This week, your host, Dan Neumann , discusses his perspective on the influence of Artificial Intelligence on Agile Teams. AI has created excitement and great expectations, undoubtedly changing how we perceive work and raising some concerns. In this episode, Dan dives deep into how Generative AI can impact Agile Teams’ work, describing AI’s use in this field and using valuable examples to describe several manners to incorporate AI to ease the work at different stages of an Agile process. Key Take...
Sep 27, 2024•16 min•Ep. 295
This week, your host, Dan Neumann , is discussing how to maximize Team autonomy while maintaining accountability within Agile Frameworks. In this episode, Dan defines the importance of autonomy and accountability in Agile. He explains the challenge faced when too much autonomy leads to a lack of accountability while, on the contrary, too much control inhibits innovation and why leaders should prioritize this delicate balance. Key Takeaways What is Autonomy in Agile? Autonomy is the ability to se...
Sep 13, 2024•19 min•Ep. 294
This week, Dan Neumann , your host, dives deep into how Managers can support and help their Agile Teams. We often fall into common misconceptions, such as believing that self-managing Teams do not need Functional Managers or finding that the Manager’s role is not well defined, making it difficult to identify how he can assist an Agile Team. In this episode, Dan shares many valuable tips for Managers trying to find the best ways to help an Agile Team. Key Takeaways Tip No.1: Encourage Team Involv...
Sep 06, 2024•15 min•Ep. 293
This week, Dan Neumann welcomes Mike Guiler to explore starting on the right foot and staying aligned during the delivery process. In this episode, Dan discusses the crucial activities that set the stage for a successful project inception. Whether starting a new project or re-initiating an existing one, these activities are essential for aligning your Team, stakeholders, and vision. Key Takeaways Understanding Project Inception: Project inception is the initial phase of a project where we lay th...
Aug 23, 2024•34 min•Ep. 292
This week, Dan Neumann welcomes Nina Sossamon-Poghe to today’s conversation. Nina has an interesting background as a U.S. gymnast, a News Anchor, and a Corporate Leader with a unique perspective on resilience, mental health, and well-being. In this episode, Dan and Nina discuss an innovative concept, Excellence Exhaustion, while they define and analyze its significance. Nina also shares the “Resilience Route Navigator,” a framework designed to help high achievers combat Excellence Exhaustion. Ke...
Aug 09, 2024•40 min•Ep. 291
This week, your host, Dan Neumann , welcomes Mike Guiler to discuss a recent course on Kanban Essentials they experienced together. By the end of the classes, they encountered a common feeling in some participants: fear of failing. Often, acquiring new knowledge, embarking on a new journey, or using a new tool can trigger insecurities: What could happen if it is not right? Where do I begin? In this episode, they encourage Agilists to face this first stage of hesitation, analyze the limitations, ...
Aug 02, 2024•24 min•Ep. 290
This week, your host, Dan Neumann, is joined by Norm Kerth , author of Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Reviews . Norm Kerth wrote this book before Sprint Retrospectives were invented! In this episode, Norm and Dan explore the subject of Project Retrospectives. They discuss the learning opportunity within every major project event, especially in instances where things did not turn out favorably. Norm explains when and when not to have a Retrospective and how to prove its value to orga...
Jul 26, 2024•37 min•Ep. 289
This week, your host, Dan Neumann, is joined by an external guest: Kristen Belcher , a Software Developer turned Agile Coach. In this episode, they discuss liberating structures, simple and subtle tools that can help everyone attending a group event contribute and be included. They dive deep into some of the Liberating Structures, such as 1-2-4-All, Drawing Together, Purpose-to-Practice, and TRIZ. Listen to this thoughtful conversation and get ready to apply some of these practices to the next e...
Jul 19, 2024•40 min•Ep. 288
This week, your hosts, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil, share seven tips for Agile Facilitation. Collaboration is necessary when solving a problem, and Agile Coaches and Masters work to enable a Team to cooperate. Every event is unique, which is why Facilitation could be considered a form of art. Key Takeaways Contextual Awareness: Teams and events are filled with unique variables that the facilitator cannot always anticipate; as a result, reading the overall atmosphere of a room and the individua...
Jul 12, 2024•38 min•Ep. 287
This week, your host, Justin Thatil, welcomes Ned Pope , Director of Product Practice at Agile Thought. In this episode, Ned and Justin explore the most common challenges encountered while engaging with an enterprise client. Ned shares valuable insights regarding creating a new product effectively and timely, emphasizing the crucial value of openness and collaboration within a Team. Ned highlights the importance of focusing on the problem, the elements of the solution, and how they can be broken...
Jun 28, 2024•38 min•Ep. 286
This week, your host, Justin Thatil , is joined by Mike Guiler to explore complementary practices in Scrum. The Scrum Guide intentionally left many open questions for users to adapt and practice flexibility. In this episode, Justin and Mike outline several practices, such as identifying the product vision, adapting the Kanban Board, and providing visual information regarding the production process. They also discuss the benefits of using Kanban’s lead and cycle time metrics and close this conver...
Jun 21, 2024•31 min•Ep. 285
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by the first-time guest, Jeannine Gonyon , a Performance Engineering Practice Lead at Agile Thought. This episode explores the differences between performance testing and performance engineering, emphasizing the crucial role of Performance Engineering in mitigating unnecessary risks and protecting the Organization’s reputation. Key Takeaways Performance Testing and Performance Engineering test: Performance testing is the process that follows ma...
Jun 14, 2024•29 min•Ep. 284
This week, your host, Dan Neumann, is accompanied by Gill Broza . Gil is known for simplifying the complex and making the implicit explicit so people can make better choices. He is a writer and never prescribes a single right way. In this episode, Dan and Gil explore how to help teams grow and produce improved outcomes while diving deep into a discussion regarding Gil’s latest book, Deliver Better Results. Key Takeaways Agile introduced the concept that multiple ways exist to create, ideate, and...
Jun 07, 2024•35 min•Ep. 283
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Mike Guiler to continue the discussion on Norman Kerth’s book Project Retrospectives. In this episode, they explore the last three chapters, which are filled with exercises to apply at Retrospectives, specifically when sensitive topics are to be addressed. Key Takeaways Some Retrospective activities are designed to address emotionally charged topics. Failure must be accepted and embraced in postmortem retrospectives; otherwise, no one would ...
May 31, 2024•33 min•Ep. 282
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Mike Guiler to continue their discussion of Norman Kerth’s book Project Retrospectives. In this episode, they dive deep into chapters 6, 7, and 8, analyzing some of the exercises and techniques described in the book and the immense value of learning to plan retrospectives for them to be fruitful. They close this conversation by addressing “postmortem” retrospectives and the importance of unpacking a failed project. Key Takeaways Chapter 6: E...
May 24, 2024•27 min•Ep. 281
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Mike Guiler to share their continuous learning journey. They have been exploring the book Project Retrospectives written by Norman Kerth, and today, you will listen to them discussing chapters 3 to 5, where they dive deep into the role of Retrospective facilitators. They compare Norm’s guidance against their own experience and reflect how practices presented are still be relevant today as retrospectives are more widely practiced in the indus...
May 17, 2024•21 min•Ep. 280
This week, Justin Thatil, your host, welcomes Mike Guiler and Anitra Pavka . Today, they address the product discovery phase and some of the challenges the engineering Team usually faces while identifying what they will build and which special skills will be required to perform the task effectively. Also in this episode, they explore interviewing techniques and usability testing. Key Takeaways Interviewing users is universally helpful. Interviewing users is so important that it should be done ev...
May 10, 2024•33 min•Ep. 279
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Mike Guiler to discuss the journey of a Project Manager shifting to fill the Scrum Master accountability. This episode mainly focuses on those Scrum Masters who are newer to this accountability and have a Project Management background. In this episode, they explore what happens when a Project Manager is assigned Scrum Master’s accountabilities which can develop differently depending on the person’s expertise and ability to learn and embrace ...
May 03, 2024•32 min•Ep. 278
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by their colleague, Mike Guiler. In this episode, they explore how a Product Manager shifts from just management to leadership and how this transformation influences the role. Dan, Justin, and Mike discuss tools and strategies, including OKRs, Story Mapping, and Hackathons, among others. Key Takeaways Product management must study the market and users, becoming customer-centric and ensuring it is still viable for the business at the same time. ...
Apr 26, 2024•34 min•Ep. 277
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Mike Guiler to continue the conversation that started in the last episode , where it was discussed how organizations can support their Managers. This time, they explore how Managers can help their Teams to shift to a more Agile approach. In today’s episode, Mike, Justin, and Dan dive deep into the reasons managers must be prepared to accompany their people in changing to Agile, sharing information, and asking the right questions to ensure th...
Apr 19, 2024•30 min•Ep. 276
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Mike Guiler to explore how organizations can better support their managers. In this episode, they discuss two adoption patterns, the grassroots and the top-down approach, and the distinction between being a Manager and a Leader. Key Takeaways The grassroots adoption pattern and the top-down approach in an Agile Organization: Grassroots starts at a Team level. The top-down approach begins with the boss. If an Agile Team is self-managing: What...
Apr 12, 2024•34 min•Ep. 275
This week, Dan Neumann is joined by an external guest: Seth Maust, President and Founder of Five Star Life, an organization that aims to change perceptions of education, sports, and culture. Seth began 20 years ago researching why so many children were dropping out of school because they did not value education and ultimately did not value themselves. Five Star Life focuses on dismantling this root issue by ingraining a different curriculum they created that guides students in developing success...
Apr 05, 2024•31 min•Ep. 274
This week, your host, Justin Thatil, is joined by three of his colleagues, Mike Guiler , Jim Beale , and Mariano Oliveti . In this episode, they explore the topic of accountability in Agile Teams and organizations. These four Agilists share their insights and experience on the role of accountability while explaining the value of tools such as OKRs and KPIs and the influence of a true leader in encouraging Teams by involving them in the whole process, trusting them, and enabling them to be self-d...
Mar 29, 2024•39 min•Ep. 273
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Mariano Oliveti and Erica Menendez to discuss DevOps, mainly how it contributes to creating safety and providing feedback during an Agile product journey. In this episode, they share their knowledge about how DevOps eases the work and ensures value delivery. Listen to this conversation among Agilists for actionable suggestions and amazing real-life examples of Agile Teams benefiting from DevOps. Key Takeaways The problems DevOps can help to ...
Mar 22, 2024•31 min•Ep. 272
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Anitra Pavka , an Agile Coach with vast experience in product ownership and management. In this episode, Anitra discusses the value of prioritizing people in the software development journey and shares ways and strategies to communicate more efficiently among the Team and with users. She also outlines different approaches to engaging better with users to minimize risks and maximize time use. Key Takeaways Anitra emphasizes the importance of ...
Mar 15, 2024•34 min•Ep. 271
This week, Mariano Oliveti joined Dan Neumann to discuss the importance of continuous learning and growth as an Agile Coach In this episode, Mariano shares his experience growing as a Coach. Listen to this conversation where Mariano and Dan dive deep into the steps of this incremental journey, which begins with awareness, followed by proficiency, to achieve mastery later. Key Takeaways The first step is identifying how you would like to grow as a coach At the beginning of your learning process, ...
Mar 08, 2024•29 min•Ep. 270
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by two external guests for Kanban University: Joey Spooner, Vice President for Community Development and Product Management, and Todd Little , Chairman of Kanban University. In this episode, experts from Kanban University join the podcast to share their expertise with the audience. Listen to this conversation and learn about the trajectory of Kanban University and its fantastic community. Also, they dive into a profound exploration of what Kanb...
Mar 01, 2024•39 min•Ep. 269
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by an external guest, James D Murphy , a United States Air Force Veteran, F15 Fighter, and instructed pilot. James founded a company called Afterburner Inc. and is now the CEO of Afterburner Capital; he wrote seven books and is an expert on the Agile Delivery Framework. In this episode, they discuss the concept of flawless execution, meaning an execution that is as impeccable as possible (nothing is perfect!). James shares how he combined his m...
Feb 23, 2024•34 min•Ep. 268
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil, your hosts, are joined by Erica Menendez and Mariano Oliveti to discuss what it takes to deliver high-quality Agile Projects. In this episode, they dive deep into what a successful Agile project looks like and describe the necessary steps to be taken in order to reach it. Key Takeaways Clarify the purpose The company should have a purpose The culture you create should be in support of the purpose The products should align with that purpose Deeply underst...
Feb 16, 2024•28 min•Ep. 267
This week, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil are joined by Erik Lindgren to discuss the concepts of MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and MMP (Minimum Marketable Product) and the differences between them. In this episode, they explore an example of a successful brand that started the simplest way possible and became a multimillion-dollar success a decade later! Key Takeaways Erik shares the story of Honest Tea, which grew into a multimillion-dollar company. They started with the MVP (making tea at Eric’s...
Feb 09, 2024•30 min•Ep. 266
