Where is agile going? As a practice, as a methodology, for us as practitioners? Join us this week as we chat with Chris Williams, host of the Badass Agile Podcast to discuss his last few episodes which center on this topic. Where have we failed? What have we done wrong? How do we "right" the ship? Tune in and find out! Enjoy! If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTunes, Stitcher or your podcasting platform of choice. It really helps others find us....
Oct 01, 2023•54 min
In this @agileuprising episode, Andy Cleff engages in a compelling conversation with Phil Johnson about the critical role of emotional intelligence (EI) in leadership and coaching. They emphasize that leadership transcends titles and is rooted in the ability to inspire trust through actions and results. The discussion explores the art of truthful communication, underscoring the importance of delivering truth with compassion and empathy to earn trust. Furthermore, they delve into the challenge of...
Sep 24, 2023•24 min
In this episode, Chris Murman, Mike Caddell, and Andy Cleff dive into the idea of "organizational debt." They compare it to technical debt (as well as financial debt) and discuss how it's essential to recognize and tackle inefficiencies, outdated processes, and cultural issues in organizations. They chat about potential signs of this debt, like slow decision-making and lack of role clarity. They stress the need for relevant metrics and creating a culture where people can freely talk about these ...
Sep 17, 2023•47 min
In this @agileuprising panel episode, Prateek Singh @singhpr, Andy Cleff @justsitthere, Ben Rodilitz BenRodilitz, and Colleen Johnson @scrumhive chat about applying #agile thinking to earned value management. #EVM, a project management technique used in measuring performance, progress, and risk, relies on calculations based on detailed and accurate upfront planning. The coexistence of Agile (which is dynamic by design) and EVM requires a tailored approach. Could abandoning deterministic #estimat...
Sep 10, 2023•46 min
Chris Murman and Andy Cleff have a fireside chat about the principle of simplicity: the art of maximizing the amount of work not done. Should you do more of doing less? Video version: Topics include: Uncover the Truth about Simplicity and Agile The Power of Standardization Simplifying Complex Product Development Eliminating Waste in Methods & Frameworks Boosting Creativity and Collaboration Simplified UX: The Secret Behind Google's Aesthetic and Effective Designs! Unleashing Organizational B...
Sep 03, 2023•1 hr 3 min
One of our favorites from the archives: What defines a "successful" agile transformation? Is there a difference between "big T" and "little T" transformations? And what exactly is a capon? Join host Troy Lightfoot as he tries to corral an answer to this and other questions out of Chris Murman, Andrew Leff, and Jay Hrcsko. This one's a bit of a rambler, but it should be fun for you listeners. Enjoy! About the Agile Uprising If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave ...
Aug 28, 2023•44 min
FROM THE ARCHIVES: This week we're re-running one of our most popular episosdes, where Troy and Jay discuss how to use the Twelve Agile Principles as metrics for your agile delivery and transformation. Enjoy! If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTunes, Stitcher or your podcasting platform of choice. It really helps others find us. Much thanks to the artist from who provided us our outro music free-of-charge! If you like what you heard, to find mor...
Aug 21, 2023•51 min
was held recently in two locations for the first time ever. The main event was located in Orlando, Florida while a smaller but just as valuable hub was in Edinburgh, Scotland. Board member got together attendees from both locations to discuss their experiences. spoke and attended in Orlando, while attended her very first agile conference ever in Edinburgh. The trio discussed how the logistics worked between the two locations, how the event felt, and what stood out most from the week: Many don't ...
Aug 13, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Daniel Vacanti, one of the instrumental founders of Kanban (), chats with hosts and about agile metrics, Little's Law, the one metric that matters most, and the one that doesn't matter at all. Like the work, we are doing? today Books Videos / Websites Contact Twitter: LinkedIn:
Aug 06, 2023•48 min
This week we discuss the recent blog post by David Heinemeier Hansson titled "Manage process before people." While that sounds completely INSANE as a gut reaction...is he onto something? Tune in and find out! Enjoy! If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTunes, Stitcher or your podcasting platform of choice. It really helps others find us. Much thanks to the artist from who provided us our outro music free-of-charge! If you like what you heard, to f...
Jul 30, 2023•40 min
This week we continue our deep-dive into the annals of history to discuss another often-maligned paper, Winston Royce's "Managing the Development of Large Software Systems" a.k.a. -"the birthplace of waterfall"...but it is really? How much of what is attributed to Royce is WRONG? And how much did he really get RIGHT that is sadly ignored? Listen in and find out! If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTunes, Stitcher or your podcasting platform of ch...
Jul 23, 2023•35 min
In this week's episode, Troy Lightfoot and Prateek Singh from ProKanban.org discuss techniques used in other industries used to help people save lives, and money, and even develop artificial intelligence. They cover what can be used in planning for product development to bring more accurate forecasts with a real understanding of risk to help companies make better decisions on a continuous basis. Links: ProKanban.org If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comment...
Jul 16, 2023•46 min
This week's episode started out as a discussion of the book Framers by Ken Cukier et al. but then we went off into all sorts of heuristics for approaches to creative problem solving, and we landed with Claude Shannon's hints for Creative Thinking. Enjoy! If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTunes, Stitcher or your podcasting platform of choice. It really helps others find us. Much thanks to the artist from who provided us our outro music free-of-c...
Jul 09, 2023•44 min
Every great man has a great enemy, every great movement a great antagonist. For "agile" that antagonist is typically attributed to Frederick Winslow Taylor, and his book Scientific Management...but SHOULD he be? This week we host a discussion between two people who actually took the time to READ the book, to try and answer the question: "Is the problem Taylorism...or how we're taught to INTERPRET it?" Enjoy! If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTu...
Jul 02, 2023•59 min
In this week's episode, co-hosts Andy Cleff and Troy Lightfoot discuss the misconceptions about Little's law, the differences between what Dr. Little created and what is often taught, and how Little's Law can be useful in practice today by understanding the five underlying assumptions. This episode contains follow-along images which can be found below. If you’d like to join the discussion and share your stories, please jump into the fray at our We at the Agile Uprising are committed to being tot...
Jun 25, 2023•44 min
From the archives: Join and as they discuss An Everyone Culture: Deliberately Developmental Organizations. DDO’s create an unusual kind of environment, one that tolerates — even prefers — making one's failures, risks, and weaknesses public so that colleagues can support each other in the process of overcoming them. There's a wonderful congruence with Modern Agile principles: Make People Awesome Make Safety a Prerequisite Experiment & Learn Rapidly Deliver Value Continuously Guest contact inf...
Jun 18, 2023•52 min
In this week's episode, co-hosts Jay Hrcsko and Troy Lightfoot discuss the fallacies of prioritization and other agile-related practices that need rethinking including the cost of delay, WIP, release planning, forecasting, and more. This episode contains follow-along images which can be found below. If you like this episode and want to attend an upcoming class on these topics, Troy is running a 4-night class about Flow metrics and Forecasting in July which can be . AU Listeners can get 20% off w...
Jun 11, 2023•1 hr 18 min
Discord members Niklas Kari, Mike Caddell, and Janel Lanza welcome fellow agilist Christiaan Verwijs to discuss his recent article on a data-driven approach to discussing SAFe. It's everyone's favorite framework to bash and blame for the issues in our work, and often the arguments are based on anecdotal evidence. So, when someone decided to do some extensive research on the topic, it got our attention and we wanted to hear more. Verwijs outlined the research method, how the questions were adapte...
Jun 04, 2023•56 min
This week we sit down with Dan Doiron to discuss his new book, Seeing Money Clearly: Using Throughput Accounting to Understand and Manage Knowledge-Work. We discuss the different types of capacities, why buying capacity should always be a last resort, and how common cause variation will be a software team's undoing. Enjoy! If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTunes, Stitcher or your podcasting platform of choice. It really helps others find us. Mu...
May 21, 2023•47 min
FROM THE ARCHIVES: "I promise..." What if we applied the idea of a promise to engineering, systems design, and how we interact with each other? Join host Jay Hrcsko and special guest-host Jonathan Magen as they sit down early in the morning to chat with the brilliant Mark Burgess, creator of Promise Theory. Make sure you've had your coffee before you listen, this just may change how you interact with everyone!
May 14, 2023•59 min
Architecture....as in "software architecture"....what do these people do? Do they do more harm than good? Have we replaced this need with advances in software engineering? And what about the different types of architects? This week we go all-in on this topic, along with why engineers want to be architects, what the role REALLY entails, and how to use your Enterprise Architect to your advantage. Enjoy! If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTunes, St...
May 07, 2023•57 min
One from the way back machine! This Agile Uprising podcast was hosted in 2017 by Ryan Lockard () and James Gifford () and featured Agile pioneer and Manifesto Co-Author Jim Highsmith ( We’re looking forward to Jim's new book: Learn more Pre-order your copy of today! About the Agile Uprising If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTunes, Stitcher or your podcasting platform of choice. It really helps others find us. Much thanks to the artist from who ...
Apr 30, 2023•44 min
This week Co-hosts Troy Lightfoot and Chris Murman sit down with special guest Colleen Johnson, CEO of ProKanban.org, and discuss an interesting topic, "Death of the Product Roadmap." Colleen makes a case for moving away from traditional roadmaps to utilizing portfolio Kanban at scale to achieve agility at all levels of an organization. TLDL: The idea of a roadmap is not bad, but the most common forms and uses of roadmaps are speculative, deterministic, and prescriptive. All things that are not ...
Apr 24, 2023•39 min
Return guest joins host to discuss the state of conferences today, why they matter, and how is our favorite of the bunch. We also discuss how much we adore Troy Lightfoot, and why his voice was built for radio. Li and Murman then discuss at the conference. Since he created the space for Agile Alliance, Li speaks to the history, why it's extremely underrated in value, and why you should spend some time with the team in Orlando this year. If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rat...
Apr 16, 2023•46 min
It seems like EVERYONE is talking about ChatGPT, and large language models, and that it's going to replace everything...but will it really? Join us this week as we sit down to discuss what potential impacts these tools will have on the agile industry and the agile job family. Enjoy! If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTunes, Stitcher or your podcasting platform of choice. It really helps others find us. Much thanks to the artist from who provided...
Apr 09, 2023•42 min
Join Andrew Leff, Troy Lightfoot and Andy Cleff as they make a pilgrimage to The Lodge at Snowbird, UT. There they discover some amazing artifacts that date back to circa 2001. This episode is graciously sponsored by Wellington Dowd. His framework, the Foundation Utilizing Core Knowledge To Actualize Realistic Delivery, is a multi-level phase-gated process to roll out "the agile" to your organization WITHOUT ACTUALLY CHANGING ANYTHING!
Apr 02, 2023•19 min
Are we humans at the mercy of hard-wired circuits buried deep in the animalistic parts of our brains or are we the architects of our own experience? In this episode, Andy Cleff shares his research on the Triune Brain theory and some surprising facts. Links Joseph Cesario Lisa Feldman Barrett Miriam Frankel and Matt Warren John Cryan, TEDxHa'pennyBridge Julian Kiverstein and Mark Miller About the Agile Uprising If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on i...
Mar 26, 2023•13 min
FROM THE ARCHIVES - we're re-running an old episode this week that some of our newer listeners might have missed. Listen in as Troy and William Strydom chat about integral theory and how they utilize it in both their personal and professional lives. Enjoy! This week's episode features special guest and host on the topic of "Integral Theory." William and Troy discuss how leadership and teams can make better decisions by applying "A Theory of Everything." They discuss past experience with this the...
Mar 20, 2023•44 min
What percentage of your and your teams’ total working time is spent in meetings? What proportion of those are really good uses of everyone’s time? What if businesses could eliminate meaningless and/or unproductive meetings? Listen in as co-hosts Andy Cleff and Marc Story chat with Evan Unger, a world-class fixer for the mess that are meetings, explore the power of facilitation: the missing sauce. Contact Information References Mentioned About the Agile Uprising If you enjoyed this episode, pleas...
Mar 12, 2023•42 min
This week we sit down AGAIN with author Jeff Anderson to review the completed version of his book Organizing Toward Agility. We discuss the importance of organizational design in trying to enact change in an organization, along with many other ideas from his book. Enjoy! If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a review, a rating, or leave comments on iTunes, Stitcher or your podcasting platform of choice. It really helps others find us. Much thanks to the artist from who provided us our outr...
Mar 05, 2023•50 min
