Just realised the number of open tabs is far beyond the number of articles I may read in the next few days so thought I should still save them somewhere before closing them (they eat up my memory, no?). so that defo is the last post for 2010 - enjoy - most are good reads ;)
To deliver the project at hand, or deliver improved project-delivering capability for the future? by Bob Marshal
The Definition of Ready by Roman Pichler
Assange, Argyris and Aristotle
by LORNE MITCHELL
How to Fix Misunderstandings at Work and in Life by Dan Pallotta
ACHIEVING AGILITY: MEANS TO AN END, OR END IN ITSELF
By Esther Derby
Fourth Generation Management: Brian L. Joiner. Book Review by Stephen Parry
Happy New Year ;)
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Monday, 13 December 2010
A new era
As you read these words our world is undergoing a major change. No surprise I guess- it has been for centuries. The significant change this time is in our minds and it is affecting many areas of our life.
We are becoming more and more aware of our behaviour and how it affects the results of our efforts. Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of how individual and group behaviour is a major factor of their success or failure.
The way we have behaved in the past is no longer appropriate to sustain our improvement. The operation model used by organizations in the past is no longer appropriate for continuous improvement and this is backed up by real production data.
Those who understood the problem early and pioneered appropriate change efforts are already way ahead. Many of them failed and learned and some of them only failed – if they learn to learn they still have a chance. Those who ignore the need to change may survive temporarily but soon enough new businesses, built from the ground and with new ideas will replace them.
This post is not a warning – it is just stating what I believe is now a fact. I wrote it because I felt like writing it and I understand that it might be stating the obvious for some or be too extreme for others. Everyone is welcome to challenge or comment.
We are becoming more and more aware of our behaviour and how it affects the results of our efforts. Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of how individual and group behaviour is a major factor of their success or failure.
The way we have behaved in the past is no longer appropriate to sustain our improvement. The operation model used by organizations in the past is no longer appropriate for continuous improvement and this is backed up by real production data.
Those who understood the problem early and pioneered appropriate change efforts are already way ahead. Many of them failed and learned and some of them only failed – if they learn to learn they still have a chance. Those who ignore the need to change may survive temporarily but soon enough new businesses, built from the ground and with new ideas will replace them.
This post is not a warning – it is just stating what I believe is now a fact. I wrote it because I felt like writing it and I understand that it might be stating the obvious for some or be too extreme for others. Everyone is welcome to challenge or comment.
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Agile links is Back!
After a not so good week (for which I already had a retro with myself and listed appropriate actions, etc., etc.) weekly links is now back! (perhaps to indicate a much better week?!) So here we go:
The Scrum Compliance Who except Tobias could have put it in better words? Must read for anyone interested in Scrum.
David J Andreson's Back to Basics with Kanban David re-visits the list of the minimum requirements for implementing the Kanban approach - short and worth reading.
How to Teach Lean Thinking and Acting - by Mike Rother - Author of Toyota Kata and co-author of Learning to See. I'm so gonna read this one during my first pomodoro tomorrow morning - sounds promising.
Adding Sanity to Your Agility David Hussman shares successful coaching techniques he uses to grow sustainable agility that lasts beyond the early iterations...
Agile Is More Than a Set of Methods — It’s a Leadership Mindset Can't agree more with Christopher Avery's post although I recognise that few organisations nowadays are able to do it to that level...
Start your presentation with PUNCH Some tips on how to grab your audience's attention to help your presentation go well.
Kanban for Agile Teams Whitepaper A good read (by Mike Cottmeyer) Version one need you to register in order to download it though :(
The Scrum Compliance Who except Tobias could have put it in better words? Must read for anyone interested in Scrum.
David J Andreson's Back to Basics with Kanban David re-visits the list of the minimum requirements for implementing the Kanban approach - short and worth reading.
How to Teach Lean Thinking and Acting - by Mike Rother - Author of Toyota Kata and co-author of Learning to See. I'm so gonna read this one during my first pomodoro tomorrow morning - sounds promising.
Adding Sanity to Your Agility David Hussman shares successful coaching techniques he uses to grow sustainable agility that lasts beyond the early iterations...
Agile Is More Than a Set of Methods — It’s a Leadership Mindset Can't agree more with Christopher Avery's post although I recognise that few organisations nowadays are able to do it to that level...
Start your presentation with PUNCH Some tips on how to grab your audience's attention to help your presentation go well.
Kanban for Agile Teams Whitepaper A good read (by Mike Cottmeyer) Version one need you to register in order to download it though :(
Monday, 4 October 2010
error ASPNET: Make sure that the class defined in this code file matches the 'inherits' attribute, and that it extends the correct base class
So after spending an hour digging around to find possible solution to this error and finding out all sort of weird suggestions, some reasonable and some not so reasonable (e.g. to simply use a deprecated attribute?!)
I found out that this (undoubtedly) very descriptive error could be down to another reason.. in my case I needed to extend the base class from which my pages and controls inherit to keep some information that I needed.
Well the key is in pages and controls - I only had one base class and obviously controls can't inherit from a class that inherits from page and vice versa. So if none of the other suggestions have helped .. check your base classes, what they inherit from and is it suitable for your page/controls.
I found out that this (undoubtedly) very descriptive error could be down to another reason.. in my case I needed to extend the base class from which my pages and controls inherit to keep some information that I needed.
Well the key is in pages and controls - I only had one base class and obviously controls can't inherit from a class that inherits from page and vice versa. So if none of the other suggestions have helped .. check your base classes, what they inherit from and is it suitable for your page/controls.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Weekly agile links 27th September - 1st October 2010
The Rise Of The Lean Machine An eye opening presentation by Claudio Perrone. I can immediately think of at least 5 steps I'd need right now or in the near future.
Where to Begin Your Transition to Lean-Agile
Alan Shalloway & James R. Trott give us a more practical guide to making a lean/agile transition work.
Common Myths of Kanban This is in context of software.. Kanban now popular enough to have myths!
Managers New to Agile May Not Know What to Do Johanna Rothman explains some of the problems with adopting agile..
How to be happy (but not too much) Dan Jones explains how being happy means you're more open to learning,etc.etc.
Defining What Done Means Another great article by Rachel D.
Six Key Things For Managing Agile Teams Derek Neighbors lists a number of the characteristics of collaborative teams (but not all).
A Root Cause Analysis of Agile Practices Regularly link to Karl Scotland and he does not disappoint again with a summary of a recent open space session with the above topic. Also congratulations to Karl on getting the opportunity to write a book about Kanban!
Where to Begin Your Transition to Lean-Agile
Alan Shalloway & James R. Trott give us a more practical guide to making a lean/agile transition work.
Common Myths of Kanban This is in context of software.. Kanban now popular enough to have myths!
Managers New to Agile May Not Know What to Do Johanna Rothman explains some of the problems with adopting agile..
How to be happy (but not too much) Dan Jones explains how being happy means you're more open to learning,etc.etc.
Defining What Done Means Another great article by Rachel D.
Six Key Things For Managing Agile Teams Derek Neighbors lists a number of the characteristics of collaborative teams (but not all).
A Root Cause Analysis of Agile Practices Regularly link to Karl Scotland and he does not disappoint again with a summary of a recent open space session with the above topic. Also congratulations to Karl on getting the opportunity to write a book about Kanban!
Monday, 20 September 2010
Weekly agile links 20th - 24th September 2010
Essence of Scrum Originally published by Tobias Mayer in 2009 and now re-worked and adapted by David Sheriff.
Estimation and Release Planning with Fruit Salad An interesting game to learn estimation and planning on Lyssa Adkins' blog.
Podcast interview with @davegray on How Games at Work Inspire Creativity Podcast on how interactivity will make your meetings and your ideas even better.
The Quest for High Performance Tom Reynolds CSM, CSP on getting there..
The Ultimatum Game and article by Cedric B. that mainly talks about traditional organizational behaviour and how to deal with it while implementing agile/scrum.
Are Job Descriptions Illegal? Here Are 9 Reasons Why They Should Be Lou Adler challengers traditional job descriptions.
THE PROBLEMS WITH ESTIMATING BUSINESS VALUE Mike Cohn on how to estimate business value - e.g. use themes/epics not small items.
Risk Innovation or Be Beaten by Those Who Do An article about innovation not just for products but for process & leadership. By Lea Strickland.
People Help Agile Adoptions An article about change, how people cope with it and how we could go about it .. by Scott Dunn.
Mood Board Shows some process innovation in the form of 'different' kanban boards as well as explains the use of the mood board.
Performance Reviews Shift Blame, Prevent Partnership On Esther Derby's blog although it looks like it is from HBR. Explains a lot of things we seem to just accept as given.
Building a Transition Backlog Another great post by Rachel Davies based on experience with agile transitions.
John Seddon Keynote Great summary of a John Seddon's key note (by Patrick Kua). Couldn't quite get which conference was that but this does not reduce it's value. Thanks Patrick.
Agile 2010 Booklist
Yves Hanoulle went through the trouble to ask attendees for the one book they would recommend - makes a great reading list.
Slides from the Deming's Red Bead Experiment by David Joyce and as presented at Agile Australia 2010.
Estimation and Release Planning with Fruit Salad An interesting game to learn estimation and planning on Lyssa Adkins' blog.
Podcast interview with @davegray on How Games at Work Inspire Creativity Podcast on how interactivity will make your meetings and your ideas even better.
The Quest for High Performance Tom Reynolds CSM, CSP on getting there..
The Ultimatum Game and article by Cedric B. that mainly talks about traditional organizational behaviour and how to deal with it while implementing agile/scrum.
Are Job Descriptions Illegal? Here Are 9 Reasons Why They Should Be Lou Adler challengers traditional job descriptions.
THE PROBLEMS WITH ESTIMATING BUSINESS VALUE Mike Cohn on how to estimate business value - e.g. use themes/epics not small items.
Risk Innovation or Be Beaten by Those Who Do An article about innovation not just for products but for process & leadership. By Lea Strickland.
People Help Agile Adoptions An article about change, how people cope with it and how we could go about it .. by Scott Dunn.
Mood Board Shows some process innovation in the form of 'different' kanban boards as well as explains the use of the mood board.
Performance Reviews Shift Blame, Prevent Partnership On Esther Derby's blog although it looks like it is from HBR. Explains a lot of things we seem to just accept as given.
Building a Transition Backlog Another great post by Rachel Davies based on experience with agile transitions.
John Seddon Keynote Great summary of a John Seddon's key note (by Patrick Kua). Couldn't quite get which conference was that but this does not reduce it's value. Thanks Patrick.
Agile 2010 Booklist
Yves Hanoulle went through the trouble to ask attendees for the one book they would recommend - makes a great reading list.
Slides from the Deming's Red Bead Experiment by David Joyce and as presented at Agile Australia 2010.
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Scrum is great! .. but what is wrong with it? (100th Post!)
I was wondering how to avoid my 100th post to be a 'weekly links' post and was presented with the opportunity today.
Well this is not really the full post that the title suggests but a "Bare Talk" (as they call it) which I suggested for Scrum Gathering 2010 in Amsterdam.
If it gets into top 6 then I might get the chance to (write &) present the actual talk/article.
So the link is here: "Scrum is great! .. but what is wrong with it?" and I'll need your votes to make it happen!
Thanks for your support!
Well this is not really the full post that the title suggests but a "Bare Talk" (as they call it) which I suggested for Scrum Gathering 2010 in Amsterdam.
If it gets into top 6 then I might get the chance to (write &) present the actual talk/article.
So the link is here: "Scrum is great! .. but what is wrong with it?" and I'll need your votes to make it happen!
Thanks for your support!
Friday, 10 September 2010
Weekly agile links 13th - 18th September 2010
A Survival Guide for New Agile Coaches New Blog Series by Dave Rooney
Lean Bicycle Factory Demonstration Game This is a great Lean Game that you can play alone or with your team. I found it was really great in showing some lean principles.
STEAL THIS PRESENTATION! Some tips on making your presentation less boring. I'm would also suggest splitting your presentation parts in 10 minutes blocks and have activities in between.
Slicing and Dicing Epic User Stories Some tips from Rachel Davis on splitting big user stories.
How BA uses Agile An explanation from BA of how the Agile has helped IT projects to deliver more value, sooner.
The Joy of Craftsmanship Matt Wynne explains why for him craftsmanship is about finding joy in your work.
GAMING INCENTIVES via Esther Derby. Mainly talks about toddlers but I am pretty sure it would work exactly the same way with adults (not that I have seen it anywhere!)
Speaking is a Team Sport: 3 Ways to be Responsive to Your Audience The same message keeps coming back to me whether it is in books, articles or tweets. so time to remember and learn ;)
Social-Technical Systems The slides from Mary Poppendieck's seminar "Social-Technical Systems" at Crisp published by Henrik Kinberg. Also has a link to Dan Pink's amazing talk on motivation.
Lean Bicycle Factory Demonstration Game This is a great Lean Game that you can play alone or with your team. I found it was really great in showing some lean principles.
STEAL THIS PRESENTATION! Some tips on making your presentation less boring. I'm would also suggest splitting your presentation parts in 10 minutes blocks and have activities in between.
Slicing and Dicing Epic User Stories Some tips from Rachel Davis on splitting big user stories.
How BA uses Agile An explanation from BA of how the Agile has helped IT projects to deliver more value, sooner.
The Joy of Craftsmanship Matt Wynne explains why for him craftsmanship is about finding joy in your work.
GAMING INCENTIVES via Esther Derby. Mainly talks about toddlers but I am pretty sure it would work exactly the same way with adults (not that I have seen it anywhere!)
Speaking is a Team Sport: 3 Ways to be Responsive to Your Audience The same message keeps coming back to me whether it is in books, articles or tweets. so time to remember and learn ;)
Social-Technical Systems The slides from Mary Poppendieck's seminar "Social-Technical Systems" at Crisp published by Henrik Kinberg. Also has a link to Dan Pink's amazing talk on motivation.
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Weekly agile links 6th - 10th September 2010
It seems like links are flowing from everywhere these days and more and more knowledge flies around us.. we only have to reach out and learn. I hope you will find plenty of interesting articles in my collection this week. Happy reading!
Article: Lean And Agile — Roommates, Married Or Twins? Very interesting post by Gil Broza briefly describing a panel discussion with this title at Agile 2010.
Agile is Ready for the Enterprise Michael Hugos explains how mature has agile become in the last 20 years or so.
JOB is a four-letter word Harold Jarche on the inadequacy between the way we structure jobs and the current networked reality.
Agile2010 Bag Packing with Kanban Karl Scotland presents an exciting real world kanban experiment + video.
Is “Agile Methodology” an Oxymoron and Counterintuitive to Agile-Lean Product Development and Craftsmanship? by Russel Pannone. Perhaps worth reading if I could place it higher than all of my other tasks (unlikely).
Reading The Toyota Way Matteo Vaccari with some thoughts on how this book changes his view.
BUT /MY/ TEAM NEEDS A LEADER Can teams function without a leader? Check this Esther Derby article for the answer.
An interview with Jerry Weinberg Thanks to Jon Jagger
The Thinking Tool called Agile Henrik Kniberg's slides from his keynote @ Lean/Agile/Scrum conference in Zurich - "The Thinking Tool Called Agile"
Collaboration Game: Where Are Your Keys? This got me interested in the game so I am reading a bit more about it here
Simplicity: A New Model A nice long post by Jurgen Appelo on simple and complex systems and rules.
10 Tips on Presenting at Conferences Thanks to Cory Foy
How do I know if my PEOPLE are being fully utilized? by Richard Cheng. I changed the word resource to people as this is what this article is about.
Agile Ruined My Life Some interesting agile implementation horror stories by Daniel Markham and some thoughts on the reasons why such things are common.
Success with Agile Managers Here's a great extract from a book I am currently reading. The article is by Clinton Keith and explains why we need the role of Agile Manager.
Solution Focused FAQ Got interested in the solution focused approach (thanks to Dadi) during acg-uk this year and this FAQ comes handy to help me learn more.
Article: Lean And Agile — Roommates, Married Or Twins? Very interesting post by Gil Broza briefly describing a panel discussion with this title at Agile 2010.
Agile is Ready for the Enterprise Michael Hugos explains how mature has agile become in the last 20 years or so.
JOB is a four-letter word Harold Jarche on the inadequacy between the way we structure jobs and the current networked reality.
Agile2010 Bag Packing with Kanban Karl Scotland presents an exciting real world kanban experiment + video.
Is “Agile Methodology” an Oxymoron and Counterintuitive to Agile-Lean Product Development and Craftsmanship? by Russel Pannone. Perhaps worth reading if I could place it higher than all of my other tasks (unlikely).
Reading The Toyota Way Matteo Vaccari with some thoughts on how this book changes his view.
BUT /MY/ TEAM NEEDS A LEADER Can teams function without a leader? Check this Esther Derby article for the answer.
An interview with Jerry Weinberg Thanks to Jon Jagger
The Thinking Tool called Agile Henrik Kniberg's slides from his keynote @ Lean/Agile/Scrum conference in Zurich - "The Thinking Tool Called Agile"
Collaboration Game: Where Are Your Keys? This got me interested in the game so I am reading a bit more about it here
Simplicity: A New Model A nice long post by Jurgen Appelo on simple and complex systems and rules.
10 Tips on Presenting at Conferences Thanks to Cory Foy
How do I know if my PEOPLE are being fully utilized? by Richard Cheng. I changed the word resource to people as this is what this article is about.
Agile Ruined My Life Some interesting agile implementation horror stories by Daniel Markham and some thoughts on the reasons why such things are common.
Success with Agile Managers Here's a great extract from a book I am currently reading. The article is by Clinton Keith and explains why we need the role of Agile Manager.
Solution Focused FAQ Got interested in the solution focused approach (thanks to Dadi) during acg-uk this year and this FAQ comes handy to help me learn more.
Friday, 20 August 2010
Weekly agile links 23rd - 27th August 2010
Well, here's my second week of holiday for this year.. and a long list of links is ready to be published. Next week I am off (kind of a annual reset phase) and hopefully should be back with more links after the break.. ;)
Enjoy!
Agile release pattern: Feature-on/off-switch Nice suggestion by Johannes Brodwall - would be very useful to have it for every feature!
Motivation from the Mosaic Project Services Pty Ltd Blog. Mainly discusses Dan Pink's talk
Middleware Management pitfalls 8. Application immaturity by Sander Hautvast
Using the Class of Service Concept To Optimize Flow, Manage Risk, and Increase Predictability Nice guide to Class of service by Jeff Anderson
The Fallacy Of ReUse Udi Dahan explains why 'getting things done faster' is not aid too much by code reuse.
Seth Godin Gives Up on Traditional Book Publishing Some Lean Thinking applied by Seth Godin...
The Benefits of Making the Shift to Student-Centered Teaching Training from the back of the room applied to colleges and unis... yes, it does make sense!
5 Danger Signs of Frozen Thinking Tim Berry explains it in simple words... yeah read carefully and think again..
The One With The Fifty Percent Resources Geoff Watts on multi-tasking and treating people as resources.
Creating and Sustaining Agile Culture Janet Gregory presenting @ Skillsmatter.
Don’t Call Me a Guru, Dammit! Rick Ladd republishes a few years old article/interview with Mr. Ackoff from the telegraph - Anti-guru of joined-up management
Khan Academy deserves a link purely for the great collection of training videos it is. Thanks for sharing.
Some thoughts on Senior management by Seth Godin
The Hole in the Soul of Business Every organization is “values-driven.” The only question is, what values are in the driver’s seat? - this is an article about business and values and a must read one.
Watching “agile” move from a common-sense philosophy to an organized, detailed practice A very long and intriguing article by Edward Yourdon on the eveolution of agile.
Re-imagining Agile part 1: Why it shouldn't be done, and how to do it This one seems to be discussing the principles of Agile software development - have not read it yet though.
Enjoy!
Agile release pattern: Feature-on/off-switch Nice suggestion by Johannes Brodwall - would be very useful to have it for every feature!
Motivation from the Mosaic Project Services Pty Ltd Blog. Mainly discusses Dan Pink's talk
Middleware Management pitfalls 8. Application immaturity by Sander Hautvast
Using the Class of Service Concept To Optimize Flow, Manage Risk, and Increase Predictability Nice guide to Class of service by Jeff Anderson
The Fallacy Of ReUse Udi Dahan explains why 'getting things done faster' is not aid too much by code reuse.
Seth Godin Gives Up on Traditional Book Publishing Some Lean Thinking applied by Seth Godin...
The Benefits of Making the Shift to Student-Centered Teaching Training from the back of the room applied to colleges and unis... yes, it does make sense!
5 Danger Signs of Frozen Thinking Tim Berry explains it in simple words... yeah read carefully and think again..
The One With The Fifty Percent Resources Geoff Watts on multi-tasking and treating people as resources.
Creating and Sustaining Agile Culture Janet Gregory presenting @ Skillsmatter.
Don’t Call Me a Guru, Dammit! Rick Ladd republishes a few years old article/interview with Mr. Ackoff from the telegraph - Anti-guru of joined-up management
Khan Academy deserves a link purely for the great collection of training videos it is. Thanks for sharing.
Some thoughts on Senior management by Seth Godin
The Hole in the Soul of Business Every organization is “values-driven.” The only question is, what values are in the driver’s seat? - this is an article about business and values and a must read one.
Watching “agile” move from a common-sense philosophy to an organized, detailed practice A very long and intriguing article by Edward Yourdon on the eveolution of agile.
Re-imagining Agile part 1: Why it shouldn't be done, and how to do it This one seems to be discussing the principles of Agile software development - have not read it yet though.
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