February 2011
1 post
The Three Envelopes
A new CEO met privately with his predecessor on his first day in charge. The CEO who was stepping down presented him with three numbered envelopes. ‘Open these—one at a time—and only when you run up against a crisis that seems beyond your control,’ he said.
Things went along pretty smoothly, but six months later, sales took a downturn and he was catching a lot of heat. He...
January 2011
1 post
1 tag
Scrum and Kanban
Scrum is by far the most popular of the Agile processes. In fact, when software companies say they are doing agile development you can be pretty sure they are talking about Scrum. The question that is worth asking is “How successful is Scrum over the long haul? Are we seeing diminishing returns after say a year of practice?” My own experience as an agile instructor and coach has been...
March 2010
2 posts
Assessing people’s character is simple. All you have to do is ask three questions:
Can you trust them to do the right thing?
Are they committed to excellence?
Do people matter to them?
Only when you can give a definitive “YES” should you invest in the person.
- Lou Holtz (author, football coach)
Try it out on someone you know; it works every time.
“It is my duty and mission to put to work what I am good at, rather than to do...”
– Peter Drucker (Forward to Half-Time by Bob Buford)
February 2010
2 posts
Is Scrum working for you?
In a recent post Net Objective’s CEO, Alan Shalloway made the following statement:
“…almost all Scrum teams have several of the same challenges:
too much time is taken in estimation
too many stories are open at the end of a sprint
the daily stand ups don’t seem to add a lot of value
quality is not being improved
testers are far behind developers at the end of a...
January 2010
5 posts
“Think of a product you love, one you’d recommend to a friend. What makes...”
– Jeff Patton
Notes from Lean-Kanban training (part 3)
This is the third part of the Lean-Kanban post based on a training class I recently attended by David Anderson (aka @agilemanager) and some additional reading on the same subject. I will admit that I now favor this method of collaboration far more than Scrum and one of those reasons is Kanban’s explicit limitation of work made visible and enforceable through the Kanban board.
In Part 1 I...
1 tag
Notes from Lean-Kanban training (part 2)
This is the second part of the Lean-Kanban post based on a training class I recently attended by David Anderson (aka @agilemanager). I recommend that you read Part 1 to get a better context.
One of the key differences between Kanban and other agile methods (e.g. Scrum) is Kanban’s reliance on well defined process policies. Kanban requires that process policies are defined explicitly for...
Some very interesting predictions regarding Agile...
Recently, a number of Cutter Consortium IT consultants were asked to give predictions on upcoming trends for 2010 and beyond. Most of what they say about knowledge workers and their methods of collaboration are quite positive . In this post I have attemped to summarize what they said about collaborative software development methods.
(for the entire list click here)
Sanjiv Augustine, a senior...
1 tag
Notes from Lean-Kanban training (part 1)
I’m posting the highlights of a lean-kanban course I attended last week in Bellevue, WA. I had a fabulous time with some of the best minds in the Agile community. The class was taught by David Anderson (aka @agilemanager) and held at Net Objectives. The attendees were mostly Net Objectives folks and another independent consultant (like myself).
My key takeaway from the first days was the...
December 2009
3 posts
November 2009
3 posts
“Authenticity: Not counterfeit or copied. The quality of being genuine....”
– Wordnetweb (my favorite word these days)
“The average American worker has fifty interruptions a day, of which seventy...”
– W. Edwards Deming #quote
“#quote “Does experience help? NO! Not if we are doing the wrong things.”
– W. Edwards Deming
October 2009
14 posts
“Software development takes twice as long as anticipated, even when you take into...”
– Hoffstetler’s law of software development
“It’s never a bad time to start a business unless you’re starting a...”
– @garyvee #crushit
“The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going. -Ralph Waldo...”
If you’re bored with life — you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things — you don’t have enough goals. -Lou Holtz
Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind. -Seneca
You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures. -Charles C. Noble; speaks volumes to me.
With money in your pocket you are wise, you are handsome, and you sing well too. -Jewish Proverb
God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers. - Jewish proverb; not theologically accurate but still true ;-)
What is brought by the wind will be carried away by the wind. - Persian proverb
One pound of learning requires ten pounds of common sense to apply it. -Persian proverb
Luck is infatuated with the efficient. -Persian proverb
Some more Chinese proverbs:
Covet wealth, and want it; don’t, and luck will grant it.
Deer-hunter, waste not your arrow on the hare.
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Begin with an error of an inch and end by being a thousand miles off the mark.
Crows everywhere are equally black.
Curse your wife at evening, sleep alone at night.
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by...”
September 2009
11 posts
I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. - John Adams me:Thank you Mr. Adams! #quotes
Fear is the foundation of most governments. - John Adams
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. -Thomas Jefferson
Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. -Thomas Jefferson #quote
“Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government.” -Thomas Jefferson
“Better to invest in people and risk they leave, than not and risk they stay” - ananymous (must have worked in IT ;-)
“A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.” - Benjamin Franklin
#quotes “Intellectuals are people who believe that ideas are of more importance than values. That is to say, their own ideas and other people’s values.” - Gerald Brenan
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” - Harry Truman
“Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. ” -Harry Truman #quotes
Here are all 11 of Peter Senge’s laws of the fifth discipline:
Today’s problems come from yesterdays “solutions.”
The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back.
Behavior will grow worse before it grows better.
The easy way out usually leads back in.
The cure can be worse than the disease.
Faster is slower.
Cause and effect are not closely related in time and...
August 2009
44 posts
#crushit excerpt from @garyvee ‘s book: What exactly are you going to be doing that’s so time and labor intensive? You’ll be studying your topic, researching your platforms, drafting your blog posts, doing what ever it takes to become the foremost expert and personal brand in your field. But most of all, you will be creating a community.
#crushit Excerpt from @garyvee ‘s book: If you want to make it in business, expect it to be all consuming.
#crushit Excerpt from @garyvee ‘s book: the only differentiator in the game is your passion and hustle.
Foreign Aid (n): The transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
A few of my spiritual leadership books: http://amzn.com/l/HGS41I2DHWOP posted on amazon.com
Charlie Rose has a conversation with Armenian author Peter Balakian http://bit.ly/4Ckaj3
“The mighty can fall, but they can often rise again.”
– Jim Collins
Victory is what happens when ten thousand hours of training meet up with one moment of opportunity.