changing nature of tech organizations

· 30:00 – How product owners in sprint planning can improve efficiency through preparation

· 34:00 – Tips for distributed teams: adapting to remote working, improving communication, and more effective sprint planning

· 40:30 – The ‘Inspect and Adapt’ concept: the importance of trying new approaches and implementing new methods.

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing . . .

Daily scrums with certified Scrum trainer, Julie Chickering. You’ll learn the true purpose of this 15-minute time-boxed event as well as common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid in this meeting.

References and resources mentioned in the show:

· Larman's Laws of Organizational Behavior

· David Hawks

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

· Enjoyed what you heard today? Take a second to leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

· Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Scott Dunn is a Certified Enterprise Coach and Certified Scrum Trainer with more than 20 years of experience in management, project management (PMP), engagement management, and software development (MCSD). He is passionate about strengths-based teams and a solutions-based approach to people and organizational issues.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

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Join Brian Milner and Sherman Gomberg for a discussion of the importance of a Scrum team’s developers and why self-organizing teams are at the heart of agile methodologies like Scrum.

In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Brian Milner and Sherman Gomberg discuss the evolution of one of the Scrum roles: developer. They also explain why self-organizing teams of developers have become critical to all organizations.

On agile projects, developers are the people who “do the work” and while at first glance you may see agile developers as always engineers or other software development professionals, that’s not invariably the case. According to the Scrum Guide, the development team can be composed of all kinds of people including designers, writers, programmers, etc.

Using over 25 years of Scrum, agile, and project management experience, Sherman and Brian compare notes on the topic of how to build and sustain agile, self-organizing teams. They share their insights and advice on why empowering individuals to work in cross-functional agile teams leads to greater efficiency, higher rewards, and lower risks.

Listen now to discover:

- 03:38 –How to tell whether your agile team is self-organizing

- 05:25 – The advantages of having self-organized teams in agile environments

- 07:10 – Bruce Tuckman’s four stages of team development: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing

- 09:17– Advice for Scrum Masters and product owners on how to promote self-organization among team members

- 09:60 –The parallels between software teams and sports teams: self-organize and work together to shine

- 13:34 – How and why to build a learning organization

- 18:00 – The definition of “self-managing” as cited by the Scrum Guide

- 22:00 – How to address bug-fixing and technical debt during a sprint

- 28:00– The three most valuable practices adopted by developers in a sprint

- 37:50 – The importance of understanding the developer role and why all three roles on a Scrum team should take a Scrum developer course

- 40:48 – The role of a tech lead in Scrum

- 43:00 – Why it is essential to form a team of equals and how self-organization works to support this

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Sprint planning with guest co-host Scott Dunn. You’ll learn about the sprint planning event as described in the Scrum Guide and the 3 essential “Why? What? How?” topics addressed in order to plan successful sprints.

References and resources mentioned in the show

● Scrum Guide

● The Bruce Tuckman Model

● The Agile Manifesto

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

● Enjoyed what you heard today? Don’t forget to rate and review: it really helps!

● Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Sherman Gomberg is CEO at Scrum Adventures, Inc. He is a CTC and has a total of eleven certifications from the Scrum Alliance. He has over 25 years of experience with agile, Scrum, and project management across various industries. He enjoys working with teams during breakout sessions in online courses, where he helps to bring curiosity to valuable discussions and in doing so, moves the needle from training to knowledge obtained to knowledge applied.

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Join Brian Milner and guest co-host Lance Dacy to look at the key capabilities of the product owner, mistakes to avoid, and getting maximum business value from the resources available.

In this episode, Brian Milner and guest co-host Lance Dacy take a detailed look at the role of the product owner.

They discuss a common source of confusion about what a product owner is, or does: people try to boil down the role to its tactical processes—such as writing user stories. The product owner may be accountable for these processes, but providing direction for what the team is trying to accomplish is their forte.

Product owners need to be great communicators and collaborators, with passion for solving problems with their product. Brian and Lance share their experiences of what makes a great product owner, the importance of protecting a team’s capacity, and why saying no is often essential to protecting the vision.

Listen now to discover:

04:10 - What’s the difference between a product owner and a product manager?

07:25 - Henrick Kniberg’s criteria for successful product owners

08:57 - Why Scrum Masters focus on the how and product owners focus on the why

09:05 - What does ‘being passionate’ mean to a product owner?

12:48 - The mistake of trying to be too productive as a product owner

19:46 - Can you combine other roles with that of the product owner?

25:55 - What should you find out about a company before accepting a job offer as a product owner?

34:49 - Why one of the most important things you can do is act as a steward of the team’s capacity

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

A special bonus episode with details about Brian’s talks at the upcoming Scrum Gathering on June 6-8

References and resources mentioned in the show

Agile Product Ownership in a Nutshell - Henrick Kniberg

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Lance is a Certified Scrum Trainer®, Certified Scrum Professional®, Certified ScrumMaster®, and Certified Scrum Product Owner®. Lance brings a great personality and servant heart to his workshops. He loves seeing people walk away with tangible and practical things they can do with their teams straight away.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

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In this special episode, Brian describes the upcoming Scrum Gathering in Denver, including the subject of his talks on the daily scrum and leadership styles.

The Scrum Gathering is happening in Denver on June 6-8, so in this podcast episode Brian discusses the conference and shares a preview of his two talks: one on the daily scrum and one on leadership styles.

In “Daily Scrums Suck: How I Killed the Daily Scrum and Replaced it with Something Even Better,” Brian shares his advice for making the most out of those 15-minute meetings. For his second talk, “The Opposite of Leadership: The George Costanza School of Agile Leadership,” Brian designed an interactive workshop to encourage you to turn your idea of leadership on its head to perhaps reveal a much better way to lead.

Listen now to discover:

02:33 - Daily Scrums Suck - a teaser about Brian’s first session

03:45 - The George Costanza School of Agile Leadership - details about Brian’s 75-minute workshop

08:33 - Why go to conferences? The value is often in the connections as much as the content

14:19 - If you have a Scrum Alliance certification, one conference can help you earn SEUs you need to renew

15:03 - How conferences can help you chart your next career steps

18:29 - The Coaching Clinics available at the event

19:25 - The Open Space - anyone attending can pitch a topic to talk about and Brian shares his tips for getting the best from this opportunity

21:38 - Introverted? So is Brian, but here’s how he survives a conference environment

24:55 - Planning to attend and want to meet Brian? Don’t hold back!

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

Join Brian Milner and Sherman Gomberg as they discuss the importance of the developer role within a Scrum team and why self-organizing teams are at the heart of agile methodology.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Global Scrum Gathering 2022

Brian’s Talk Descriptions

George Costanza turns his life around by doing the opposite

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenter is:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

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Join Mike Cohn and Brian Milner as they discuss the Scrum Master role: its distinctions from project management, Scrum Master responsibilities for team success, and advice for new Scrum Masters.

In this episode, Brian Milner talks with Mike Cohn about the Scrum Master role from the inception of its title to the role it plays in agile today.

Mike Cohn has trained more than 30,000 Scrum Masters and shares his experience of the challenges he faced early on helping project managers to transition to effective Scrum Masters.

Brian and Mike discuss the distinction and overlap between traditional project management styles and the servant-leadership role of the Scrum Master. They also talk about how responsible a Scrum Master should be for the success of the project and the success of a team.

Finally, Brian and Mike share the advice they would give to Scrum Masters who want to be valuable to any team and organization—including those looking to get their first job in this role.

Listen now to discover:

02:14 - Why the Scrum Master title was created to help people succeed in this position

04:54 - Job role, title, or accountabilities? Is one more important for defining someone’s position in a Scrum team?

07:41 - The key differences between a project manager and Scrum Master

08:43 - How responsible should a Scrum Master be for the success of a project?

13:21 - Facilitator or leader? How not to fade into the background

17:46 - How to deal with people in power who make bad agile decisions

22:06 - Continuous improvement doesn’t mean you should play it safe

26:34 - How do you know when you’re ready to break the rules to be a successful Scrum Master?

27:06 - No experience and looking for your first job? What to do (and not do) to improve your resume

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

The product owner role with guest co-host Lance Dacy. You’ll learn what it takes to be a great product owner as well as common misunderstandings people have about the role.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch

Kaizen approach for continuous improvement

Lyssa Adkins Coaching Stances

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Take a second to leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Mike Cohn is co-founder of the Scrum Alliance, and founder of Mountain Goat Software. He’s a veteran of applying Scrum and agile principles and practices to help organizations build better products, and ship them on time.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.

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Join Mike Cohn and Brian Milner as they discuss succeeding with agile, including how to choose a framework, the best place to start, & when to break the rules.

In this first episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Brian Milner and Mike Cohn explain why it’s important to understand and sometimes break the rules if you want to succeed with an agile approach like Scrum.

While the Scrum Guide states that the rules are ‘immutable,’ clinging to the rulebook mindlessly only holds you back. Instead, you need to know which rules Scrum teams can flex (and when), and which agile principles should always be adhered to.

Brian and Mike share their real-world experience of team members getting things right and wrong, and how you can improve your chances of making long-lasting change as you move to agile.

Listen now to discover:

05:12 - Why people still confuse the terms agile and Scrum

9:01 - How moving to Scrum changed (and improved) Mike’s traditional management style

10:51 - Which rules are OK to break, and how to know when to break them

13:51 - The daily scrum has to be conducted left to right…doesn’t it?

17:38 - An agile culture or agile practices? Which do you adopt first for a successful agile transformation?

22:19 - What do people need to get right for an agile transition?

24:15 - Does continuous improvement mean cross-functional teams are worked to death? (And a fight breaks out on LinkedIn)

30:03 - Of all the methodologies and agile frameworks you can choose (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, extreme programming, etc) which one should you start with?

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing…

The history of the Scrum Master role, its connection to project management, and tips to succeed in this vital Scrum role.

References and resources mentioned in the show

Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber
Scrum Guide
The Princess Bride
The Agile Manifesto
The Karate Kid
Nameless Organizational Change: No-Hype, Low-Resistance Corporate Transformation by Glenn Allen-Meyer
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Dan Pink
Spotify Engineering Culture Part 1 and Part 2

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? It would be great if you left a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.

Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com

This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Mike Cohn is co-founder of the Scrum Alliance, and founder of Mountain Goat Software. He’s a veteran of applying Scrum and agile principles and practices to help organizations build better products and ship them on time.

Editing by Rhett Gill

Agile Mentors Podcast: Recent Episodes

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25: Scaling with Henrik Kniberg

42: The Importance of Self-Mastery with Bob Galen