Agile Dad

A Tale of The Agile Happy Meal

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 22:13:00 +0000

No Agile Happy Meals!

I have come to the conclusion after visiting many of the Fortune 100 Companies and assisting with their Agile transformations, that many managers feel as though Agile practices are like a Happy Meal from a Drive Through. Please allow me to explain. As a father of four who VERY rarely visits fast food establishments, we regard those types of meals as a luxury, not an everyday necessity. Yet many managers drive up to Agile like it is a menu to choose from. I would like to order the faster time to market with the improved quality, hold all of the meetings and a large batch of reports and documentation. I want nothing hard, undesirable, or difficult to do, I'll just settle for the immediate results at the lowest possible cost and I want it by the time I reach the second window. As funny as it may sound, I believe the conundrum is quite obvious. They order exactly what they want, leave out the portions that are hard or less desirable, and expect to receive the toy immediately for their gratification.

I always use a different metaphor for managers. Agile is more like golf. It is simple, but certainly not easy. Golf is all about hitting the small white ball into the hole out there somewhere. Pretty easy game, very few rules, etc. Yet very few are REALLY good at golf. Agile is the same way! You should not try to make your way through the entire course using a sand wedge or putter for every shot. Nor do I recommend using a driver for all of your putts. You need to carefully select the club that works for your organization and take precious care to make certain that you measure the results of the completed shot in order to select the next best club for the subsequent shot. Results are a far cry from immediate. You may get better as you progress at a sustainable pace, but if you try too hard and wear out or lose patience at your inability do get every shot perfect, the game quickly grows old and frustration sets in.

The fact is Agile transformations take time and any great golfer will tell you that one of the most important decisions you can make is who your caddy will be. Just ask Adam Scott, what Tiger Woods did not see in his caddy, Adam did and won his first major with Tiger's former caddy. Selecting the right Agile coach to assist in your organizational transformation is just so critical! There is a lot more on the line that a golf game or happy meal. Organizational transformation with the correct coach can save your organization MILLIONS of dollars and make your organization MILLIONS of dollars at the very same time! The right coach will bring a wealth of real world experience combined with the theoretical knowledge needed to push your organization to the threshold of success.

As Agile and Scrum grows in popularity, more and more training / coaching companies are popping up claiming to have the tools you need to be successful in this very venture that could make or break your organization, PMO, and your very job. Everybody seems to feel like they have the vanilla answer to the very specific problems your organization faces. Please do not fall into this trap. You are Special! Your company is ready to make a difference! The problems and adaptations may seem similar in nature, but are certainly not the same as what everyone else sees. Agile is NOT a one size fits all model. Treat your Agile Coach selection more like your golf club selection. Do not fall for all of the impostors who can save you a few dollars and feed you the same old vanilla solutions. There is no such thing as an Agile Happy Meal. If there were such a thing, the toy would be amazing beyond words, but you would have to work so hard to get it, that it would be prized and cherished. Learn to work smarter not harder.

PS: I am VERY busy! In fact, we are looking to hire qualified Agile Coaches in the US! Please fire over an email with your resume if you are as serious about Agile as I am! ~ AgileDad

Agile Fathers Day..

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:17:00 +0000

It's Fathers day again and being the 'AgileDad' I thought I would take a moment to share what makes Fathers day so special to me.

Having traveled the wold over and visited with MANY of the Fortune 100 companies, it has been refreshing to note that many large enterprise companies are starting to recognize that Agile is a viable solution. It has also been great to see with the growth of information available regarding Agile better practices that vanilla applications of any one method are drifting to the wayside allowing for natural better organizational practices to settle in. The bigger question remains, how much better are we today than we were 1 year ago? 3 years ago? 5 years ago? Are we taking the steps needed to progress towards success?

The one commonality I see between being a real father and an Agile Dad, is that I find I am often giving advice to companies. Just like with children, sometimes they think they are smarter than you are, and that the decisions they make are better than yours because what could you possibly know that they do not. The truth be told, these organizations eventually shape up and realize that the fatherly advice was appropriate and was given to yield a positive result. Sometimes it is just hard to hear that your baby is ugly or needs some work.

I VERY carefully selected the image for this post because the meaning is both geeky and actually runs pretty deep. Many times organizations do not like what their Agile Dad (Agile Mentor or Coach), exposes. Many times they would rather wallow in denial or self pity about their situation than ever search for the deeper meaning of where they could be. I am not looking to this post to endorse the dark side, but I am certainly hoping to leave you with the message that although things may not look and feel perfect all of the time, facing our challenges and overcoming them bring us great joy and satisfaction. If Agile were 'The Force', may the force be with you! Happy Fathers Day and I look forward to your comments.

Does Agile apply to Sales & Marketing?

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:37:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered if you can apply Agile principles outside of the software development arena? Does it work in the hardware arena? How about way outside like marketing and or sales? I have recently been approached by a number of organizations that are trying to make the complete cultural shift over to Agile Teams. This often means transitioning teams that you would normally not associate with the Agile movement. I know of a handful of organizations that have embraced this change and I am willing to dedicate an entire Agile Mentor Newsletter to the topic, but first I would like to her from you about what you have done in your organizations. I have accessed a several sales coaching sites trying to identify anyone who had Agile for Sales courses but did not find any that had the perfect storm of offerings. I am really hoping you can share what you did to help the outer organizations adopt and embrace Agile. Here is one site where I found a coach who is well respected and moving towards Agile Thinking: In It To Win It I am looking forwad to hearing your feedback and comments.

Mile High Agile 2011 - OUTSTANDING!

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:45:00 +0000

I am listening to Jean Tabaka give what I consider to be an AMAZING keynote presentation. Any first time conference that can pack over 500 people into a conference center and have the highest quality pack of speakers just impresses me beyond belief.

I am VERY excited to present my Rapid Release Planning Workshop this afternoon. Every person I met so far here in Denver has been full of zest and zeal! The conference is quickly raising the bar and becoming something VERY special. Keep an eye out on Twitter for the latest posts #MHA11 and I will post about my session later. Living large with my fingers crossed... Wish me luck.

UPDATE: My presentation and the entire conference was AMAZING! Here is a link to my Rapid Release Planning. Thanks again to all of you for making the conference such a wonderful one.

Where Do Baby Stories Come From?

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:42:00 +0000

During my days at VersionOne, I had a great time doing some really fun, (and quite innovative), marketing shots meant to act as a catalyst to stimulate meaningful conversation about Agile topics in the workspace. One of my more recent rants was around what it meant to write a good user story from a true beginners perspective. The video was not intended to be long winded or go into great depth but was meant to explain that stories need to come from somewhere and draw on simple analogies to drive the point home. If you have a couple of minutes to spare, head on over and watch the video! It is a rather fun take on the genesis of a story. If you do not have time for this, Shame on you!

Is Your Organization Sweet on Agile?

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:55:00 +0000

As Valentine's day has come and gone, I have recently made a socking discovery... Many of the organizations I have been working with are sweet on the benefits of Agile, but they do not want to work hard on the shapely figure required to continue to operate as a nimble, quick, well sculpted machine.

We all know that if we spent all of this holiday eating the candy and spent none of it focusing on shedding the pounds, it would make for one fat surprise in the end.

Valentines is supposed to be a time where we focus on the needs of the organization and do things that may be more difficult to do the rest of the year. We need to focus a little more on reducing our technical debt waistline. We need to step out of our comfort zone and let the people we are closest to know just how much we love them. This means we need to perform at a higher standard and really extend ourselves above and beyond our natural means to out perform any preconceived expectations. As an organization we need to realize the hard work that goes into reaping the soft benefits.

People are really paying attention and it is our duty to deliver and exceed all expectations. It is our responsibility to listen a little harder and understand a little better exactly what is being asked of us. It is our hope that by trying just a little harder we can truly be a little better. Though none of this stuff sounds quite as mushy as a valentines kiss, we need to remember that if we miss the mark, we can kiss our project goodbye!

Many challenged me as to why I was feeling a little dark on such a warm holiday and it reminded me of a famous quote, " We need to stop acting like how we want to be perceived and start behaving like we would want others to perceive us." In other words, this entire holiday is all about perception and how we sell what we believe in. Do a little something extra for all of the people you care about and you will see the rewards pour in ten fold. Be Strong - Be Agile.

Lee (AgileDad)

Steps 9-10 of The Agile 12 Step Adoption Program are LIVE!

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 22:12:00 +0000

Steps 9-10 are now out there and ready for consumption! I have received TONS of feedback regarding the first 8 steps much of which has been very positive. I invite you to enjoy the new Agile Mentor Newsletter format and let me know what you think are the latest hot Agile topics. We need to keep on distributing Agile information to as many groups as we can and have confidence that as Agile frameworks continue to expand within organizations, the knowledge that goes along with them expands with it. I am really looking forward to your thoughts regarding the 12 step program!

Is Agile Really that Fragile?

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 01:38:00 +0000

I have been teaching a ton of Certification Scrum courses recently, and I have heard some remarks that have caused me to stir a little. Many people are under the impression that Agile is easy to break and it is by design that we should be able to break it.

What startles me even more is that they believe that breaking Agile for the sake of organizational stability is ok. Please let me explain. There are hundreds of studies we can read, study, and ponder. Truth be told, Agile has already been proven to work. Why are we trying to bend it to its breaking point just to see what happens? Do we have to be the bull in the china shop every day at work? Why are we always predisposed to push the outer limits? What can we do to keep on track and come closer to adhering? The principles of agile are just that. They are foundational and needed in order for organizations to reap the full benefits of Agile. Even though it is so easy to twist, morph, and push things to their limits, it does not mean we need to go through life like it is a stress test! Take a moment ad evaluate where you are... Agile indeed is not fragile, but it very well could break. Don't be the one to break it!

Agile 12 Step Adoption Program - Steps 7-8

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:37:00 +0000

Steps 7-8 of the Agile 12 Step Adoption Program have been officially released. In the past, I took extra time to outline each step. This time, I will let you investigate and learn from these steps and take the extra time you would have spent reading here to review my Agile 2011 Submissions! I am looking forward to your feedback.

Agile 12 Step Adoption Program - Steps 5-6 Released!

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Steps 5-6 of the Agile 12 step program are now officially published! The excitement continues to mount as each step gets published! The feedback I have received from the Agile community has been very receptive and people like the idea of being able to have a step by step approach to agile adoption published and ready for consumption. For years we have all been told that Agile is an all or nothing approach to Project management. Many have embraced a couple of the twelve steps and seen nominal improvement as a result.

Teams are working towards a common goal of making their organization more successful in every way possible. Join the movement and enter the 12 step rehab program! It is up to you to make a difference.

The Agile 12 Step Adoption Program - Steps 3-4

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:17:00 +0000

Welcome back for steps 3 & 4 of the Agile 12 Step Adoption Program! I was going to originally stretch this out to last a bit longer, but due to the overwhelming response, I am publishing the next steps now! ** WARNING ** If you did not read steps one and two first, I strongly recommend you read and ponder each step in the order it was intended. Actual results could and will be affected if you do these out of order. Parental discretion is advised.

Ok, enough already with the public service announcement. For those of you that need a refresher here are steps 1&2. For the rest of you, I am excited to present steps 3&4! Let us take a moment to go over what is contained in steps 3 & 4. Remember, this early in the process adoption cycle, the steps are going to remain simple. Step 3 is called: Initialize the process of identifying people that are willing to participate in the transition and call out what roles they will be fulfilling. One thing to consider is that leadership does not come naturally. Some people are natural leaders, others struggle leading a small team. You need to carefully carve out who will make the best Agile team and give them the training and coaching needed for them to understand what is being expected of them and what they can expect to receive in return. As I mentioned earlier, this may appear easy on the surface, but all in all it is a battle that many Enterprise size organizations struggle greatly with in their Agile Adoption Process.

Step 4 is beginning the transition from traditional long winded requirements documentation to a more agile bulletized list of work to do. Maintaining the right level of detail to keep teams on track without providing so much detail that it drives analysis paralysis is often the challenge here. I did let some people pre-read this document as I got gads of feedback saying it was still too early to tackle this very large challenge. In fact, this may be the single most difficult step of the twelve. Hence, I want to attempt to address the topic early to mitigate as much risk and frustration as possible. Just like the last post, I have said enough here already. It is up to you to go out and read the entire document for steps 3 & 4. Do comment and let me know your thoughts. It may help determine when I release steps 5&6.

The Agile 12 Step Adoption Program - Steps 1-2 RELEASED!!

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:58:00 +0000

Hello Everyone! It is with GREAT pride and deepest pleasure that I proudly present to you the first 2 steps of the 12 Step Agile Adoption Program! As you might expect, additional steps will soon follow all to culminate with a document and formal release prior to the Agile 2011 Conference in Salt Lake City, UT!

I must first tell you the reason behind this concept and what the goal of the 12 step program is. The concept was brought to my attention when I had MANY Agile teams trying to bite off the entire Enchilada without regard to the impact it would have in their organization. I have had other teams who thought it was a compulsory step to do it all at once. I call it the All or Nothing Agile Adoption. In all reality we know this is not the case. Teams and groups test the waters prior to jumping in, but often do not do the minimal up front analysis needed to determine they are taking the right course or even doing the right steps first.

This 12 step program will allow organizations to follow a pattern and see a little benefit from each step along the way. At the end, if all 12 steps are adhered to, the organization will see amazing results and plentiful concrete representations that Agile has real full-blown benefits. The joy in this program is that you will see a marked improvement each step of the way. Enough chatter from me, I invite you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the first 2 steps!

Step One is the obvious step... What problem do you have and why did you select Agile as the solution to your problem? We often overlook the why behind the what and forget all together why we even decided to try Agile to begin with. For some it is to solve a single throughput problem, for others it is a complete transformation of the way the enterprise goes about doing business. Either way, having a clear vision and strategy is paramount to executing any methodology or framework.

Step Two is also VERY simple yet profound. Do NOT hide from the reality of what is... Many times we skip the part about assessing where we are today and jump straight into problem solving mode. Other times we try to adopt Agile like an undercover agent. Both are not great ways to make friends and or influence people. You need to not hide behind your current or new way to get things done.

I have already said enough here... Go to the Agile Mentor Newsletter section there on the right and click on the link to read the entire document with all of the juicy details. Trust me, you will be glad you did and be better for doing it!

AgileDad Blog & Agile Mentor Newsletter Refreshing...

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:43:00 +0000

As promised, I have spent the first days of 2011 refreshing the blog and changing the way the Agile Mentor Newsletters are displayed. Now instead of having to sort through all of them by date, you can easily find the exact topic you are looking for! In addition, I am trying a fresher, cleaner look and feel for 2011. I just feel like this is a better representation of what AgileDad represents.

Later today I hope to get the first 2 steps of the Agile 12 step program published to the site. 2011 has proven to be busy and I am loving every minute of it! Take a moment for yourself and do something refreshing. Take a step to make the world a better place.

I have also submitted my first two presentations for review for Agile 2011. If any of you have even a moment to leave a public comment, I would REALLY appreciate it! Your comments are a big part of what helps drive selection.

http://tinyurl.com/2agysg6
http://tinyurl.com/23gosdp

Thanks again to all of you for staying Agile and following the AgileDad Blog. This year promises to be VERY big and I am so excited to share all that I am producing with you... Until then I remain AgileDad.

Commitments for 2011

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:23:00 +0000

Wow, 2010 has just been quite the eventful year! I have committed in 2011 to formalize and release Rapid Release Planning to the mainstream Agile community. I have also decided to release the Agile 12 Step Program early in 2011. I want to really make a positive mark on the Agile Landscape in 2011. I have been accepted to speak at StarEast and already have submissions in for Agile 2011. I would REALLY appreciate any comments you may be able to leave on my 2 submissions. I also have FOUR yes FOUR Public CSM courses listed in January! This is by far the most I have ever taught as I am trying to kickoff the New Year with a BANG! Here's wishing each of you all of the best! And as for the Agile Mentor Newsletter, it is being revised as not to be sorted by month but by relevant topic! :) Take care and look for another post VERY soon on the Agile 12 Step Program!

~ Lee 'AgileDad'

RECOVERED!!!

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 01:56:00 +0000

Sometimes recovery never felt so good! After being blocked out by bugs, virus, password, etc. , I have finally regained control of the blog and I am feeling pretty good about having the ability to catch up! Please keep your eyes peeled for more information and regular updates.

We are BACK!!

Lee ~ AgileDad

AgileRoots is Happening NOW!

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:12:00 +0000

Hear Ye Hear Ye, The 2nd annual AgileRoots conference is underway and already we have heard incredible keynotes from Diana Larsen and Jeff Patton. The conference in all is just shy of 300 registrants and people have traveled from all over the world to be in attendance.

I am especially proud to present in the main hall on June 15th at 2:45 PM on facilitating Agile Meetings - Eliminating Waste from Agile Meetings. Given all of the presentations I have heard so far, the theme building great software is really resonating well with the attendees and it is almost as if the speakers collaborated on many topics. What is especially exciting is seeing that people involved really do get it! I am certain we will post more details from this conference very soon.

Part 2 of our session is regarding the recent SQE conference in Las Vegas.

The Agile Development Practices Conference in Las Vegas was nothing less than excellent! The crowd was huge, (nearly 700), and people were really hungry for information about how they could improve their Agile Development Practices. I had a great chance to conduct a session to a standing room only crowd on managing and eliminating technical debt.

What was most interesting is the level at which people engaged and were eager to share their own personal experiences with regard to topics they are tackling. More details about my presentation and a PDF of the deck will be uploaded at a later time to SlideShare.

On a side note, as the Agile community continues to grow and improve, so does AgileDad. We did not go Dark on you, we have tons of valuable information that we are trying to better organize to make this site easier to follow and use. Keep your eyes open and as always, we would LOVE your feedback!

Lean Atlanta 2010

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:56:00 +0000

As spring settles upon the greater Atlanta area and all of the Agile enthusisasts are coming out of their long winter naps, the Lean Software and Systems Conference for 2010 could not have been timed better!

From all that I see, this conference appears to have strong speakers, great topics, a nice open space allotment, and all of the right people attending to make it a great success. The venue is the JW Marriott which is a great place to hold a conference of this size. Just in case you did not notice, I am pretty pumped to attend and learn as much as possible about embracing lean concepts and how they can intertwine with some of the current methods that have taken hold industry wide.

If you are planning to be there, give me a shout and we can hook up for a chat. I will even take a photo fo you to take home to the family if you ask... Any which way, it is not too late for you to register and attend. Atlanta, get ready.... AgileDad is on the way! See you all there!

The Big 3

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:43:00 +0000

So now that we understand the basics of Agile, (Translated = We read the first 10 pages of xyz's book), We should now be a smooth running well oiled machine. We had a one hour session and have upper management support (in the form of a new law), that all the world shall be Agile.

I really do hope that this does not ring true with many who follow my blog. The real question here may and should be, after embracing that we would like to press forward with our agile adoption or improvement process, are there any potholes in the road that I should be aware of?

We all know in the world of auto racing, even a small displacement in the track could inhibit the ability of a vehicle to achieve top performance. Never mind what would happen if there really were a large sink hole at a high speed raceway.

Today the message I hope to share with you revolves around the BIG 3! These are the current top 3 difficulties organizations run into when attempting to embrace Agile transition or improvement.

Coming in at number 3 is the definition of done. I could very well go on a multi page blog report just on this topic alone. Agile teams need to learn through conversation & interactions how t establish a baseline definition of done and work toward continuous improvement and refinement of that definition.

At number 2 we see how do I define my roll and what exactly am I supposed to do on this agile team? More people get hung up on the naming convention and titles associated with roles and fail to embrace agile fundamentals than I would dare to admit. We have been brought up in an environment where title and stature dictate what we do and what is not our job. Becoming cross functional is a struggle for many teams.

And the number 1 problem and or concern that plagues many agile teams is the inability of the business to break down large complex work into consumable backlog items that make sense to the team and the business. The trickiest role in any process must be the Product owner or manager. They have large portions of responsibility placed upon them that hinges on their ability to translate work into what many consider to be a foreign language.

Although these challenges at times may seem insurmountable, a really good Agile Coach or Mentor, (I personally know a few of those), could be the difference between success and just getting by. Organizations are currently at a point financially where they cannot fail. Every dollar counts. Now more than ever, it is becoming increasingly important to surround your organization with the people who will help guide you down the path of success.

Do not let the big 3 talk you into believing Agile does not work or that any process you have implemented is broken. Take the time to analyze where you are and get the help you need to stop wasting time and money and press forward. Agile does conquer the big 3 every time!

Kangaroo Court IS In Session

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:05:00 +0000

All joking aside, I have received many Captain Kangaroo references as of late and felt like it was my obligation to explain a little further in hopes that I can justify my stance.

In the very early days of the Agile movement, I clearly remember people fighting and joining camps over which of the agile methods would come out victorious over all of the rest. Some rated the winner by adoption rate. Others called themselves the winner based on community acceptance. Still all insisted their path to Agile success was the only road you could take.

At the beginning of the hit children's TV series Captain Kangaroo, the theme always starts with Good Morning Captain. The more I think about that, the more I realize that my morning in this work space erupted when I pointed out that there was no single agile method that addressed everything an enterprise company was trying to adopt. Hence, I told people, (before the Prius), to drive the Agile Hybrid to find success.

I preached adoption as a staged happening and convinced industry leaders to start trying to take small steps toward organizational adoption. Here we are a number of years later and I am singing a very familiar tune. Good Morning Captain! Some large organizations are still not ready to part ways with the product requirements documents and technical specs. Some businesses are still gasping for the gantt chart view and really worried about all things resource allocation related. Even a couple of weeks ago I had a VP ask how to increase productivity on his team to surpass 85%.

For a moment or two I thought the Agile Kool-Aid was starting to change flavors. I was almost convinced that I needed to drop everything and re-engage with the PMI group. Then I realized.. This is how things should be. This really is the great leap in the Agile Movement. This is the moment of truth for many organizations. This is the Pass / Fail moment of the degree cycle. This is the coming to truth all cards on the table hands down pants on the ground moment. I was not going to be caught looking like a fool with my pants on the ground!

It was like a great light that switched on for me! I realized that work at the base level can continue to be delivered in an Agile fashion. Much like it always has been. The hard deliverable can still be built without any extra effort as part of the normal delivery cycle. The Larger scale deliverable are still handled outside of the pouch and can be managed to as pieces that happen as a result of doing Agile.

It is time for teams to pull up their pants, put on a belt, turn the hat straight and not be caught with their pants on the ground. It is time for Managers to realize that in large scale organizations that it is time to let go of the Lost flash sideways where they are still dreaming of the way things could have been. Organizations need to embrace Agile metrics and form a renewed focus on what matters most and draw people toward a better understanding of Agile Metrics. We need to get away from the world of resource allocation and work breakdown structure. We need to return to what really is and focus all hands on deck toward the best solution. The Agile Solution.

The Members of the esteemed Jury have reached a verdict:

We, the members of the jury hereby find Agile GUILTY on all counts of improving the predictability & delivery of software Products and Projects. We also find Agile GUILTY of making lives easier and making work a better place to be. As a result, we hereby sentence Agile to LIFE without the possibility of parole within your organization!

How lucky can you be!

Introducing the Agile Marsupial

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:28:00 +0000

For years we have been taught that Agile was all about honesty, visibility, and openness in all that we do. I have taught and do still believe big and visible is the way to go. The trend I have been seeing in enterprise levels of Agile adoption has taken a shift more towards doing Agile in the pouch. Many companies do not believe they can continue to deliver on all of the compliance needs they may be trying to push through while still working in an Agile environment.

The great news is not only is it really possible, but I have put together a run of information in the March 2010 Agile Mentor Newsletter that will describe exactly what other organizations have encountered and what approach they have initially taken to resolve the issues. I do certainly realize we have a long way to go before the end of the discussion is here, but I thought this edition will at least give you a little to chew on until we begin the blog post series. Read up and embrace your inner Agile Marsupial!

Exactimation or Estimation?

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:48:00 +0000

How many times have you been asked for an estimate on the size or scope of something only to discover the requester was really asking for an Exact not an Estimate? How often do we fail to do release planning because we realize that the traditional release planning can take multiple days and we spend a fair amount of time generating technical debt by talking granularly regarding work that could be as far as 3 months out that we may never get to?

In the February Agile Mentor Newsletter, we discuss a way to still do relative size estimates, without getting lost in all of the details that could come as a result of inefficient release planning. We also take release planning to the next level with an explanation / walk through of how to get it done in 90 minutes or less! Take a look and I am looking forward to your feedback!

Looking Forward to Presenting At AgilePalooza ATL

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:50:00 +0000

Attention all Atlanta area followers, AgileDad will be presenting 2 sessions at the AgilePalooza sessions held at the Marriott Perimeter on Friday February 26th 2010! I am very honored to be presenting with Mike Cottmeyer (who I feel may be one of the strongest Agile presenters out there), and George Schlitz, (whom I have never had a chance to present with in the past, but I am looking forward to learning from him!). This is certain to be a VERY powerful event and may even sell out completely! There has already been VERY strong interest in this event so my advice would be to register NOW if you have not already! You will be VERY happy that you did!

The two topics I will be covering include:

Facilitation Foundations - Everyone has been to an Agile meeting that has little or no value and has felt like a complete waste of time. Facilitation Foundations is designed to offer attendees a chance to learn more about how to make meetings more valuable and save everyone time and money!
This interactive presentation focuses on what makes meetings work and identifies negative experiences we all encounter when it comes time to attend or facilitate these common meetings.
What should we be doing? What should we be avoiding? What could we do to improve the way we facilitate and or attend meetings? How can we make them more effective?

Empowering Agile Teams - It is time for teams of all shapes and sizes from all over the globe to realize that with great power comes much accountability. It is time to end the finger pointing and become a solid Agile Team! This highly interactive presentation uses a slide deck to guide you through a simulation where a team fails to deliver a high profile product on time and the fingers start to fly! This presentation is certain to ring true as something most who attend will have encountered. They will all leave with the tools and information they need to feel like a more cohesive team with a better understanding of commitment, quality, & accountability.

Although I have presented each of these topic a few times before, I am certain that the updated content will surely not disappoint! Enough about me and my presentations, go NOW and register! It will be the least expensive jam packed day you will ever have a chance to attend! Go and make it happen and I will see you all there!

When Things Are Broken

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:55:00 +0000

At a recent gathering, I entered a hotel conference room and found a quite disturbing site. Keeping in mind that I have had some job in the office / software industry for as long as I could remember, I had never quite witnessed a chair that had been so brutally abused as this chair had been.

My first thought was that my wife may have planted the chair there as a message to me that I needed to stick to my New Years resolution to lose some weight and get in better shape. But then it struck me, this chair must have suffered something much more intense than an overweight guy looking for a comfy seat.

It was quickly evident that this chair had a story to tell. The first thought that came to my mind was I wonder what else happened during this retrospective? What evidence had already been cleaned up? Was there any other evidence left behind? Was this more than just a retrospective gone wrong? Could it be a crime scene? The questions were flowing just as fast as I could conjure the images in my mind. Obviously I am never an advocate of violence inside or outside the workplace, but this chair left me with more questions than answers. At that very moment, I had the thought, if this is what remains of the chair, I wonder what the person may look like now?

Than it hit me like the A-Ha moment Dr. Cockburn promised I would have one day, the root question was how am I treating people and am I the person who is making the team feel mended or broken? Am I the broken chair? Am I a person who is fixing things? Where do I fit in the mix of my team? Am I acting like I feel like I am perceived? Or am I acting like I want others to perceive me?

We really should take a moment and determine how & whether we are the able to make a difference or if we are acting as an idle cog in the wheel of progress. The bigger question is are we broken? Are we broken as a team? An organization? How can we make things right? Although this may be a record for the most questions in a single blog post, I suppose it may help us understand where and who we are in our organization. It is our time to make an impact. The mantra for the day is clearly, "If we find that it is broken, it is our duty to assist in the fix". Enjoy & Stay Agile!

A New Year = A New You!

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:14:00 +0000

At this time of year, each of us have made New Years Resolutions. Some of us want to lose weight, or eat less sweets. Some want to exercise more often, or just get in better shape. In the Agile community, I am asking you to consider a different type of resolution. It is all well and good for us to do any of the items listed above. They will each help us to become a better person. The question I have is what can you do to better implement Agile within your organization?

Over the next few weeks, I hope to address topics regarding Agile adoption and what it should mean to you and your organization. Call me a personal trainer if you will, but I remember the difference between when I attempted to lose a few pounds on my own, and when I had the help of a personal trainer to assist me. With a lot of focus and a little boost from someone on the outside of it all, I got to see amazing things happen. I am hoping you will take advantage of my writing as we take an opportunity to study each role in the Agile process in review and attempt to identify ways that we can have a better or renewed impact on our projects.

Let's take the time to inspect and adapt ourselves and make the new year one to remember. Although for many of you this may feel like a quick refresher course, I hope that you will patiently follow along and just try to identify one way in which you could ratchet it up a notch. We will begin the series by addressing the needs of the business and focusing on why managers adopt Agile frameworks for their organizations.

Let's get started and I look forward to working out with you and performing our Agile Tone Up! May this New Year and decade bring you much health, wealth, and success!

Bring on 2010! - Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (V. Lee Henson CST) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:57:00 +0000

As we usher in the New Year, I felt it appropriate to thank all of those who have continued to support AgileDad, and Agile in general throughout the years!

Although I do not hold a crystal ball, there are a few things I can promise you for 2010:

1) The Agile Mentor Newsletter will continue to be the leading free source for Agile information and will be delivered monthly as it always has been!

2) As Agile continues to morph and evolve, you have my word that the latest topics will be posted here and I will continue to reach out and support all of those who continue to support the Agile Community.

3) The Agile Dad book will be completed in 2010! It has been a long time coming, but the framework is in place and the content is being written.

4) I will continue to speak at as many conferences as allowed, and contribute to this community in any way I can!

5) I will attend as many of the SLC Agile Roundtable sessions as possible! I feel like the more thought leaders we can get in one place, the greater the contribution.

6) Many businesses have asked me to come out and share secrets to Agile success! I will continue to support local organizations as much as time will allow by doing these one day sessions!

7) I would like to attend as many Agile / Scrum user groups as possible in the towns I visit in my travels! If you would like to have me visit your user group, let me know!

8) I will make a concerted effort to focus on my family! At times I let the travel and work get the best of me. I need to assure them that I will always be here as their AgileDad!

9) I am going to attempt to post at minimum one blog post per week! This will keep me busy and keep the ideas fresh and flowing.

10) I will strive to do my absolute best to contribute to all of you in any way that I can!

This is a steep hill to climb, but I am confident that with your support it will all be possible! Other items to look for in 2010 include the AgileDad Website and a new Agile Definition Document to help teams who are just getting started understand the lingo!

I wish all of you a safe and festive New Year Celebration and look forward to a prosperous 2010!