Is Dependency a real Challenge? Are we learning?
Scaling Agile discussions always revolve around dependencies. At some point, it even appears as if once the problem of dependencies is addressed, there is nothing more to do in Scaling Agile. To address the dependency, challenge some approaches recommend additional ceremonies – like Scrum of Scrums, some new co-ordination roles, etc. Is dependency a real […]
Agile Transformation: Journey on Treadmill
In many Agile Transformation engagements, we notice that Leaders and Managers take a compliance-led approach – mostly due to the past baggage of traditional ways of management style. They try to push the change top-down on to the Teams. This gives a false perception of things moving fast. But they soon stagnate or go back […]
CHOW #215 – A Crossword Puzzle
Here is a crossword based on our book, ‘The Five Tantras of Enterprise Agility‘ . Have given the solution grid at the end. Now, be honest and don’t look at the answers before trying to solve the puzzle. If you manage to solve the puzzle (without looking at the solution grid, of course), then write […]
Some fun with Agile
We all know that these are desperate times. The beast called COVID-19 has possessed us like the very devil, and won’t let go. The economy is down, many people have lost their jobs and livelihood. There are tantalizing stories of vaccines coming out soon. But, when soon? But, I feel that the physical masks have […]
SPECS – A Practical Approach to ‘Transforming the Middle’
One of the key challenges of major Agile transformation efforts in organizations has been the transformation of the middle layers – sometimes called the ‘frozen middle’. Typically the middle layer of the organization is least ‘touched’ in Agile Transformation initiatives. They learn concepts like servant leadership, collaboration, self-organization, psychological safety, agile culture, etc not quite […]
CHOW #207 – The king who did not listen
The Situation Charles Wesley Griffith-Hall was the CEO of the largest financial institution in the world. One day he had gone to the bathroom, and while there, he met the VP of new products and started talking about what innovative ideas were on the horizon. While they were at it, the janitor of who was […]
CHOW #206 – The king who always worked
The situation Vishnusharman said, “Mohammed, remember when we were previously talking about individual goals and team goals, you mentioned how conflicts can arise when a person’s personal, outside of work, goals conflict with team goals? Chitraa and I were just talking about the late-night working of people. Did this create some resentment in people?” “Maybe […]
CHOW #205 – The cat-tying ritual
The situation “Your organisation is using Scrum for software development, right? You must have heard of Scrum ceremonies like the daily scrum or the daily stand-up. Now, the Scrum Guide recommends three questions – what did you accomplish, what will you accomplish and any impediments – to which each person must give their status. However, […]
How I finally learnt Systems Thinking?
Systems Thinking is not a new term in the industry today, especially with those engaged in Agile Transformations. All of us would have seen this term referred in every possible Theme, Objective, Value Statements so on and so forth of an organization embarked on an Agile Transformation. However, understanding and explaining Systems Thinking requires a […]
Chow #181 – Approach for Reorganisation of Collaborative teams?
Kumar is an agile coach with tremendous coaching experience. He had joined an MNC recently as an agile coach and coaching multiple teams. But the organization went through a transformation and now he is part of a central team of coaches. He was excited as he could part of like-minded people. But now all of […]
