My Lean Startup Interview
Posted by David Bland in agile on October 13, 2011
The folks at DZone were kind enough to invite me over for a chat during Agile2011 to have a conversation about agile, kanban and lean startup.
Scrum Extensions (or what we already do to make Scrum work)
Posted by David Bland in scrum on October 11, 2011
In case you have not already heard, there is a recent press release on Scrum.org with regards to the adoption of Scrum Extensions.
Today’s announcement marks a new era in Scrum’s evolution by making available a public mechanism for providing feedback on the Scrum Guide and a model for proposing extensions to the basic framework.
Now I’m all in favor of extending Scrum, and even the name Scrumology (apologies to Kane Mar who probably gets a fair amount of my hate mail) was my take on all of the ways in which you may need to extend it to succeed in your organization. In fact, I’ve taken quite a bit of criticism for my rather progressive take on the Scrum philosophy over the years.
So on one hand, I feel somewhat validated that Scrum.org has opened it up for extensions.
On the other hand, Scrum no longer belongs to Jeff Sutherland & Ken Schwaber.
Scrum belongs to you… [Read More]
Rewind Your Mind
Posted by David Bland in agile, user stories on September 1, 2011
“A good engineer thinks in reverse and asks himself about the stylistic consequences of the components and systems he proposes” – Helmut Jan
This advice is not limited to engineers. It also applies to many of us who want to produce software that actually matters to people.
Thinking in reverse, yet leaning forward can yield innovative results. This can be especially helpful when you feel as though you’ve become stagnant in your day to day activities.
Applied to Lean Startup
As the Lean Startup movement continues to gain momentum, one has to be careful not to blindly speed through the Build -> Measure -> Learn loops.
As Eric Ries stated in his Mixergy interview, even though you act in… [Read More]
A Silent Retrospective Workshop Comes to DC
Posted by David Bland in agiledc, conferences, retrospectives, speaking engagements on August 22, 2011
When: October 26th 2011
Where: AgileDC
What: It can be difficult to convince team members to speak up in a retrospective. Each individual needs to have his or her voice heard, and by incorporating silent work techniques you can foster participation in those who may otherwise be left out.
Come to this interactive workshop as we explore the power of silent work and group collaboration in retrospectives. You’ll walk away with real world techniques to help bring out the inner voices of your team.
If you are still on the fence about attending, I’m including my slides and a few pictures of what this workshop will entail.
I may tweak the format a bit depending on the audience and room layout…[Read More]
