Recently I put on a public Leading SAFe training. This wasn’t your typical training, however. In collaboration with Ron Quartel, we tacked on an extra day to...

Have you heard of an Andon Cord? On the assembly line it’s that cord you yank on to stop the entire line when a problem is found. The idea is to stop everyth...

I was confronted with a bit of a dilemma the other day. I was working out and reaching the limits of what I could lift. I could tell, because as I prepared f...

I’ve been working with some managers lately who struggle with a variety of challenges. Like many folks, when faced with a challenge they tend to dig in their...

I found this lovely pairing of words in Yves Morieux’s book, Six Simple Rules. He was talking about the corrosive effect that problem escalation can have on ...

Often silos within an organization are based on fear. There can be many different justifications for such fear. For example, the fear is expressed as territo...

I was working for a small company that was acquired a few years ago. Soon after the acquisition was finalized, our senior VP invited his new boss to come vis...

Have you ever seen those blobs of amber with some hapless insect trapped inside? There it is, frozen in time, forever locked in a golden prison in whatever p...

If you do a little reading about Scrum one of the first things that you learn are the 5 basic values of Scrum: Courage Focus Respect Committment Openness I’d...

My Dad has always been a passionate outdoorsman. For him, when it comes to spending some quality time, nothing beats hunting and fishing. So as a kid I spent...

Scaled Agile Frameworks like SAFe are all the rage these days. You can go out now and get training, certification and a shave from a bevy of consultants that...

We can learn the art of fierce compassion – redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid u...

“An inefficient virus kills its host. A clever virus stays with it.” -James Lovelock I was talking with a friend the other day about that magical time you ex...

I used to be a weightlifter. All through college, and for much of my adult life I have been in gyms exercising in one form or another. I’ve had some modest s...

“Man’s role is uncertain, undefined, and perhaps unnecessary.” – Margaret Mead So there I was talking to a team that was split across two locations. There wa...

There you are, in your tenth meeting of the day. You haven’t even had lunch, just one meeting after another. You’d skip the meetings, but you are required an...

I was asked the other day, “Do you use Scrum at home?” It’s not the first time that I’ve been asked this question. The honest answer is: no. Oh, I’ve used bi...

Visual management occurs at many levels. There is personal transparency: the ability for people to see what you are working on within the team. Then there is...

My daddy left home when I was three And he didn’t leave much to ma and me Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze. Now, I don’t blame him cause he ...