Future State Now: A Business Technology Podcast

LeadingAgile Senior Consultant Derek Stanley joins Dave Prior to discuss GQM (Goal Question Metrics). During the interview Derek and Dave explore what GQM is by talking through real-world examples that showcase why people use them, and how they can provide clarity on performance towards desired business outcomes.

Whether you are focused on the team level, the program level, or the organization as a whole; GQM can help you clarify what you are trying to achieve, the questions that need to be answered to know if you’ve achieved it, and what metrics allow you to measure your success.

In this episode of SoundNotes Yusuf Hakim joins Dave to field questions submitted by an attendee of one of LeadingAgile’s Monthly CSM/CSPO Student Lean Coffee meetings, The questions center around issues that cropped up from a non-standard SAFe implementation, the issues that came about as a result fo that implementation, and the steps being taken to it address those issues and move towards an approach that is more focused on “just in time”.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile CTO, Matt Van Vleet and Principal Engineer, Daryl Kulak join Dave to talk about how LeadingAgile’s Studios takes on the technical work of Agile Transformation. One of the challenges many organizations face when trying to adopt Agile is how to address technical debt they must overcome in order to be able to create an environment that can support an Agile way of working.

A Scrum Master wears many hats. They act as a servant leader to the team and the organization. They are also expected to develop a level of skill with having the ability to take on different coaching stances when they are working with individuals, teams, and organizations. In LeadingAgile’s Certified Scrum Master classes we devote time to exploring servant leadership and four of the coaching stances a Scrum Master needs to be able to take: Teaching, Facilitating, Coaching, and Mentoring. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile’s Learning and Development Coordinator, Luther Harris joins Dave to share his take on what being a servant leader entails and how these four stances must be developed in succession because they build on one another. Luther has a background in education that plays heavily into his take on these topics. Whether you are working as a Scrum Master or higher up in the org chart, if you are leading people, this podcast is going to give you food for thought.

Dave Prior and Lance Kind discuss a new item from the Scrum Guide: Product Goal. Listen in while Dave teaches Lance what the product goal is, ideates on how to implement, and debates as to the value product goal provides. As a bonus, Dave and Lance: discuss how “real options” relate to product backlogs, that there will be a struggle about where to put backlog items that don’t fit the product goal, and how computers have become like the Tardis.

This episode of SoundNotes is an interview with LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer who takes on 3 separate topics during the interview:

1. Locus of Blame (01:38)

2. Elevate Agile (27:38)

3. Speaking with Authority  (41:39)

Locus of Blame

Things happen. They don’t always happen the way we want them to. You get a flat tire on the way to a job interview, your supplier is late resulting in a massive delay in your delivery of a project, there’s a pandemic and that messes up pretty much everything you had planned. The questions you ask yourself in response to these kinds of setbacks are very important. Learning how to learn from these challenges may not come naturally to you but it is a critical skill.

Elevate Agile 

This September, LeadingAgile will be holding an event to celebrate its 11 year anniversary (because Covid got in the way of the 10 year anniversary), and we’re also holding our 2nd Elevate Agile conference. During the interview Mike shares some details about this very exciting event.

Speaking with Authority

While advancing in their career many people get to a stage where it is important for them to be able to enter a room, take over, and lead. For some, this comes with ease, but for many, it is the opposite. They can’t see how to get from being the person who was never asked (or allowed) to lead, to being someone who can "own" a room of people. Mike shares details about how (and when) he worked through that. And similar challenges he has worked through since. If you are someone who does not feel you have the agency/experience/authority/power to take the room, you’ll find some helpful tips in this part of the interview.

Elevate Agile

• https://elevateagile.com/

Contacting Mike Cottmeyer

If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at:

• LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer
• Email: mike@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

• LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
• Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to Dave.

This podcast is the second in a series of conversations focused on Fixed vs. Growth Mindset. Leveraging the work in Carol Dwek’s book, Mindset, Mary Kaufman and Dave Prior are exploring the differences between having a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Each episode of this series will focus on how our mindset impacts the way we perceive and respond to different types of stimulus / events. This episode is focused on obstacles and the differences between how a fixed mindset and a growth mindset meet and respond to the things that get in our way.

This week in SoundNotes our focus is Design Thinking. If you are a Product Owner and Design Thinking is not part of your toolbox you need to listen to this podcast. This is the first in what will be a series of interviews centered around Design Thinking, how it works and why it is a critical element of the work of anyone serving in a Product Owner or Product Management role.

As vaccination rates rise and the number of people infected with Covid-19 drops our world is slowly moving on to some new form of normal. Many of us have returned, or soon will be returning, to the office. After a year working from home, that shift back to the thing that was once part of our every day work lives, is going to present unique challenges for each of us. Some have been champing at the bit, waiting to get back to a busy social IRL work atmosphere. Others discovered that working from home actually provided greater productivity and comfort. No matter how you reacted to the pandemic lock-down, returning to the office is gonna be a little weird.

In this episode of the podcast, LeadingAgile Executive Coach/Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Kelly Lingerfeldt joins Dave to talk about returning to the office, the challenges that will present for each of us, and different strategies we can use to cope with getting out from behind the Zoom camera, swapping our sweat pants for actual pants and going into the office.

Earlier this year LeadingAgile was contacted by GC Uttam who expressed an interest in taking Certified Scrum Master training. Uttam wanted to learn how he could use Agile practices within his organization to provide better support for the Nepalese orphans and widows they serve.

LeadingAgile believes strongly in giving back. And whenever we can we provide open seats in our classes to those whose work is to serve others. We offered Uttam a seat and agreed to check back a few months after class to see how he’d been able to put what he learned to use. During the interview, Uttam and Dave talk about how he has introduced some of the key principles and values from Agile back to his teams and the people they serve. You’ll also hear about how they’ve begun using Scrum to run marketing experiments in their ministry work.