When we are trying to figure out what products to build, we have to develop a deep understanding of the problem we are solving. To do that, we have to understand who we are solving problems for, what is important to them, and what offering would be most appealing to them or most likely to cause a change in behavior. Looking at the problem from different perspectives can enable it to be solved more easily, with each vantage point offering different insights that can complement each other. When we can discover things that are true across the board, we can be even more confident that we're headed in the right direction

LeadingAgile SVP, Executive Consultant, Scott Sehlhorst approaches this work from an engineering perspective. LeadingAgile Managing Consultant, Will Evans approaches the work from a Design perspective. While each vantage point is important, the true value comes from combining them.

In this episode of SoundNotes, Scott and Will join Dave to offer insight into how they each approach the work of understanding the user, the problems they are facing and the best way to solve them. This conversation digs deep into the product space and how we design solutions that truly meet the needs of our customers.

If you’d like to reach out to Scott and Will for more information:

• LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/scott-sehlhorst/

• Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/will-evans/

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

• LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to [email protected]

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Over the past few years, there has been an increasing push within organizations to move from a project-oriented mindset to a more product-focused approach. Creating that change in an organization can take considerable work and part of that is how you address funding the work being done.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile’s Chief Methodologist, Dennis Stevens spends time with Dave talking about why this change is necessary, the impact it can have on an organization, some things to watch out for as you make the switch and tips that will help you succeed in bringing this change to your company.

• Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dennis-stevens/

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

• LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to [email protected]

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

In many organizations, the group responsible for procurement, and the processes they follow, were established under a traditional (waterfall) approach. The way in which goods and services are requested, contracted, approved and acquired can be an odd fit with an Agile approach. In the public sector, this can prove even more challenging due to oversight, bureaucracy, and a variety of other factors.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile's, Nathan Hummel, joins Dave to talk about some of the issues that crop up when an organization in the public sector begins working on how to handle procurement as they move towards a more Agile approach to work. During the interview they dig into what makes Agile procurement different in the public sector, what kind of challenges you can expect to face and what steps you can take to begin resolving them.

Contacting Nathan

• Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/nathan-hummel/

Contacting Dave

• Email: [email protected]

If you like this podcast, we'd be very grateful for reviews or feedback in iTunes. It will help us create more visibility for this podcast so that we can reach more people. Click here to leave us a review or post feedback.

If you have comments on the podcast or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at [email protected]

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

In this episode of SoundNotes, Ross Beurmann joins Dave to talk about the difference between Leadership and Management. Although many confuse the two and believe they are the same, they are actually very different things—and this can become extremely apparent during the transition to an Agile approach.

During the interview, Ross explains why it is so important that we gain clarity on the difference between the two, why we want to manage systems, and why it is so important that we inspire teams to manage themselves.

Books Mentioned In This Podcast

• Turn the Ship Around - L. David Marquet https://amzn.to/2QXOGWD

Contacting Ross

• Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/ross-beurmann/

Contacting Dave

• Email: [email protected]

If you like this podcast, we'd be very grateful for reviews or feedback in iTunes. It will help us create more visibility for this podcast so that we can reach more people. Click here to leave us a review or post feedback.

If you have comments on the podcast or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at [email protected]

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

In this episode of SoundNotes Will Evans is back to discuss why behavior trumps empathy and the secret to building the right thing.

During the interview, we explore the difference between traditional Personas and Behavioral Impact Personas. We also talk through how Impact Mapping can be used to move beyond Empathy Maps to deepen our understanding of what motivates people, what their needs are, what things to build, how well they have to perform to be considered valuable, and how to make sure we are solving the right problems for the right people at the right time.

In this podcast, you will learn how Impact Mapping can draw a clear connection between the things we are going to build, the problems we need to overcome, and how to create a change in behavior by specific people that allows us to move toward an outcome that achieves our desired goal.

Will has created a few graphics that we refer to in the interview and you’ll want to download them in order to get the most out of this podcast. You can find links to them below.

• Behavioral Impact Persona PDF

If you'd like to check out Will's previous interview on Impact Mapping you can find it here:

• http://bit.ly/384nVpw

• Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/will-evans/

• Email: [email protected]

If you like this podcast, we'd be very grateful for reviews or feedback in iTunes. It will help us create more visibility for this podcast so that we can reach more people. Click here to leave us a review or post feedback.

If you have comments on the podcast or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at [email protected]

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

One of the most critical, and unfortunately, neglected elements of ensuring your teams can deliver the most value possible, is making sure they can see a direct connection between the work they are being asked to execute on and that strategy that work is in service of.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Principal Consultant, Marty Bradley spends time with Dave discussing why we need to connect strategy to execution and what happens when we don't. During the interview, Marty provides examples which demonstrate why we need to break the work down into small increments of value, how to track their performance at both the strategic and tactical level, how frequently you want to be checking in on whether or not the work is delivering the desired value,, and who needs to be involved in these discussions.

Links from the Podcast

• Check out a video of Marty's presentation - Develop a Strategy to Embrace Change

Contacting Marty

• Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/marty-bradley/

Contacting Dave

• Email: [email protected]

If you like this podcast, we'd be very grateful for reviews or feedback in iTunes. It will help us create more visibility for this podcast so that we can reach more people. Click here to leave us a review or post feedback.

If you have comments on the podcast or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at [email protected]

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

Ross Beurmann is back! And this week in SoundNotes Ross and Dave discuss ATOs and PMOs. If you aren't familiar with what an Agile Transformation Office is, how it works, why you need it and how it is different from a Project Management Office, this podcast is for you. During the interview, Ross and Dave also discuss what happens to the role of the project manager when you go through Agile Transformation and how the PMO can remain relevant and continue to add value in an organization that is moving through their Transformation to Agile.

http://info.leadingagile.com/techcasestudy

Contacting Ross

• Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/ross-beurmann/

Contacting Dave

• Email: http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/

If you like this podcast, we'd be very grateful for reviews or feedback on iTunes. It will help us create more visibility for this podcast so that we can reach more people. Click here to leave us a review or post feedback.

If you have comments on the podcast or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at [email protected]

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to:

http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

This week in SoundNotes we’re focusing on a question asked by a student in a recent class:

Can you use Agile for Mergers and Acquisitions?

To address the topic, LeadingAgile Principal Consultant Rick McMichael joins Dave to discuss Mergers and Acquisitions (or M&A). Rick has years of experience working in Agile and he's been a part of many M&A efforts over the years. During the podcast we discuss the various steps involved in bringing two different organizations together to form a new one, and how Agile practices can be applied to help this work go smoother and deliver more value for the companies involved, the people who work at them, and the customer.

http://info.leadingagile.com/techcasestudy

Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/rick-mcmichael/

• Email: [email protected]

If you like this podcast, we'd be very grateful for reviews or feedback in iTunes. It will help us create more visibility for this podcast so that we can reach more people. Click here to leave us a review or post feedback.

If you have comments on the podcast or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at [email protected]

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

This week in LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, Tina Wang spends some time with Dave talking about Lean Portfolio Management. During the conversation, Tina and Dave cover exactly what Lean Portfolio Management is and how it differs from a more traditional approach to Portfolio Management. A good part of the discussion is spent on the topic of how to create alignment from strategic goals at the organizational level down to delivery team execution and the role that funding plays in this.

If you have questions about Lean Portfolio Management or you're curious about how to apply Lean practices and systems thinking to traditional portfolio management to consistently deliver value at a sustainable pace, this podcast is a great place to get started.

For additional content on the LeadingAgile site about Lean Portfolio Management, click here.

Contacting Tina

• Email: [email protected]

Contacting Dave

• Email: [email protected]

Link to the Case Study: 

http://info.leadingagile.com/techcasestudy

If you like this podcast, we'd be very grateful for reviews or feedback in iTunes. It will help us create more visibility for this podcast so that we can reach more people. Click here to leave us a review or post feedback.

If you have comments on the podcast or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at [email protected]

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

Despite the fact that in many organizations the Enterprise Architect and the Enterprise Solutions Architect are often conflated, they are very distinct roles that require different skill sets and areas of expertise.

The Enterprise Solutions Architect is a role that focuses on designing solutions to problems that tend to be IT-centric, while an Enterprise Architect focuses more on designing or documenting the relationship between all the systems across the Enterprise and how they interact to deliver value.

In this episode of LeadingAgile's SoundNotes, Ross Beurmann is back to bring some clarity to the difference between the two roles, the nature of the work, and the differences in the skill sets required for each role.

Zachman Framework

During the interview, Ross references the Zachman Framework, which was developed by John Zachman in the 1980's. The framework "provides a formal and structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise" (see Wikipedia link below). If you'd like to read up on it, here are some places to get started:

• Zachman Framework in Wikipedia
  

Contacting Ross

• Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/ross-beurmann/

Contacting Dave

• Email: [email protected]

If you like this podcast, we'd be very grateful for reviews or feedback in iTunes. It will help us create more visibility for this podcast so that we can reach more people. Click here to leave us a review or post feedback.

If you have comments on the podcast or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at [email protected]

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.