Seriously?
“My organization is super Agile!
At the end of each project I run a retrospective with the entire team –and sometimes the customer: having a feedback loop is important!
For 45 minutes I present the project key points: background, challenges, risks, metrics and success factors. The last 10 minutes are allocated for Q&A, so that the whole team feels empowered and with a seat on the table.”
“My company is a mid sized organization -about 350 employees and from 11 to 15 simultaneous projects.
Following one of the most famous Peter Drucker quotes, “you can‘t manage what you can‘t measure,” a year ago we started to measure as many variables as possible.
Now we have strategic dashboards, tactical dashboards and operational dashboards. We also have a software package to track times, expenses, project execution and team performance.
For the first time, high and middle management have the ability to track and control everything under their compass. I’m sure we are on the right track.”
Savvy Applications
Many people assume “getting started” means jumping straight into what the application is going to look like and how it’s going to function.
Doing that is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.
I promise that you’ll get to how your application will look soon enough. In the meantime, you need to continue to refine your idea and create a set of assumptions about it.
John Jantsch
Bias Blind Spot
“It is the tendency to see ourselves as less biased than other people, or to be able to identify more cognitive biases in others than in ourselves.”
Causes
- We tend to think of our own perceptions and judgments as being rational, accurate and free of bias.
- We are motivated to view ourselves in a positive light (self-enhancement bias).
- We tend to believe we are aware of “how” and “why” we make our decisions, and therefore conclude that bias does not play a role.
- We usually think of ourselves as better decision-makers than others.
- Biases are generally seen as undesirable.
- A great portion of our decisions are formed from biases and cognitive shortcuts, which are unconscious processes. Since we are unaware of unconscious processes, we cannot see their influence in our decision making process.
Consequences
- We are more likely to ignore the advice of other people.
- We are less likely to benefit from training and/or new perspectives.
- We hinder the power of diversity.
“Everyone I know says that Agile is about running two-week sprints, hosting a specific set of meetings and ceremonies, and having a Scrum Master.
Are all of those people wrong?”
Regardless the industry or the line of business you are in, whenever you are in doubt about your processes or struggle to make a decision, go back to the Agile Manifesto. You may get some answers.
“If embracing Agile produces magic, the only true spell is the Manifesto.”
Paul Boos
The usual way to sell an idea to a board of directors [or other stakeholders] is to produce a stack of bulky reports in brown, red, black, or gray leatherette binders and hand them out to anyone who might be concerned.
Days later, when the subject comes up for discussion, one third of those present won’t have read the report, on third will have read enough to induce merciful blackout, and the remaining third, those opposed to the project, will have read carefully and assembled enough arguments to kill it outright or delay it indefinitely.
The next time you have to make a pitch in a board room, try it without notes, charts, handouts, or assistants. Remember:
- Most people with power would like to se it wisely, if someone believable would tell them how.
- They know that any proposal having to do with their business can be stated clearly and completely in less than one minute.
Why not help them out? When you know your subject cold and have a conviction, make the pitch orally. Stay under a minute. Avoid all props and end with a request for action.
Robert Townsend (written in 1970)
The difference between the person you are today, and the person you would be one year from now, is the amount of books you read, the number of people you meet, and the goals you achieve.
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