The Agile Daily Standup - AgileDad

Celebrating Cinco De Mayo Inspiring Quotes To Help Us Do Better

May the fourth be with you. As we celebrate this day where all things should be Star Wars related, here are 4 lessons that can be applied to both our Agile and daily lives:  Lesson #1 — It’s never too late to do the right thing Lesson #2 — Everyone has a good side and a bad side Lesson #3 — Stillness is the key Lesson #4 — Fear is a deadly motivator

The question of proper backlog management has come up quite a bit in our recent coaching sessions. Many organizations are attempting ScrumBan but do they truly know what they are getting themselves into? Join V. Lee Henson as we explore the concept of a team backlog and working Kanban flow within a sprint. 

Here are some practical pointers for putting this principle to work. Great leaders see more than results as their goal. Indeed, good animal health and welfare outcomes are the results we seek. Achieving these desired outcomes requires that team members work together. High-performing teams prioritize the development of trusting relationships as their foundation. As a leader, your presence during a crisis makes a difference. A leader’s primary purpose is not to direct or judge their teams’ actions during a crisis. Instead, the leader’s role is to be present and care for the people’s needs. They can provide a calm, steady hand. Their presence shows that the team is not alone in these high-pressure situations. Even if you can’t be present on site, find substantive ways to support and care for your teams. The principle is as important in daily work as it is during a crisis. We need to prove to our teams that their well-being is a higher priority than the situation at hand. Remember, circumstances are temporary, but relationships carry us through the long haul. The best leaders know this and grow stronger when they see others succeed in their daily work. Slow down and be ready to serve. When I started as a veterinarian, I was always in a rush trying to complete the list of things I needed to do. I was productive, but only in a selfish way. I was too busy to see the needs of others around me. Slowing down helped me be available for others and their needs. https://medium.com/management-matters/people-relationships-and-result-fa90f7bd166d

“Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the boiled eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. ‘Daughter, what do you see?’ ‘Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,’ she hastily replied. ‘Look closer,’ he said, ‘and touch the potatoes.’ She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face. ‘Father, what does this mean?’ she asked. He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new. ‘Which are you,’ he asked his daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?’

Have you ever read an article and just found it Cringe Worthy? Join V. Lee Henson, President & Founder of AgileDad as we explore what we can do to make this meeting advice better and more well informed. 

This is a great review of a recent article by Vincenzo Lanza about when he created AgileManifestoButCool.Com

UX work becomes a skill that can be collaborated on during the sprint by the Developers, now including the UX specialist. Think of some typical UX activities: User research Persona development Information architecture Wireframing Prototyping User testing Business Problem Statements Writing hypothesis Designing experiments Usabilty testing

1. Don’t be obsessive about metrics 2. Automate everything  3. Focus on removing impediment-removal  4. Reduce size of work items  5. Experiment with WIP limits 6. Pay down technical debt  7. Experiment with pair-work

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