Agile Mentors Podcast

Join Lance Dacy and Brian Milner as they discuss the use of metrics in an Agile environment to ensure optimal performance without taking things in the wrong direction. Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Lance Dacy joins Brian to delve into the intricacies of utilizing metrics in software development to ensure optimal performance while avoiding incentivizing adverse behaviors. Listen in as he walks us through the three tiers of metrics that are crucial for Agile teams to consider in order to stay on course. He’ll share the tools required to gain a holistic understanding of an individual's performance and how leadership styles and stakeholders influence team-level metrics. Plus, a look at the common challenges that teams may encounter during their Agile adoption journey and how to overcome them. Listen now to discover: [01:18] - Lance Dacy is on the show to discuss metrics. [02:09] - Brian asks, are there ‘good’ ways to track performance? [02:32] - Lance shares why Agile doesn’t really lend itself to tracking performance. [03:57] - How to handle performance reviews. [04:32] - Lance shares the best way to measure individual performance. [06:40] - Measuring team contribution vs. standalone rockstar. [07:48] - What Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland say about the completeness of the Scrum Framework and why having a superhero on your team is bad. [09:45] - Lance shares the 3 tiers of metrics to measure when working as an Agile team to be sure their team is going in the right direction. [11:09] - Using tangible business-level metrics such as time to market for products, NPS, and support call volume to evaluate performance. [12:20] - How metrics, such as the number of work items completed per month, and cycle time, can be used to evaluate performance at a product level in an Agile environment. [14:10] - Lance shares standard metrics such as velocity, backlog churn, and work-in-process that can be used to evaluate things at the team level. [14:45] - Brian shares the importance of having a broader perspective to avoid having a distorted view of performance. [16:53] - How using tools such as Ishikawa (fishbone) diagrams can help you identify the root cause of the problem instead of the apparent cause. [17:22] - Individual velocity and other big metrics to avoid. [19:02] - How the balanced scorecard can help managers use ALL the information available to develop a comprehensive understanding of an individual's performance. [19:25] - The detrimental effects of using the wrong metrics to evaluate an individual's contribution. [21:29] - Brian shares the story of how a manager's bug squashing endeavor led to incentivizing the wrong behavior [22:31] - Lance references Stephen Denning's statement and reminds us that assumption testing is what developers do every day. [24:00] - Referencing the State of Agile Report statistics on what's stalling your transformation to Agile. [25:15] - Lance shares a behind-the-scenes look at how team-level metrics are affected by leadership styles and stakeholders. [27:05] - Lance shares the spreadsheet he's been using to track data for a Scrum team for over 5 years to understand why the team is not predictable and what they can do to improve. [31:38] - Got metrics management questions? Reach out to Lance. [31:46] - Why it’s imperative that you think of software development as R&D rather than manufacturing to arrive at the right metrics measurements. [33:26] Continue the conversation in The Agile Mentors Community. References and resources mentioned in the show: Join the More than 24k People Who've Trained to Succeed With Mountain Goat Software Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule #30: How to Get the Best Out of the New Year with Lance Dacy #31: Starting Strong: Tips for Successfully Starting with a New Organization with Julie Chickering State of Agile Report HBR's Embrace Of Agile The Agile Mentors Community Additional metrics resources mentioned by Lance Agile Metrics Business outcomes, product group metrics, unit metrics) KPI/OKR (Business Outcomes) Time to market, NPS, Support Call Volume, Revenue, Active Account, New Customer Onboarding Time, Regulatory Violations) Product Group Metrics Work items completed per unit of time (quarterly) % of work in active state vs. wait state Cycle time of work times (idea to done) Predictability (% of work items that reach ready when planned) Unit metrics Velocity, backlog churn, work in process, team stability Metrics Spreadsheet  Team Size Tracking the size of our cross-functional team (typically Dev and QA), allows us to pair that number with velocity to play “what-if” scenarios in the future. Whether you count half of a person if shared, or whole, keeping it consistent throughout your tracking is what is important. Most teams simply count the number of developers and testers. Team Days Tracking the iteration length is also helpful in understanding a team’s performance. If the team has a 2 week sprint, then usually that is 9 development days of actual work. The 10th day is set aside for sprint review, retrospective, and planning. Committed Tracking what the team committed to completing within a sprint is crucial to understanding their predictability. The are the most uneducated at the beginning of the sprint and tracking what they think they can complete helps us in long term planning. Completed Tracking what the team completed is actually just tracking velocity above, but comparing it what they committed helps us understand their predictability index. Predictability Index (Pi) Software development is complex, risky, and uncertain. A skill that is sought after in this type of environment is predictability. The better we are at understanding what we can accomplish, then finishing what we said we would accomplish builds trust with our management team and customers. If we aren’t very good, tracking this metric often helps us get back to good by committing to less or more depending on our index. Example: Completed Items / Committed Items = Predictability Index (Pi) 25 Story Points / 20 Story Points = 125% 20 Story Points / 25 Story Points = 80% Just because a team has a high Pi, does not mean they are good at predictability. Don’t let high and low numbers fool you, focus on the variance from 100% instead of the actual number. An arbitrary number to shoot for is +/- 15% Pi (85% or 115%). Story Points / Per Day (SPD) Story points per day is just that, tracking how many story points per day of the sprint did we complete (Completed / Team Days). Story Points / Per Day / Per Person (SP/PD/PP) This perhaps is the most useful metric to capture throughout the process. Most of our teams do not have the luxury of maintaining a consistent size or make-up. Inevitably over the course of a few months, the team make-up will change. Once the teams change, velocity has to be reset. In addition, we may actually change our sprint duration over a long period of time (don’t change it each sprint). Once we change sprint lengths, it can jeopardize our pure metrics, velocity has to be reset. However, over all of our teams in a product, if we can capture the SP/PD/PP that our teams complete on average, we can begin to play “what-if” scenarios in long- term planning. Example: Completed / (Team Size * Sprint Days) 24 / (4 * 9) = 0.67 You can then average that number over 4-6 sprints or even the year. Defects While we understand that we won’t ever likely have a zero defect product, it is useful to track how many defects our teams are creating over time. There are usually 2 types of defects, internal and external. Internal Our definition of done should at minimum include that testing is taking place during the sprint with the idea that we would not allow a story to be called DONE if it had remaining defects. As such, an internal defect are the ones that were created while working on a backlog item in the sprint, that we have fixed before calling the item DONE. External External defects are those that have “escaped” our development process and were not discovered during our testing. In a sense, our customer discovered the defect and the work item will become a new backlog item for a sprint. Warranty We should strive to have the warranty concept built into our process. If you bought a car yesterday and the radio fell out, you could take it back and they would fix it fairly quickly. Our customers deserve the same service. Don’t manage a defect backlog, get used to fixing escaped defects immediately, while they are fresh on your mind (right after a sprint). It doesn’t take a long time to fix defects, it takes a long time to find them once identified by a customer. Defects per Story Point Tracking defects per story point help to understand velocity a little better. If you have a team that has drastically increased its velocity, have the defects have increased along with it? Defects per story point help us understand the relationship between a velocity and defects created. Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? It would be great if you left a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Lance Dacy, known as Big Agile, is a dynamic, experienced management and technical professional with the proven ability to energize teams, plan with vision, and establish results in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment. He is a Certified Scrum Trainer® with the Scrum Alliance and has trained and coached many successful Scrum implementations from Fortune 20 companies to small start-ups since 2011. You can find out how to attend one of Lance’s classes with Mountain Goat Software here.

Join Julie Chickering and Brian Milner as they provide exclusive insight on utilizing your Scrum training, expanding your expertise, and passing your knowledge on to others. Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Julie Chickering sits down with Brian to discuss getting started in the key Scrum roles. They highlight the value of establishing relationships with like-minded individuals for both support and greater success. Plus, a look at some ways to use Scrum outside of the software development arena. Listen in as they guide you through the initial steps you can take when you are just starting out on your Scrum journey and how collaboration and continuing education can aid your career growth and advancement. Listen now to discover: [02:26] - The framework is simple. Then we put people into the mix. Julie shares the most crucial aspect for those starting in key Scrum roles. [04:04] - Brian shares Mike's foundational philosophy for approaching this work from Mike Cohn's popular conference keynote session, Let Go of Knowing. [05:58] - How communities online like The Agile Mentors Community and local groups like DFW Scrum help members achieve more success. [07:02] - How being part of a community was foundational to Brian's Scrum journey. [8:33] - Julie shares her introduction to Scrum and how the connections and support she received from the community were crucial to her growth and advancement. [09:42] - Brian shares his regrets about not getting involved with a community sooner. [11:56] - Brian shares how mentoring is like dating and why taking the time to have the discussions needed to form the foundations for authentic relationships is vital. [13:08] - Read the room. Julie offers guidance on avoiding mistakes while searching for a mentor. [14:46] - How cross-pollination and venturing out to form connections in other industries helps you grow in your own. [15:41] - Being part of a safe community can help you advance your skills while helping others. [16:57] - Julie shares how to get started as a Scrum Master after you've been trained and the overall value of finding the right fit. [18:50] - Successful product ownership requires two key components. [19:16] - Where the rubber meets the road: expanding what you've learned in your training through real-world experience. [20:45] - Start where you are: how applying your Scrum training to other areas beyond software development can help enhance your skills. [22:55] - Brian and Julie share some examples of Scrum hidden in the non-software world, including in education and marketing. [25:32] - How to use your skills to help a nonprofit in your area. [27:11] - Brian explains how A-level classes can help you overcome hurdles as you advance in your career. [28:53] - Learning never stops: the importance of obtaining knowledge for now and later. [29:10] - Julie shares the value of debriefing with someone else. [30:31] - Problem-Solving Leadership (PSL) [31:22] - What classes and tools have you used to advance your skills? We'd love to hear. Reach out to share your experience. References and resources mentioned in the show Let Go of Knowing The Agile Mentors Community DFW Scrum Book Early for Savings on Mountain Goat Software Training Classes Agile Mentors Podcast EP#32: Scrum in High School Sports with Cort Sharp Agile Mentors Podcast  EP#23 How Agile Works in Education with John Miller Agile Mentors Podcast  EP#21: Agile Marketing Teams with Stacey Ackerman Agile Mentors Podcast  EP#31: Starting Strong: Tips for Successfully Starting with a New Organization with Julie Chickering Finding and Becoming Great Mentors and Sponsors with Carla Harris on WorkLife with Adam Grant Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? It would be great if you left a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com. This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Julie Chickering, the brains and brawn behind JC Agile Consulting, believes that Lean and Agile practices are packed with potential — to enable positive culture change, business agility, and breakthrough results. Julie is a past president and board member of the Agile Project Management Network (APLN), a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), as well as a traditional Project Management Professional (PMP).

Join Woody Zuill and Brian Milner as they discuss the benefits of teams working together through Mob Programming. Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Woody Zuill, a 40-year veteran software developer specializing in team interaction, joins Brian to explore the concept of Mob Programming. Woody shares the benefits of working together rather than separating tasks in software development and how removing things like queuing, multitasking, and context switching can actually make teams more effective. Listen in as he walks us through the collaborative software development approach's perks. Listen now to discover: [02:22] - Brian introduces Woody Zuill, a 40-year veteran software developer specializing in team interaction. [02:51] - Woody explains how he discovered the term Mob Programming. [04:56] - Where the idea of Teaming came from. [06:20] - Woody explains why he's changing the name from mob programming to teaming. [07:23] - Teaming = collaboration brought to software development, where more than one brain connects to do the work that needs to be done. [11:11] - Painting the Mob Programming picture: it's when "all the brilliant minds work together on the same thing ‌in the same space, at the same computer." [13:40] - To work efficiently in software development, one team member acts as the driver at the keyboard while everyone else acts as the navigator. [16:41] - The drawbacks and disconnect of breaking software development down into smaller pieces. [18:34] - Isn't six people in one room working on one computer a waste of resources? [21:07] - Do you want to be productive or effective? Examining the Lean concept of flow. [24:57] - Enhancing the effectiveness of software development by removing the negative impact of waiting, queuing, multitasking, and context switching. [25:22] - The benefits of working together vs. separating tasks in software development. [26:53] - Team Flow: how collaboration adds to our ability to work in the zone. [28:38] - Working together is often more effective, so why have we gotten better at it? [31:25] - The strength of experimentation. [33:09] - Woody explains that since the software development process is a discovery process, innovations such as mob programming can benefit the process. [35:25] - Woody shares resources where you can find more information on Mob Programming (see the resources section below for more) and how you can contact him to schedule a workshop. References and resources mentioned in the show: Software Teaming: A Mob Programming, Whole-Team Approach by Woody Zuill Teaming by Amy C. Edmondson Code with the Wisdom of the Crowd: Get Better Together with Mob Programming by Mark Pearl The Mob Mentality Show on Apple Podcasts Diffusion of Innovations by Everett M. Rogers Online And In-Person Training To Help You Succeed With Agile Through Mountain Goat Software The Agile Mentors Community Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? It would be great if you left a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Woody Zuill has been a software developer for over forty years. Woody is one of the pioneers of Mob Programming, a method of teamwork in software development that involves the entire team working together. Woody gives remote and in-person workshops on the topic. You can find out more about him on Twitter @WoodyZuill or on LinkedIn.

Join Cort Sharp and Brian Milner as they discuss experimenting with Scrum in other out-of-the-box environments, including how Cort uses it to train the high school swim team he coaches. Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Cort Sharp joins Brian to explore how to use Scrum tools in other environments outside of the software development arena. Cort shares the lightbulb moment when he realized Scrum might help him become a more effective coach for his high school swim team. Listen in as he walks us through his real-world experience using Scrum to coach swimmers, including what worked and what didn't and how he redefined things to make using Scrum successful for the team. Listen now to discover: [01:27] - Brian introduces Cort Sharp, the Agile Mentors Community Manager and high school swim coach. [02:49] - Scrum is used chiefly in software, BUT there are other options. Examining out-of-the-box uses from Scrum. [03:46] - Cort shares the story of how he got started as a high school swim coach. [06:26] - Cort meets Scrum. [08:39] - The discovery during Certified Scrum Training that led Cort to believe he could use Scrum to become a more effective swim coach. [10:20] - Brian shares his own light bulb moment from his first exposure to Scrum. [11:53] - What’s the product: Cort shares the process of translating Scrum to the swimming world. [15:57] - How the sprint review brought everything home for Cort. [17:03] - Evaluating how things were working with the parents of the swimmers (the stakeholders) at the weekly invitational swim meets. [17:48] - Brian describes how Scrum helps you break things down into smaller, digestible chunks when you want to reach a big goal but don't see progress every day. [19:02] - Cort shares how they developed the user stories for each swimmer and used feedback to develop the backlog for swim practices. [19:44] - Cort shares the process of developing the backlog for swim practices. [21:19] - How Agile principles (i.e., sustainable pace) translate into arenas other than software. [24:30] - Cort explains how Scrum events like daily stand-ups and sprint reviews helped the team organize practices. [24:47] - Which Scrum practices were harder to implement for the team? [26:47] - Opening yourself up to experimentation. (And how to reach Cort with your coaching ideas and suggestions). [27:36] - Cort shares the biggest changes he had to make to make things work for the swim team. [28:00] - So, who is the Scrum Master for the swim team? Redefining the Scrum roles and responsibilities to make them work in other environments. [30:04] - Cort shares what he’s learned in the process of using Scrum with the swim team. [33:29] - Do you have a topic or guest you'd like to see on the Agile Mentors podcast? If so, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you. References and resources mentioned in the show #21: Agile Marketing Teams with Stacey Ackerman #23 How Agile Works in Education with John Miller The Agile Mentors Community Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? It would be great if you left a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us as podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Cort Sharp is the Scrum Master of the producing team and the Agile Mentors Community Manager. In addition to his love for Agile, Cort is also a serious swimmer and has been coaching swimmers for five years.

Join Julie Chickering and Brian Milner as they discuss strategies you can use to get started on the right foot with your new organization. Overview It's the new year, and for many people, that means starting a new chapter in their life, maybe in a new position, with a new team, or possibly an entirely new organization. It's the perfect time for reflection to determine what you can do in these first few days and weeks to set yourself up for success. So, we thought it would be a great time to take this episode of the show to highlight some strategies you can use to hit the ground running. In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Brian Milner and Julie Chickering discuss some strategies to set the stage for success in your new position. We will walk you through the vital steps for settling into your team and making an impact no matter what level of the ladder you are on. Plus, what to ask when you are interviewing to ensure you find the right fit. Listen now to discover: [01:40] - Julie Chickering is on the show to discuss starting strong with your new organization. [02:15] - How to use team retrospective to identify where things are going well to amplify the good stuff while on a discovery mission of what needs work. [03:35] - The one thing that Julie cautions about in one-on-one conversations that will help you avoid being influenced by others' opinions of their team members. [05:22] - How to create curiosity instead of animosity by offering reciprocal grace to help everyone work better together. [07:17] - Brian shares how to use an improvement board to keep a running track of things while identifying your next target, stay on the right track and avoid the worst-case scenario (as referenced by Henrik Kniberg in the Spotify Model - Part 2). [09:23] - What Brian calls his 15-minute' cheat code" for understanding the dynamics of a team. [11:31] - Julie shares her improvement backlog one-on-one ONE thing for Scrum Masters. [12:08] - Essential techniques to help developers make an impact and utilize their skills in their new team. [13:57] - How to get off on the right foot with a new team as a product owner. [14:14] - Julie shares how to determine if an agile framework like Scrum is helping you meet your business goals (or not). [15:34] - If you cannot communicate and collaborate with your stakeholders… you'll never deliver value to them. [16:32] - How story mapping exercises can help product owners. [18:31] - Why communication is the key to top-to-bottom team success. [19:40] - The most important questions to ask when you are interviewing to determine if the organization is a good fit for what you bring to the table. [22:17] - Why it's important to remember every interaction during an interview is a part of the job interview. [22:33] - Brian shares a story of why it's crucial to determine if the company you are going to work for is looking for someone agile or Agile. [24:42] - Why it's essential to do a background check on a company you're considering hitching your wagon to. [25:38] - Start with where you are: how to start strong if you have the skills and are certified but need to gain experience. [28:30] - How can you use your skills to give back and advance in your career? [29:38] - How to highlight your experience and use it to your advantage when seeking various roles within a company. [32:40] - The most powerful question you can ask your team that will help you start the new year fresh. References and resources mentioned in the show Spotify Engineering Culture - Part 2 (aka the "Spotify Model") The Culture Code How does project management work in Agile? with Julie Chickering #7: The Sprint Review is not a Demo with Julie Chickering Agile Mentors Community Meetup #13: What Does Cross-Functional Really Mean? with Lance Dacy Mountain Goat Software Scrum Alliance Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode's presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Julie Chickering is the brains and brawn behind JC Agile Consulting, believes that Lean and Agile practices are packed with potential — to enable positive culture change, business agility, and breakthrough results. Julie is a past president and board member of the Agile Project Management Network (APLN), a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), as well as a traditional Project Management Professional (PMP).

Join Lance Dacy and Brian Milner as they discuss how to get the best out of the new year. Overview Something about that turn of the calendar from December to January makes us want to dig into planning, goal setting, and change. In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Brian Milner and Lance Dacy discuss how to get the best out of the new year. They’ll walk through why personal retrospectives are the key to determining where to look for change. From 30-day challenges to building relationships with others in the Agile community, to fostering a fertile learning culture, listen in for insight into what might work for you to accomplish the change you seek to make this year your best. Listen now to discover: [01:15] - Welcome to our first podcast of 2023. [01:55] - How opening up our calendars to a new year sets us up for planning new things. [03:17] - Lance walks us through the two types of leaders, the visionary and the executor. [04:13] - Brian shares the benefit of personal retrospectives. [07:15] - How 30-day challenges catapult us to success by breaking things down into smaller chunks. [10:56] - Lance shares why New Year’s resolutions set us up for failure. [12:35] - How to plan goals using backlogs and the cyclical nature of organizations. [13:09] - How to use cross-training to challenge team members to broaden their horizons in the new year. [13:09] - Why you need to think about your intentions when trying to influence up. [14:03] - Why do 30-day challenges work well to engage in a new task, project, or skill with an experimental mindset. [15:29] - Lance shares why it’s critical for Scrum Masters to help leadership and management formulate career plans to help grow the people in the organization. [16:33] - If you’re doing the same thing you did last year, you’re not Agile. [17:16] - How plugging into a community can help you maintain your focus for growth. [19:48] - Why being a Scrum Master and a lone wolf don’t mix. [22:36] - How networking can help you take your career to the next level. [24:10] - Why it pays to keep an open mind (even to that which you don’t agree with), so you don’t miss out on vital information that can change your trajectory. [26:07] - Growing as a Scrum Master and as a person. References and resources mentioned in the show Agile Mentors Community Meetup #13: What Does Cross-Functional Really Mean? with Lance Dacy Mountain Goat Software Scrum Alliance Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode's presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Lance Dacy is a Certified Scrum Trainer®, Certified Scrum Professional®, Certified ScrumMaster®, and Certified Scrum Product Owner®. Lance brings a great personality and servant heart to his workshops. He loves seeing people walk away with tangible and practical things they can do with their teams straight away.

Join Scott Dunn and Brian Milner as they discuss how to influence up, including the tools you can use to overcome difficulties and step into a partnership with the influential people in your organization for influence that creates lasting change. Overview While we all want to be heard, but we are sometimes met with leaders in our organization who are uninterested in our concerns or resistant to giving needed support. And sometimes, it's our approach that's causing our conversations to fall flat. In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Brian Milner and Scott Dunn share their real-world experience on what to do from your side to earn the right to influence up. They discuss what bosses, managers, leadership, stakeholders, and other higher-ups in the organization want and tools you can use to overcome the gaps and step into a partnership with the powerful people in your organization for lasting change. Listen now to discover: [01:06] - Today, Brian and Scott Dunn discuss influencing up. [01:40] - Scott shares how it's easier to influence if you meet people where they are. [03:46] - How to create a win-win by adjusting your communication style. [04:25] - Scott shares how to earn the right to influence up by making things happen on your side of the fence. [06:17] - How a mind of curiosity can help you negotiate your position when the higher-ups say they are 100% onboard with Agile except for… [08:22] - How to challenge management without losing your job or credibility. [10:05] - Why it's vital to look for opportunities to influence an organization at every level. [11:07] - Organizational taxes are the price of the privilege of working in an organization. [12:07] - Brian shares how even small iterations of Agile can move the needle in organizations. [13:09] - Why you need to think about your intentions when trying to influence up. [14:28] - Scott shares how you can introduce tenants of Agile to show people how to work differently, show up differently, and make a difference to improve an organization. [16:05] - How returning to values on the Agile Manifesto helps organizations create team dynamics that inspire respectful team dynamics. [18:59] - Scott shares how making your boss look good makes a big difference for everyone in the organization. [20:09] - Brian shares how to think like your boss so you can frame your approach in a way that speaks their language. [23:58] - The opportunity to 'choose your own adventure' within your organization through sharing information. [25:29] - How to use the power of story to give your boss the tools to help make the change to Agile. [27:11] - Scott shares how resources such as the Agile Mentors Community can help you delve deeper into community for insight into solving your influence issues. Listen in next time when Lance Dacy will be on the show. References and resources mentioned in the show Agile Manifesto #24: How Agile Organizations Respond to Challenging Economic Times with Scott Dunn #1: Scrum vs Agile & Keys to Success with Mike Cohn Lyssa Adkins How To Be Successful with Agile in Any Culture Christopher Avery - CEO & Founder -The Responsibility Company | LinkedIn Mountain Goat Software Agile Mentors Community Scrum Alliance Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode's presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Scott Dunn is a Certified Enterprise Coach and Scrum Trainer with over 20 years of experience coaching and training companies like NASA, EMC/Dell Technologies, Yahoo!, Technicolor, and eBay to transition to an agile approach using Scrum.

Julie Chickering sits down with Brian to share the best gift books for the Scrum masters in your life. Overview We all have those books on our bookshelves that we’ve had for years and still refer back to time and time again, or that new title that we’ve just read that blows our mind with the way it makes a new concept more relatable. Julie Chickering is a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), and a traditional Project Management Professional (PMP). Today on the show, Julie joins Brian to discuss the most valuable books they’ve read, the lessons they’ve learned from them, and the best ones for giving to the Scrum Master in your life this holiday season. Listen now to discover: [01:06] - Today, Brian and Julie Chickering will be sharing the most valuable books we’ve read. [02:10] - Julie shares how a book called Two Beats Ahead is helping her learn to let go of her creations. [04:00] - Julie shares an interesting story of how Beyoncé invited musicians in for collaboration and how that opened her mind to learning from her community. [05:07] - Brian shares why Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great by Esther Derby and Diana Larson is his #1 book recommendation for Scrum Masters. [06:29] - Julie shares why she’s also a fan of Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great for the mix-and-mash recipe for creating menu selections. [08:06] - Julie shares why The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups insight into the three main things that make high-performing teams high-performing is her favorite book to give to the leaders on her list. [10:36] - Brian shares the three things from Daniel Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us that align with Scrum. [12:34] - Julie shares how she learned to flip the script, start with the hard topics in a conversation, and finish with the positive from Daniel Pink, as included in his book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. [15:53] - Brian shares why Dan Pink’s books are most enjoyable via audio. [16:15] - Julie shares how a podcast interview with author Scott Sonenshein led her to his book called Stretch: Unlock the Power of Less -and Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined, which helps teams unlock their potential to achieve more. [17:11] - Brian shares Frédéric Laloux's concept of the different colors of organizations as laid out in his book called Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness and how we can better enable change in organizations. [18:57] - Julie shares a book she recommends in Scrum Master class that’s great for sports fans called The Captain Class by Sam Walker, which walks the reader through what makes great sports teams great. [22:15] - Brian shares why sports analogies are great for teaching Scrum. [23:28] - Julie shares how even the Rolling Stones delve deep into figuring out how to improve. [24:30] - Why retrospectives are a great tool for improving the outcome of any mission. [28:25] - Brian shares why we still need to adjust to the current climate, even when the goal remains the same. [30:11] - Brian shares books by recent guests on the show, including Lead Without Blame: Building Resilient Learning Teams by Tricia Broderick, Strategise by Roman Pichler and Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition (Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Cohn)) by Lyssa Adkins. Listen in next time when Scott Dunn will be on the show. References and resources mentioned in the show Two Beats Ahead by Panos A. Panay and R. Michael Hendrix Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great by Esther Derby, Diana Larsen The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle DRIVE by Daniel Pink | Animated Core Message Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward by Daniel Pink Stretch: Unlock the Power of Less -and Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined by Scott Sonenshein Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness by Frédéric Laloux The Captain Class by Sam Walker Lead Without Blame: Building Resilient Learning Teams by Tricia Broderick Strategise by Roman Pichler Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition (Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Cohn)) by Lyssa, Adkins Mountain Goat Software Agile Mentors Community Scrum Alliance Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode's presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Julie Chickering is the brains and brawn behind JC Agile Consulting, believes that Lean and Agile practices are packed with potential — to enable positive culture change, business agility, and breakthrough results. Julie is a past president and board member of the Agile Project Management Network (APLN), a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), as well as a traditional Project Management Professional (PMP).

Tricia Broderick joins Brian to discuss how to lead without blame. Overview Vince Lombardi said, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made,” Great leadership is a learned skill, but in companies focused on the blame game, transparency and problem-solving becomes secondary to self-protection. Tricia Broderick is a leadership and organizational advisor. Today on the show, Tricia joins Brian to discuss how the blame game stifles great leadership and how the 4Cs can help leaders create safe spaces for highly connected, motivated teams to achieve better results and more impactful outcomes. Listen now to discover: [01:37] - Brian introduces us to Tricia Broderick, co-author of the new book, Lead Without Blame: Building Resilient Learning Teams. [02:36] - Is there a difference between a leader and an Agile leader? [04:18] - How exposure to the Agile community framework organically promotes leadership. [06:47] - How the blame game stifles leaders. [08:28] - When you're afraid of blame, you’re focused on self-protection instead of moving forward. [09:38] - Why impact is more important than intention and why taking responsibility for your impact is vital. [11:57] - Tricia shares what we really need for the most creative, quality-based results and outcomes. [14:43] - Tricia shares why we need to break free from a culture of blame and instead focus on shared goals for quality outcomes. [16:43] - Tricia shares the 4Cs of leadership. [17:52] - Great leaders aren’t afraid of complexity; they embrace uncertainty. [18:37] - Leaders instill confidence in others—having a leader that believes in you before you even believe in yourself has a huge motivating impact. [19:53] - Brian shares the concept of ‘dark leadership.’ [20:42] - Why compassion is the key to defeating imposter syndrome. [22:37] - It takes a courageous leader to create a safe space to challenge the status quo and seek out alternative ways for your team to operate. [25:37] - Why investing yourself personally and compassionately in the personal development of your team members isn't for the weak. [26:08] - The importance of the investment in a connection. [26:37] - Tricia shares the biggest takeaway for leaders. [27:31] - Tricia talks about resilient transparency and the leadership learning curve. Listen next time when Julie Chickering will be on the show. References and resources mentioned in the show Lead Without Blame: Building Resilient Learning Teams Mountain Goat Software Agile Mentors Community Scrum Alliance Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode's presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Tricia Broderick’s transformational leadership, at all levels of an organization, ignites the growth of leaders and high-performing teams to deliver quality outcomes. Tricia has more than twenty years of experience in the software development industry. She is the author of Lead Without Blame: Building Resilient Learning Teams.

Lance Dacy joins Brian to discuss breaking down stories to get things done. Overview There are ways to break stories down into two- or three days worth of work across the team. But sometimes, they can be taken down to a level that devalues what your team is trying to deliver. Lance Dacy is a Certified Scrum Trainer® with the Scrum Alliance® Today on the show, Lance joins Brian to discuss some of the questions you need to ask when breaking stories down. We discuss how to organize teams for the best outcome and share different systems and processes to determine how far is enough when breaking down stories to help your team deliver a usable product to the end user. Listen now to discover: [01:37] - Brian introduces us to Lance Dacy, his guest and neighbor. [02:29] - Brian shares how you can suggest a topic for a future podcast episode by emailing your suggestion to podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com. [02:57] - Today, we're talking about getting work into its smallest component. [03:21] - Lance shares the four things teams need to do to be sure they are all speaking the same language when transitioning to Scrum. [03:44] - The make-or-break consequences of organizing teams for the best outcomes. [05:49] - Lance shares his insight on breaking things down into tasks in the product backlog. [07:47] - Lance uses a car cleaning analogy to break down the story into smaller tasks. [09:40] - In backlog refinement, we will start rounding out those acceptance criteria or conditions of satisfaction and make them their own story. [10:58] - Lance shares his system for determining how far is 'enough' when breaking down stories to be ready. [12:33] - The goal for each sprint planning session. [13:09] - Using the INVEST criteria to assess the quality of a user story. [13:48] - How small is too small? [15:17] - I love metrics, BUT metrics CAN BE misused. [15:55] - The key to not being surprised. [16:37] - Brian shares the importance of the V in the INVEST criteria. [18:14] - Vertically slicing stories to deliver something usable to the end user (the product owner). [21:42] - Using the SPIDR approach to splitting stories. [22:24] - Asking the right questions to create paths that lead to stories that turn into relevant products. [25:55] - The importance of interfaces when splitting up stories. [28:22] - The pros and cons of spikes—why they should be the exception and NOT the rule. [32:01] - Lance circles back to the consequences of creating your teams—focusing on the deliverables. [33:37] - Remember, releasing the product is independent of your sprint time box. Listen next time when we'll be discussing… Transformational Leadership with Tricia Broderick References and resources mentioned in the show What does INVEST Stand For? The S.P.I.D.R. Approach to Splitting Stories HOW TO SPLIT A USER STORY by Richard Lawrence Mountain Goat Software Agile Mentors Community Scrum Alliance Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we'd love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an agile subject you'd like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Please share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode's presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Lance Dacy, known as Big Agile, is a dynamic, experienced management and technical professional with the proven ability to energize teams, plan with vision, and establish results in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment. He is a Certified Scrum Trainer® with the Scrum Alliance and has trained and coached many successful Scrum implementations from Fortune 20 companies to small start-ups since 2011.