The Daily Standup

Last week a client mentioned they were using feedback they’d received on an MVP to make “course corrections.”
My ears bristle whenever someone talks about correcting course on an agile project.
There’s no such thing as course correcting in agile.
Am I crazy? After all, a fundamental part of agile is acting on feedback to improve a product.
My problem with the concept of course corrections is the way it presupposes there is one correct course and that it’s possible to know it in advance.
That’s not the case.
Sure, many products begin with a product backlog that describes what the product owner thinks will be the right combination of features to achieve the desired outcomes.
But on any non-trivial product, this recipe cannot be fully known in advance.
Successful products are created by iteratively homing in on the right combination of features. And that set of features can only be discovered through trial and error.
No matter how much research a team does before developing a feature, they never know how users will respond to the new feature.
Will they love it? Will they hate it? Will they use it? Will they use it as intended?
So a product owner or manager places a sequence of bets. The result of each bet guides the product owner in placing the next bet.
Course-correcting means there was a single, correct course. It implies that development has somehow deviated from this correct course and must be brought back in line.
Instead of talking about course corrections, I talk about course adjustments. As a team learns more, it adjusts course—which is the way to 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/

Someone wrote.... In 2017, Agile was presented to me as the ultimate project management approach — promising productivity, transparency, and value delivery in short bursts. However, many teams struggled to effectively implement and scale Scrum, missing the mark on its potential. 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/

So, what’s the difference between these three roles? And why do we need all three in the first place? 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 World's Most Expensive Lamb - Bring Tissues... All I can say is WOW!! This is a story about the world record for highest price per pound for any lamb ever sold. 100% of the proceeds went to a VERY worthy cause. 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/

1. Acting as the team’s manager 2. Stay outside of the team 3. Suffocate Developers with meticulously crafted Product Backlog items 4. Determine the technology to be used 5. Push the scope of the Sprint 6. Ignore the team’s capacity 7. Lead the Daily Scrum 8. Enforce skipping parts of the DoD 9. Ignore the purpose of the Sprint Review 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/

In today’s fast-paced business world, one of the most common struggles organizations face is how to deliver products faster while still maintaining high quality. Many teams feel bogged down by delays, inefficiencies, and bottlenecks. This is where value stream management comes in — a method to not only accelerate product delivery but to maximize the value delivered to your customers. The way you manage your team’s workflows could significantly reduce wasted efforts while increasing the value you provide. 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/

Happy Halloween! What do you like best about the holiday: the candy, the costumes, or the scariness?
The scariness wins for me, although a fun-size Snickers is hard to resist.
But there’s good scary and bad. I’ve seen that adopting an agile approach to product development can be as scary as a good Halloween movie or ghost story. One thing that can be scary to some is the assumption that agile is more stressful.
And if true, that would suck—no one wants more stress in their life. But let’s take a closer look at those practices or aspects of agile that seem like they could increase stress.
For example, collaborating with others more frequently and intensely could take away the quiet, recharging time needed by some, especially introverts.
This can be frightening and a good Scrum Master or coach should assess whether team members are getting enough time for solo work. Designated hours for this can go a long way.
Similarly, having to report daily on yesterday’s progress and today’s plan can feel like nonstop pressure, which would be frightening.
A good Scrum Master or coach can address this, too: by ensuring that daily meetings are for team members to synchronize their work rather than allowing the creepy impression that everyone is checking up on them.
Sometimes this message needs to be shared with those outside the team; other times, team members themselves need to be reminded that the purpose is merely to synchronize and coordinate effort.
One of the more frightening stresses of agile is that deadlines are never more than a few weeks away.
However, because of their frequency, these deadlines are generally less important than the one big deadline of a traditionally managed project.
I sometimes think about the differences in these deadlines in terms of running on a treadmill.
A traditionally managed, or waterfall, project with its one big deadline is like running a hill profile. It’s nice and easy for a while until a big hill starts and then it’s extremely difficult and stressful.
And then the pattern repeats: pretty low stress for a long time and then really stressful at the end when the team tries to get the project over the big hill.
In contrast, agile is like setting the treadmill at a 2% incline and leaving it there for the duration of your run. It’s moderately stressful but never excessively so.
As team members become accustomed to the smaller deadlines that conclude each iteration, these become far less frightening. 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/

Happy Veterans Day! 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/

Uplifting Message of Helping Hands What can you do to make a difference in the lives of others? How can you impact how others think and feel? What can you do to be a beacon of light love and hope?
Join V. Lee Henson as we explore how happiness leads the way. 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/

Pumpkin Spice Season - Mike Cohn Pumpkin spice season is upon us.
It seems every company jumps on the pumpkin spice bandwagon. I enjoy the humorous memes such as for pumpkin spice tacos and even a pumpkin spice muffler for your car.
I think pumpkin spice is so popular because it can be added to so many things. (But please keep it off my tacos.)
In that way, pumpkin spice is like agile. A little agility can be added to many things.
That’s why we’ve seen agile move beyond its initial application in software development. Agile moved quickly to all forms of product development. Today, we see agile in education, marketing, construction, law firms, and more.
A few years ago, a bank called itself “your agile bank.” I’m not sure I want my bank to be agile. Teams at the bank can be agile, but I want money at my bank to mostly just sit there sedately earning interest with no need for agility.
We even see agile for managing our personal and family lives. I hear regularly about family backlogs. One former course participant contacted me to say he’d become engaged after he and his girlfriend began holding a relationship retrospective every Friday.
Agile, like pumpkin spice, is everywhere. Many human endeavors benefit from less rigid planning, from emphasizing the human component of success, responding to change, iterating, continuously improving, and more.
Like pumpkin spice, these bits of agile can be mixed into many things we do.
Perhaps, too, like pumpkin spice, they can be overdone. A little pumpkin spice goes a long way. In some endeavors, so may a little agility.
If you haven’t already, try adding a little agility to your non-development or even non-work activities.
It’s worth a try. Just like I guess those pumpkin spice tacos may be, 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/