Agile Mentors Podcast

Brian and guest Anthony Coppedge from IBM discuss bridging team-leadership gaps, overcoming fear, and emphasizing long-term value in Agile organizations. They highlight the role of middle management, data-driven decisions, and tools like the Retrospective Radar for success in driving agility and fostering transparency.

Evan Leybourn, co-founder of the Business Agility Institute, discusses the rise of human skills and agile acumen in today's workforce. They explore the shift towards valuing soft skills over technical knowledge, the importance of diverse experiences in agile roles, and the need for organizations to appreciate the impact of specialized roles. The episode offers insights into adapting and thriving in an ever-evolving professional landscape.

Join Brian and Scrum expert Stefan Wolpers as they tackle Scrum anti-patterns, communication breakdowns, organizational challenges, and the rigidity of Agile practices. Explore the power of inversion in learning, the importance of clear communication, challenges in offshoring, and best practices for navigating Scrum anti-patterns. Gain insights to enhance team collaboration and drive successful Agile transformations.

HR innovator and Agile expert Pia-Maria Thorén discusses revolutionizing HR with Agile principles. Topics include attitude-based hiring, nurturing candidate experiences, team involvement in hiring, empathy in performance challenges, and transforming layoffs into growth opportunities.

Join Brian Milner and Master Coach Cherie Silas as they unravel the complexities of Agile coaching, explore the pivotal role of an Agile coach, and discuss the transformative Tandem Coaching program. Discover the secrets to empowering Agile transformations and the importance of adopting a coaching mindset for meaningful business outcomes. Dive deep into the nuances that distinguish professional coaching from Agile coaching in this captivating conversation.

Join Brian and Avipaul Bhandari as they explore how one-on-one conversations can redefine team dynamics and scale organizational culture in the Agile space. Discover the secrets behind effective interactions, fostering empathy and understanding, and empowering agile practices within teams. Learn how to leverage one-on-one meetings to unlock your team's potential and catalyze a cultural transformation.

Join Anton Skornyakov and Brian Milner in a discussion on the transformative power of slicing work in Agile environments. Learn about vertical slicing, story breakdown strategies, and practical examples beyond software development. Discover the importance of defining effective increments and accelerating delivery through well-sliced work.

Explore the importance of testing assumptions in product development with David Bland, founder of Precoil. Learn how to avoid costly mistakes by prioritizing and running experiments. Discover the significance of integrating Agile principles into the discovery phase and determining if you're working on the right things.

Agile expert Mike Cohn revisits 200 user stories, discussing the importance of meaningful conversations over perfection. They explore the clarity of user stories, the balance between what and how in requirements, and the implications of wording choices. The discussion emphasizes leaving stories open-ended, creating user stories for detailed pages, task prioritization, and analyzing the structure of user stories for effective software development.

Legendary Ken Rubin, author of Essential Scrum, discusses managing dependencies in larger organizations with Brian. They cover myths around dependencies, strategies for minimizing their impact, and the challenges of scaling effectively. Ken also announces an upcoming online course on dependency management.