Posts tagged as:

Scrum Master

Agile Coaches as Transformation Agents

May 29, 2011

In this short video, I’m interviewed by Joseph Flahiff about agile coaches as transformation agents.  In it, I articulate why agile coaches are already transformation agents (whether or not they recognize it), why it makes sense for coaches to be in the transformation business and how an awareness of key competencies can aid their development [...]

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Agile Team Start-up: one of the first agile adoption activities

August 30, 2009

The session I offered on Agile Team Start-up at Agile 2009 went over so well that people stayed after the session to learn one more start-up technique.  That’s dedication! In the session, we explored activities that help an agile coach start-up a new team (or kick-start an existing team) through three broad areas: Learning about [...]

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Powerful Questions and Powerful Requests

August 30, 2009

Tobias Mayer and I gave a session at Agile 2009 in the last time slot of the last day entitled Human-Centric Coaching.  It had been a long, exciting, skills-filled, exhausting conference.  We noticed that people were walking around either filled up or fed up.  Overloaded.  So, we slowed it down. We gave the session a [...]

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What is agile coaching?

July 28, 2009

Coaching is an artful conversation in which the coach helps the coachee see new perspectives and possibilities so they can take the next step in their personal and professional growth.  In the context of agile teams, coaching takes on the dual flavor of coaching and mentoring.  Yes, you are coaching to help someone reach for [...]

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How will we ever address all those big impediments?

June 30, 2009

It doesn’t take long to see that the biggest blockers for agile teams have nothing to do with the team.  They have everything to do with the surrounding organization.  Things like the company’s rules, processes, procedures (aka red tape and bureaucratic run arounds).  These are exactly the things that companies say they want agile teams [...]

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Stay connected to what you care about

April 29, 2009

Let’s say that an important retrospective is happening tomorrow, one that could change the team in big ways. You have prepared well. You are ready. Now all you have to do is wait for the morning to come. You could lay awake all night thinking of the many things they might say and what you [...]

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Using the Values Tree to Guide Teams Toward High Performance

January 29, 2009

Metaphor is a powerful thing. “I’m the glue that holds this family together.” “I’m the pebble in your shoe, reminding you to tread lightly.” “I am a thousand candles lighting the way.” “I am a bird soaring above it all.” Coaches have known this for a long time.  In fact, using metaphor is a skill [...]

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You like me, you really like me!

October 17, 2008

The comments on my first-ever article published in the Agile Journal have me feeling like Sally Field at the Academy Awards when she gushed, “You like me, you really like me!”  I am so gratified that my words are useful and thought-provoking.  The comments on the article make it clear that this is, happily, the [...]

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The Road from Project Manager to Agile Coach on YouTube

April 30, 2008

See the video, with narration, called “The Road from Project Manager to Agile Coach” on YouTube. It is in two parts of about 10 minutes each (Part1, Part 2).  It’s a re-recording of the talk portion of a workshop given at the Scrum Gathering in Chicago in April 2008. The workshop starts off breaking mindsets with [...]

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Radical Thoughts from a Project Manager Turned Agile Coach

January 12, 2008

In the Pecha Kucha style, here is my first YouTube video.  Here’s the lead-in:  Some of the things that were key to my success as a plan-driven project manager are exactly the things that spell doom for an Agile team — or, at least, a high-performing Agile team. And, some of the things Agile teams [...]

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