OK, I’m still on my metaphor kick– Back in 2016, I wrote a whole piece here on the orchard and the orchardist, and a couple of years ago, I spun up the concept of Agilists as gardeners–especially gardeners of an Agile culture– as a way of introducing myself to the teams in an organization in […]
Robbie the Robot Arm; what it taught me about AI
In my previous post, I harkened back to a time when I was first introduced to robotic assembly mechanisms, and I thought it might be fun to dive into that a little more deeply. Back in the late 90s–(yes, the 1900s), I was dropped into a hose assembly plant in Easley, SC. My job was […]
The 4 Product Owners you meet in Hell, (and the 1 you meet in Heaven)
There are several traits that are essential to good Product Ownership, but, like many aspects of an Agile organization, there has to be a balance. Out of balance, pretty much everything goes to hell. I hinted at this topic recently in a series of podcast interviews with Vasco Duarte on the Scrum Master Tool Box. […]
Back from the Outside: Agile in a COVID world
I took a long break there, not just from this blog but from being fully immersed in Agile teams and organizations. Life threw some curveballs that I couldn’t hit, and distractions began to pile up. In many ways though, time away gave me a fresh perspective. Being on the outside of the struggles of Agile […]
An Agile Coaching Certification Journey
Pretty regularly, I mention to people that I have this blog, “So Agile it Hurts Sometimes,” but I have to admit that I have been a negligent blogger. An absentee landlord of this page. A loser. You know the part of the title “it hurts sometimes?” Neglecting this blog has been one of those times. […]
7 Things in My Agile Rear-view Mirror for 2018
Yeah, the title is a little “Click-baity,” but, dammit, I learned 7 things, and I want to share them. More importantly, I feel like I should be able to tell my readers that there are 7 things they are about to read. So, yeah, here I am at the end of one heck-of-a year with […]
Estimating for Better Understanding.
Over a year ago, my wife and I hired a company to convert our garage into a family room–estimated to be a 4 month project at most. That was 3-4 months faster than I estimated that I could do it myself. A full year and a month later, the family room project is unfinished, […]
Agile For Personal Improvement Experiment: Weeks 6,7, and 8
You know the scene in the sci-fi horror film where we recoil at the sight of the abandoned lab? Bottles filled with mutated embryos suspended in formaldehyde, fluid dripping from the ceiling, and steel cages ripped open from the inside let us know that whatever was supposed to have gone down in here. . . […]
Agile For Personal Improvement Experiment: Week 5
This last week’s iteration of self improvement was an utter meltdown. Not only did I not accomplish what I set out to do, I went BACKWARDS in using Agile. Each day went by, and I looked at my kanban board and said “Man, I really need to get back to that!” I made up excuses, […]
Agile For Personal Improvement Experiment: Week 4
I’m excited to say that last week’s iteration went much better than the two previous. Like Dr. Arroway’s discovery, I’m finding things that I have been telling Agile teams for years are coming back to me in this little experiment. Despite Hurricane Florence killing our power for 27 hours on Saturday, I completed both of […]