It is now the task of every corporation to examine its own culture, not merely for the sake of its competitive position, although that should be reason enough, but because it is the culture of our business corporations that will determine the future wealth of our nation. – Lawrence M. Miller The topics of “Agile...Read More

“One of our core values is accountability.” “You are accountable for these results or this project.” Chances are, you’ve heard these phrases before. One of the most popular buzzwords across organizations regardless of domain, size or geography is “accountability.”     What Is Accountability? Given the frequent use of the word and the level of...Read More

Is yours is an environment regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and thus also a corporate Quality Management System (QMS)? CARS is a certification program that will teach field-proven practices for incorporating Agile in an FDA regulated and QMS governed environment.Read More

Based on our decades of experience in creating organizational agility in real life, we’ve found that there are six characteristics that agile organizations possess. First, and foremost, agile organizations start with, “Why?” Agile organizations understand the purpose of their work—the noble purpose of their work. Achieving an ROI or EBITDA or EPS does not mobilize...Read More

I recently taught a Certified ScrumMaster®(CSM) Class at Watermark Learning. Because our time in class is limited and our class backlog is full of activities, exercises and simulations, I rarely have enough time to address all of the questions raised. Blogging, while limited in space, does allows me the opportunity to address these questions while...Read More

I recently taught a Certified ScrumMaster®(CSM) Class at Watermark Learning. Our two-day class is packed full of real-world examples of how to apply Scrum to solve complex problems. Of course, there is never enough class time to work through the backlog of questions that students raise, and as a passionate Scrum practitioner, this nags at...Read More

I worry that the Agile Movement is suffering from what I have come to call the “specialist syndrome,” and I worry about it growing into a plague. When I teach my class, “Design for Organizational Agility,” I talk about an organizational disease called the “specialist syndrome.” When what someone is doing and how they are...Read More

There are multiple parties with a stake in the success of any organization. Businesses, for example, all have at least these five: customers, employees, owners, vendors, and the various communities to which they belong. Now, allow me to put forth a principle: When an organization (a government, a business, a union, a charity, a religion,...Read More

“Change” used to happen to other people. Our forbearers would be born, go to school, grow up and, upon completing their schooling, either begin work on the family farm or in the family craft shop, or get a job at or factory where they would work until they retired. These times are past, of course....Read More

The organizational traits that make any place a great place to work are not many. They are not complicated. They are universally applicable. There are five, and they are: People feel that they are doing valuable work. Whether their work puts them in the limelight, or keeps them behind the scenes, people need to see...Read More