Agile and Project Management - DrunkenPM Radio

With each new round of layoffs, the existential crisis facing the agile coaching community deepens. Alan Dayley joins me to discuss how the community is retrospecting on this moment and whether or not it is asking the right questions. Over the past year, a number of high-profile organizations have made a decision to let go of their agile coaches. The impact of that choice on those organizations will become apparent in time. The impact on the coaches, however, has been more immediate. In this episode of the podcast, I am joined by Alan Dayley for a conversation about how the agile coaching community has responded to this existential crisis. With all the current conversations about whether or not Agile is dying, or how coaches could make the value they add more obvious to the organization, but there is very little discussion about the systems and environment that led to the decision to get rid of the coaches I'm the first place. What were these organizations trying to achieve and did they actually get it? Have they reached a level of agility that no longer requires the help of a coach? Is it just change fatigue? Alan and I dig into these topics throughout the conversation. This interview is also available in video. You can find that version here: https://youtu.be/TZ2KoSzkEB8 Contacting Alan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alandd/ X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/DayleyAgile Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@adayley

Louder Than Ten is a Vancouver-based Project Management Training and Consulting company. L>10 was founded by Rachel and Travis Gertz, and for the past 14 years, everything they have done has been centered around fostering healthy and humane ways of working together and managing projects. There aren’t many organizations in the digital agency space that have taken the time to develop their own project management manifesto. It is truly a unique place and now, as they do, Rachel and Travis have cranked up the volume just a scosche higher by converting their company into a Worker Owned Cooperative. This means that folks who have been working with them for a long time (like Abby Fretz: https://on.soundcloud.com/H6TJq) as well as new employees who join Louder than Ten will have an option to purchase a stake in the company and become an equal partner. This is a far cry from the sweatshop grind-it-out approach that many agencies take and it is definitely unique in the context of what is happening in the field of project management today. In this episode of the podcast, Rachel and Travis join me to talk about what led to this decision, why they made it, and what it means for the future of Louder Than Ten. This podcast was originally recorded with video. You can find that version here: https://youtu.be/mFLfeDYhgE0 If you’d like to learn more about how to turn a business into a worker owned coop, here are some links: Worker Cooperative - Wikipedia Entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_cooperative Canadian Worker Cooperative Federation: https://canadianworker.coop/ United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives: https://www.usworker.coop/en/ Democracy at Work: https://institute.coop/ Contacting Rachel and Travis Web: https://louderthanten.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louderthanten/ Rachel LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rachel-gertz-trainer Travis LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/travisgertz

Learn how Knorr-Bremse uses Personal Kanban to kickstart agile transformation, focusing on individual agile mindset before team integration. Discover the unique challenges of applying agile to hardware development. Dive into the journey of continuous learning and evolution in agile practices within teams.

Getting people to open up to one another and connect at work is not an easy thing. It wasn’t easy before the world went remote, and now that many of us are somewhere in the middle of being half remote and half in-person, it’s not getting any easier. But if we can get to know each other a little better and a little deeper, we will foster stronger connections. As we become more invested in one another, the work we do together will improve as a result. Together To Gather is a card game developed by Lia James from &Human and Jessie Shternshus from the Improv Effect to help leverage the power of great questions to inspire meaningful conversations. If you are looking for a really fun way to build deeper relationships with your team members or any group of people you interact with, you should definitely check out this interview. During our conversation, Jessie, Lia, and I talk about how and why the game works and discuss different use cases for it. You can even watch us play a few rounds and learn one of the reasons I was so bad at working in a recording studio. This interview was originally recorded using video. If you'd prefer to watch the video version, you can find it here: https://youtu.be/YvfqASg2EhI You can find more about Together To Gather Here: Web: https://tinyurl.com/bdht73yu Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/togethertogather/ Connecting with Lia Web: https://www.andhuman.space LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liajames/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liajames Email: lia@liajames.com Connecting with Jessie Web: https://improveffect.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessie-shternshus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheImprovEffect/ Email: jessie@improveffect.com

Zach Stone, an AI expert, discusses the potential impact of AI on Scrum Masters and agileists. He explores the applications of AI in project management and emphasizes the importance of finesse and personal interaction in agile roles. The chapter also explores the potential implications of using AI to analyze team performance.

Times are weird in the land of Agile. More and more big companies are letting go of the people they’ve brought on to help them adopt agile practices, or replacing their Scrum Masters with Technical Program Managers, or creating a homegrown version of Agile by taking an established framework and bailing on the practices they don’t like. Is this just business accepting that what they’ve been trying to do for the past 10+ years was just too hard, have they achieved a level of agility that they are happy with, or have they decided to place different bets on what it will take to carry them into the future? In this episode of the podcast, Jesse Fewell joins me to explore different ideas about what is happening, why it is happening, and what this means for people who’ve spent years trying to establish a career in agile.  The conversation came about as a result of a post Jesse made on LinkedIn. He’s doing research on the topic and I asked him to join me to talk through some of the ideas. If you have stories to share, he’d love to hear from you. You can find his original LinkedIn post here: https://bit.ly/3EjRUf9 Towards the end of the podcast we also discuss a question that came up in one of my CSM/CSPO Lean Coffees: If you are hired as a Scrum Master into a mostly waterfall organization that still has traditional project managers, and the engineers are trying to treat you like a secretary, how do you establish your role and the value you can provide? Contacting Jesse Untapped Agility on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3PnjPBr Untapped Agility Website: https://untappedagility.com/ Jesse’s Site: https://jessefewell.com Jesse’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JesseFewell LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessefewell/ Email: jesse@fewellinnovation.com

Jardena London is on a mission. After spending years helping organizations transform, adopt agile, and achieve business agility she realized there was something missing. Soul. Yes, change was happening, but at what expense? Were people any more able to bring their whole selves to work, authentically show up, rise to the challenge of the day, and fully contribute themselves to the work? Mostly, not so much. And that is what led her to shift her focus to helping create soulful transformation within an organization. This led to a book “Cultivating Transformations: A Leader’s Guide to Connecting the Soulful and the Practical” and her newly launched community Transformational Leader Community which is the primary focus of our conversation. During this interview, we talk about what Jardena means by “soulful”, how it is different from what many people experience during their normal work, and how the change has to occur on three levels, the me, the we, and the system. If you'd prefer to watch a video of this interview https://youtu.be/zOa4IZT_V2c Join the Transformational Leader Community https://learning.cultivatingtransformations.com/ Read Jardena’s book Cultivating Transformations: A Leader’s Guide to Connecting the Soulful and the Practical https://bit.ly/3QB72fo Links from the interview - 5 Steps to Soul https://www.rosettaagile.com/resources - Inner Workings - Pixar short about happiness at work https://vimeo.com/270992364 - Brave New Work - Aaron Dignan https://amzn.to/440LJHn - The Responsibility Process - Christopher Avery https://amzn.to/47o5AD6 - 4 Stages to Psychological Safety - Tim Clark https://amzn.to/47fnKqR Contacting Jardena - CultivatingTransformations.com https://www.cultivatingtransformations.com/ - RosettaAgile.com https://www.rosettaagile.com/ - JardenaLondon.com https://www.jardenalondon.com/

Agile 2023 is almost here! Mark Kilby, Tim Nolan, and I are putting the final touches on our session Tuning Your Distributed Team with a Right Environment Exercise. We are looking forward to sharing some of the things we learned in Modus Cooperandi’s Lean Agile Visual Management Certification program. The workshop will be held at Agile 2023 on Tuesday, July 25th from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. This video gives an overview of our workshop and some of the key concepts we will be covering with the participants. If you are attending the conference for the first time, it can be a rough week so we've also got tips for how to get the most out of the conference and how to best survive the week. This was originally recorded in video. You can find that version here:https://youtu.be/FKwIETj0xzM

Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the Agile and Project Management space has become a conversation most of us are now having daily. There are a number of products already on the market and more coming every hour. In the same way that several years ago everyone had an app, now everyone wants to have a product leveraging AI. Snehal Talati, the AI Agile guy, has an app he’s been working on, but he’s also working on something bigger… the question of how we will use AI, responsibly, to not just replicate the things we can already do, but help us advance the way we understand and approach work. In this interview, Snehal joins me to talk about https://www.aiagile.org. This is a community he has founded to start a conversation with four goals: - Develop principles and practices for human-centric AI - Learn and share how AI augments Agile methods to serve people - Pioneer an adaptive, collaborative model for progress - Ensure diversity and ethics in creating new tech During our conversation we talk about where AI is headed, what is happening to the job market, and how we can “reimagine agile” in a way that leverages the power of AI and Agile Principles to create another revolution in the world of work. Note: Towards the end of the interview Snehal generously offers a 10% discount on a course but unfortunately I did not finish editing the interview until after the course had run. Instead, he's offering a 10% discount on his ChatGPT Agile Mastery Workshop Series. All you have to do to receive the discount is use the promo code drunkenpm when you sign up here: https://www.boostaro.com/new-micro-certifications. Links from the podcast: AI Agile: https://www.aiagile.org/ Agile GPT: https://www.agilegpt.com/ ChatGPT: https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt Spinach.io: https://www.spinach.io/ Socratic: https://socraticworks.com Contacting Snehal: Web: https://www.boostaro.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/snehal-talati-124a38b6/

Johanna Rothman is one of my favorite people to interview and in this episode, she’s back to talk about her new book Successful Independent Consulting: Relationships That Focus on Mutual Benefit. The book is full of insights and practical tips not just for consultants but anyone looking to establish themself and make their presence known in their profession. The conversation also covers the book she published last year, Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer: Educate, Influence, and Entertain Your Readers because a big part of making your presence known is making sure your voice is heard. What's great about Johanna's books is that they are full of practical answers to the questions you show up with. But in reading Successful Independent Consulting I found it was also addressing the questions I hadn't figured out how to articulate yet, and the questions I didn't realize I was hiding from. She sent me an ebook version of Successful Independent Consulting to prep for the interview, and I was making so many notes in my Kindle that I had to order a hard copy as well, just so I could keep it all straight. During the interview, she shares some stories and examples of the challenges she faced in consulting and how she has overcome them. Whether you work in consulting or are just trying to carve out a space for yourself in the company you work for, you'll get a lot of value out of this conversation and her new book. I can't recommend the book enough. The advice she shares is already having a deep impact on how I approach my work. This podcast is also available in a video format: https://youtu.be/-H8F873dD10 The Books: Successful Independent Consulting: Relationships That Focus on Mutual Benefit https://bit.ly/3PODNFO Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer: Educate, Influence, and Entertain Your Readers https://bit.ly/3PRZmoP Contacting Johanna Web: https://www.jrothman.com Amazon: https://bit.ly/44wqwWm Leanpub: https://leanpub.com/u/johannarothman LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/johannarothman