My three books on agile made this list of “The Top 100 Agile Books” by Jurgen Appelo. He used an objective method of ranking books based on Amazon.com and GoodRead.com quality ratings and popularity. His blog explains the approach. Uncle Bob Martin and I were each fortunate enough to have…

…hyperspecialization in contrast to agile development. Agile does not at all require individuals to be generalists, but individuals are expected to work together as a team. The handoff-driven model created by hyperspecialization and used on sites like TopCoder are anything but agile. So where does this go? Is agile at…

…stories, planning poker, and agile estimating, I’ve been quite adamant that story points are about effort. I’ve also explained that we talk about that effort in terms of how long it will take to finish because that’s 1) how we naturally think about the effort involved to do a task…

…about Scrum (or any agile process) being used outside of software development. When Martin Lapointe told me how he and his family used Scrum—and especially a task board—to manage their recent relocation from Paris to Montreal, I immediately asked him to share that story. I’m sure you’ll find it as…

…have any Scrum or agile experience you can highlight on your resume or LinkedIn profile? If so, call it out. For example, were you part of a team that did daily scrum meetings even without being agile? I was. Early in my career, I was a project manager running a…

…to help as many agile teams as possible go from good to great. Last year we added five handpicked trainers to our course schedule so that we could offer more classes to more people. And now we’re adapting again so that we can offer even more training opportunities. Starting February…

…around Scrum or other agile practices and you’re likely to hear the term cross-functional agile team. These words come loaded with a wide variety of definitions, experiences, and expectations. Just what exactly does Scrum mean by cross-functional agile teamwork? Think Well-Oiled Machine, Not Panic-Struck Riot Let me start by telling…

…that teams working with agile methods like Scrum would be used to not knowing.But most are not. I’m not. It really doesn’t matter when the plumber shows up. There’s plenty of time before I need to be anywhere. So the uncertainty around when he’ll arrive shouldn’t bother me. But it…

…latest episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast as Brian shares valuable insights on how to supercharge your retrospectives. Discover the three root causes behind boring or ineffective retrospectives and unlock tips to enhance their effectiveness. Overview Today on the Agile Mentors Podcast Brian Milner shares valuable insights on supercharging your…

…this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian welcomes Don McGreal to discuss the revision of the Scrum Guide and the delicate balance between staying true to the core principles of Scrum while allowing for necessary flexibility. Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian is joined by…

Join Brian on the Agile Mentors Podcast as he sits down with Dr. Ryne Sherman from Hogan Assessments to delve into the world of personality assessments. Tune in to discover how understanding individual strengths and motivations can help organizations make better hiring and team-building decisions. Overview What role does personality…

…this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian Milner interviews Heather McGowan, a renowned future of work strategist, about the rapidly changing landscape of work in the augmented era. Heather emphasizes the importance of adaptation, empathy, and human connection in response to technological, societal, and cultural shifts. They discuss the…

…first of four reasons agile teams estimate product backlog items in the first place! Consider how things may have played out differently if the team instead had established a track record of providing decent plans. Note I said decent. Plans don't have to be perfect to be reliable. When a…

…this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, host Brian Milner chats with Gojko Adzic about his new book, Lizard Optimization. Gojko explains the concept of finding product growth signals in strange user behaviors, sharing examples where unexpected user actions led to product breakthroughs. He outlines a four-step process for optimizing…

…this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian and Scott dig deep into the question: Do nice guys (or gals) really finish last at work? They discuss the critical balance between being accommodating and assertive, why conflict can be a tool for growth, and how emotional intelligence plays into team…