Agile Otter Blog

It Begins As A Reaction People who are hurt and angry sometimes give in to two unproductive natural urges: Hurt the other back so they'll think twice next time Disconnect oneself from the other to build distance emotionally  Maybe it's these two urges together that drive people to go to categories instead of keeping the context of an interpersonal struggle between two people. It leads to using pejoratives related to the other's race, gender, age, sexuality, religion, etc, probably because these are known sore points, probably because they are shocking (and so speak to pain), and probably because they also leave the other categorized as 'less than'. It satisfies both urges. We don't have to give in to those twin urges.  Most of us have given in at some point in our past.  When I look back far enough into my past I can dredge up an example or two. I would like to make excuses, but I know it was ignorance and willfulness and that I knew it was...

I'm well-known for my distaste of certifications for software developers, trainers, and coaches. What seems to be less-well-known is the reasoning behind that. GETTING certifications is not the big problem. I do not seek or accept certifications, but it's not because owning them is evil.  Yes, a certification is a proxy for a reputation.  Yes, I value reputation greatly and certification almost not at all. No, it's not because the certifications are too easy to acquire.  No, having a body I trust more doing the certification would not help. No, I don't want to certify people or back a certification. No, I'm not jealous because they're making a lot of money. No, I am absolutely not against education in any way, shape, or form.  Vendor Distraction My problem is that once you become a certifying body then certifying more people becomes an important part of the revenue stream. You want to do so profitably so certifying more trainers to sell more ...

Yeah, I know that's a heck of a clickbait title, but it's also the thesis of this blog post. According to the Scrum Guide (2016) : The Development Team consists of professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable Increment of “Done” product at the end of each Sprint. Only members of the Development Team create the Increment. Development Teams are structured and empowered by the organization to organize and manage their own work. The resulting synergy optimizes the Development Team’s overall efficiency and effectiveness. Development Teams have the following characteristics: They are self-organizing. No one (not even the Scrum Master) tells the Development Team how to turn Product Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionality; Development Teams are cross-functional, with all of the skills as a team necessary to create a product Increment; Scrum recognizes no titles for Development Team members other than Developer, regardless...

A long time ago, I was in a company that (like my current company) was known for training and coaching agile teams. Some of our customers were continually asking us if we could double the class size so more people could sit in. Others were asking us to deliver the same content in half the time. Some were asking for both. Some didn't stop at "double" or "half." As we discussed more and more people getting less and less exposure to the deep ideas behind Agile methods (and XP technical practices in particular) my imagination got the best of me and I giggled. I was imaging a line of people on some kind of a conveyance, being carried past inspirational posters with agile slogans and images on them. Maybe something colorful like this (one of my favorites) Modern Agile wheel: Maybe something particularly clever and memorable from our Industrial Logic collection: Maybe like this one from acm-software : I initially thought of it as a moving sid...

I almost took the elevator up to my room today. A year or two ago, my wife bought me one of those step-counting devices, you know the ones which tell you how many steps you've taken by counting your arm-swings (I think)? If I remember correctly, I was pushing about 250 lbs body weight at the time. I might have been pushing over it a bit. Call me an over-achiever. When I got my step counter, I started being more aware of my habits. I knew how sedentary I was. I knew my heart rate. I could see how badly I was sleeping. It is a great tool because it makes me aware of myself. Along with that, I have had a few doctors, and so I have gotten some advice. I take as much as I know how and can stay mindful of, short of running or joining a gym. I'm just not a runner, and why should I join a gym when I'm never home to go there (or when I am, I have other things I need to do). Being a traveling consultant has its perks and struggles. I walk more, I sometimes exercise, I try ...

A clever man was crossing the ocean when his ship was capsized in a storm. He was the only survivor. Hungry, thirsty, and battered, he struggled to shore on a small island. While searching for some form of sustenance, he instead comes across a bottle holding a genie. Thrilled by his fortune, he released the genie on the condition that the genie would grant him three wishes. The genie happily agreed. "First," the clever man said, "I wish to have an infinite number of wishes!" "Of course," replied the djinn, "you may wish anything you like from this day forth, at any time you like. That said, what other two wishes do you want me to grant you?" The clever man frowned. Clearly the genie was as clever as himself. He would have to be careful indeed with his second wish. "Well, then, I wish that you will grant me an infinite number of wishes!" The genie frowned. "Sir, you have already asked for that and I have granted that yo...

Amitai Schlier and Ryan Ripley conducted a session at Big Apple Scrum Day entitled "the care and feeding of T-shaped people" which was essentially a panel discussion taking questions from the audience. I have trouble shutting up. If you know me, you know what a struggle it is. Sometimes I have to sit on my hands to keep from over-participating in a conversation (metaphorically). Here are the questions: How do we get a developer to try something new? How do you know if you've stopped growing? How do you convince management to agree with you? Is there a stigma against T-shaped people when it comes to hiring? How do you choose a subject to go in-depth on? How do you optimize your paint-brushed-ness? How do you get team members to share knowledge? How deep do you go before it's just self-serving? How do you get a whole team to work on something that's new to all of them? How do you convince people wide is as important as deep? How do you persuade som...