Behind the Podcast with Mark Metze

The Agile Within starts now . Before we get started , I want to share some exciting news with you . The Agile Online Summit is just around the corner . This year's summit , running from October 22nd through the 24th , features thought leaders like Juergen Apello , known for revolutionizing the approach to Agile frameworks .

You can expect live sessions , including Juergen's session on solving wicked , complex problems in organizations . Get your free ticket and join the discussion at agileonlinesummitcom . And now on to the show . Hope everyone's having a fantastic day out there .

This episode is going to be different from our regular format , where I'm joined by a guest and we have a conversation centered around a topic . Today , it's just me and I'm going to give you a look behind the podcast .

I was inspired by the VH1 show Behind the Music that focused on a music artist or a group and looked at both the successes and the problems that they faced during their careers First up . I'd like to tell you how the Agile Within came to life , and I want to start out by sharing that .

I simply would not have been able to pivot my career into an Agile leadership position without the continual support of the global agile community , and I generally mean that . I was welcomed by so many amazing people who have taught me invaluable lessons Without judgment . They listened to my flops and my failures and the fallout that resulted from those .

So I felt compelled to give back to this incredible global community that had provided me with so much . So my first step I tried writing a blog , but I'll be honest with all of you it didn't feel authentic .

It didn't feel like me , it was exhausting , it was draining and , honestly , I kind of sucked at it and I started thinking well , maybe writing isn't my thing , maybe I need to start something else to give back to the community . And I thought about a podcast .

Starting a podcast just seemed like this huge , massive mountain that I was going to have to climb and I had all these questions what equipment do I even need to start a podcast ? What software is the best to use ? I've never edited audio before . How does hosting work and what does that cost ? What kind of format should I use ?

So many questions that I had is where do I even start ? So I decided to reach out to one of the people that I met in a virtual meetup during the pandemic , who had his own podcast , to get his take on what it was like to run a podcast and what was involved .

His name was Greg Miller , and Greg agreed to meet with me and he answered many of my questions as best he could , and I remember him interrupting me and saying something along the lines of Listen , mark , my podcast has been on the shelf for a while and I'm looking for someone to partner with me in order to revive it .

Would you be interested in coming along With this daunting task of starting a new podcast from the ground up , getting to partner with somebody ? I thought this was the absolute right thing for me to do a great stepping stone , so I said yes . I didn't hesitate .

This meant that the podcast was going to move from phase one , where Greg founded and ran the show himself , into phase two , where we would split some of the duties and co-host the show .

Greg took me under his wing and he showed me the ropes about what was involved with podcasting , what was involved with finding guests , finding topics , with recording , with editing , with publishing , with marketing . There's a lot that's needed .

Then , late in 2023 , greg made the difficult decision to step away from the show for personal reasons , and that left two options Could retire the show or move into a new phase . As I was reflecting , I could have recaptured a fair amount of free time and opted to retire the show , but ultimately I chose to move into a new phase .

Ultimately , I chose to move into a new phase and in January of 2024 , I released the first episode as the sole owner of the show , and that episode featured a guest by the name of Allison Pollard , and that episode was titled People Tell Me I'm Doing Agile Wrong , am I ?

In this episode , allison talked about the three C's in coaching Are you being clear , are you connected and were you curious ? To this day , I lean on these three C's when entering a coaching conversation to stay grounded .

I'll share some more insights in just a minute , but I want to move to sharing some of my biggest achievements in this journey and the lessons I've learned . Well , lessons I've learned , that's a nice way of describing mistakes that I've made . My first observation is the Agile community absolutely rocks .

So many wonderful people have been willing to be guests on the show and share with you , the listeners , and with me , and this podcast serves as a gateway a gateway to real-life stories from people on the front line . Not just theoretical arguments , but authentic stories of success , failure and growth .

Second observation is the consistency that I've been able to maintain . So , looking at 2024 and talking through some metrics , this is the 34th episode that I've released so far . Since January 30th , I've consistently released a new episode every week , only missing one week during that time , and this wasn't always easy .

It requires organization and planning ahead and , I'll be honest , there's weeks where I'm tempted to pause , but there is value in consistency . Talking more metrics , in the first seven days of each episode , the show's currently averaging 82 downloads and each episode is averaging 123 total downloads .

This year , the most listened to episode was episode 67 with Kat Buckwalter , titled Are we Preparing Scrum Masters for Success . That show gained 205 downloads to date . I'll be honest , these are modest numbers . At best . I wish they were higher , but that's the data .

I want to grow these numbers in hopes of multiplying the impact across our community , and I'll share later how you can help with that . My third observation I am committed to producing a high-quality show with content that makes a difference to our listeners . In order to stay true to this , I've had to turn some potential guests away .

I have a pre-meeting with every guest where we create an outline together and we talk through the major points of the episode , and for talks that I feel like aren't going to resonate with the listeners , I really have to respectfully decline , and that's not easy to do , but I feel like it's the right thing to do so hopefully that gives you a little more

appreciation for what goes into making the show . And now I also want to share a few of my key learnings that I've received from my guests . Learnings that I've received from my guests I think back to episode 60 with Jon Fazzaro . That episode was titled here's why Agile Isn't Working for you .

In that episode , john shared a quote from Woody Zool it's in the doing of the work that we discover the work that we need to do , and John went on to eloquently share that . Some level of planning is required , but work naturally expands whenever you touch it . That's just how it is .

What a great , succinct way to counteract that big , upfront planning that we all encounter from time to time . In episode 68 , with Cherie Silas , cherie shared a time where she worked with a company that didn't believe that they needed scrum masters .

So she decided to come in as a scrum master and show the value of working through difficult situations and having those tough conversations . She could have come in with an advising stance , but she chose to model the behavior that was missing , and the client was so convinced at the end that they built out an entire coaching practice across 12 enterprises .

Cherie reinforced the idea of being the change that you want to see . Episode 83 was titled when Metrics Misfire , with Mark Paul Sabral . In that episode , one of Mark's teams noted that onboarding new teams was taking too long and the main culprit was a lack of documentation . They could have taken this info and had the attitude of we're lacking documentation .

Great , we'll fix it , let's create more documentation . Problem solved Check the checkbox . So Mark was very smart . He began monitoring not just the creation of documentation but also its usage , and he used this to help the team decide if the documentation that was being created was actually being consumed .

After all , spending time writing documents that no one reads is waste . The lesson I learned from Mark is when you think you have an answer to a problem . Maybe dig another level deeper . You might be surprised . So , as we wind this episode down , let's talk a little bit about support . How can you support the show ?

If you find the show or specific episodes helpful , please spread the word by sharing individually or more broadly on LinkedIn . Another way to provide support is to leave a review on your favorite podcast app . This helps others to discover the show .

Now , how can I support you ? Building a relationship isn't a chore for me . I genuinely enjoy meeting new people . That's a large part of why I do this show , and if you're up for a chat , look me up on LinkedIn . I'll put the link to my profile in the show notes and let's talk about what I can do to support you on your journey .

Well , that's it , my first solo episode . What do you think ? Send me a DM on LinkedIn and let me know if you found this valuable or if you didn't . I would love to hear your feedback and suggestions . All right , that's it for another episode . We'll see you next time . Everybody , thanks for joining us for another episode of the Agile .

If you haven't already , please join our linkedin page to stay in touch . Just search for the agile within and please spread the word with your friends and colleagues . Until next time . This has been your host , mark metz .