Illustrated AgileLen Lagestee is an organizational change coach and blogger at www.illustratedagile.com. As a coach, Len is interacting with large organizations to connect people, revolutionize leadership, deliver results, and humanize the workforce.
Take a minute and think back on the times in your life when you felt really appreciated. What did people tell you? When did they tell it to you? Was it public or in a private conversation? How did it make you feel? While being the recipient of genuine appreciation is an amazing feeling, being […]
A couple of summers ago, while training for some crazy adventure, I was running with a friend of mine who is considerably faster than me on a Saturday morning long training run. Throughout the course of the run we were chatting and moving along at a steady pace but during the last half I noticed […]
In an earlier post, I discussed two phrases leaders should genuinely say to their people as often as possible. In addition to saying those two phrases, there are a couple of things an effective and transformational leader should also be. The role of leaders and managers is evolving – and it must. Future generations of […]
I am often asked about team user story sizing or planning poker and why its use has been advocated in Agile or Scrum circles instead of a using other estimating techniques. While I’m sure there are many opinions out there, capturing story points with group estimating techniques are effective because they weave individual perspectives into […]
Hiring people always involves a bit of risk and when hiring to fill a role on an Agile team the stakes are also very high. The nature of Agile requires the right team members. Hire the right person and you will see them make an immediate impact and they will gel naturally with the team. […]
Leadership during and after an Agile transformation will require a very different kind of leader. The days of command-and-control are being replaced by, as Steve Denning states in an article in Forbes, a new leadership “paradigm shift.” In my previous post, I talked about 5 questions a leader should ask themselves before undertaking a journey […]
So your organization is making the move to Agile. It may have started with a “I’ve heard about this Agile stuff and we are going to do it!” from someone in leadership. Maybe its the staff who will go to leadership and say ” We want to do Agile!” Or it starts as a grass-roots […]
Those who have never been a Product Owner may not understand just how challenging a position it really is. While I thought I understood this, for the past year I have worked closely with many Product Owners and I am beginning to sense all that is required and asked of them. It can be an […]
I recently received an incredibly cool email of encouragement from a colleague. I’m sure the email took no more than 2 or 3 minutes to write but the impact was tangible and lasting. It validated my effort. It motivated me. It was unexpected. I smiled when I read it. I decided then and there to […]
Being on an Agile team can be a fascinating and exciting yet daunting experience. Working in a highly social and fast-paced inspect and adapt Agile environment will require a team that is nimble, productive, and “in the zone.” The people comprising this team must operate within their role at a high level and focus on […]
If you are a Scrum Master on a team, my belief is you are called to serve your team. And by using the word serve, I mean you are doing things for the benefit of others. Not an easy calling but one that can bring transformational results to your team and organizational culture. Using the […]
Our Agile Working Team recently gathered to continue making progress on changes we will be making to our Agile framework. These changes are being introduced as we are expanding our Agile implementation to our marketing and advertising groups along with a few other organizational changes. As often happens, the conversation among the group began to […]