Agile Disrupted

Agile Disrupted

For the people in the trenches of #Agile, where voices are heard and stories are shared.

  1. 04/04/2023

    Requirements Gathering or Gospel

    It’s not discovery. It’s discoveries. If you were asked, how does the company you work for make money? Break it down. Whether it’s an early startup living off of seed funding or a corporate empire running multi-billion dollar enterprises across the globe, what part do you play in helping your company thrive as a business?  Some responses might be, “Beats me. But who cares? I’m getting paid.” For how long? It all comes down to that, doesn’t it? Money.  Businesses will fight until their last dying breath to stay invincible in a market that never stops shifting. As Alexander Osterwalder, CEO of Strategyzer, simply puts it, “business models are like containers of yogurt in a fridge with an expiration date.” What evidence can we rely on as indicators of progress that the companies we work for will thrive throughout the test of time? Or even the next decade? Or the next meeting? Let’s think about: Is it more important to gather requirements on how to build a product or service that isn’t supported by strong evidence of demand or usability?  When do Business Requirements Documents (BRD) expire?  When do Assumption Maps expire?  What risks come with falling in love with your first idea of a solution to a systemic problem experienced by the business?  Do our habits of Problem-Solution Fit make us complacent in delaying evidence around Product-Market Fit before scaling to Business Model Market Fit? How often is Software Research & Design (R&D) funded to validate new business ideas before building them for the mass public? Do our habits of peak efficiency limit us in uncovering opportunities & solutions for effectiveness for the same outcome? Does a company that began in Software Research & Design (R&D) share the same measure of variability with a company that began in a PMO?  What does uncertainty look like for a company that carries products and services dependent on both Software Research & Design (R&D) and a PMO? Does our disdain for the risks that come with a PMO make us dismissive in understanding the organization design of how a company makes money? What happens when both good business ideas and bad business ideas get funded in a company?  What risks do we experience as a business when we pivot and when we persevere, but never to kill a bad business idea? Does a company become invincible through the confidence of its leaders claiming certainty around the existing products and services that have given financial security up until now, or is it through the leaders who never stopped being entrepreneurs, that carry the conviction to navigate the uncertainty that comes with running a business? The dichotomy remains.  Find out with newest guest Thomas Schaefer and the return of guest speaker Kaelin Burns, as we uncover what happens when we get caught up in the art of product, but lose sight of the science of business 🔥

  2. 11/29/2022

    Definition of Progress

    Is failing fast effective or reckless, especially without understanding the pattern that led to the failure to begin with? We create goals. We call them outcomes. We call them objectives. We measure key performance indicators on reaching these goals. We reach these goals to continuously improve. We continuously improve to reach our personal vision. We recruit others to join us in a shared vision. We get there together. We arrive. That’s the plan, right? Are we more susceptible to enrolling into someone else’s personal vision of the future in avoidance of our own introspection of what we really want? Are we more susceptible to being compliant, or even apathetic, towards a shared vision that’s forced upon us? Sometimes we formalize our goals at work and sometimes we disregard them in our personal lives. Every day, we wake up to a blank canvas of possibilities and obstacles towards these goals. Every day is a lottery, ‘because cause and effect is not closely related in time and space,’ as Peter Senge explains it in Laws of System Thinking. Time isn’t as linear as much as we understand it to be, and yet it is our impulse to respond accordingly. It is our impulse to create solutions for yesterday’s problems. It is our impulse to diagnose symptoms, so that we might avoid the hard truth of the patterns behind ‘the structures that might hold us prisoner.’ Given the limitations of cognitive load, our mental model alone can’t possibly contain every element of the butterfly effect. But the commitment that comes with seeking the truth means we discover how we are co-creating our own reality today and what we’re willing to do to generate the results we want. So, ask yourself. What progress have you made this year? Is progress more focused on reaching your goals based on the set of conditions you designed for yourself in January or compounding interest on your learning milestones? If you were to do innovation accounting on your goals for the past five years, what would that teach you about your patterns? If an Agile team were to do innovation accounting on the products and services they support, what would that teach them? If holding creative tension towards a personal vision is difficult for the individual by default, what might that look like for an Agile team holding creative tension for achieving their Product vision? How often does an Agile team have a Product vision that is connected to the shared vision of the company? How often is an Agile team allowed the opportunity to understand how the company operates as a business, in order to create meaning out its shared vision? If a shared vision for an Agile team means each person sees the same picture of success for their Product, how might an entire company of employees share a vision together? What happens when the vision of the Product, the vision of the Portfolio/Program, and the vision of the company are three different pictures? What happens when the incentive structure for the employee, for the Agile team, for the Portfolio/Program, and the company as a whole don’t match? Is learning how we co-create our own reality a source of limitation or is reality simply a medium that we are bringing to life each day through our choices? Find out with the return of guest speaker David A. Brown, and our newest guest speaker Patrick Mercurio.

  3. 09/26/2022

    Change My Habits

    “It’s a #mindset.” Is it though?  Do old #habits really die hard, or are we dying each day with them?  Let’s think about the #narrative we tell ourselves in the perpetual struggle to form new habits and the struggle to break bad ones.  “I’ll do better tomorrow. Today is not the day.”  “I’ll do better next month. This month was a lot.”  “I’ll do better next year. This year was just too much.”  Our habits and behaviors are tied to how we identify ourselves each day and it is when we confront our #identity, we begin to see significant #change in who we want to become. It all starts with our #choices.  So, what about a living #system of individuals carrying habits and behaviors that represent the identity of a corporation? Let’s dig deeper.  Is the identity of an Agile team the sum of its team members or an identity that is #enforced on them by the company?  What are the habits and behaviors of an #Agile team that is learning together vs. not learning together?  If old habits die hard for an individual, how hard is it for an Agile team of individuals to form new habits or break old ones?  How often are the habits and behaviors of an Agile team a representation of its identity or a response to the #ecosystem it lives in?  What are the habits and behaviors of a company that is #dysfunctional vs. #dynamic?  What do the habits and behaviors of a company tell us about their organizational design?  If no single individual or entity within a company is holding you #accountable to a specific change, how likely are you to relapse into old habits of an organizational structure that didn’t get updated?  What are habits and behaviors of a company that is #learning vs. a company repeating the same routines hoping for a different #outcome?  If old habits die hard for an individual, how hard is it for a company of individuals to form new habits and break old ones?  If a company has simply changed its #strategy, its #people, without changing its #financial structures, #incentive structures, or #operational processes, can the habits of company that’s been thriving on waste truly evolve or be held prisoner of an unchanged system?  If dysfunctional patterns of habits and behaviors are evident #signals alone, are companies willing to confront their identity crisis to welcome positive change, when it’s hard enough to do as an individual? 🔥  Find out with the return of guest speaker David A. Brown and newest guest speakers Jennifer Burkle, and Kristina Stroud as we uncover mental models, where our habits come from, and what the possibilities could be.

  4. 08/13/2022

    SAFe to Fail

    So, is it really SAFe to Fail? Let’s dig deeper… What systemic problems do organizations face to consider adopting Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)? What kind of financial structure supports SAFe? What kind of incentive structure supports SAFe? How much variability and ambiguity of the work does SAFe allow? What measure of adaptiveness does SAFe allow, if we were to count the number of transaction costs and switching costs required to complete the work? Are we truly increasing customer value, if the lead time in a SAFe portfolio/program is unspeakably long, the measure of adaptiveness is low, while the portfolio/program is inflated with specialization of roles? What influences (or diminishes) psychological safety in a SAFe model? What are common dysfunctional behaviors of teams in a SAFe model? Is failure defined as a missed deadline, a missed PI objective, or a missed customer opportunity? Is SAFe the problem or the lack of understanding the design of the organization itself? Is SAFe the problem or an organization's learning disability of its own business model and achieving what’s needed to stay market relevant? Tune into the Season 3 premiere with the return of guest speaker, Matt Miller, and newest guest speaker, 🙎🏼‍♂️ V. Lee Henson - Certified Scrum Trainer, as we uncover what psychological safety looks like in a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) model and the dichotomy of success and failure.

  5. 12/31/2021

    Disrupters Assemble

    What better way to end 2021 than the much anticipated Season 2 Finale: Disrupters Assemble. With nothing short of profound introspection and prolific disruption. Agile Disrupted brings back major speakers, David A. Brown, John Augustin, Matt Miller, and Jason Kerney from Season 2 for one last showdown called #ChangeMyMind on these eight topics: Season 2, Episode 1: Psychology of Product An Agile team will claim success by meeting their “Definition of Done” and delivering a Product that no one uses Season 2, Episode 2: Scrum Master of None When a Scrum Master can’t hold themselves accountable for their own craft, they fail to hold their teams accountable Season 2, Episode 3: Definition of NOT Ready Without validation practices provided by Definition of Ready, we fail to identify good ideas from the bad ones that results in an inflated Product. Season 2, Episode 4: WIP or Whipped? WIP limits alone won’t help undone work or a fragment team Season 2, Episode 5: Agilist in Wonderland, a Fragile Transformation Story An Agile Transformation alone won’t fix the problems an org is having with their software releases. It will only expose it. Season 2, Episode 6: Ghosted Ghosting only serves the person or the company in the act alone, without any regard towards the victim being impacted. Season 2, Episode 7: Hard Conversations People will be in denial of a problem or conflict to avoid a hard conversation Season 2, Episode 8: Ugh Agile Interviews, Recruiters Edition An organization’s obsession with present needs will poorly influence their ability to hire talent for the future Tune into the Season 2 Finale with speakers David Brown, John Augustine, Matt Miller, and Jason Kerney find out how the disrupters assembled. 🔥

    Disrupters Assemble

  6. 11/23/2021

    Ugh, Agile Interviews - Recruiters Edition

    Agile Interviews. Enough said.  When it comes to the organizations that carry their own perception of what being Agile means, in accordance to their own business model, their own operating model, their own cultural values & principles and ultimately their own brand, how can we be certain that we are being matched appropriately? We don't.  Until the actual interview begins with our hiring manager, it is an uncertainty we sit with. The uncertainty of what this manager is going to do with our future as soon as it's in his/her hands. The uncertainty of joining an organization without actually knowing what you signed up for, despite what you learned within a few hours of having a conversation with a stranger, or perhaps a couple of strangers. If the argument is to embrace change and embrace impermanence of any present state we are in, are we hiring people as they are now? Or are we hiring for the inevitability of who they will become? Are we hiring to help others feel confident in their own future, because we, as leaders, see the future with abundance and absolute clarity.  What happens when an organization is uncertain about the future they are hiring for and can't speak to it in an Agile interview? What happens when an organization is uncertain about the role descriptions they are hiring for while being in the process of a Fragile Transformation? What happens when an organization's misperception of Agile results in hiring the wrong Agile professionals? What happens when an organization's misperception of Product results in hiring the wrong Product professionals? What happens when an organization hires for a specific culture fit that ultimately leads to culture cliques? What happens when a hiring manager prioritizes filling a gap versus investing in talent retention? What assumptions and biases exist in the hiring process for Agile professionals, especially from the hiring managers? Do we really uncover the organization's values and principles in the interview alone? Have you ever been ghosted by a recruiter? What happens when a recruiter sets up a candidate for failure at a prospective organization? When does a recruiter really go above and beyond? Are we at the mercy of an organization's open requisitions and their recruiting agencies, or can we change the narrative by uncovering the belief systems that support the organization's values & principles by asking the right questions?  Find out with newest guest speakers Jose Mata, and Dionna Steed as they share what it takes to find talent in a market that truly is impermanent.

    Ugh, Agile Interviews - Recruiters Edition

  7. 11/01/2021

    Hard Conversations

    Two words: Hard. Conversations.  When comes to all the professional & personal relationships that fill our lives with fulfillment, or perhaps even dread, do we really accept the responsibility of conflict management? Do we live by the values and principles we carry, especially when conflict arises? Do people avoid hard conversations out of cowardice? Do people avoid hard conversations out of complacency? Do people avoid hard conversations out of convenience? Do people avoid hard conversations out of privilege? Are we in denial of the problem that exists in order to avoid a hard conversation? Are we always ready to provide or receive a hard conversation? Do we statistically remember the worst fights over the greatest milestones in a relationship due to the emotional scars it left behind? When you avoid a hard conversation, does anyone really win? What element of risk and uncertainty holds us back from having hard conversations? How regularly do we practice trust in ourselves in order to value the trust in others? Do we overestimate how well we communicate and promote transparency? Do we inflate the hard conversation to be bigger in our heads than it actually is? Does the relationship carry any substance without prior experiences of conflict? Are we compromising more often than collaborating in our relationships? We are truly tested as humans by the decisions we make and its impact to others. We live with our decisions each day. So, is the hard conversation intended for someone else, or is it intended for ourselves? 🔥 Find out with the return of guest speakers, Joshua Mauldin and Emmanuel Wiggins, as well as, newest guest speaker, Jason Kerney, in our special two-part mini series "Corporate Horror & Trauma: Hard Conversations," as we face the hard decisions that come with having the hard conversations that imprint our lives.

    Hard Conversations

  8. 10/26/2021

    Ghosted

    Tis the season to be horrific and ghoulish, let's talk about corporate horror & trauma. Have you ever been ghosted by a company before Corporate ghosting is when a company completely cuts off all forms of corporate communication with you without prior notice or explanation. Plot twist: this can happen to absolutely any professional in their career. Why does corporate ghosting happen? What stopped a supervisor from having one hard conversation to their employee and sparing them a lifetime of trauma? What happens to all the relationships that an employee built in the organization after being ghosted? How does being ghosted by a company affect an employee's ability to trust their next hiring manager again? How does being ghosted by a company affect an employee's ability to build relationships again at their next company? Does one supervisor's decision to ghost an employee not affect the rest of the employees reporting to him/her? How does ghosting one employee ensure the psychological safety of the peers of that employee? Can a company's culture be salvaged when ghosting employees becomes an acceptable norm? What precedent does corporate ghosting set for new hires at a company? Where is the trust, integrity, transparency, and courage that companies seek from their people, if it's not shown by example? How is corporate trauma any different from the personal trauma that results from being ghosted? How does the human mind respond to a trauma it cannot process or find closure in? Is there awareness of the damaging consequences that corporate ghosting brings to an employee or is it not that important? To what magnitude do you start questioning yourself and your self worth to fully process the very act of being ghosted? Does the memory of being ghosted by a company truly fade away or does it stay with you until the test of time? Would you have changed the narrative of your time with a company knowing that you were going to get ghosted in the end? Is a company's decision to ghost their employee a necessary cruelty that could've been avoided by providing one exit conversation? 🔥 Find out with the return of guest speakers Joshua Mauldin and Emmanuel Wiggins in our special two-part mini series "Corporate Horror & Trauma: Ghosted," as we disrupt the very act of corporate ghosting and what it does to any hardworking professional trying to make a difference.

    Ghosted
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About

For the people in the trenches of #Agile, where voices are heard and stories are shared.

Information

  • Creator
    Agile Disrupted
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2023
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Agile Disrupted
  • Show Website
    Agile Disrupted