Tag Archives: Kaizen

DevOps Overview for Scrum Masters

Requires System Thinking DevOps creates a process (system) where by the development team and IT operations teams communicate issues, define priorities, complete work and report outcomes. DevOps grew out of the necessity that development and IT operations teams understand who … Continue reading

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Middle Management Reformation!

Agile Adoption has a Problem I’ve been in a few conversations lately where middle managers appear lost as they find themselves in an Agile transformation. Command and control is out the window. So is the concept of “reports”. How do … Continue reading

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Discovering the Narrative Behind Failure

Surprised by Failure? When your amazing idea results in unexpected outrage, do two things. Observe the Japanese proverb, When something goes wrong fix the process, not the blame. Then, discover the narrative. Tell the Story With 40,000 years under our belts, … Continue reading

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Value Stream Maps

Stopwatch Development? Learning to see is a bit more difficult than it may appear. If Ohno’s trainees found it hard to “see” manufacturing improvements, what’s a software manager to do? Looking over the shoulders of your development team, will only … Continue reading

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What do you see?

Learning to See Taiichi Ohno is the Japanese industrial engineer who played a major role in pioneering the Toyota Production System. When training a new manager, legend has it he drew a circle on the shop floor and have the manager … Continue reading

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Can’t Stop Learning!

Passionate Learner I am hooked on learning. An explanation that finally clicked, came while taking the Gallup Strengths survey. If you’ve not taken it, do so. The easiest way is to read their book Strengths Finder 2.0. The book gives an explanation of the … Continue reading

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New Scrum Guide – Emphasis on Values

A Classic Apple Move On July 6th the creators of the Scrum Framework (Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber) discussed their highly anticipated update. Even though the move was due to popular demand, their emphasis on Scrum Values hit me more like a … Continue reading

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Battleground “Innovation”

I read an interesting article this week from the Deutsche Welle. The central theme was China’s goal to be the world’s top innovator by 2030. By 2049 China also intends to lead the world in science and technology; just in … Continue reading

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Why is that guy still here…?

It’s Not the Person, It’s the Process A while ago, I over heard a product owner voicing his displeasure with a team member by asking, “Why is that guy still here?” Initially my adrenaline spiked as the pressure in my … Continue reading

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Profits Falling – Don’t Panic!

Expenses vs. Income – Distracts from Finding the Real Problem When it’s all said and done any companies’ goal must be to make money. No money – no business. It’s that simple. The trick to making money is to know how … Continue reading

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