In my experience I have worked in several places where people in leadership and execution roles expressed the desire to go back to a plan-based and staged gate process.  To my dismay, they felt tired of agile and sometimes thought that going back to a waterfall or stage gate model would be easier. Momentarily, I had a flashback to the days of long planning and frustrated people and I said no, no, I won’t go.  What would possess a reasonable mind to ever want those experiences again?  I am not sure, so I decided to create a webinar aimed at telling a story to stay where you are if you are in an agile adoption or transformation.  Don’t even think about retreating!  Stay the course!

People often forget from where they came and lack the vision to see where they are going.

Experience the Slideshow on YouTube:

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes and Google Play.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2017 KnolShare

 

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (32.6MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

Word of the Day: Relevant – directly connected to a solution or problem

Quote of the Day: “Quality, relevant content can’t be spotted by an algorithm. You can’t subscribe to it. You need people – actual human beings – to create or curate it.” ― Kristina Halvorson, Content Strategy for the Web

The agile practice promises a factor of 4 or more outcomes and benefits than traditional project management techniques.  This webinar explores the actions needed to achieve the 4x more phenomena with engaged teams.  The agile practice also removes silos and truly accomplishes stronger cross-functional team engagement.

The economic value goes beyond financial measures and includes such phenomena as happiness index, job satisfaction, engagement, collaboration, innovation, and more.  I am currently experimenting with a peer-2-peer recognition program with my teams and they are genuinely excited about telling others that they are awesome and appreciated.  What is the economic value of people feeling happy and satisfied with their job?  I opine innovation is the answer, which leads to the financials that is the fiduciary responsibility of business leaders.

Agile innovation methods have revolutionized information technology. Over the past 25 to 30 years success rates in software development improved quality, speed to market, and boosted motivation and productivity of IT teams – Darrell K. Rigby,Jeff Sutherland, and Hirotaka Takeuchi 2016 – Harvard Business Review.

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes and Google Play.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2017 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (78.6MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

Hello and welcome to KnolShare with Dr. Dave, hosted on GrokShare.com and available on iTunes and Google Play.

You are listening to Episode #31.  A fun discussion with Heidi Helfand about the 5 Saturdays program and the origin of Micro teams.  5 Saturdays is a program designed to empower students through agility and innovation by opening a door to technology and business via learning experiences facilitated by industry professionals.

I invite you to take the time to learn more about the 5 Saturdays program by visiting 5Saturdays.org

To learn more about Heidi, visit her website at www. HeidiHelfand.com and Google her book “Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams” published on Lean Pub.  Tweet with Heidi @HeidiHelfand on Twitter.

Learn more about the 5 Saturdays program by visiting https://5Saturdays.org.

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes and Google Play.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2017 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (26.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

Hello and welcome to KnolShare with Dr. Dave, hosted on GrokShare.com and available on iTunes and Google Play.  Welcome to 2017, I hope you have identified a few new year’s evolution goals.  As I would like to see more people working toward evolving into new opportunities in life, versus establishing resolutions that are hard to achieve without an incremental approach.  I wish you a prosperous journey toward your 2017 new year’s evolution.

You are listening to Episode #30, a deep dive discussion with Heidi Helfand about Micro teams and the value of going with smaller teams during the agile adoption and transformation experiences.

Usually, I am on the interviewing side of my podcasts but in Episode #30, Heidi interviewed me for her book titled “Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams” published on Lean Pub.

Micro teams have tradeoffs and benefits, but for me, smaller is bigger and the happiness indicator for teams are greater.

To learn more about Heidi, visit her website at www. HeidiHelfand.com and Google her book “Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams” published on Lean Pub.  Tweet with Heidi @HeidiHelfand on Twitter.

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes and Google Play.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2017 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (39.5MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

Retrospectives serve as a practice of continual learning and team growth. Teams identify behaviors to improve by sharing 1) what worked, 2) what did not work, and 3) what can be improved. NVC is a powerful conflict resolution tool for effective communications and empathy with individuals or teams. Key NVC components include 1) observations, 2) feelings, 3) needs, and 4) requests. The application of NVC during a retrospective session will help people communicate effectively with limited judgements and experience a breakthrough in continual learning.  This webinar introduces the blend of two great techniques to develop teams to achieve greater productivity and collaboration.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn the power of using retrospectives to continually learn
• Demonstrate empathy through the practice of NVC
• Use compassionate language to resolve conflict
• Identify areas to build stronger and stable teams
• Help teams learn how to self-organize and resolve conflicts

Watch the Project Insight Webinar:

 

https://vimeo.com/192410505

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (51.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

Globally distributed agile teams is a norm due to the globalization and the availability of technical resources globally.  What would happen if we treated globally distributed teams in the same manner as the Internet of Things (IoT) and MicroServices?

Learning Objectives:

• Develop a strategy to setup self-organizing global teams
• Create practices to improve communications
• Maximize throughput with micro-agile teams

Watch the Webinar from Project Insight

Copyright 2016 KnolShare.  Produced and create by Dr. Dave Cornelius.

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (52.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

Agile teams produce software and releases at a frequent pace and run into the wall of IT service management (ITSM) that creates a queue to wait for approvals and deployments. How do we get to the utopia or Land of Narnia where we can automate building software products, execute validation tests, and deploy into production?

DevOps and the ITSM integration will eliminate the queue and reduce the waste of waiting for the IT team members to get approvals and manually deploy software to production. In the land of Narnia we can find happiness and deliver quality software products frequently to production without the constraints of ITSM.

Benefits

• Apply DevOps in your environment
• Connect DevOps activities with ITSM and be successful
• Become aware of tools to support DevOps and ITSM integration

Watch the video slides below:

Podcast produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius.  Copyright 2016.

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (50.6MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

 Heidi Helfand

Hello and welcome to KnolShare with Dr. Dave, hosted on GrokShare.com and available on iTunes and Google Play.  This is episode #26 with Heidi Helfand.  This podcast was recorded while Heidi was driving from San Francisco to Santa Barbara.  Actually, Heidi pulled over for the conference call so she could concentrate on the topic and she would not be a distracted driver.  Heidi recently released her book titled “Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams” published on Lean Pub.  I am certainly intrigued by the topic and look forward to reading the book and learning more from Heidi.

Heidi stated, a team is a group of people working on a shared goal, such as software.  Some people misinterpret the Scrum pattern about stable teams as keeping the teams’ static.  I don’t agree that teams need to be the same all the time as people come and go, which changes the team dynamics.  Reteaming help us to share towers of knowledge and reduce the knowledge silos.  It is also a risk mitigation for information loss of people leaving the building and moving to other companies.  Also you can be distributed teams and still reteam to ensure freshness in team members.

To learn more about Heidi, visit her website at www. HeidiHelfand.com and Google her book“Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams” published on Lean Pub.  Tweet with Heidi @HeidiHelfand on Twitter.

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes and Google Play.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

 

 

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (32.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

 Greetings and welcome to KnolShare with Dr. Dave.  KnolShare with Dr. Dave is hosted on GrokShare.com and available on iTunes and Google Play.  You are listening to episode #25 with Jurgen Appelo.  Our topic today covers Jurgen’s book Managing for Happiness and his unique insights into creating an environment for both managers and the builders of things to prosper and be happy.

Learn more about Jurgen Appelo at http://jurgenappelo.com/.

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes and Google Play.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (18.6MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

Episode #24: Transforming Your Leadership Character Live at AgileSD located downtown San Diego at the LEARN Academy (LEARNacademy.org).

Dr Dave shared his experience and perspective on agile leadership to a small but enthusiastic group of agile practitioners.  The discussion centered on emergent leadership and the journey to become a resilient starter and finisher through the practice of lean thinking and agility.  At the conclusion of the presentation, the audience self organized into a small team of five and played the Agility LeaderShift Game.  Thank you Ellen for being such a gracious host and for the IPA.

 

Click to purchase your copy of the Transforming Your Leadership Character: The Lean Thinking and Agility Way book and Agility LeaderShift game.

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes and Google Play.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

 

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:16 — 32.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

 Alicia McLain, Agile Coach and Leader

Alicia is a Lean Agile Transformation | Executive Coach with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry
She coaches, trains and transforms mid-size to large companies domestically & internationally.
Alicia has had 12 years coaching & consulting in Project/Program Management; 3 Years Software Development Management; and 10 years in the Agile community as a hands on transformation leader, trainer and coach.

Alicia is passionate about using Agile practices to build high performing teams!

 

The best way to reach me: Alicia R. McLain, MA, PMP, CSP, ICP
Connect on LInkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciarmclain
Follow me on Twitter: @AgileLeaderSD
My Website: www.operational-innovations.com/
My office phone: 619-972-0453
Or email directly: SDAgileCoP@gmail.com

 

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

 

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (15.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

Dr. Dave Share his perspective on Leadership in Agile environments.

Greetings and welcome to another fabulous moment of knowledge sharing.  This is Dr. Dave and you are listening to the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast, hosted on GrokShare.com.  KnolShare with Dr. Dave is also on iTunes and Google Play.  You are listening to episode #22, Transforming Your Leadership Character: Making it Happen with Lean Thinking and Agility, live at AgileSocal in Irvine, California.  AgileSocal is the longest running agile meet-up in Southern California and is hosted by Paul Moore.  When I spoke with Paul, he indicated AgileSocal is somewhere between 12 to 14 years old.  The gathering started during the Xtreme Programming days and transformed with the Scrum movement.  Speaking at AgileSocal is like playing CBGB in New York or Second City in Chicago.  I began my story with Harvard Business Review (HBR) rejecting my article and it motivated me to write the 100-page book “Transforming Your Leadership Character: The Lean Thinking and Agility Way” and created an agile game called “Agility LeaderShift”.  Both available on Amazon.com.

 

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:00 — 55.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

KnolShare with Dr. Dave Cornelius

Agile portfolio has similar desired outcomes as traditional portfolio techniques.  The agile portfolio goals are 1) select the right opportunity to maximize sustainable profit, 2) remove non-value outcome activities, and 3) build alignment throughout the organization.

The agile practice is iterative and the focus will be to authorize work on a quarterly basis.  This provides flexibility to inspect and adapt according to customer demands and market conditions.

Our discussion will explore the weighted shortest job first (WSJF) technique to select the right opportunity with the highest priority.

Topics:

• Align the Organization
• Iterative Strategy
• Lean Thinking and Agility
• Strategic Discovery
• Prioritizing Strategic Value
• Weighted Shortest Job (Value) First (WSJF)
• Agile Portfolio – Right Value Done Right
• Measuring the Promise
• Culture Matters

Watch the Video Presentation

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:00 — 56.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

 Learning communities within organizations are powerful sources of engaged people.  This is where the most productive and satisfied people increase profitability through innovation.  It all begins with hiring the right people at the right time to perform the right job.

Employees to Seek

Recently, I read a New York Times article from February 25, 2016 titled “What Google Learned from its Quest to Build the Perfect Team”.  The article highlighted the effort expended by Google to find the right people to help make innovative products.

The key attributes Google seek in candidates are the following:

• Emergent leaders
• Able to tackle difficult problems
• Owners not employees
• Cognitive ability
• Analytical skills

Leadership Engagement

When leadership is engaged and provide a pathway for people thrive the organization excels.  It matters when the organization’s leadership is attentive to the needs of the people producing wealth for the shareholders.

Selecting, Hiring, and Retaining People

Selecting, hiring, and retaining the right people is not easy.  The talent acquisition organization is busy trying to locate and hirer the right people to meet the demands of human capital.  This work is difficult and candidates should be:

• Culture fit
• Candidates with the ability to interact and communicate
• Curious and creative thinkers
• Character of trust and loyalty

“The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs

Holacracy Culture

The leaders at Zappos developed a culture of holacracy to empower people in the organization to self-organize and thrive.  Everyone in the organization owns the responsibility to get work done based on assigned roles.

Engaged Employees 

A Gallup poll in 2015 stated engaged employees are less likely to have health problems

Engaged employees help to increase the company’s bottom line.

In a Harvard Business Review survey 71% of the respondents stated engaged employees as critical to achieving overall organizational success

The following are a few learning activities to engage the learning communities:

• Lunch-n-Learn
• Open Space Sessions
• Get out of the Building
• Retrospectives
• Science Fair

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (28.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

 Richard Kasperowski

Hello once again and this is Dr. Dave and you are listening to the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast, hosted on GrokShare.com.  KnolShare with Dr. Dave is also on iTunes and Google Play.  You are listening to episode #19, Richard Kasperowski share his experiences and insights about Kids CoderDojo.  CoderDojo is an international network of free computer programing clubs for young people.  I am a big fan of empowering our student’s future through agility, technology, and lean business.  I am honored to be with a kindred spirit.  Richard is the author of “Core Protocols”, a book inspired by the work of Jim and Michele McCarthy.

He pursues a vision that all software developers and teams are great.

Duration: 17:50

Three important core protocols is 1) pass or check out because you have the freedom to decide what you want to do, 2) ask for help, and 3) investigate and have an open mind to be curious about new things.  All things needed to explore, create, and innovate.

Follow Richard on Tritter at @RKasper and read more at www.kasperowski.com

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (16.6MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

 

 

Episode #18, Taking Your Organization to the Lean and Agile Enterprise Level highlights the business case of Zappatos, a shoe manufacturer with a software product that enables customers to produce a cost effective shoe using a 3D printer.

The Podcast describes the process that Zappatos leaders took to select the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) as the lean and agile enterprise solution.

Duration: 57:38

Click to see the presentation on Project Insight.

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:38 — 53.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

Coaching Agile Leaders

 

 

KnolShare with Dr. Dave is hosted on GrokShare.com and played on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.  You are listening to episode #17, Coaching agile leaders, a recent webinar with 320 listeners joined by Jon Jorgensen.  Dr. Dave describes a new pattern to coach agile leaders that include 1) inquire, 2) discover, 3) influence, and 4) deliver as common steps to gather data, generate information, shape outcomes, and deliver value based on the voice of customer.

 

 

Duration: 55:03

  Jon Jorgensen – Enterprise Agile Coach & Trainer.  A frequent guest on Dr. Dave’s monthly Project Insight podcast.

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (51.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

 James Prieto

Hello once again and this is Dr. Dave and you are listening to the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast, hosted on GrokShare.com.  KnolShare with Dr. Dave is also on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.  You are listening to episode #16, a conversation with James Prieto highlighting the importance of Non-violent communications (NVC) and the correlation to the first agile value of “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools”.  James is an agile and NVC certified coach and the author of the book “The Joy of Compassionate Connecting”.

James and I met at a few agile conferences and I was intrigued by the application of NVC to shape the way we work using the agile values and principles.  He described observations, feelings, needs, and requests as key NVC tenets.

Let’s listen to what James has to share about NVC.

Duration: 44:26

If you would like to connect with James visit his website at http://compassionateconnecting.com/.

Also, checkout Silicon Valley Non-Violent Communications practice group found on meetup.com. James runs a weekly meetup group to help you sharpen your saww as an NVC practitioner.

Visit CNVC.org for more details about the availability of NVC in your community.

 

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

 

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (39.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

 Jon Jorgensen

Hello once again and this is Dr. Dave and you are listening to the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast, hosted on GrokShare.com.  KnolShare with Dr. Dave is also on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.  You are listening to episode #15, a conversation with Jon Jorgensen introducing Open Space Agility (OSA) as an option to implement agile into the organization and support a value driven transformation.

Duration: 21:38

I found OSA to be intriguing because of my passion for open space meetings and conferences.  I can see how this approach can help an organization get started with an agile transformation.

Connect with Jon on twitter @waterscrumban or visit his site by clicking here.  You may also learn more about OSA by visiting the OSA website here.

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have any questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

 

This podcast and interview produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Copyright 2016 KnolShare

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (16.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS

Welcome to the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast and you are listening to Episode #14: Transforming Your Leadership Character Webinar with Project Insight.

Curtis Gilbert joined Dr. Dave at his monthly webinar done in partnership with Project Insight (http://www.projectinsight.net/).  The discussion today focused on the content from the book “Transforming Your leadership Character: The Lean Thinking and Agility Way”.  Get a copy of the book on Amazon.com.

Duration: 50:14

Click here to replay the presentation.

Look for the KnolShare with Dr. Dave podcast on iTunes and Google Play.

The KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast is hosted on GrokShare.com.

If you have questions for Dr. Dave reach out on twitter @DrDaveInfo or @KnolShare.

This interview and podcast produced by Dr. Dave Cornelius

Podcast (ks_dd): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:14 — 30.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS