It seems that lately Agile (and Scrum in particular) have become the latest targets of non-stop complaints and criticism in the Product Management and Development worlds. I’ve read articles that talk about how “Agile is destroying the business” or where “Scrum is a career-limiting methodology that only creates generalists.” Neither of these are necessary conclusions […]
Solving for the Commitment-Phobic Developer
Since the Clever PM is recovering from a nasty bug, he’s going to rely on Quora for a little Clever content again, this time focusing on the question “How do you get developers to commit to finishing a sprint on time?” I chose this one because it plays into one of the common misconceptions about Scrum […]
Common Dysfunctions of “Scrum” Teams — Part 2
In the first part of this series, I talked about how many teams who try to transform into “Agile” teams fail because they don’t actually understand what being “agile” is all about, or because they try to cut corners by not fully embracing (at the outset, at least) the fundamental requirements of the methodology that they have […]
Common Dysfunctions of “Scrum” Teams — Part 1
I started this out as a single post, but it’s become far too unwieldy for a single day. Thus, I’m breaking this up into two segments — one focusing on missing the point, the other on finer mistakes that sink potentially “good” teams moving into Agile processes. It’s still one of my longest posts here, […]
Death By Gantt Chart
We’ve all been there — we’re talking about our upcoming projects, discussing possible timelines and resource allocations, working to align our tactical work with the company and product strategy, when it hits you like a brick thrown through your living room window in the middle of the latest Game of Thrones episode: So, where’s the […]
The Three Forms of Waste – Muda, Mura, and Muri
With Agile development and Lean practices so popular nowadays, sometimes the history behind these practices and philosophies is overlooked or skipped over entirely. Unfortunately, when people miss the underpinnings upon which these concepts are based, they also tend to distort and remake those principles into something that only barely resembles the original concepts behind them. […]
Breaking Down the Agile Manifesto — Collaboration & Responding to Change
Earlier this week, I discussed the common misunderstandings related to the first two statements made in the Agile Manifesto — Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools, and Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation. In that discussion, I focused on how important it is to remember that the Agile Manifesto itself was written largely in response […]
Breaking Down the Agile Manifesto — Processes & Documentation
One of the issues that Product Managers commonly face when engaging with teams who claim to be, or who want to be, “Agile” is that most people have never really take the time to actually research the origins of the Agile movement, the principles upon which it is based, or even the histories of the […]
“Agile” Does Not Mean “Without a Plan”
A very common, and very dangerous misconception about Agile development — whether you’re using Kanban, Scrum, XP, DevOps, or any other flavor of the week — is that it “requires” or “expects” that you can operate quickly, efficiently, and effectively without necessarily having an overall strategic plan. Bullshit. There certainly are teams and companies who […]
The Role of a Product Manager in Scrum
One of the sometimes-confusing aspects of the Scrum approach to Agile development is how a Product Manager fits into the system. It’s important to understand that Scrum was designed originally as set of development practices, and as such from the textbook perspective views everything through that lens. The crux of the confusion comes primarily because […]
Why Your User Stories Suck
I find it ironic that one of the most fundamentally important aspects of Agile planning is so very often terribly implemented. User Stories are the single most important thing that a Product Manager/Owner delivers to their development teams — they’re the foundation on which everything the team does is gauged; and all too often, quite […]
Be careful what you put on your backlog…
We’ve all had the conversation…you’re working at your desk, just finished a call with a customer or prospect, and that random person comes around and taps you on the shoulder… “Where’s my feature?” “Huh? What feature?” “You know — the feature you talked about last week.” “Oh, that one! It’s on the backlog.” “I know, […]