The Daily Standup

OKR's At Google and AmazonYou’d think a company with tens of thousands of employees, layers of hierarchy, and complex workflows would slow down innovation to a crawl.Yet somehow, giants like Google, Amazon, and Intel manage to launch cutting-edge products, drive bold initiatives, and keep their teams aligned and motivated.Welcome to the world of OKRs — Objectives and Key Results.What’s their secret weapon?How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

5 Habits of High Performing TeamsWhat makes some teams do exceptionally well, and others perform poorly? Do they have more talented team members, better resources, or are they simply being lucky?Teams that stand out are not more talented, better skilled, or have greater opportunities. What sets them apart are their habits and practices.Empowering work culture, support from leaders in the organization, and clarity of vision and goals are important, but they’re insufficient to drive excellence and high performance in teams.Building extraordinary workplaces with high-performing teams requires more than hiring the right talent and equipping them with the right opportunities. It requires cultivating the right habits and incorporating them into daily work and life.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Making Invisible Work VisibleLately I noticed, sprint velocity looked fine and Jira showed progress. But none of the key tests, critical analysis and silent validations are tracked.After my observations I questioned: How much of our real work is visible?In Agile teams, productivity is often measured by delivered outputs: written code, released features, completed user stories, increasing metrics in dashboards, sprint completion rates, closed Jira tasks, the number of successful CI/CD runs, pull requests deployed to production, or customer-facing new functionalities.These are all important indicators. However, the behind-the-scenes efforts that make these visible outcomes possible are just as valuable.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

NFL Athlete Makes a Difference in a Young Mans LifeA young boy who burst into tears upon learning that NFL defensive end Micah Parsons was leaving the Dallas Cowboys for the Green Bay Packers got some closure.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Leading With Vision That is Rooted in PresenceA leader cannot see clearly if they are clouded by ego, attachment, or fear. Desires, frustrations, unhealed stories — all of these act as filters. They color what we think is “the future” with the palette of our past.To truly see a vision for others, the leader must first become still.Presence is not passivity. It’s clarity. It’s the willingness to meet the moment without adding anything to it. To feel what wants to happen instead of forcing what we want to happen. That’s where vision begins — not with strategy decks, but with stillness.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Consider The Downstream Effects - Mike CohnHave you ever looked at the pipes under a bathroom or kitchen sink?
If you do, you’ll notice that the pipe doesn’t run straight from the sink to the wall. Instead the pipe from the drain goes down farther than necessary, curves right back up and then heads into the wall.
This little extra bit of pipe that goes down farther than necessary and u-turns back up is called a P-trap. That’s because it looks like a P turned on this side.
Why do plumbers install P-traps? They must cost more to manufacture, so it increases their costs, which they may or may not be able to pass on to customers. They’re a little harder to install, so they cost the plumber time, too.
So, why?
 
Plumbers install P-traps because they prevent downstream problems. A P-trap under your sink traps gases that would otherwise rise back into the house. They also catch small items that fall down the drain.
And good plumbers care about this even though they know they may not be the plumber to return to fix the problem.
Good plumbers care because they’re good plumbers. Installing a P-trap under your sink is simply the right thing to do because it prevents downstream problems.
 
We want agile team members who behave the same way. Good agile team members care–not just about their own work but also about the work of everyone downstream of them.
 
OK. Back to the example. A while back, I helped a team incorporate more automated testing into their work. Some programmers, who viewed their job as nothing more than writing what they considered good code, balked at the idea of altering their code to make future testing easier. Code testability, they argued, was not their problem; it was the testers’ problem.
The situation came to a head during a sprint planning meeting, when the testers were giving some really large estimates for testing code that was going to take only a fraction of that amount of time to program.
The programmers were asked if they could do anything to make the code easier to test. And it turned out there were some things they could do, but some of the programmers didn’t want to do them because they felt it would make their code less elegant.
They had defined their jobs as merely writing good code. Who cared if that code was hard to test?Why Do Something If It’s Harder?Act Like a Good PlumberI'm going to give you an example of why this matters, but first, I need a favor. Would you take this short AI survey?
We want to learn more about how Agile teams are using (or thinking about using) AI in their work. Your input will help us better understand current practices, opportunities, and challenges—and we’ll be sharing the results with the community.
Take the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZJY2SXY
“They had defined their jobs as merely writing good code. Who cared if that code was hard to test?”If my plumber had done that, I would have had a fully functional sink, perhaps for years. But eventually enough debris would have made it past where a P-trap should have been installed and deep into my plumbing. This would have led to an expensive--and easily avoidable--repair.
When team members accept responsibility for issues caused downstream of their work, that team can begin to grow from good to great.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The Birth of the Agile Delivery Manager = No More ScrumMastersIn 2025, we formally changed the title of Scrum Master to Agile Delivery Manager (ADM) in our technology division. This renaming wasn’t a rebrand for the sake of optics. It reflected a deeper evolution already happening, rooted in the expanding scope of delivery leadership, the adoption of Flow Metrics and Value Stream Management, and our real-world shift from strict Scrum toward a more customized Kanban-based model.It was this year that the name finally clicked. After assigning Value Stream Architect responsibilities to our Scrum Masters and giving them ownership of delivery metrics, team-level delivery health, and collaboration across roles within their Agile team, I realized the title “Scrum Master” no longer fit their role. I even considered Agile Value Stream Manager, but it felt too narrow and platform-specific.That’s when Agile Delivery Manager stood out, not only as a better label but also as a more accurate reflection of the mindset and mission.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Scrum often gets blamed for a lot of things it was never meant to do. Misused? Absolutely. Misunderstood? All the time. But the framework itself? Not the villain here.It is tiresome to see so many people complaining without truly understanding the purpose and intention of the frameworks.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

9 Daily ChatGPT Uses That Will Literally Change Your Life1. Instant Book Summaries (Absorb Knowledge Fast) 📚2. Personalized Workout & Nutrition Plans 🏋️‍♀️🍎3. Perfect Email & Message Crafting ✉️4. Everyday Tech Troubleshooting 💻📱5. Out-of-the-Box Idea Generation & Problem Solving 💡6. Language Learning & Practice Partner 🗣️🌍7. Mock Interview Powerhouse 👨‍💼8. Real-Time Translation & Negotiation Assistant (The “Travel Hack”) ✈️🇨🇳9. Personalized Tutor & Exam Creator for Kids (The “Parent Hack”) 🧑‍🎓📝How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

3 Critical Skills That I Have Learned as an Agile Coach1. Be Prepared for Chaos2. 0.5 Step Further Mindset3. Let ThemHow to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/