Agile – Leadership Required! (Part 2)

There are four leadership concepts that can double the chances that your agile transformation will be effective. They are:

1.   Behavior – The values you exhibit through behavior matter more than those you only espouse in words.
2.    Goal – Goals define where the transformation is going.  

3.    Self-Awareness – Agile leaders must be self-aware. Self-awareness is having a clear perception of your personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions. Building on the understanding of self allows a leader to understand other people. Self-awareness is a first step for leaders to put their own baggage aside and to support others.  Change in the workplace is difficult. Being good at conflict management and exposing issues is important for leadership when leading change, but if a leader not good at understanding his or her own cognitive and emotional biases it will be difficult for the wannabe leader to connect with those around him or her and for others to follow. The linkage between self-awareness and transformational leadership is not merely pop psychology.  In recent years the academic literature has empirically established the relationship between self-awareness and transformational leadership.

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SPaMCAST 458 – Billie Schuttpelz, Coaching and Facilitation

http://www.spamcast.net

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SPaMCAST 458 features our interview with Billie Schuttpelz.  We discussed why many organizations need help learning to use agile and lean.  We delved into the role of the coach and facilitator in helping an organization change and shape the message of change.  If you are involved in organizational transformations this is a must-listen interview.

Billie’s short bio:

Billie is a ‘force of nature’ breaking up the boulders blocking transformation; building bridges between technical people and business partners. She applies the perspective gained in a 20 year career including engagements in 5 countries to provide dynamic creativity and positive energy to everything she does. Billie’s ability to make the impossible seem possible is what powers agile transformations.

We also have a promo for 2017 Agile Leadership Summit:

Mark your calendar for an entirely new class of business conference. More “business theater” than conference, the 2017 Agile Leadership Summit (September 22nd in Washington, DC) is sponsored by AgileCxO (agilecxo.org). It features an integrated mix of six vignettes on Agile leadership, two fantastic industry keynotes, and onstage jazz musicians who are demonstrating agility, iteration, and excellence throughout. Learn more at http://agilecxo.org.

For other events, SPaMCAST team members will be attending check the recent blog entry titled Upcoming Conferences and Webinars!

Re-Read Saturday News

This week Steven dives into Chapter 7 of Paul Gibbons’ book The Science of Successful Organizational Change.  Change is a central activity of every organization.  How changes happen is not as straightforward as commanding that change happens.  No one likes to be changed or manipulated.  Self-organization maximizes the impact of change but alas no change is like waving a magic wand. Remember to use the link in the essay to buy a copy of the book to support the author, the podcast, and the blog!   

This week and previous installments:

 

SPaMCAST 456 – Jeff Dalton, Agile Leadership

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SPaMCAST 456 features our interview with Jeff Dalton.  Jeff makes his fifth appearance as an interviewee. Jeff discussed leadership and whether leadership is more or less important in the Agile, dynamic world we find ourselves inhabiting.  

Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword, a Process Innovation firm, and Chief Evangelist at AgileCxO.org, an Agile Leadership Research and Development center that develops models for high-performing agile teams.  Jeff is the principal author of “A Guide to Scrum and CMMI,” published by the CMMI Institute, and is a SCAMPI Lead Appraiser and Certified Agile Leadership Consultant that specializes in software product development, self-organizing teams, and performance modeling.  

Jeff’s previous appearances on the Software Process and Measurement Cast include

SPaMCAST 433 – Jeff Dalton, Holacracy is the Future

SPaMCAST 366 – Jeff Dalton, 12 Attributes of Great and Agile Organizations

SPaMCAST 296 – Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Agile, Resiliency

SPaMCAST 176 – Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Scrum and Agile

We also have a promo for 2017 Agile Leadership Summit:

Mark your calendar for an entirely new class of business conference. More “business theater” than a conference, the 2017 Agile Leadership Summit (September 22nd in Washington, DC) is sponsored by AgileCxO (agilecxo.org). It features an integrated mix of six vignettes on Agile leadership, two fantastic industry keynotes, and onstage jazz musicians who are demonstrating agility, iteration, and excellence throughout. Learn more at http://agilecxo.org.

Re-Read Saturday News

This week Steven dives into Chapter 5 of Paul Gibbons’ book The Science of Successful Organizational Change.  Cognitive biases are a topic that the Software Process and Measurement Blog has explored multiple times.  Cognitive biases are important decision-making tools.  Gibbons’ words have helped to crystallize our thinking on cognitive biases and logical fallacies in this chapter.   Remember to use the link in the essay to buy a copy of the book to support the author, the podcast, and the blog!   

 

Leadership Cycle of Agile Teams

Leadership provides vision and the motivation needed to push the boundaries, change direction and challenge the status quo.  Each leader takes a different path; therefore, there is a myriad of leadership (and leadership’s alter ego: management) styles, however, there are three leadership archetypes typically seen in Agile teams.  They are:

 

SPaMCAST 454 – Iteration Planning, QA Leads, Trash or Treasure

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SPaMCAST 454 features three columns!  The first is our essay and checklists on iteration planning. Aristotle stated that “well begun is half done.”  While we might argue the half part, planning is required to be well begun and that is important on any measurement scale.

Jeremy Berriault delivers a new entry in the  QA Corner.  In this installment of the QA Corner, we discuss the function of a QA Lead. Check out Jeremy’s blog at the QA Corner!

Gene Hughson anchors the cast with his Form Follows Function blog to the SPaMCAST to discuss the entry,  Trash or Treasure – What’s Your Legacy? Gene begins with the contentious topic of legacy systems.

Re-Read Saturday News

We continue re-reading The Science of Successful Organizational Change.  Steven Adams is leading this re-read.  In this week’s entry, we cover the introduction to Part 2 and chapter 3.  Gibbon’s takes us down the path of strategy and uncertainty. Remember to buy your copy.   

This week and previous installments:

Week 1: Game Plan

Week 2: Introduction   

Week 3: Failed Change

Week 4:  Introduction to Part 1 and Fragility to Change-Agility

Week 5: Governance and the Psychology of Risk

 

A Call To Action

 

SPaMCAST 453 – James Shore, Agile Fluency Model

http://www.spamcast.net

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SPaMCAST 453 features our interview with James Shore.  We began with a discussion of the Agile Fluency Model, including the concepts and ideas that led to the model and then got into topics such as whether Agile can ever be method agnostic.

James’s bio:

James Shore teaches, writes, and consults on Agile development processes. He is a recipient of the Agile Alliance’s Gordon Pask Award for Contributions to Agile Practice, co-creator of the Agile Fluency™ Model, co-author of /The Art of Agile Development/, and host of “Let’s Code: Test-Driven JavaScript.” InfoQ has named him one of the “most influential people in Agile.” You can find his screencasts at letscodejavascript.com, essays at jamesshore.com, and more about the Agile Fluency Project at agilefluency.org.

Re-Read Saturday News

Today we continue re-reading The Science of Successful Organizational Change led by Steven Adams.  This week Steven addresses the introduction to Part 1 and Chapter 2. In the introduction to Part 1 Gibbon’s tells us that we live in a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA)  and in Chapter 2 that we have to transition from change fragility to change-agility. Remember to buy your copy.   

Previous installments:

Week 1: Game Plan

Week 2: Introduction   

Week 3: Failed Change

Week 4:  Introduction to Part 1 and Fragility to Change-Agility

 

Iteration Planning: Common Variations on Standard User Stories

Proof First!

Iteration planning would be far simpler if every story was started and completed during a single iteration, if every story was independent, or deadlines did not pop up messing up carefully crafted prioritization routines.  Unfortunately, real life is a bit messier.  Having a strategy to handle variations from the best case makes life easier.  A few of the common planning glitches are: