Agile for Humans with Ryan Ripley and Todd Miller

Hosts Ryan Ripley and  Zach Bonaker Discussion Zach is an independent consultant who recently posted a provocative article called: “The Subversion of Agile: Agile is a Cancer”. We discussed his post, talked about what the cancer is in the community that needs to be removed about posts from others in the community about the “death of Agile”. We moved on to what Agile in a business language would look like – agile base patterns – and he shared some ideas that he and Dan Greening have been contemplating. We discussed the 5 pillars of an agile organization, which include: Measure economic progress Experiment Limit work in progress Embrace collective responsibility Solve systemic problems From there the discussion pivoted to top down vs. bottom up agile transformations. We discuss how they work, the pitfalls of each, and our personal experiences with trying to help organizations adopt agile. Of course I found a way to bring up agile management. We added a few more books to Don’s book club, talked about the difficulty of filling the role of the product owner, and then…called it a night. Zach was a great guest who I hope becomes a regular contributor to the podcast. He recently posted a follow-up to his original post called “Agile Cancer: Stop Whining and Cure It” which has expanded the conversation, set off a few flame wars, and provoked some important conversations about our industry. Resources, Plugs, and More Ryan – http://agileanswerman.com Management 3.0 by Jurgen Appelo Drive by Dan Pink Lean Change Management by Jason Little Scrum Product Ownership: Balancing Value from the Inside Out by Bob Galen Zach – https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbonaker Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux Joy Inc. by Richard Sheridan Dan Greening’s Site Agile is Dead – Long Live Agility The post AFH 003: Agile is a Cancer [PODCAST] appeared first on Ryan Ripley.See omny.fm/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agile for Humans is a podcast dedicated to the individuals and interactions that make agile work. Hosts George Dinwiddie, Ryan Ripley, Amitai Schlair Discussion First up was a lively discussion about the life of a consultant. Amitai and George represented the contractor side of the story, while Ryan talked about the full time employee side of the equation. We all agreed that life on the road may not the most glamorous, but the upside can be interesting. We had a quick follow on discussion about whether or not an agile coach needs to have a programming background to be effective. Next the team moved on to the difficult art of facilitating retrospectives. A recent twitter exchange sparked a conversation about whether or not retrospectives were still needed or if teams should just fix issues in real time. We decided that retrospectives are critical to a teams success, but many of today’s retrospectives suck. We shared some thoughts on how to make retros better. We then plugged back in to the management discussion and whether or not the agile community left middle management behind. The overall agile message can be overwhelming to management, but there is still a place for managers that we need to work on communicating in a more effective way. Ryan proved incapable of saying Amitai’s name (AH-MEE-TY), we added more titles to Don’s book club, and then called it night. Resources, Plugs, and More George – http://idiacomputing.com/ The Secrets of Consulting & anything else by Jerry Weinberg Flawless Consulting by Peter Block The Art of Agile Development by James Shore John Cleese explains Dunning-Kruger Ryan – http://agileanswerman.com What Do Managers Control on an Agile Project Amitai – http://www.schmonz.com/ Dunning-Kruger Effect Problem Solving Leadership Agile Gardening Metaphor The post AFH 002: The Life of an Agile Consultant [PODCAST] appeared first on Ryan Ripley.See omny.fm/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I’m excited to share episode one of the “Agile for Humans” podcast. This is a regular podcast hosted by a rotating group of agilists who take on various topics and issues. I’m working on getting a site setup for the podcast, but for now you can find the episodes here and eventually on iTunes. Hosts Don Gray, Mark Kilby, Aaron Kopel, Ryan Ripley Discussion On our inaugural episode the team started off by trying to name this new podcast, however, they eventually moved on. First we discussed Hala Saleh’s talk at Agile Indy 2015 title: My Agile is Better Than Your Agile. Overall the group agreed that empathy and kindness are key ingredients when talking about agile topics. Next the team moved on to the caring and feeding of user groups. Aaron and Mark shared their experiences in this area and provided cautionary tales and solid advice to Ryan, who is looking to start and agile user group in Fort Wayne, IN. Ryan discussed his recent talk at Agile Indy 2015 – Help!!! The Scrum Master IS the Impediment – and talked about the need for scrum masters to inspect and adapt their behaviors to avoid becoming impediments to their team’s success. The team wrapped up with a some light talk about “change” and decided to table that large discussion for next time. Ryan completely butchered the word “cynefin”, Don started a book club, and then we called it a night Resources, Plugs, and More Don – http://www.donaldegray.com/ Coaching Beyond the Team – Workshop co-taught with Esther Derby Humble Inquiry Mindful Coaching Leadership Agility Mark – http://markkilby.com AgileOrlando.com – agile user community in Orlando AgileFlorida.com　- network of agile user groups in Florida AgileOpenFlorida.com　- Open Space for agile practitioners, June 26, St. Petersburg, FL Agile Transformation Summit 2015 – May 28, Ft. Lauderdale Aaron – http://www.projectbrilliant.com Urban Dictionary: Silver Alert Agile Indy Ryan – http://agileanswerman.com Help!!! The Scrum Master IS the Impediment Hala Saleh’s “My Agile is Better than Your Agile” The post AFH 001: My Agile is Better Than Your Agile [PODCAST] appeared first on Ryan Ripley.See omny.fm/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices