I spent the first part of January in Antarctica hanging out with penguins, whales, and seals. It was an incredible experience and about as different from my day-to-day work as can be. And yet, on my long flight back home, I couldn’t help but reflect on how well my trip aligned with one specific value […]
Feedback Early & Often! 3 Questions to Ask to Take Full Advantage of Feedback Loop Opportunities
Agile frameworks are designed to accept and handle change – but you still need feedback to determine what changes will ultimately provide the most value. So, ask your team these three questions to ensure you’re taking full advantage of feedback loops. And no, it’s not just holding Sprint Reviews and Retrospectives. 1. Have You Captured ALL Your Stakeholders? Think about […]
Dear Agile: Not Your Average Stand-Up
This post is the latest in Excella’s Dear Agile series of blog posts. DEAR AGILE: Recently, a colleague brought up a team that does “plank stand-up” – that is, everyone assumes the plank position (an abdominal exercise) during stand-up to ensure that it goes quickly. Your colleagues’ obvious suffering is a visual reminder to be […]
How to Set Initial WIP Limits
Teams new to Kanban often spend far too much time debating what their initial work-in-progress (WIP) limits should be. It’s not that they don’t understand Little’s Law or disagree that WIP limits serve as a useful constraint. It’s just that they don’t know how to set them. Here are the three most important things to know: […]
How to Create a System Model
In my previous blog, I explained why learning about system models (also known as causal loop diagrams) was one of the most useful takeaways from Certified LeSS Practitioner training. These diagrams can be a powerful tool for creating a shared understanding of the system dynamics at work in an organization. There are a few basic […]
How System Models Can Help Your Organization Optimize for the Whole
One of the primary themes during the Certified LeSS Practitioner course I attended last year was the importance of systems thinking and optimizing for the whole. But it’s not easy to see the whole, especially in large and complex organizations, and to understand how all the parts interact with and influence each other. For me, […]
If LeSS is Already Large-Scale Scrum, What’s LeSS Huge?
One of the first things I discovered while attending Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) training is that the term LeSS refers to both large-scale Scrum generally and the smaller LeSS framework. It turns out that there’s large scale and then there’s really large scale. Really large scale is where the second LeSS framework, LeSS Huge, comes along. […]
More with LeSS – 5 Takeaways from Certified LeSS Practitioner Training
In December, I had the opportunity to attend the Certified LeSS Practitioner course in New York City taught by Craig Larman, one of the co-founders of Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS). I’ll be sharing many learnings from the course in upcoming blogs, but to start, here are my top 5 takeaways. A Quick Introduction to LeSS Craig […]
Simulating Scrum by Building a LEGO City
At the January Games for Agility, Learning, and Engagement (GALE) Meetup, we ran a version of the Scrum Simulation with LEGO described by Alexy Krivitsky. I’ve used this simulation many times to introduce people to Scrum in an interactive, fast-moving, and team-based way. It’s also a great wrap-up at the end of training, as it’s […]
Physical vs. Digital Story Maps
As I wrote previously in this blog, story maps help teams identify the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in a highly visual and collaborative way. Both physical and digital story maps provide these benefits, but which is the best fit for your team? Let’s check out the advantages and drawbacks of each approach. Physical Story Maps […]