Agile

June 21, 2023

An Agile Coach’s Guide to Managing Pride, Ego and Personal Growth

As a ScrumMaster and Agile Coach, one of my favorite tools to use is Mural.  Mural is a digital whiteboard designed for engaging collaborations.  It’s a...

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Agile

February 15, 2023

Communication breakdowns—they drive us insane too!

Pt 1 of a two-part series Effective communication remains at the very heart of team efficiency. Entire business models are based on improving team communications,...

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Agile

December 2, 2022

The Dutch: Total Soccer, Compensatory Movement, and T-Shaped Skills

With the World Cup taking over the headlines, we couldn’t miss an opportunity to bring two of our favorite topics at CC Pace together: sports...

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Agile

November 28, 2022

Agile Challenges: How Critical is Management Support and Sponsorship

In a previous blog post, we covered the top 10 challenges organizations face when adopting Agile. In this article, we’ll dive deep into one of...

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Agile

September 26, 2022

Agile Challenges

Does your Agile Transformation feel like it is stuck in mud? Maybe it is facing one of the many challenges organizations must navigate as part...

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Agile

September 12, 2022

Dual Track Development

Are you building the right product? Are product discovery team members sharing what they’re learning with the rest of the development team? If you’re not...

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Agile

September 6, 2022
https://deming.org/explore/pdsa/, n.d.

Scrum Metrics: Supporting Empiricism through use of Evidence-Based Management

In today’s digital business landscape, businesses are looking for solutions to be more competitive. Some digital businesses have found the Scrum Framework to be that...

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Agile

August 1, 2022

Agile Adoption vs. Transformation

Over the past several years, I’ve worked with many organizations as an Agile Coach and Scrum Master. Through this experience, I’ve noticed there is often...

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Agile

July 11, 2022

5 Reasons PI Planning Fails

PI planning is considered the heartbeat of Scaled Programs. It is a high-visibility event, that takes up considerable resources (and yes, people too). It is...

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Agile

May 31, 2022

Agile Testing Success Factors

Are you new to Agile testing? I’ve been reading Agile Testing, by Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory. If you are new to Agile testing, this book...

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Agile

March 28, 2022

Have you heard of OKRs?

Have you heard of OKRs? Is your organization considering adopting OKRs? If so, this post is for you. OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results....

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Agile

February 22, 2022

Agile Transformation Maturity

As a Senior Scrum Master, I’ve worked with many organizations, and I’m frequently asked by leaders one common question: how long will it take for...

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Agile

October 5, 2021

Status Reporting Vs. Inspect and Adapt

From the title of this post, it might seem that we are going to beat up on the ‘status reporting’ aspect. Let me clarify here,...

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Agile

September 27, 2021

Scrum Metrics – Measuring what matters

Metrics are vital to a team. They give us a starting point, just like choosing “my location” on your GPS. Then metrics tell us where...

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Agile

September 9, 2021

A Meetup with Philippa Fewell!

If you missed Philippa Fewell’s Meet Up where she speaks about how Agile 2 came about – you are in luck, we have it here!...

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Agile

July 27, 2021

DevOps Ideas, Patterns, and Practices are Central to Agile 2

According to Deutsche Bank CIO Frederic Veron, “enterprises that wish to reap the potentially rich rewards of getting IT and business line leaders to build...

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Agile

July 12, 2021

Why IT Managers Should Care About Agile 2

Everyone says you should use Agile. The call for Agile has reached the CEO level: I myself have heard CEO announcements stating that the organization...

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Agile

June 25, 2021

Does Your Culture Support Your Strategies?

Organizations with internal cultures that are aligned with their strategies are far more effective than those without aligned cultures. Decades of data prove this.[1] For...

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Agile

June 9, 2021

Is Your Agile Journey Evolving?

CC Pace’s Philippa Fewell and Agile 2 Academy have co-authored a white paper “Is Your Agile Journey Evolving?”.  Here they discuss the evolution of Agile...

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Agile

February 17, 2021

Agile 2 – Heads and Tails

A look at Agile 2’s values and why we need both sides of the coin to create value. While the values of the original Agile...

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Agile

November 16, 2020

Are your Product Owners Truly Empowered? Part 3

In the first installment of our Product Owner Empowerment series, we talked about the three crucial dimensions of knowledge that a Product Owner’s effectiveness is...

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Agile

November 9, 2020

Are your Product Owners Truly Empowered? Part 2

In the first installment of our Product Owner Empowerment series, we talked about the three crucial dimensions of ‘Knowledge’ that affect a Product Owner’s effectiveness....

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Agile

November 2, 2020

Are your Product Owners Truly Empowered? Part 1

The Product Owner plays a crucial role in the success of a team and subsequently the organization. Most organizations consider the Product Owner to be...

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Agile

October 19, 2020

Agile 2 is here!

Agile 2 is here! I was fortunate to be included in a group of exceptional Agile leaders and practitioners, led by Clifford Berg, to retrospect...

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Agile

October 11, 2018

CC Pace is Ready for AgileDC!

CC Pace is ready for AgileDC! We are looking forward to hearing some great speakers and meeting with other Agile practitioners in the DC area....

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Agile

May 29, 2018

Agile Engineering, SAFe and DevOps: A Roadmap to Adoption at the Potomac Forum

Most Agile transformation efforts in the government begin with the Scrum process. However, many agencies feel that they have reached a plateau and are ready to...

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Agile

May 22, 2018

A Recap of Lean Agile DC 2018

CC Pace spent an informative day at the Center for Innovation Technology (CIT) event in Herndon, VA: Lean Agile DC.  Jason Velentino (Director, Digital Reliability Engineering...

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Agile

July 24, 2017

Business Stories

Why user stories don’t always make sense: I am doing a lot of work with business units adopting Scrum or Kanban. As I explain to...

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Agile

June 9, 2017

Agile Transformations

Many people ask, what is the distinction between an Agile adoption and an Agile transformation? The former being the adoption of an Agile method and...

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Agile

April 17, 2017
training

Scrum Master as Facilitator

In December, I wrote a blog about the role of Scrum Master as a Facilitator, see it here. In today’s post I want to go into...

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Agile

March 24, 2017
hand in hand

Lean : Kanban Trumps the Bad and the Ugly

A long while ago, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) pushed its limited and ill informed conception of Lean by focussing on waste elimination. It defined...

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Agile

February 2, 2017
mirror car

Retrospectives: Essential for Any Team Doing Any Kind of Work

No matter what kind of work we do, we look for feedback from our customers, our co-workers and our peers. Why do we do that?...

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Agile

December 12, 2016
Agile board tasks

Scrum Master – Facilitator and More

When I am out providing Agile classes, the topic of what Scrum Masters do all day comes up pretty frequently. Attendees ask questions like; “How...

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Agile

November 2, 2016
Product Backlog

Product Backlog Items (PBI’s) – Not just User Stories

In Scrum, the User Story represents the main item in the Product Backlog. However, it is not the only item in the backlog. So let’s...

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Agile

October 13, 2016
Carrot

Mastery, Autonomy, and Purpose in DevOps

In Daniel H. Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, he discusses the motivations of knowledge workers. He makes the case that knowledge...

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Agile

October 11, 2016
Learning Blender

The Importance of Engagement

If I told my 6-year-old daughter, Gracie, to get out a piece of paper and a pencil, she would likely get out a pencil and...

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Agile

June 20, 2016
Key to Success

Making Agile Transformations Successful

Have you heard that not all Agile Transformations are successful? Have you wondered what makes some transformations more successful than others? Are you wondering if...

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Agile

May 19, 2016
Agile sign

Why Choose Agile?

I’m just returning to work after Spring Break in Cancun. I’ve met some lovely people while enjoying the sunshine. As I chatted with those beside...

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Agile

April 20, 2016
graphic

Retrospectives: Essential For Any Team and Doing Any Kind of Work

No matter what kind of work we do, we look for feedback from our customers, our co-workers and our peers. Why do we do that?...

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Agile

March 7, 2016
graphic dev ops

Do You Need Continuous Delivery and DevOps?

According to James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, “Lean Thinking is a business methodology which aims to provide a new way to think about...

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Agile

February 22, 2016
papers an documents

Documentation in Agile

We’ve all heard something about Documentation in Agile. I know I’ve heard some pretty extreme comments like “there is no documentation”. Well I’m here to...

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Agile

February 2, 2016

Agile Development in Government Training Workshop VI: DevOps – Taking Agility in Government to a New Level

Although our headline says Workshop VI, this is actually our seventh engagement with Art Chantker’s Potomac Forum on Agile in Government.  I love being part...

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Agile

January 21, 2016
people world

Communication in Distributed Teams

Face to Face is the best method of communication and that’s the method that Agile promotes.  The benefits of Co-located teams are numerous-  streamlines product...

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Agile

January 15, 2016
map

Working with Remote Team Members

I’ve been working with large organizations where team members are in multiple locations quite a bit lately. This environment can be challenging, especially in ensuring...

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Agile

December 22, 2015
football

Agile – Adopting to Change vs Following a Plan – a football analogy

As I sat watching Sunday Football, and thinking of my upcoming blog… I became aware of the similarities between football and Agile! Consider this, each...

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Agile

December 3, 2015
people graphic

Open that Window (part 2)

As coaches, we help teams grow and mature.  Mature, effective teams understand each other – who they are, what they’re good at, what they’re not,...

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Agile

November 25, 2015
ACT-IAC

Overcoming the Challenges of Acquiring Agile Digital Services in Government

On November 5, 2015, Phil Fewell, Managing Director at CC Pace, and I attended ACT-IAC’s Emerging Technologies Community of Interest sponsored workshop held at GSA...

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Agile

November 18, 2015
rule

Scrumban – is it the Shu Ha Ri of Agile Journey?

Many times I have seen newly formed or new to Agile teams and organizations moving from Scrum and/or Kanban to eventually settling for Scrumban as...

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Agile

November 9, 2015
capacity

Sprint Capacity

Before I get to how much capacity there is in a sprint, let’s take a look at the flow. If you are doing Scrum, you...

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Agile

October 30, 2015
Potomac Forum

Taking Agility in Government to a New Level

As most of you who operate in the Federal space are probably aware at this point, many Federal agencies are now utilizing Agile methods such...

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Agile

October 23, 2015
cloud window

Open that Window (Part 1)

As Agile Coaches, we help teams grow and mature. But there’s no how-to manual that tells us how to do that.  So how do we...

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Agile

September 29, 2015
Agile

12 Principles of Agile – Part 3

Welcome to the final part of my 12 Principles series where we’ll cover the final 4 Agile Principles. (In case you missed it, here’s a link...

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Agile

September 23, 2015
train number

1, 2 ,3 or 4….What’s the right number of teams for a Scrum Master?

 “How much scrum would a Scrum Master master, If a Scrum Master could master scrum? He would master, he would, as much as he could,...

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Agile

September 16, 2015
Agile

12 Principles of Agile – Part 2

Over the course of this three-part blog series, I will cover all of the 12 Principles. In this second installment I hope I’ve peeked your...

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Agile

September 10, 2015
frame mirror

Picture This….

You’re driving along on a four-lane freeway.  For a football field’s length in front of you, there are no cars.  And behind you, a similar...

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Agile

September 1, 2015
Agile

12 Principles of Agile – Part 1

Over the course of this three part blog, I will cover all of the 12 Agile Principles. In this first installment I implore you to...

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Agile

August 25, 2015
arrow target

There’s no “I” in Team, but there’s “US” in Success

Being a Product Owner is a really hard job. I have been hearing this for a long time and it has come out in almost...

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Agile

August 12, 2015
light tunnel

Scrum Team Velocity – Is it a Stick or a Carrot?

Velocity, the measure of total story points completed in a sprint, is often misunderstood, and used as a “stick” against teams rather than a “carrot”....

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Agile

August 5, 2015
man in field

Empowerment – A Secret to Self-Organizing Teams

I’m often asked how to create empowered teams.  The question usually includes the exclamation “I told them they’re empowered, but they’re not acting like it”,...

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Agile

July 27, 2015
help

Help….I’m a Government Product Owner!

As described by Jeff Sutherland, the Product Owner (PO) is “the person responsible for managing the Product Backlog so as to maximize the value of...

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Agile

July 16, 2015
Seattle

Scrum Alliance Coaches Retreat – Seattle 2015

Last month I had the opportunity to attend my first ever Coaches Retreat. The retreat was made up of about 80 participants. Preparation for the...

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Agile

July 9, 2015
mobile phone

Five Lessons at My Fingertips

Sometimes when I have wait time, I pull out my phone and play games.  Nothing sophisticated or too demanding, just something calming that allows my...

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Agile

July 1, 2015
tasks

We Can’t Break Physical Laws. We Can Break Ourselves Against Them. Part 2

In a previous blog I shared how unfinished tasks tend to constantly interrupt our thoughts, create anxiety and affect our productivity. Research has proven that...

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Agile

June 24, 2015
road sign

Organizational Culture Change

As an Agile enthusiast, trainer and coach I’m pretty passionate about being Agile regardless of the specific framework being followed. In fact, my passion lies...

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Agile

June 18, 2015
stop and go light

Go, Go, Go, STOP!!

When an organization decides they want to “Go Agile”, they usually go through a multitude of changes before they get into a rhythm of the...

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Agile

June 11, 2015
aloe in a plant

The Power of Appreciation

I recently visited my mom and sisters.  It’s about a four hour drive to where they live, so I stayed with them the whole weekend. ...

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Agile

June 2, 2015
Scrum alliance

The US Scrum Gathering – 2015

Each year, the notable Scrum Alliance hosts a Scrum Gathering in an energetic city somewhere in the US.  This year, 2015, the Scrum Gathering was...

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Agile

May 29, 2015
balancing

We Can’t Break Physical Laws. We Can Break Ourselves Against Them.

Do you often feel tensed thinking of tasks started and not completed?  Do you find interruptions frustrating and wish they go away so you can...

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Agile

May 19, 2015

What Details?

What Details? On a recent flight, I was reading about paying attention to detail in creating a dream room for your home. Attention to detail...

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Agile

May 11, 2015
bridge

Reflections of a Road Warrior – Random Thoughts No.1

In January, I moved from Texas to North Carolina.  When I was in Texas, I flew to client sites around the country. But the last...

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Agile

May 7, 2015
Potomac Forum

Agile in the Federal Government Workshop V – This Potomac Forum Has Something for Everyone

Art Chantker, President of Potomac Forum, LTD and CC Pace cordially invite you to our next exciting Agile in Government Workshop V, May 20 at...

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Agile

May 6, 2015
cartoon

High Velocity ≠ Effectiveness

Teams that are using the Scrum framework to become more Agile usually use velocity as a metric to help them understand how much value can...

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Agile

April 28, 2015
pills capsules

How do I choose between Scrum and Kanban?

I get this question a lot. And I ask back “What business problems are you trying to solve?” Each method has great potential when applied...

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Agile

April 23, 2015
wheel

Agile, It’s Not Just for Software!

When our yacht club saw membership dropping and was looking for a change, I called our Chairmen of the Board and suggested… a Kanban board....

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Agile

April 16, 2015
space

A Pointed Tale

A colleague recently reached out for suggestions to help a new client whose teams are having trouble adapting to using story points. Here are 10...

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Agile

April 13, 2015

‘Agile in Government’ Conference

On February 25th and 26th, I had the pleasure of attending the “Agile in Government” conference put together by AFEI (The Association For Enterprise Information)....

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Agile

April 8, 2015
bubble

The Sprint Bubble

Have you ever wondered exactly what types of things a team does during a Sprint or what they should be doing? A team usually has...

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Agile

April 2, 2015
PMI

PMI-ACP and All the Hype

When people see my ­­business card or email signature, they sometimes question the letters beside my name: what do they mean,should they try to get...

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Agile

March 30, 2015
Captian

Cultural Patterns – Part 3

In previous posts, I talked about what the “Get It Done” (GID) and “Just Do It” (JDI) patterns look like in organizations.  Today I’ll talk...

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Agile

March 24, 2015
coach word cloud

Agile Leaders as Coaches – The Key to Successful Agile Transformations

I spend a lot of my time coaching individuals, teams, and organizations interested in reaching higher levels of performance through the use of Agile methodologies...

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Agile

March 18, 2015
Map

The Reality of Distributed Agile Teams

Scrum purists will tell you co-located teams are the way to go. If only it was that easy! As large organizations adopt scrum, they find...

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Agile

March 10, 2015
graphic world

Tips to Transforming Your Technical World

In a prior post, Getting Ready for Your Technical Transformation, I defined technical transformation and why it is so important.  Now, I’d like to dive...

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Agile

March 9, 2015
Contract details

Contracts and Vendors – The Agile Impact

As you many have read in my prior post about The Agile Impact regarding “Telework and Modified Schedules”, there are some variations on how moving...

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Agile

March 4, 2015
Chalk sign

Cultural Patterns – Part 2

In my last post, I talked about what a “Get It Done” (GID) pattern looks like in organizations.  Today I’ll talk about another cultural pattern....

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Agile

February 24, 2015
Transformation

Getting Ready for Your Agile Technical Transformation

As your organization prepares to transition to an Agile one, you will most likely want to know all that the transformation entails.  One of these...

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Agile

February 23, 2015
US Capitol

CC Pace at the Potomac Forum – Agile Development in Government Training Workshop

On January 28, CC Pace and the Potomac Forum collaborated once again to present their latest in the series, Agile Development in Government Training Workshops. ...

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Agile

February 10, 2015
Landmark

The Backlog Pyramid

The role of a Product Owner in Scrum includes owning the backlog and preparing stories for sprints. As I work with product owners I remind...

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Agile

February 3, 2015
Team Puzzle

Transforming to a Cross-Functional Team

In a previous blog, “The Reality of T.E.A.M”, I talked about Agile teams being dedicated, or part of a ‘permanent’ team that focuses on a...

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Agile

January 28, 2015
meeting

Telework and Modified Schedules – The Agile Impact

Agencies around the government are beginning to see more and more of their employees teleworking and going to modified work weeks.  There are a number...

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Agile

January 27, 2015
meter

Management Paradoxes

Being always busy does not always mean being productive As often happens at the end of a calendar year, many people reflect on the past...

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Agile

January 20, 2015
green earth

Training and Coaching – Why your teams need both!

Have you ever wanted to learn a new sport? Cricket, Golf or Rugby? Where would you start? You may say, well I would find a...

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Agile

January 13, 2015
List

Cultural Patterns – Part 1

Recently I’ve been reflecting on cultural patterns I’ve seen in organizations throughout my career; how I experienced them, their impact, who thrived, who withered. Over...

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Agile

January 6, 2015
Government Services

Agile in the Federal Government – Going, Going, Gone Beyond Scrum

About a year ago, I co-authored with Bruce Yang a whitepaper entitled “Agile in the Federal Government – Moving Beyond Scrum.”  In that whitepaper, we...

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Agile

January 6, 2015
keyboard black

Agile in the Federal Government – Improving Technical Execution

As discussed in the first post in this series Agile in the Federal Government – Going, Going, Gone Beyond Scrum, the history of Agile adoption...

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Agile

December 28, 2014
Detroit Skyline

What Detroit Housing Teaches About Agile Prioritization

Does your organization have a lot on their plate? Are resources spread too thin? Have you heard the phrase “stop starting, and start finishing”, but...

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Agile

December 13, 2014

The Reality of T.E.A.M.

One of the hardest things for companies transforming to Agile to accept is the idea that team members are to be dedicated to the teams...

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