Prioritizing Effectively as a Team

My new article “Prioritizing Effectively as a Team” is up on AgileConnection.com. The article starts out like this: “A common reaction to the product owner role is to see it as too big for a single person. If the idea were that one person should do everything from guiding the vision to writing user stories, I […]

The Birth, Death, and Rebirth of Ideas

Watching the waxing and waning of software development methodologies made me think about the lifecycle of ideas. Throughout the ages, humans have come up with ideas. Some ideas never become more than a thought. Others spread globally, affecting people for a long time. The life of ideas seems to be an eternal cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.

What Is an Advanced Scrum Master?

Being a scrum master is more than just reminding a team to perform certain ceremonies, it’s about growing the best possible workplace. To begin with, let’s clarify this whole thing about the “scrum master”. It’s the name of a role. It’s a relatively new and pretty ridiculous name by intent, because a change was needed […]

There’s Always One [Drop|Comment|Question] Left

My childhood friend’s mother was a “dagmamma”, literally, a “daytime mother”. In other words, she took care of a bunch of other people’s kids in her own home. She was a very kind and intelligent person. One of the things she said has stuck with me to this very day. “There’s always one drop left.” […]

Late Again, Thinking About the Cost of Delays

It’s Wednesday morning, and I’m on the train heading to Stockholm. The train is late, and it’s not the first time. One reason delays annoy me so much is that they break my expectations. I’ve made my plans to fit with the train company’s timetable, and now they are not upholding their part of the […]