Badass Agile

Agile In Toronto At Night #4 – Oyinkan Sanni, Enterprise Agile Coach

Join me this week with my good friend Oyinkan Sanni. Oyinkan is an internal Agile Coach for a global professional services firm. In this conversation we explore adapting to COVID19 and Work From Home, beginning her career as a coach, and helping spread Agile to non-IT corners of the organization. ****** Don’t forget to join us in the Badass Agile Listener Lounge on Facebook for member exclusives and previews, including a Weekly Livestream every Monday at 7PM EST! https://www.facebook.com/groups/...

Episode 141 – Uncommon

What does uncommon mean to you? We need more uncommon leaders, but that means there’s no script for you to follow; no program of study to catapult you to effectiveness. It requires Courage, Vulnerability, Commitment, Persistence and Resilience. Sounds hard? It is. But if you feel the call to be part of a unique tribe of exceptional performers or leaders…you already know what you have to do. ****** Don’t forget to join us in the Badass Agile Listener Lounge on Facebook for member exclusives and p...

Episode 140 – Your Agile Career

Agile In Toronto At Night #3 – Shahin Sheidaei – Elevate Change

This week, I sat down with Shahin Sheidaei, owner of Elevate Change and founder of the Lean Agile Network. We spoke about shifting to online, the Toronto community, and getting feedback…and much more. Elevate Change: www.elevatechange.co Personal blog: blog.sheidaei.com Email: shahin@sheidaei.com Shahin’s communities: Lean Agile Network: http://www.leanagile.network Virtual Agile Community: www.VirtualAgileCommunity.com Social: http://linkedin.com/in/sheidaei and http://twitter.com/sheidaei...

Episode 139 – Your Decisions

Ultimately, your ability to excel – individually and as a team – has everything to do with the small decisions you make every day. Its too easy to blame other people and outside forces when outcomes matter and you come up short. But the more I observe teams in action, the more I notice a rift between the attitudes of everyday teams and uncommon teams. It’s all about their willingness to examine and improve their daily decisions. Join the discussion in the Badass Agile Listener Lounge on Facebook...

Badass Unscripted – Remain A Beginner

In this episode, we explore the wisdom that benefits all learners (and really, aren’t we all learners, all of the time?). As you grow – remain humble. Remain as a beginner, remain open to new and changing thought. Even though this episode sat on a shelf for 4 or 5 weeks before going to production, perhaps the concept is even more relevant now…avoid the trap of thinking you know it all. Approach each day as a beginner. That doesn’t mean ‘forget what you’ve learned’. It means ‘resist the temptatio...

Episode 138 – Live By Your Code

Coming up with a ‘code’ is easy. Getting the team to stick by it – to integrate it – can be far more challenging. Check out this episode to learn about the simple commitments and discipline necessary to get your team modelling their self-proclaimed ideals. Don’t forget to join the Badass Listener Lounge on Facebook where we discuss the latest episodes and do other cool stuff. https://www.facebook.com/groups/badasslistenerlounge/...

Agile In Toronto At Night #2 – Trish Lynch of AgileTO

I had a great whiskey-fuelled conversation with Trish Lynch, an Agile Coach who is also co-organizer of AgileTO. (I said co-founder in the episode….I stand corrected). For those of you not in the know, TO was the short form for Toronto, Ontario. That was later renamed T-dot (although its not really shortened…its longer to type and has the same number of syllables) before Drake rebranded it to ‘The Six’. Which also requires explanation….that’s short for ‘416’ which is our area code, unless you co...

Episode 137 – Time For A Different Manifesto

For the past three years, Badass Agile has been creating unique content, going against traffic and challenging convention. It has become obvious and urgent to me to take the concepts of agility and break free of the conventions and established rules. To teach everybody everywhere not how to ‘be agile’, but how to explore their own limitlessness, to be part of something special…and generally how to crush life. As the world is changing today in watershed moments rather than gradual shifts; so must...

Badass Unscripted – Check In On Your Vision

Know what you can do with all this spare time? Put the good stuff in your leadership fuel tank….check in on your vision. Everyday. Connect with it deeply, and let it inspire you to do more, do next. Those who stay in tune with their purpose will have an easier time adapting in chaos and leading from ‘where they are’.

Episode 136 – Leaders Don’t Need Scripts

There’s something about a badass – an authentic leader – that exudes certainty and natural presence. If your conversations are littered with scripts that you learn in a course or read in a book, eventually everyone starts using the same ones. Your conversations sound rehearsed and inauthentic. “Holding space” and “honouring your journey” become overused and deteriorate your credibility. So don’t buy into scripts. Focus on being in real conversations with real people consistently (not just when t...

Episode 135 – Your Uncommon Edge

So you’re a certified so-and-so…don’t let an industry or a job description define you. Be distinct. Start building your hero genetics. We’re overstocked on sameness and average. Ditch the script from the mothership and do something uncommon. I have three suggestions for you this week. They might just speak to you. Try ’em out. This could be your edge. Stay badass, my people.

NEW!! Agile in Toronto At Night #1 – Jason Little, Author of Lean Change Management

Welcome to my new segment, “Agile In Toronto At Night”! This is all about meeting with the great minds and personalities on the Toronto Scene. Who better to share my first round with than The Legend – Jason Little. If you haven’t checked out his work – please do. He’s THE name in Agile Change Management. By the time this airs you will have missed the start of his current class, but check out his upcoming schedule. PS – the Greek place was Penelope on King. The Mexican place remains a mystery. Li...

Badass Unscripted – Your Uncommon Edge

At a time of so much increased noise and anxiety, its time that we once again return to fundamentals as we help teams become more agile. So what could you reduce this week – in terms of frameworks, rules, and complexity?

Episode 134 – What Persistent Blockers Really Tell You

Blockers that come up repeatedly are a symptom…even the most complex issue can be worked around or decomposed.somehow. The problem occurs when nothing moves; creating delays and other diseases.

Badass Unscripted – What Could You Let Go Of?

The right question is not “How can I be more confident, more leader-like, more influential…?”, but rather, “what beliefs and stories am I hanging on to that I should let go of?” Can you let go of the need to perfect, to be right, to be accepted and wanted? Can you let go of the need for certainty or an easy life? What about your fears? What about your need for approval? If you’re trying to influence people and make change – you need to make sure your game is tight first....

Tap Into Your Creativity With Daily Journalling

What do I need to journal for? What does this have to do with agility? One of the big byproducts of Agile thinking and doing is innovation – that requires massive creativity. It requires sharp thinking on demand. Leadership, likewise requires deep reflection, and attention to daily lessons learned. The qualities that we admire most in great thinkers and leaders is the ease with which they seem to have access to the best ideas and wisdom. A journal makes that possible. Let’s revisit this topic – ...

Badass Unscripted – Mastering Yourself

So often, we look to gain influence over other people, or outside forces. We believe that studying and practicing certain scripts or techniques will create better results. Yet, how often do we look inward? The truth is, YOU are the only thing you can truly control or influence. To spend time trying to control that which you cannot control is to experience great anxiety and frustration. The outside world simply won’t bend to your will….or does it? If you focus on how you show up, how you react to...

Episode 132 – Agile As The New Way Of Working

Time to move on from this “Agile is a super-secret funky method for developers” thing we do. At this point, the fundamentals of Agility belong everywhere work happens. In every department, at every level…whether you’re dealing in products, projects or not.

Badass Unscripted – Your Reaction Teaches Them Everything

As you know by know, I love old-school wisdom. “Practice what you preach” being a great example. If you expect your teams to behave with awareness, self-control, accountability, and growth mindsets, then you should start with you. How do you react to challenges, feedback, change, or new ideas? How you react is the most impactful teacher; providing a living example of how a leader should be.

Episode 131 – Opposites in Agile

I like universal, timeless wisdom. One of the things I’ve come to learn is that often, we must be the opposite of what we want in order to get it. So in order to make Agile bigger and better, we must focus on keeping it simpler.

Badass Unscripted – Uncommon Does Not Mean Overdoing

Being a hero doesn’t mean going crazy with tools and processes – sometimes less is more.

Episode 130 – Management Destroys Trust

As a learning living leader, one of the first things that you need to sort out is how to be quiet and listen. How to offer yourself as a broker of solutions, not as a dictator, or an originator of solutions. As a leader, you are there to help people find their own best. If they need support in difficult and anxious times, you are there. If they need help, resources – and they have the courage to ask for them – your job is to answer the call. If they’re banging their heads against the wall, over ...

Episode 129 – A Small Shift to Become More Cross Functional

A cross-functional teem doesn’t require that everyone has technical skill. Simply being available to help is the only required trait – but it also requires that people know how to ask for help. Learn more about how in this episode.

Badass Unscripted – Don’t Ask Me To Lower The Bar

Do you want the challenge? When things get tough…do you rise to the occasion, or do you ask to make things easier? Scrum teaches us that we have options in changing conditions – to ask for help, to change the scope or modify MVP. When you think about it, that’s another way of saying that we never, ever make excuses or fail the mission.

Badass Unscripted – If There Was A Formula, We’d All Be Using It

Looking for a formula to be successful with Agile? Start with intention. Define the problem. – What does success look like? What experiment might work and what are the three things we can do today to move us closer to success? execute, take action, fail. Repeat. That’s your formula.

Badass Unscripted – Discomfort Is Where The Growth Is

Episode 128 – The Best Way To Handle Lessons Learned

With the toll, risk, and sacrifice of a global health crisis, we’re learning new things every day. Wouldn’t it be a shame if we did what we’ve always done – and forgotten them as soon as this is over? What’s the right way to handle our lessons learned? Lessons have to be studied – properly documented, visited often, and put into practice – until you can truly say ‘you’ve got this’. We frequently hear that those “who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. Let’s remember in the days of...

Badass Unscripted – COVID19 – What Happens Next Is Yours To Lead

This is our time. Do you feel the call to lead? We want to create an uncommon tribe that not only adapts and assists, but leads the way. Let us not be at the mercy of the changing times, but architects in our emergence from them. Our community needs to know the way. Our clients need to know the way. When times are uncertain, be certainty. Stay tuned to this podcast, along with my twitter (@badass_agile) and instagram (@badassagile) for your invitation to be part of something special....

Badass Unscripted – Embody True Certainty

The kind of certainty people really want can’t be had with more process, more documentation, more planning. It comes from a leader who is in control of their actions. Who impacts the world, rather than letting it move them. It should come from you.