The Daily Standup

Agile Is Broken, So What Should Startups and Tech Companies Do Instead?Look, no matter where you stand on Agile, Scrum, or Jira, no one can name-call their way around the fact that continuous delivery and continuous improvement have, more often than not, given way to over-management, over-documentation, and over-scrutinization of the software development process, turning development into a joyless slog where nothing new and innovative gets done, and certainly not quickly — even at, and especially at, tech startups.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/

Are Story Points Helping Your Team?Story Points have been around for a couple decades now. There are countless articles and videos demonstrating their usage. Many organizations mandate their usage and teaching them are part of the standard approach for consulting organizations.For as long as I’ve known about Story Points (SP) and the associated velocity there continue to be far too many teams that have constant incomplete work Sprint after Sprint. Teams spend endless hours haggling over point estimation and still get it wrong so much of the time. There is elaborate theater in many teams at the end of the Sprint, renegotiating SP estimates for work that was harder than anticipated. Or splitting incomplete work and then attempting to determine where to place the Story Points.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 Masters Are Useless — Product Managers Should Run Their Own ScrumWe’ve all been there. It’s 10:00 AM. You’re in a standup, sipping your third coffee, while the Scrum Master dutifully asks each developer, “What did you do yesterday? What are you doing today? Any blockers?”Someone mumbles something about JIRA tickets. Another person reports, “Same as yesterday.”Meanwhile, the Product Manager (PM) is frantically jotting notes, trying to connect the dots between what was promised and what’s actually happening.And the Scrum Master? They nod, write things down, and move on.Here’s the controversial take: Do we really need a dedicated Scrum Master for this? Or should Product Managers just run their own scrums?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 Time For You to GrowHow 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 Job Market Rebound is Going to Catch Everyone Off GuardI’ve got good news about the job market.And some bad news.The good news is that this perennially iced-over and zombified market is finally, slowly starting to thaw. Both survey data and anecdotal evidence point to an uptick in hiring in the near future.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/

Five Things You Should Know as a Leader Implementing AI

1. There is no playbook... Yet
2. Do NOT be afraid to experiment
3. AI technology advances quickly
4. AI will NOT solve everything
5. Be a responsible leader when implementing AI

BONUS - Find the right coach / trainer when implementing AI. Do not go at it alone. You will waste too much time learning outdated materials. 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 Key Lessons From My First Product RoleMy first product role shaped how I lead. I learned about true ownership, deep business impact, and competition that goes beyond features. Working with a visionary CEO in a product-led company taught me lessons that still guide me. PMs, are you embracing these to drive real impact?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/

A few years ago, I was in a business review meeting with my team, looking at charts and reports that showed how our business was doing. The numbers didn’t look good, and as everyone around the table shared their thoughts, it became clear that no one agreed on what to do next. There were a lot of ideas, worries, and quick fixes — but not much clarity.I realized then that my job wasn’t just about making decisions; it was about seeing the bigger picture, noticing patterns others might miss, and guiding the team through the confusion. That’s when I understood what makes a leader truly strategic.Being a strategic leader isn’t just about having a vision or setting goals. It’s about building a set of skills that help you see changes before they happen, connect the dots, and lead your team through uncertain times.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/

How Firm a Foundation... 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/

Three Ways to Handle Unfinished Work - Mike CohnOver the past three weeks, I’ve been sending you tips about spillover on agile teams. We’ve talked in depth about the problem of habitual spillover—when a team routinely rolls unfinished work forward from sprint to sprint.
This week, I want to share 3 ways to handle the unfinished work that will occasionally be left over by even a great agile team.
 1. If You Want a Guarantee, Buy a Toaster
My first bit of advice for how to handle unfinished work is to remember that even the best agile teams sometimes miss their goals. That’s OK and even desirable to a certain extent.
Sprint goals are not guarantees. (As Clint Eastwood’s character Nick Pulovski says in The Rookie, “If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster!”) Leaders, stakeholders, and even the team themselves might need an occasional reminder about this.
A team’s commitment to a sprint goal is a promise to do its best to achieve that goal. If team members are perpetually forced instead to make a guarantee, they will guarantee less in order to be safe.
Sometimes a team needs to make a guarantee. There might be times when a client or customer needs a capability by a certain date. The finance group may need to run year-end reports in early January, for example.
In general, though, we don’t want to force a team into a guarantee. We ask a team to commit to something reasonable and then we’re understanding if they miss it. Falling short on the occasional commitment is not a failure-–it’s usually a sign of bad luck or a team that’s striving to do too much.
 2. Don’t Roll Work Forward Automatically
My second bit of advice is to resist the urge to automatically roll over the unfinished work into the next sprint. Put it in the product backlog instead.
The item may be back on the product backlog for a millisecond, but there should be a conscious decision by the product to continue work on it.
(Logistically, I don’t care if it’s easier in your tool of choice to move the item to the next sprint rather than to the product backlog first. The key is that there is a decision to continue the work.)
If the product owner decides the team should work on the partly finished item immediately in the next sprint, bring in the product backlog item as is. Don’t re-estimate it. Don’t rename it. Don’t take partial velocity credit. Just bring the item into the next sprint and take the full velocity credit when it’s complete.
But if the item is deferred for later, go ahead and split the story into what makes sense. Take partial velocity credit for the work you completed last sprint, then write a new story that describes only the missing functionality and estimate that story.
 3. Document the Cause
My final bit of advice for dealing with unfinished work is this: Whenever work is unfinished at the end of a sprint, the team should take time in the retrospective to consider whether it was preventable.
Sometimes unfinished work is just bad luck or bad timing, such as a team member being ill or a problem being found late in the sprint that could not have been found earlier. Sometimes it’s just the result of aiming too high for one sprint.
But you might uncover something that is becoming a bad habit.
Whatever the cause, it’s always worth considering whether something can be done to prevent it from affecting future sprints so that your team can succeed with agile.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/