Does Agile provide any benefits in work which is research driven? Is there any point in using Agile when you know you can’t have potentially shippable increments every 1-4 weeks? How can it help stakeholders set constraints in research driven work, so that the work doesn’t drag on? How can hypothesis-driven development, and set based design help? Have a look at these in the context of Apple device research and development.
Some argue that the ability to learn and thus adapt will be the defining ability of organisations that’ll thrive in these times. But even the mightiest of the mighty, Toyota, has struggled at times with learning. It is probably best depicted by the recall of 9 millions vehicles worldwide in 2009, that led to some Toyota executives admitting that their organisation hasn’t been on the learning path that it once prided itself on. Why do companies struggle to become, or remain, “learning organisations”? How to turn these around? Here’s an interesting perspective from Harvard Business Review.
Recently Agile has attracted attention of a few contrarians. It is “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”, some say. Much ado about nothing. Is this the case? Has Agile turned into new Waterfall? We may confront statements like this with horror or disgust, but some may see a few grains of truths in that. This articles looks at 12 aspects why we shouldn’t jump the gun.
Yoda tells us that fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering. How can we turn around culture of fear? As someone at 3M once said, “if you put fence around people, you get sheep”. What can we learn from Star Wars that can help us move away from the urge to control everything, so that we can enable de-centralised decision making? Here are 5 Agile lessons we can learn from Star Wars.
The speedboat Retrospective is a powerful visualisation technique. Using the the speedboat analogy, it helps team members focus on what anchors are holding them back and keeping them from getting better? The focus, thus, is on problems and issues we have. Then we identify corrective actions. But what if instead of problems and anchors that slow us down, we focus on gusts of winds that can thrust us forward? Here are two tips that can help you turn the sailboat Retrospective into a solution focussed exercise instead of the usual problem focus exercise.
Why don’t people speak up regarding problems, broken processes, opportunities, innovative ideas, and about their concerns? We can ask the same question about our team members. Why don’t several of the team members speak up? Is it fear that keeps them from sharing new and bold ideas, from providing feedback and constructive criticism? Or is it something else? Have a look at this brief article.
What if we use a modified version of Pomodoro technique to help us focus on getting things done. This alone can help us become more productive. Taking it further, what if we run a daily Retrospective of our own activities at a daily basis? How effective would it be? It can be rather powerful. And simple. It has potential to turbo charge our productivity. Here’s how both of these can work.
When the streets around you are clean, you pause and think twice before throwing empty wrappers around. But if see litter on the streets, you may not hesitate. How does this apply to the world of coding? What can we learn from boy scouts that can help improve our codebase, incrementally. Have a look.
AGILE
How Can Apple Use Agile in R&D?
Does Agile provide any benefits in work which is research driven? Is there any point in using Agile when you know you can’t have potentially shippable increments every 1-4 weeks? How can it help stakeholders set constraints in research driven work, so that the work doesn’t drag on? How can hypothesis-driven development, and set based design help? Have a look at these in the context of Apple device research and development.
blog.agilegamedevelopment.com
4 Reasons Why Organisations Don’t Learn?
Some argue that the ability to learn and thus adapt will be the defining ability of organisations that’ll thrive in these times. But even the mightiest of the mighty, Toyota, has struggled at times with learning. It is probably best depicted by the recall of 9 millions vehicles worldwide in 2009, that led to some Toyota executives admitting that their organisation hasn’t been on the learning path that it once prided itself on. Why do companies struggle to become, or remain, “learning organisations”? How to turn these around? Here’s an interesting perspective from Harvard Business Review.
hbr.org
Is Agile the New Waterfall?
Recently Agile has attracted attention of a few contrarians. It is “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”, some say. Much ado about nothing. Is this the case? Has Agile turned into new Waterfall? We may confront statements like this with horror or disgust, but some may see a few grains of truths in that. This articles looks at 12 aspects why we shouldn’t jump the gun.
blog.8thlight.com
5 Star Wars Agile Lessons
Yoda tells us that fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering. How can we turn around culture of fear? As someone at 3M once said, “if you put fence around people, you get sheep”. What can we learn from Star Wars that can help us move away from the urge to control everything, so that we can enable de-centralised decision making? Here are 5 Agile lessons we can learn from Star Wars.
allaboutagile.com
TEAM
2 Tips to Improve Sailboat Retrospective
The speedboat Retrospective is a powerful visualisation technique. Using the the speedboat analogy, it helps team members focus on what anchors are holding them back and keeping them from getting better? The focus, thus, is on problems and issues we have. Then we identify corrective actions. But what if instead of problems and anchors that slow us down, we focus on gusts of winds that can thrust us forward? Here are two tips that can help you turn the sailboat Retrospective into a solution focussed exercise instead of the usual problem focus exercise.
agilealliance.org
Why Don’t People Speak Up?
Why don’t people speak up regarding problems, broken processes, opportunities, innovative ideas, and about their concerns? We can ask the same question about our team members. Why don’t several of the team members speak up? Is it fear that keeps them from sharing new and bold ideas, from providing feedback and constructive criticism? Or is it something else? Have a look at this brief article.
hbr.org/articles
GENERAL
How to Turbo Charge Personal Productivity?
What if we use a modified version of Pomodoro technique to help us focus on getting things done. This alone can help us become more productive. Taking it further, what if we run a daily Retrospective of our own activities at a daily basis? How effective would it be? It can be rather powerful. And simple. It has potential to turbo charge our productivity. Here’s how both of these can work.
tcagley.wordpress.com
DEVELOPER
How Much Do You Really Care About Your Code?
When the streets around you are clean, you pause and think twice before throwing empty wrappers around. But if see litter on the streets, you may not hesitate. How does this apply to the world of coding? What can we learn from boy scouts that can help improve our codebase, incrementally. Have a look.
blog.8thlight.com
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