Illustrated Agile
As more and more organizations attempt to gain agility and nimbleness by creating a network of autonomous teams, more and more of the people in those organizations are struggling to visualize or realize how they can be a contributing factor in this new world. In Part One, we reviewed the key characteristics of network. New […]
Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve posted so with the New Year in full swing, I felt it appropriate to start back up with my yearly resolution post (albeit a bit delayed). For the past 6 years, I have written a resolution post so its only natural to start here for 2018. If […]
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, he discusses the need to deliberately practice for 10,000 hours before becoming an expert in a chosen endeavor. Ten. Thousand. Hours. If all you did for the next year was practice something non-stop, without sleep, you would be about 90% of the way there. There is however, a raging debate […]
When I enter an organization as a coach, I often find people (and sometimes whole teams or departments) suffering from low confidence. For individuals, this could stem from being in a new role, a history of not being given a chance to speak what is on their mind, or a mistreatment after they made a […]
What do managers really think about the people who report to them? I have been in many conversations with managers about their direct reports and it’s fascinating how the dynamics of the conversation shift based on who they are talking about. Some people are their “rock stars” and when mentioned a manager would often perk up or […]
Welcome to resistance…the tension is here. – Switchfoot (from the song “Dare You To Move”) If you are attempting to bring meaningful change into your organization through a transformation initiative (such as introducing Agile or something similar), you will meet resistance. Guaranteed. Your resistance may be a vocal cynic, the skeptical leader, a demoralized workforce, […]
While the product teams deliver the vision and mid-level leaders are removing big impediments for them, now is the opportunity for senior leaders to show transformational leadership. Transformational leaders have shifted from day-to-day command and control tactics to a focus on aspirational and directional vision. They set up networks and connect the organization in ways […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
While thinking about the keynote address about Positivity at Agile 2011 (and my previous post), I was reminded of one of the doormen at our offices in Chicago. Once in a while at the end of the day, he stands right in the middle of the main hallway that everyone needs to pass through in […]
Being intentionally and overwhelmingly positive. While I think most of us try to be positive most of the time, the Positive Emotions keynote address from Barbara Fredrickson reminded me to take it to another level and decide to be a positive force everyday. Being positive generally means focusing your thoughts and actions on others, not […]