Agile Trifecta

I was thrilled to get notified this week that all three of my talks were accepted for the Agile 2009 conference in Chicago on August 24-28.    Although I’ve spoken at many conferences in the past, this will be my first opportunity to speak at this popular conference.
I will be presenting:

It Takes Two to Tango; Four [...]

Sudoku Sizing of User Stories

A common practice in sizing up User Stories is to assign shirt sizes: xs, s, m l, xl, xxl.   This practice allows you to quickly assign an instinctive gut feel of the size of a User Story, which helps when performing a fit check of candidate stories for a Sprint.
I’m working with a client that [...]

Usability and Fashion

I’ve developed a renewed fascination with usability conventions lately. I’m working with a customer whose core systems are on the ole green screen, and many of the users are quite content with that. My gut tells me that they need to modernize, but when I see users zip through transactions at the [...]

A bit off topic, but it is Superbowl Weekend..

Q: What do they call a group of 50 guys who watch the Superbowl on TV year after year?  
A: The Dallas Cowboys.

Individuals and Interactions Workshop

Agilists say we place more value on individuals and interactions, yet everywhere I look the emphasis seems to be on processes and tools:  Books, articles, seminars, training classes, just about everything!    As a refreshing change, Improving Enterprises has a new workshop which helps Agile project teams optimize their communication and interactions.    The workshop is [...]

Don’t Overlook the Adjectives in User Stories

Take a look at two versions of a User Story, which are written using Mike Cohn’s popular format:
Version 1
As a customer service rep, I can calculate a customer’s account balance so I can provide it when a customer calls to request it.
Version 2
As a customer service rep, I can easily calculate a customer’s account balance [...]

One person’s Walmart is another person’s Macy’s is another person’s Neiman Marcus…

When kick-starting a new team, it’s helpful to be empathetic to each team member’s background and experience.   Interpretation of such concepts as productivity, efficiency, and quality can differ based on an individual’s background, values, and previous experiences.   Ambiguous goals can lead to ambiguous results.
A role of the Scrum Master is to facilitate the team toward [...]

Don’t Forget to Sharpen the Saw

I recently encountered a Product Owner who had been doing an excellent job in his role, but who pushed back on taking time to do a retrospective at the end of a sprint.    He said, “We have momentum and we’re making progress.  Why would we possibly want to stop and waste time doing this now?”
 
Steven [...]

Will the Agile Holidays Create Discipline Debt?

Although I’m usually pretty disciplined about diet and exercise, I tend to slack off quite a bit during the holidays. Some believe that a vacation from discipline is a good thing every now and then, while others feel that “discipline debt” becomes hard to pay off.    I do know that losing the 5 pounds I’ll [...]

When the Emperor Has No Skills

A commenter on my previous post made reference to Scrum’s transparency of work, workers, and productivity, noting that this causes some to dislike Scrum. 
 
Back in High School I was a trumpet player in the marching band.  When football season ended each year, our large band was split up into multiple small bands with just [...]