Over the past few years, there has been an increasing push within organizations to move from a project-oriented mindset to a more product-focused approach. Creating that change in an organization can take considerable work and part of that is how you address funding the work being done. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile’s Chief Methodologist, Dennis Stevens spends time with Dave talking about why this change is necessary, the impact it can have on an organization, some things to watch ...
Apr 23, 2020•39 min•Ep. 360
In many organizations, the group responsible for procurement, and the processes they follow, were established under a traditional (waterfall) approach. The way in which goods and services are requested, contracted, approved and acquired can be an odd fit with an Agile approach. In the public sector, this can prove even more challenging due to oversight, bureaucracy, and a variety of other factors. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile's, Nathan Hummel, joins Dave to talk about some of the ...
Apr 09, 2020•20 min•Ep. 359
In this episode of SoundNotes, Ross Beurmann joins Dave to talk about the difference between Leadership and Management. Although many confuse the two and believe they are the same, they are actually very different things—and this can become extremely apparent during the transition to an Agile approach. During the interview, Ross explains why it is so important that we gain clarity on the difference between the two, why we want to manage systems, and why it is so important that we inspire teams t...
Apr 02, 2020•50 min•Ep. 358
In this episode of SoundNotes Will Evans is back to discuss why behavior trumps empathy and the secret to building the right thing. During the interview, we explore the difference between traditional Personas and Behavioral Impact Personas. We also talk through how Impact Mapping can be used to move beyond Empathy Maps to deepen our understanding of what motivates people, what their needs are, what things to build, how well they have to perform to be considered valuable, and how to make sure we ...
Mar 26, 2020•55 min•Ep. 357
One of the most critical, and unfortunately, neglected elements of ensuring your teams can deliver the most value possible, is making sure they can see a direct connection between the work they are being asked to execute on and that strategy that work is in service of. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Principal Consultant, Marty Bradley spends time with Dave discussing why we need to connect strategy to execution and what happens when we don't. During the interview, Marty provides exa...
Mar 12, 2020•37 min•Ep. 356
Ross Beurmann is back! And this week in SoundNotes Ross and Dave discuss ATOs and PMOs. If you aren't familiar with what an Agile Transformation Office is, how it works, why you need it and how it is different from a Project Management Office, this podcast is for you. During the interview, Ross and Dave also discuss what happens to the role of the project manager when you go through Agile Transformation and how the PMO can remain relevant and continue to add value in an organization that is movi...
Mar 05, 2020•49 min•Ep. 355
This week in SoundNotes we’re focusing on a question asked by a student in a recent class: Can you use Agile for Mergers and Acquisitions? To address the topic, LeadingAgile Principal Consultant Rick McMichael joins Dave to discuss Mergers and Acquisitions (or M&A). Rick has years of experience working in Agile and he's been a part of many M&A efforts over the years. During the podcast we discuss the various steps involved in bringing two different organizations together to form a new on...
Feb 27, 2020•35 min•Ep. 354
This week in LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, Tina Wang spends some time with Dave talking about Lean Portfolio Management. During the conversation, Tina and Dave cover exactly what Lean Portfolio Management is and how it differs from a more traditional approach to Portfolio Management. A good part of the discussion is spent on the topic of how to create alignment from strategic goals at the organizational level down to delivery team execution and the role that funding plays in this. If you have quest...
Feb 21, 2020•39 min•Ep. 353
Despite the fact that in many organizations the Enterprise Architect and the Enterprise Solutions Architect are often conflated, they are very distinct roles that require different skill sets and areas of expertise. The Enterprise Solutions Architect is a role that focuses on designing solutions to problems that tend to be IT-centric, while an Enterprise Architect focuses more on designing or documenting the relationship between all the systems across the Enterprise and how they interact to deli...
Feb 14, 2020•30 min•Ep. 352
In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Managing Consultant, Matt Smith, joins Dave for a conversation about why we need to make sure that the investment made in portfolio tiers of the organization ties directly back to Agile delivery, and how we can make sure that is happening. If you are an executive who has responsibility for making decisions about where and how the organization makes strategic investments across the portfolio, this interview may expose some areas of focus that you may wa...
Feb 06, 2020•48 min•Ep. 351
This week in SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Founder and CEO Mike Cottmeyer joins Dave to explore the ways in which Executive Leadership plays the role of Product Owner in an organization. During the conversation, Mike reflects back on how his understanding of what it means to be an organizational product owner has evolved as LeadingAgile has grown over the last ten years. Mike shares some of the ways he copes with the challenges of being the Product Owner of an organization that continues to evolve, h...
Jan 30, 2020•51 min•Ep. 350
If you're confused about the difference between Epics, Features, and Stories—you're not alone. Most of us use these terms to describe different types of items we’d put into a Product Backlog. The challenge is that each organization defines them differently and uses them to mean different things. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile SVP and Senior Consultant Scott Sehlhorst joins Dave Prior to talk about the difference between Epics, Features, and Stories, how the three of them are related...
Jan 23, 2020•48 min•Ep. 349
It can be easy to get swept up in discussions centered around making sure that the work being done by development teams is in sync with what the stakeholders identified as the highest priority. While this is definitely an important factor to consider, it is also critical to make sure that we have identified and prioritized the issues and problems we need to solve to achieve the organization’s strategic goals. Impact Mapping is a tool that can be used to create a conversation between stakeholders...
Jan 16, 2020•49 min•Ep. 348
HAPPY NEW YEAR! In this episode, LeadingAgile Senior Consultant, Ross Buermann shares an approach that involves bifurcating the work of creating the documentation so that we can create and deliver in smaller increments. Those smaller pieces can be modified and maintained in a more efficient manner than they would be in a traditional approach. In the same way that we want to break development work down into small increments, we can also break down the documentation. Ross and Dave also discuss an ...
Jan 09, 2020•37 min•Ep. 347
Safety is a popular topic in the Agile space that comes up when we have conversations about what it takes to create an environment where Agile can take root and thrive. When we talk about transforming organizations, we talk about things like creating a safe environment where people feel that they have the agency and support to run experiments in order to get better at working together and delivering value for the customer. This conversation often centers around teams and the individual team memb...
Dec 12, 2019•53 min•Ep. 346
When large enterprises make the decision to invest in Agile Transformation they often do so with the expectation that it will have some positive impact on their ability to deliver. In theory, if we can deliver more of the right things in shorter time frames at a higher quality level, that should provide some kind of quantifiable return on investment. When the conversation turns to the question of “How is the transformation going?” it is common to focus on metrics that center around how many team...
Dec 05, 2019•33 min•Ep. 344
Lee Wiesehuegel is a Managing Consultant at LeadingAgile where he helps organizations incorporate an Agile approach by transforming how they work. One of Lee’s primary areas of focus is working with leaders to help them understand how critical their support is at the team level. In this episode of SoundNotes, Lee and Dave discuss some of the things that leadership can do to enable Coaches and ScrumMasters to create and sustain high performing, learning teams that can consistently deliver value. ...
Nov 21, 2019•31 min•Ep. 345
At Elevate Agile 2019, LeadingAgile Chief Methodologist, Dennis Stevens gave a presentation called "What Every Agile Organization Has In Common" (link below). In this episode of SoundNotes, Dennis and Dave go deeper on some key themes from the presentation. The interview focuses on how Senior Leadership can create an organizational system that supports Business Agility. This work goes beyond simply adopting Agile practices at a team level, and looks at how the whole organization needs to have a ...
Nov 14, 2019•19 min•Ep. 343
At ElevateAgile, LeadingAgile Principal Consultant, Marty Bradley, led a session called "The Business Value of Agility." The talk focused on the question of how organizations measure and understand the business benefits of adopting an Agile approach. All too often, organizations make a decision to "go agile" without defining the outcome they hope/want/expect from changing their approach to work. Without a solid understanding of the impact you are seeking, deciding whether your approach to creati...
Oct 31, 2019•35 min•Ep. 342
When it comes to Agile Transformation, every organization struggles with managing risks and dealing with dependencies. Identifying the most critical dependencies and finding a way to break them can be challenging. But, depending on your organization’s goals for transformation, there may also be dependencies that just aren’t worth decoupling. In this episode of SoundNotes LeadingAgile Senior Consultant, Tom Furland, talks with Dave about how to handle Risks and Dependencies during Agile Transform...
Oct 22, 2019•35 min•Ep. 341
The dilemma of what to do if you don’t have a Product Owner is one of the more commonly recurring questions that I get in the CSM and CSPO classes. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile’s Sara McClintock and Jeff Streitmatter join me to talk through the challenges of not having anyone acting as a dedicated PO. During the discussion, we explore why the role is so critical, how not having one impact’s the team’s ability to deliver valuable work that is in sync with company strategy and we of...
Oct 18, 2019•29 min•Ep. 340
On October 7th, 2019 LeadingAgile will hold its first-ever conference—Elevate Agile. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile CEO and Founder, Mike Cottmeyer explains why Elevate Agile exists and how we hope it will shape the conversation around business and organizational Agility moving forward. The event is sold out, but you can check out the live stream from the conference on Elevate Agile's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/elevateagile/ Also, be sure to follow Elevate Agile on soci...
Oct 02, 2019•41 min•Ep. 339
Feedback is tricky. We all want it, we all need it, but sometimes getting it can be kinda tough. Giving feedback is challenging as well because it can be hard to tell when were are offering it from a place that is truly centered on helping the recipient grow, rather than just helping them be what we want them to be. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Staff Consultant, Sarah Smith, joins Dave Prior to dig into the idea of "Feedback Is A Gift." During the podcast, they unpack different wa...
Sep 19, 2019•40 min•Ep. 338
In this live keynote episode of SoundNotes live, we talk with Portia Tung about her thoughts on making transformational change fun by embedding play science into your work.
Sep 04, 2019•32 min•Ep. 337
In this SoundNotes live, we talk with Andy Cleff about the process of prioritizing and learning backlog and his thoughts on how to deliver the learnings optimally.
Sep 04, 2019•13 min•Ep. 336
In this SoundNotes live with Natalie Solomon, we discuss the steps Natalie takes and key focus areas she considers when building successful teams that are created to enable a truly Agile workplace.
Sep 04, 2019•11 min•Ep. 335
In this episode of SoundNotes live with Olaf Lewitz, we talk about the importance of self-reflection, self-awareness—and magic. When magic happens on a team, how do we unlock that process and replicate it so it can happen on cue? And how can self-reflection enhance how we lead and function at work?
Sep 04, 2019•10 min•Ep. 334
In this SoundNotes live with Heidi Musser of LeadingAgile, we cover the key highlights of her Agile Alliance Board panel on diversity and inclusion in the Agile world, including the current state of diversity and inclusion in the tech community, and why diversity in this community is a particularly important topic.
Sep 03, 2019•17 min•Ep. 333
In this SoundNotes live with Lynne Cazaly, we’ll discuss the war of perfectionism and how it’s affecting us. We’ll dig into why it's important to reframe our mindsets and work toward an end goal rather than toward an artificial concept of perfection.
Sep 03, 2019•11 min•Ep. 332
In this SoundNotes live with Diana Larsen, co-founder of The Agile Fluency Project. We’ll chat about The Agile Fluency Project’s mission to help organizations measure how or if their Agile teams are achieving the outcomes they need, and how they can get insight on additional ways to invest to get the benefits they want.
Sep 03, 2019•13 min•Ep. 331
