2017’s Lean Kanban North America (LKNA) was a fast-paced, dynamic gathering of expertise and exploration. David Anderson kicked things off with a thought-provoking keynote emphasizing Kanban as an alternative path to business agility, we experimented with the Okaloa Flow Lab simulation, and a diverse collection of speakers described their experiences with Kanban. I added my…
Dear Agile: Scrum vs. Kanban
This post is the latest in Excella’s Dear Agile series of blog posts. Have a question for Dear Agile? Send it to us via our anonymous submission form. DEAR AGILE – How do you determine whether to use Scrum or Kanban on a given project? Some folks maintain that Kanban can (or at least should)…
Looking Forward to Lean Kanban North America
Next month I’ll be speaking at Lean Kanban North America. The last time I attended, in 2015, I was a finalist for the Brickell Key Award. I had been helping distributed teams align their work and increase their situational awareness by using Kanban. Jim Benson and I spoke about the positive aspects of that experience,…
My Journey to Becoming an Accredited Kanban Trainer
The Kanban Method is an empowering approach that helps individuals and teams harness their full potential. I’ve experienced its benefits repeatedly, both in my work and personal life. Last month, I increased my knowledge of Kanban by becoming an Accredited Kanban Trainer (AKT) through Lean Kanban University (LKU). It was a great experience, and I’m…
A Beneficial View of Hierarchy
In many parts of the Agile community, hierarchy is viewed as a necessary evil. Hierarchical structures can be restrictive forces that limit the effectiveness of teams and inhibit self-organization. In contrast, we often emphasize flatter structures and peer-to-peer networks because we believe they will allow Agile teams to thrive. This perspective can be limiting and…
Options vs. Constraints
One of the things I enjoy most about conferences is the opportunity to meet new people. At Lean Agile Scotland earlier this year, I met Chris Matts, who has spent a lot of time thinking about options and how they can help us build better software. It was great to be able to hear him…
Lean Agile Scotland – What a Great Experience
Lean Agile Scotland was an excellent conference. I’ve struggled with how to condense all my positive experiences into a single blog post; this may have to be the first of many. Over just three days, I was able to create new connections, participate in enlightening sessions, and start a number of thought-provoking conversations. These are…
Speaking at AgileDC
I’ve written in this space before about the valuable perspectives complexity brings and how those perspectives can improve our work in software development. I’m excited to have the opportunity to say more about that at AgileDC this year. My talk, “DevOps Darwinism,” explores how these ideas can be leveraged in code and deployment architectures. I’ll…
Excited for Lean Agile Scotland!
Next week I’ll be speaking at Lean Agile Scotland and I’m very excited about the opportunity. I’ve followed the conference online the past few years, but have never been able to attend in person. Regular speakers include David Snowden, Jim Benson, Alicia Juarrero, and others who have explored software development from the perspective of human…
Complexity in Action: Operating in a Complex World
In the previous posts in this series, I introduced Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) and described some basic approaches for using complexity to improve the work of Agile teams. In this post, I’ll delve a bit deeper and explain how complexity can help trigger the mindset shift necessary to create an effective environment for Agile teams….