In many organization when they decide to do an agile transformation it is typically to do either a process swap or ‘agile’ or scrum for waterfall. Usually this is done with the noble goal of producing ‘business agility’. The transformation should not be about the business, it should be about the people. This misrepresentation is …
Category Archives: leadership
People vs. Resources
Human Resource Management may be the greatest misnomer in the history of all management activities. This statement is not intended as a slight to the professionals who serve organizations by helping to acquire and keep talent, but it is a tacit recognition that we are all human. We are all part of the larger community …
How We Deal With Change
A group of graduate students did a very bizarre experiment. They took lab rats and put them in a tank of water and placed the tank in a totally dark room. They went into the adjoining room and monitored them with video equipment. The rats swam for almost six hours before giving up and drowning. …
What is Servant Leadership?
Last weekend we saw the NFL coaching staff on the sidelines dressed in camouflage and other clothing that celebrated the military, in recognition of the sacrifices made by Veterans as well as to celebrate Veteran’s Day. With the Veteran’s Day in mind, the focus this week is on servant leadership … there is no greater …
Thanksgiving and Agile
Thanksgiving is celebrated this week. The origins of the holiday provide us a great way to view the important work we do every day for delivery of additional value to our customers; internal and external, and how the agile mindset of continuous improvement and learning facilitates that. The story goes: In September 1620, a small …
A Leader That Listens
As I mentioned previously I am a big fan of Leadership Development and studying great leaders. I am also a huge fan of John Maxwell. Here is an excerpt from a Maxwell book: Trust is the foundation of leadership. It is the most important thing. Leaders cannot repeatedly break trust with people and continue to …
The Law of Process and Agile
If you have read my bio, you know that I have spent many years helping companies with solution development processes, specifically in the last 10+ years in Agile. In that time, I have learned many hard lessons, and I have learned some of them many times. I sometimes think I can take short cuts, even …