take5IRL Podcast

agilityIRL
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Our product vision for take5IRL is to provide members of the Agile community with an idea that they can incorporate into their daily lives to make them more effective. In every episode, Jeff Lee and Mike Stuedemann share Scrum wisdom that will enhance your Scrum Team, overall organization, and most importantly- your leadership skills. Tune in every week for Agile insights in 5 minutes and gain applicable tips to improve your organizations, teams, and life.

  1. 6d ago

    Your Agile Problem Isn't Agile. Its Your Pipeline.

    You don't have a Scrum problem. You have a pipeline problem.Many organizations struggling with delivery assume they need more Agile process, more planning, or more ceremonies. But what if the real bottleneck isn't Agile at all?In this episode of Take Five IRL, Mike Studeman, Jeff Lee, and Pat Campbell explore one of the most overlooked drivers of flow: engineering practices.The conversation dives into why slow pipelines, manual testing, delayed integrations, and large batch releases create friction that no amount of Scrum can solve. The team discusses how Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) help organizations reduce risk, accelerate feedback, improve quality, and create the conditions for real flow.Whether you're leading software teams, driving Agile transformation, or navigating the complexities of regulated industries like medical devices, this episode offers practical insights into building systems that support faster, more reliable delivery.*In this episode:*✅ Why Agile transformations often miss the real problem✅ How engineering systems impact flow metrics✅ The hidden cost of manual testing and large releases✅ Why CI/CD is no longer optional for modern teams✅ Practical ways to start improving delivery today✅ The surprising value of "boring" deployments"You don't have a Scrum problem. You have a pipeline problem."*About agilityIRL*agilityIRL helps organizations improve business outcomes by combining Agile principles, systems thinking, leadership development, and practical execution. We specialize in helping teams navigate complexity, improve flow, and deliver value faster—especially in regulated environments.🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on Agile, leadership, product development, flow metrics, organizational effectiveness, and MedTech innovation.#AgilityIRL #Agile #DevOps #CICD #SoftwareEngineering #FlowMetrics #ContinuousDelivery #EngineeringLeadership #DigitalTransformation #MedicalDevices #MedTech

    10 min

  2. Jun 1

    Agile + FDA?

    Can Agile really work in FDA-regulated medical device environments? In this episode of Take Five IRL, Mike Stuedemann and Jeff Lee reflect on their experience at DeviceTalks Boston—one of the largest medical device conferences in the U.S.—and unpack what they heard from medtech leaders about innovation, agility, AI, quality systems, and the future of product development in regulated environments. From customer-centered development and rapid iteration to FDA compliance and AI-enabled documentation tools, this conversation explores how medical device organizations are adapting to an increasingly fast-paced and complex world. Key topics include: • Can Agile work in medical device and FDA-regulated environments?• Why medtech leaders are rethinking traditional stage-gated development• The role of AI in design controls, traceability, and documentation• Breaking down silos between Quality, PMO, R&D, and leadership teams• Lessons learned from DeviceTalks Boston and real conversations with medtech organizations• A real-world case study with Smith+Nephew on iterative delivery in regulated environments Whether you're in medical devices, medtech leadership, product development, quality, PMO, software, or engineering, this episode offers practical insights into how organizations can move faster—without sacrificing compliance. 🎙️ About Take Five IRLTake Five IRL is a podcast from AgilityIRL focused on leadership, agility, organizational transformation, and helping teams perform better in the real world. 👉 Subscribe for more conversations on Agile, leadership, medtech transformation, and high-performing teams. #MedTech #MedicalDevice #Agile #FDA #Leadership #BusinessAgility #HealthcareInnovation

    16 min
  3. Why Enterprise Teams Keep Building the Wrong Thing (Even with Agile)

    May 27

    Why Enterprise Teams Keep Building the Wrong Thing (Even with Agile)

    🚨 Your teams are delivering faster… but are they building the *right* thing?Too many enterprise organizations treat product discovery like a phase — something completed at the beginning before teams disappear for months building solutions based on assumptions.That’s a problem.In this episode of the Take Five IRL Podcast, Mike Studema and Jeff Lee break down why continuous discovery is essential for modern product teams and why many enterprises struggle to get it right.Faster delivery won’t save your product if you’re solving the wrong problem.In this episode, we cover:✅ Why most enterprises stop learning too early✅ Why treating discovery like a phase creates risk and waste✅ How Agile teams can improve customer feedback loops✅ The connection between delivery flow and product discovery✅ Why MedTech and regulated organizations struggle with phases✅ How AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are changing rapid prototyping✅ Practical ways to test ideas before making expensive investmentsWhether you're leading product development, software delivery, agile transformation, MedTech innovation, engineering, or enterprise teams, this episode explores how to improve continuous discovery, product outcomes, delivery predictability, and customer value**.⏱️ Key takeaway:**It’s not about moving faster — it’s about moving in the right direction.**🎧 Listen on:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube💬 What’s your experience?Are enterprise teams too focused on delivery speed and not focused enough on discovery?#ContinuousDiscovery #Agile #ProductManagement #EnterpriseAgility #MedTech #SoftwareDevelopment #ProductLeadership #DigitalTransformation #Leadership #AgilityIRL

    10 min

  4. May 22

    Flow Metrics Won't Save Your Product

    🚨 Flow metrics won’t save your product.Cycle time is improving. Throughput is up. Your dashboards are green.But what if your team is just getting better at building the wrong thing?In this episode of the Take5IRL Podcast, agilityIRL partners Mike Stuedemann and Jeff Lee unpack one of the biggest misconceptions in Agile delivery: the belief that improving flow metrics automatically leads to better product outcomes.Flow metrics matter—but speed alone doesn’t equal value.In this episode, we discuss:✔ Why faster delivery doesn’t always mean better outcomes✔ The difference between **output vs. outcomes**✔ Why organizations confuse activity with progress✔ How poor product direction undermines delivery improvements✔ What leaders should measure alongside cycle time and throughputIf your teams are improving delivery metrics but still struggling to create meaningful business impact, this conversation is for you.💬 What do you think: Can strong flow metrics hide poor product strategy?📌 Subscribe for practical Agile insights grounded in real-world delivery.#Agile #ProductManagement #FlowMetrics #Scrum #ProductDevelopment #AgileLeadership #Leadership #BusinessAgility

    8 min

  5. May 6

    Episode 96: Why Agile Fails

    🎙️ On this episode of the Take5IRL Podcast, all three co-hosts—@Mike, @Jeff, and @Pat—tackle a big one: Agile Failure. Why does it happen… and more importantly, how do you fix it? The conversation gets real fast. Most Agile transformations don’t fail at the team level—they fail at the executive and system level. When organizations try to layer Agile on top of project-based thinking and legacy structures, things break. Mike, Jeff, and Pat dig into what actually needs to shift—from mindset to operating models—and why success requires more than just adopting ceremonies or frameworks. If your organization is struggling to make Agile stick, this episode calls out the hard truths and gives you practical things to consider before your transformation stalls out. What have you seen cause Agile to fail? Drop your thoughts below.

    11 min

  6. Apr 7

    Episode 95: Getting to "Done"- Micro Case Study

    🎙️ On this episode of the Take5IRL Podcast, @Mike and @Jeff dive into a real-world case from the medical device space where a traditionally hardware-focused organization began shifting toward software-driven product development. With teams coming from different backgrounds, they needed a new way to frame work, align mindsets, and actually function as a cohesive unit. Mike and Jeff share how they guided leadership through that transformation, helping bridge the gap between traditional approaches and modern Agile practices. One of the biggest challenges? The team wasn’t getting to done every sprint. Through hands-on coaching, they worked with the team to clearly define what “done” meant in their context, and adapt their processes to fit both their team and the realities of the regulated medical device industry. Tune in to hear how this team moved through the “emotional storms” of change and how consistently getting to done every sprint became a turning point in their success.

    13 min

  7. Mar 24

    Episode 94: S*** We Hate About Agile Pt 3: Velocity

    🎙️ On this episode of the Take5IRL Podcast, all three co-hosts—@Mike, @Jeff, and @Pat—continue the series S*** We Hate About Agile: Velocity! Pat brings this one to the table as they come full circle in the series. He shares how he started his career loving velocity… but after years of real-world experience, his perspective has completely changed. And yes—he’s got a few things to get off his chest. Mike and Jeff jump in with their own experiences, and the conversation quickly shifts from why velocity causes problems to how to avoid falling into the same traps. If you’ve ever felt like velocity created more confusion than clarity, this one’s for you. And stick around—Pat shares what he recommends instead of opening the can of worms that is velocity. Drop your thoughts below—has velocity helped your team, or hurt it?

    8 min

  8. Mar 10

    Episode 93: S*** We Hate About Agile Pt 2: Story Points

    🎙️ On this episode of the Take5IRL Podcast, all three co-hosts—@Mike, @Jeff, and @Pat continuing the series of S*** We Hate About Agile: Story Point Edition! Mike opens with a hot take: while he appreciates the theory behind story points, the real-world application often falls apart. In his words… SUCKS! He even floats the idea of replacing them entirely with hours. Jeff pushes the conversation deeper, pointing out that when teams obsess over the number, they miss the real purpose of story points—relative sizing. Pat rounds out the discussion by highlighting the difference between coaches who rigidly follow the book and those who customize approaches to fit the organization or team in front of them. The episode wraps with Mike offering a practical, usable approach to relative sizing that teams can actually apply. We stepped up on the soapbox for this one. Now it’s your turn—drop your war stories of story points gone wrong in the comments. And tell us: what other Agile concepts need a little validation (or a little venting)? #Take5IRL #AgilityIRL #StoryPoints #AgileCoaching #Scrum #AgileTransformation #RelativeSizing #AgileLeadership #BusinessAgility #LeanAgile #AgileCommunity

    9 min
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About

Our product vision for take5IRL is to provide members of the Agile community with an idea that they can incorporate into their daily lives to make them more effective. In every episode, Jeff Lee and Mike Stuedemann share Scrum wisdom that will enhance your Scrum Team, overall organization, and most importantly- your leadership skills. Tune in every week for Agile insights in 5 minutes and gain applicable tips to improve your organizations, teams, and life.

Information

  • Creator
    agilityIRL
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © agilityIRL
  • Show Website
    take5IRL Podcast