Working Agile
The Standish Group’s Chaos Report of 2015 stated that ‘Over the last 20 years the project management field has experienced increasing layers of project management processes, tools, governance, compliance and oversight. Yet these activities and products have done nothing to improve project success.’ As a project professional, this makes me sad (especially the ‘done nothing’ bit!). But it…
Read More
You can find just about anything you want on the Internet. From cats playing the piano, to tiny animals wearing sombreros to doom and gloom news, to happy news, to well, you name it! One thing I love about the Internet is that you can learn just about anything. The availability of online learning that is…
Read More
John Seddon wrote Freedom from Command and Control: A Better way to make Work Work in 2003, and it would have to be one of the best books describing the Agile mindset leaders and organisations need to succeed in this rapidly changing world. It has helped countless leaders move from a more hierarchical micro-management style to…
Read More
#MyAgileYear April is all about delivering early and often. And this often means slicing things into small, or thin, slices (manageable chunks). But a question I am often asked is: how thin is too thin? Possibly not the best question to ask before a holiday centred around chocolate, but let’s explore. You Can’t be too Thin…
Read More
April of #MyAgileYear is about delivering early and often, in small slices. The principle states: Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software. April is a lovely time of the year. Summer has finished in Australia after a longer period of warmth that extended well into March, and the…
Read More
#MyAgileYear is well underway, and I’m still a big flabbergasted it’s the end of March. Yes, I have become one of those people who shake my head in disbelief saying “Where has the time gone?”. Perhaps it’s going fast as every month so far has had a focus. And by focusing on a topic and…
Read More
Welcome to February of #MyAgileYear. This month’s theme was about face to face communication. We’re all guilty of typing an instant message instead of walking to a colleague’s desk. Or sending a text when we could have called. Technology is a wonderful thing, and can save us loads of time. Time to spend scrolling through Facebook…
Read More
In my last post, I kicked off My Agile Year with a summary of how I was simplifying my year from the start. It’s been going well. By giving the month of January a focus it’s helped me prioritise the things I need to do. And by aiming to keep things simple, the moment an…
Read More
When we talk about simplicity we often think about decluttering exercises that are total overhauls. And this is the time of the year when we find our inboxes cluttered with “New Year, New You” emails from people marketing their latest product. These amazing products will turn your life around, allowing you do more, have more,…
Read More
It’s that time of the year again where we all look at each other and say “Where did the year go?” We discuss at length how time has been going so fast, and we’re barely ready for Christmas. We frantically run around sourcing seafood and Christmas treats to fully enjoy the festive season. Then at…
Read More
One of the Agile principles is to build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. If you are working in an Agile environment, have a look at your teams. Do you sense what one of my fellow Agile experts describes as “the…
Read More
One of the things I love about what I do is that I get to help people and their teams plan their future. It’s exciting to me to be part of a team realising what could be possible over the next year, quarter or month. Why Plan? Dwight D. Eisenhower once said: “In preparing for…
Read MoreIt’s been a big couple of weeks for The Agile Project Manager. Amid book orders and speaking gigs, I have embarked on a new journey of my own. I wrote about it on LinkedIn. You can check it out here. Let me know what you think!
Read More
A popular term I hear A LOT is “this is an ‘AND’ not an ‘OR’”. And what it basically meant was “This thing we want you to do is really important, but not important enough to take you away from your current job. Your current job is still the most important. But this new thing, well, it’s…
Read More
Happy first day of Spring! Now is the time people emerge from their winter hibernation and get active. For me, it’s running, and a few weeks ago I tore a ligament in my ankle (while running). So I’m taking some rest, So I’m taking some rest, doing some yoga, and learning a bit about moderation,…
Read More
People often ask me how I wrote The Agile Project Manager so quickly, and when I tell them “I made sure that I regularly sat down and wrote words”, they get that weird look in their eyes. The one that questions the simplicity of my strategy. And so I say “Oh, and I also enlisted…
Read More