One of the common questions that we get at agilityIRL is, “How do we find good Scrum Masters?” One of the crucial steps in hiring for any role is the interview. In this blog, I want to provide you with some of my favorite Scrum Master interview questions and techniques. This entry is not intended...Read More

Appreciation When Work Is Done Well People want to feel appreciated when they do their work well. This is about so much more than money. In fact, unless you are working with mercenaries whose primary motivation is money (e.g., many sales people, just-passing-through CEO’s, etc.), money is not a motivator by its presence, but it...Read More

Those of us who have spent way too much time watching the Hulu show, “Letterkenny”, have no doubt all had the same thought: “Would Wayne be a good Scrum Master?”  Fortunately, Wayne and the other residents of Letterkenny, Ontario give us a number of catch phrases to examine as we consider whether he would indeed...Read More

As many of our regular readers know, we are huge fans of Seth Godin.  For those of you who may be unfamiliar with his work, Seth is a leader, marketer, and author.  You can read more about him here: https://www.sethgodin.com . While never formally identifying himself as an Agilist, Seth very much embodies an Agile mindset....Read More

One way to judge someone’s leadership maturity is based on the maturity they show in taking responsibility and the maturity they show in engaging others, be they subordinates, superiors, peers, customers, vendors or others.  Adapting a Control/Responsibility Matrix presented by Seth Godin[1], we’ll present our “Leadership Maturity Matrix,” identifying four different leadership personas, representing different...Read More

Based on over 4-decades of observational research, I can confidently assert that intellectual laziness is an all-too-common leadership fail. It is a myth that managers manage by the numbers.  So many leaders that I’ve observed in action simply were not skilled thinkers, having little understanding of data, statistical methods, empirical analysis, and probabilistic decision-making.  In...Read More

In the last year, innumerable blogs have been written about how to do everything remotely.  On those days when our glass is half-full and COVID fatigue is low, we can appreciate that we live in a time with advanced remote working capabilities.  Despite our preference for colocation and face-to-face communication, Scrum teams are beneficiaries of...Read More

Part 1—An Introduction to “VUCA” and How it Relates to Agile Leadership The speed and interdependence of events in today’s world are overwhelming the time-honored processes and culture we’ve built so far. Once comforting constants are transforming into variables that defy predictability and challenge traditional models of leadership and management. This is the first in...Read More

The Tipping Point We’ve seen many articles recently about how our society is finally demanding change related to racial bias in policing.  We are seeing reforms proposed at local, state and national levels.  Some of these proposals are small and incremental in nature while others are radical transformations.  As is typical in change efforts, these...Read More

In an earlier post, I talked about Job Descriptions and Roles.  In another, I talked about Vertical Hierarchy and Titles.  It’s time to talk about Performance Management. One of the most hated systems in many organizations is the performance review system. Every few years the griping will rise to a level where the Talent Management...Read More