The Daily Standup

Levity, Trolling, and BalanceDo you have the correct balance in your life? Can you work and have fun all at the same time? - [website] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Jira Turned Agile Into a Micromanagement ToolThere was a time when Agile felt liberating. Teams owned their work, conversations mattered more than documentation, and progress was measured by outcomes, not activity. Then somewhere along the way, tools stepped in to “support” the process. What followed in many organizations was not support but substitution. Jira did not break Agile by design. It became the easiest place for organizations to quietly reintroduce control, visibility, and ultimately micromanagement under the label of transparency.- [website] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The Cost of Rework No One Talks AboutHere's a number that stopped me cold when I first saw it: 30 to 50 percent of all effort on software projects is spent on rework.Not building. Not shipping. Redoing work that was already done.That stat comes from software measurement research that's been replicated across multiple studies — and yet somehow, it doesn't come up in sprint planning, or project retrospectives, or any of the conversations where teams talk about why things are taking longer than expected.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

AI Didn't Speed Up My DiscoveryThere is a thing that happens in domain conversations. We talk about something, agree we understand it, and proceed. Then I show a sketch and the client says, “No, that is not what I meant.” The talking did not catch the gap. The visual did.AI lets me put a draft visual in front of a power user in the time it takes to have a conversation about it. Half-formed. Sometimes wrong on purpose. The draft becomes the thing we discuss. The client, who is the actual expert, validates or breaks it. The expensive part of the design moves earlier, into the cheap part.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Psychology of High-Performing TeamsThe most critical psychological factor in team performance is psychological safety. This concept describes a shared belief held by members of a team that the group is a safe place for interpersonal risk-taking. In environments with high psychological safety, team members feel confident that they will not be embarrassed, rejected, or punished for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.When a team lacks this foundation, members enter a state of self-protection. This cognitive load diverts energy away from problem-solving and toward managing one's own reputation. Google's extensive “Project Aristotle” study confirmed this, finding that psychological safety was the single most important factor in determining a team's success, outweighing the individual intelligence or experience levels of the members.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

A Beautiful Day In The NeighborhoodWe all have a LOT to learn from Fred Rogers! His kindness and willingness to serve has not gone unnoticed! How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Traditional Product Management Is Ending in 2026For years, product management followed a familiar playbook.Gather requirements. Write PRDs. Prioritise backlog. Run sprint rituals. Coordinate across teams. Ship features.That model worked in a world where building software was slow, expensive, and engineering bandwidth was the biggest constraint.But in 2026, that world is changing fast.AI is reducing execution time. Prototypes can be built in hours. Research can be synthesized in minutes. Code generation is accelerating delivery. Design iterations are faster than ever.Which means something important is happening:Traditional product management, built around coordination and process, is losing relevance.And a new version of product management is taking its place.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

What Cinco de Mayo Can Teach Us About Agile - Mike CohnToday seems like a good day to celebrate Cinco de Agile.Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla, when a smaller, less-equipped Mexican force defeated a larger French army.There's an agile lesson in that.The side with the bigger plan, more resources, and more confidence doesn't always win.Sometimes the winner is the side that can adapt faster.That's one of the biggest differences between agile and waterfall.Waterfall assumes that if we plan thoroughly enough up front, we can control the outcome.Agile assumes that once real work begins, we'll learn things we couldn't have known at the start.When customers change their minds, markets shift, or the team learns something new, fast feedback beats slow certainty.A team that delivers something small, gets feedback, and adjusts can outperform a team that spends months moving confidently in the wrong direction.That's the real lesson.It's not that small always beats big.It's not even that agile always beats waterfall.It's this:In changing conditions, adaptability is your biggest competitive advantage.So if your current plan feels a little too certain, it may be worth asking one uncomfortable question:What are we doing to learn faster?Because in product development, learning speed often determines who wins.Happy Cinco de Agile.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The Hole in Your Product Team That Keeps Swallowing UsersA new employee engagement platform launched its pilot with a perfect customer. Warm relationship at the CEO level. Company-wide mandate. Strong early results from the users who engaged. One problem: most of the company never touched it. Despite the mandate. Despite the results sitting right there in the data.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

What Servant Leadership Actually MeansWhen I first heard the term “servant leader,” I pictured someone endlessly helpful. Always available. Always saying yes. Smoothing every edge, softening every message, making sure nobody was ever uncomfortable.I was wrong. And for a while, that misunderstanding made me a less effective Scrum Master.Here's the truth I had to learn the hard way: Servant leadership isn't about making everyone comfortable. It's about making everyone capable.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Be Quick NOT To JudgeAre we quick to form opinions about others? We should not be... How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

AI Breaks the Agile Sweet Spot For Team SizeHow big should your Agile taem be? Does Agentic AI change everything? Lets listen and explore how team sizes may EXPLODE! How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

A Plan is Not a Commitment - Mike CohnOne of the fastest ways leaders create overcommitment is by treating a plan like a guarantee.An agile team builds its plan from what it knows at the time: assumptions, estimates, priorities, and constraints. That means every plan is probabilistic. It has some chance of coming true, but that chance is not 100%.That is why I coach teams to aim for about 80% success.Aim much higher than that, and teams will often bring too little into the plan. Aim much lower, and others in the organization do not get the predictability they need to make their own plans.So yes, it is fine to ask a team for a commitment. But the team determines what they can commit to.And leaders need to understand what that requires.A team asked for a commitment will include a margin of safety between its plan and its commitment. It has to. A commitment has to survive interruptions, surprises, dependencies, and the normal friction that shows up once work begins.That means a commitment needs margin.And margin is the part leaders often resist.A team may plan to complete forty points of work. That does not mean they should commit to forty.If they commit to all forty, they are assuming very little will go wrong.That is not a real commitment. It is simply hoping the plan goes perfectly.Real commitment is what the team can stand behind, even when the sprint is not perfect.So if you want an honest commitment, do not ask the team to commit without changing anything else.Ask instead: What could you commit to with confidence?What margin do you need?What would have to be true for this to be a real commitment instead of a hopeful plan?Those questions force the real tradeoff into the open.If the date is fixed, scope may need to flex.If the scope is fixed, time may need to flex.But something usually has to move.That is the part leaders often skip. They hear a plan, silently upgrade it to a commitment, and then act surprised when the team misses it.Do not do that.A plan is useful. A commitment is valuable. But they are not interchangeable.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Your Retrospective Never Actually Fixes the Alignment ProblemThe retrospective is one of the most protected ceremonies in agile. Scrum teams hold it every sprint. SAFe bakes it into every iteration. Coaches run workshops on how to run better ones. And yet, the same misalignment issues resurface sprint after sprint.This isn't a facilitation problem. It isn't a psychological safety problem. It is a structural mismatch: teams are applying a periodic, backward-looking review to a continuous, structural problem.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Memorial Day Special EpisodeBy late morning, the small town square was already filling with folding chairs, fluttering flags, and families dressed in red, white, and blue. The air smelled faintly of fresh grass and hot pavement, and the sound of a high school band warming up drifted across the park like a promise. People did not speak loudly. They smiled, hugged one another, and found their places with the kind of quiet respect that feels different from an ordinary holiday.At the edge of the crowd stood an older woman named Evelyn with her two grandchildren, Nora and Luke, each holding a small paper flag. Nora kept turning hers between her fingers, watching the wind catch the fabric. Luke, who was too young to understand the full weight of the day, looked mostly curious. He asked why everyone was gathering if Memorial Day was supposed to be a day off from school and work.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠⁠- [instagram] ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠⁠- [facebook] ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Losing Yourself In The Service of OthersHow do you serve others? How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

What Does a Delivery Manager Do and Do I Even Need One? A Delivery Manager is a client-facing, Agile project manager who acts as a servant-leader to ensure high-quality products are delivered in a predictable way. As the main point of contact between founders and Developers, the Delivery Manager keeps everyone connected and informed. They own the plan, align the product strategy and scope with founders and the team, and work closely with founders on priorities as well as future requirements and team changes.Delivery Managers lead all Agile ceremonies (such as meetings and workshops) and ensure teams can be productive and organized by unblocking issues, planning sprints, organising the backlog, driving efficiency, ensuring tasks are ready to be worked on and keeping the team motivated and empowered.Does someone actually believe this?

When The Work Wont Fit, Make It a Shared Problem - Mike CohnWhen a team says, “We can't do all of that by then,” many leaders make the same mistake: They push harder.They restate the deadline. They repeat the importance. They ask for more effort, more creativity, or more commitment.But once the team has told you the work will not fit, pressure is usually the wrong next move.Your job at that point is not to force a better answer.Your job is to help find a better solution.That starts by treating the gap as a *shared* problem.Instead of asking, “Why can't you do it?” ask: What is making this too big?What part is driving the complexity?What would a good-enough version look like?What could we defer and still get the outcome we need?Those questions change the conversation.Now the team is not defending an estimate. They are helping solve the business problem.And that is where leaders add the most value.Sometimes the issue is scope. Sometimes it's a dependency. Sometimes, one edge case is making everything larger than it needs to be.Until you understand that, pushing for the original ask usually just creates a worse plan.A smaller, smarter solution delivered on time is often far better than a bigger promise the team cannot actually keep.So when the work will not fit, do not treat that as resistance.Treat it as information.The team is showing you where the real problem is.Your role is to help decide what matters most, what can move, and what version solves the problem well enough for now.Because planning works better when the request belongs to the leader, but the problem belongs to everyone.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The 5 Whys and What We are MissingMost managers are excellent problem solvers. The problem is they're solving the presenting problem, the one on the surface, not the real one underneath. And that's exactly why the same situations keep triggering the same reactions, the same frustration, the same exhaustion.The Five Whys technique was originally developed in manufacturing to trace defects back to their root cause. But it works just as well on human behavior, including your own.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Adjusting the Leadership LensA senior leader said something to me recently that stayed.“My role has grown faster than the way I think about decisions.”It wasn't a lack of capability orambition.It was the quieter realisation that leadership scale demands a different lens.In my work with leaders stepping into broader organisational roles, I often hear this moment. One leader described it this way:“I used to solve problems. Now I spend most of my time shaping how others see them.”That shift changes everything. As roles expand, what matters shifts too.It becomes less about solving quickly,and more about where you place your attention.Less about expertise, and more about how your influence travels across the teams and stakeholders.At senior levels, growth is rarely about learning more skills. It's about examining how you think.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The ART of Communication - How to Be Better EngagedAre you a great communicator? Listen today and find out! How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Project World | Business Analyst World - Day 3-4 ReviewDay 3 - Agile Fundamentals - One of the most common points of Agile adoption failure comes with the incremental on-boarding of Agile teams throughout an organization while not having everyone starting with the same foundational Agile knowledge. This workshop session is designed to help everyone on the team learn the fundamental principles behind what makes Agile work, and allows them to participate in several real world exercises. This structure allows everyone on the team to learn the ‘Why' behind the ‘How', and gives everyone a chance to leave with the tools needed to effectively do their job better. This session is designed for both new Agile / Kanban teams learning the ropes and experienced Agile teams who are trying to re-align or get started on the same Agile footing while establishing an internal Agile Center of Excellence. This workshop is often coupled with Agile Coaching in order to increase the effectiveness and impact. The Three Keys - Seeking & Embracing Success: Success can be defined by each of us in many different ways. The truth is there are three keys to a successful personal and professional career. Once we discover these keys and learn to use them, we are gifted the ability of a lifetime of success. This personal journey will teach you the importance of making dreams come true and give you the tools to make that happen.Day 4 - C-Suite Engagement - Too many transformation efforts stall not because the work is hard, but because the right people weren't invited to the table — or they were, and nobody spoke their language. This session gives leaders a pragmatic, no-fluff playbook for turning executives from passive approvers into active sponsors. We'll strip away the jargon and replace it with three things executives actually pay attention to: clear outcomes, short bets, and repeatable governance. Expect real templates (one-page decision memos, sponsor cadence scripts), live translation exercises to turn team metrics into executive value, and role-play scenarios you can use the moment you return to the office. If you want predictable, funded change — not theater — this workshop will help you get it. Attendees will leave with: • A one-page executive brief template that gets decisions — fast. • A sponsor-activation cadence that prevents “ghost sponsorship.” • Three scripts to convert technical/operational language into strategic outcomes.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Project World | Business Analyst World - Day 2 ReviewBeyond Delivery - Project success is too often measured at delivery. On time, on scope, on budget, yet real value is frequently lost after the work is “done.” In today's evolving project and product environments, leaders are being asked to think beyond execution and focus on outcomes, adoption, and lasting impact. This session reframes project leadership through four enduring phases of successful work: Initiate (clarity and alignment), Discover (learning and risk reduction), Deliver (execution with feedback), and Release (adoption and value realization). While often associated with Agile thinking, these phases represent leadership behaviors that have always driven meaningful results when practiced well. Participants will explore how to manage stakeholder perceptions of value, make better decisions across the lifecycle, and ensure success is defined by outcomes, not just outputs. The session also introduces practical ways AI can support insight and decision-making, allowing leaders to focus more on judgment, communication, and impact. Key Takeaways Differentiate delivery success from value realization and explain why projects often fail after go-live. Apply the four phases (Initiate, Discovery, Delivery, Release) as a leadership lens across any delivery approach. Manage stakeholder perceptions of value throughout the lifecycle, not just at project close. Identify where value is commonly lost and take corrective action earlier. Use AI responsibly as a decision-support tool to improve insight, reduce risk, and strengthen outcomes.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Project World | Business Analyst World - Day 1 ReviewDay 1 was ABSOLUTELY amazing! The conference in Toronto proved not to disappoint. I did my session on day 1 about Shake your BA! Today, Tuesday, I am going to present my WAgile presentation! This is the BEST conference ever! How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Shake Your BA... The Importance of Understanding the POBAFATADay 1 of the PMBA Toronto Conference! I am certain it will be AMAZING! What does a BA do and why are they the most important part of the POBAFATA. How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Agile Works With People Who Don't Actually Need AgileIn a disciplinary society, authority structures dominate. People follow rules, and work is organized through hierarchy and control. Factories, bureaucracies, and military systems are classic examples.In the achievement society the logic changes. And people are no longer told “You must.” Instead they are told “You can.”And this message sounds especially attractive for people who were born and raised in a disciplinary environment, and who dreamed about freedom. Freedom as ability to work without micromanaging, hyper-control and pressure. “Just let me do my job…”Anyway, “You can” at first it feels liberating. But there is a twist: the individual becomes both boss and worker at the same time. People begin to push themselves, optimize themselves, measure themselves. Han calls this the rise of the self-entrepreneur.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Let's play a quick round of Two Truths and a Lie.Here are three statements about agile. Two are true. One is false.Read them over and see if you can spot the lie before I reveal it. Agile teams should be willing to change their plan for the sprint if they discover a better way to meet the sprint goal.Estimation in agile is most useful for helping teams forecast and make trade-offs, not for holding individuals accountable.A team that consistently finishes every planned story in every sprint is demonstrating a healthy, predictable agile process.The lie is #3.That statement sounds responsible, disciplined, and maybe even a little impressive. Which is exactly why it fools people.It reflects a common misunderstanding of agile: the idea that a good team is one that is always comfortable, always certain, and always exactly on plan.But healthy agile teams are not defined by perfect adherence to a prediction. They are defined by how well they pursue outcomes, adapt to what they learn, and make sensible decisions in the presence of uncertainty.Let's look at each statement.A sprint plan should guide the team, but it should not trap the team. At the start of a sprint, the team creates the best plan it can with the information available at that moment.Once the sprint begins, though, the team learns more. A technical approach that seemed promising turns out to be awkward. A dependency proves easier than expected. A simpler solution emerges. Or a conversation reveals a better way to achieve the intended outcome.When that happens, a good agile team should be willing to adjust. The important thing to preserve is the sprint goal rather than every detail of the original plan.The goal provides focus. The selected stories, tasks, and implementation approach are simply the team's current best thinking about how to reach that goal. If the team discovers a better path, it should take it.Changing the plan during a sprint is not a sign of weak discipline. In many cases, it is evidence that the team is paying attention and responding intelligently to what it learns.Teams get into trouble when they stick to the initial plan even after new information shows a better way forward. Agile works best when teams stay committed to the goal while remaining flexible about how to achieve it.Estimation is most helpful when it supports planning and decision-making. Teams estimate so they can answer practical questions like these: How much work can we likely take on?When might a larger effort be completed?If we add this item, what will need to move?Are we taking on too much uncertainty at once?Those are valuable questions, and estimation can help teams answer them.Where estimation becomes far less useful is when it is turned into a tool for judging individual performance.Once estimates are used to hold individuals accountable, people naturally become more defensive with them. Estimates get padded. Uncertainty gets hidden. Conversations become less honest. The numbers may still exist, but they stop helping the team make good decisions.That is why I prefer to keep estimation focused on decision-making. Estimates do not need to be exact to be useful. They only need to be good enough to help a team forecast, weigh options, and recognize when it may be taking on too much. A team that finishes every planned story in every sprint may look predictable. But if that happens all the time, I would not automatically consider it a sign of health. In fact, I would probably wonder whether the team is planning too conservatively.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!On a warm May morning, a young boy named Mateo stood at the edge of a dusty field in Cinco de Mayo celebration. Music filled the air, families gathered, and bright colors danced in the wind, but Mateo felt small.He watched others perform traditional dances, speak proudly of their heritage, and laugh with confidence. Mateo, however, carried quiet doubts. His family had struggled. He felt behind. Invisible.His grandmother noticed.She gently took his hand and pointed toward the small Mexican flag waving in the breeze.“Do you know why we celebrate today?” she asked.Mateo shrugged. “A battle… I think?”She smiled. “Yes. But not just any battle. It was a moment when a small, underestimated group stood against one of the most powerful armies in the world… and won.”Mateo looked up, curious.“They weren't supposed to win,” she continued. “They didn't have the best weapons, the biggest numbers, or the easiest path. But they had something stronger, belief, courage, and heart.”She paused, then looked directly into his eyes.“Sound familiar?”Mateo felt something shift.“All of us,” she said softly, “face moments where we feel outmatched. Where life tells us we're too small, too late, too behind. But this day reminds us… victory doesn't belong to the biggest. It belongs to those who refuse to quit.”Later that day, Mateo stepped into the crowd, not perfectly, not confidently but bravely. He joined the dance. Missed a few steps. Laughed. Kept going.And something powerful happened.No one saw a boy who didn't belong.They saw someone who showed up.That's the spirit of Cinco de Mayo.Not just a celebration of a historic victory, but a reminder that:You don't have to be the strongest to winYou don't have to be perfect to beginAnd you don't have to feel ready to take your next stepYou just have to believe… and keep moving forward.

You Have a Vision For Your Team - Agile Leadership GapWhat is the Agile Leadership Gap? How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The Beauty of Positive NetworkingSometimes we just need to be with people. Other times we can be all peopled out. How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Project Summit Business Analyst World 2026 - Orlando Day3I got to ROCK the Leadership workshop for the first time and it got RAVE Reviews! WooHoo! How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Project Summit Business Analyst World 2026 - Orlando Day 2Here is a summary of Day 2 of the conference.

Project Summit Business Analyst World 2026 - Orlando Day 1Here is a summary of the conference day 1! How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Why Change Management Is Today's Leadership“No, I don't want it.”Too bad, because the next change is on the way.And you know, it won't wait for you. You need to wake up and take action. Arg. Grrr. You can play a pirate, but there is no way to avoid it.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Why Pressure Backfires Faster Than Leaders Think - Mike CohnIf your team keeps overcommitting, the answer is probably not more pressure.It may be less.Most teams do not need help being optimistic. They already want to believe they can get more done. They want to be helpful. They want to be seen as capable. They want to say yes.So when a leader adds pressure, even subtly, it rarely creates a better plan.It creates a less honest one.And pressure is not always loud. Sometimes it sounds like urgency. Sometimes it sounds like enthusiasm. Sometimes it sounds like, “This would really help us hit our goals this quarter.”But teams hear the message underneath the message: We really want this to fit.Once they hear that, many teams do what people do under pressure. They lean toward the optimistic case. They discount risk. They stop saying the uncomfortable part out loud.That does not make the work smaller. It just makes the plan weaker.Your job during planning is not to squeeze confidence out of the team. Your job is to create the conditions for truth. That means asking questions like: What assumptions are we making?What could derail this?What feels least certain right now?What would have to go unusually well for this to work?Those questions do not slow planning down. They improve it.Because pressure does not eliminate uncertainty. It drives uncertainty underground. And once that happens, overcommitment is usually just a matter of time.If you want more realistic commitments, do not start by pushing harder.Start by making it safer to tell the truth.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Earth Day 2026 - The Boy and the SnakesIn 1979, after a massive flood hit the region of Assam, a 16-year-old Jadav was walking along the banks of the Brahmaputra River. He came across a sight that broke his heart: hundreds of snakes had been washed up onto a barren, treeless sandbar. With no shade to protect them and no forest to hide in, the snakes had died from the blistering heat.Jadav sat down and wept over their bodies. He realized that without trees, all living things—including humans—would eventually suffer the same fate.When he asked the local elders for help, they told him nothing would grow on that sandy wasteland, but they gave him twenty bamboo saplings to try. Jadav went to that desolate island and planted them.Then, he stayed.For the next 40 years, Jadav Payeng planted a tree every single day. He lived a simple life as a milk seller, but his true soul was poured into that sandbar. He carried seeds, transported red ants to improve the soil quality, and buckled down against the harsh river winds. He didn't do it for fame, money, or even a "thank you." He did it because he had made a promise to the earth.Decades passed before the world even noticed he existed. In 2008, forest officials were stunned to discover a dense, thriving forest where maps showed only a barren wasteland.Today, the Molai Forest spans over 1,300 acres—an area larger than New York's Central Park. What started as a few bamboo shoots is now a lush sanctuary filled with:Thousands of species of trees.A herd of over 100 elephants that visits regularly.Bengal tigers, rhinos, and deer.Vibrant birdlife that had long since vanished from the region.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

I Was Asked to Fire One-Third of the Company, Here's What That Taught Me About Leadership and CoachingI still remember the silence in the room.My CEO had just finished speaking. The words were simple, almost clinical: “We need to reduce headcount by one-third.”No drama. No hesitation. Just a decision.And suddenly, I wasn't just the Head of HR anymore.I was the person who would carry out one of the most painful transformations a company can go through.That day, I realized something uncomfortable:Being in HR doesn't protect you from hard decisions.It puts you at the center of them.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The real reasons top performers quit, and what managers can do about itYou hired the best people on your team. They deliver results, take initiative, and raise the bar for everyone around them. And then, one day, they hand in their resignation.You run through the usual explanations — better pay, a bigger title, a competitor's offer. But if you look more carefully, the answer is often closer to home.Most top performers don't leave their jobs. They leave their managers.It's hard to hear, but it's the most important insight you can get. Because once you understand why your best people leave, you can fix what's pushing them away and create a workplace they genuinely want to stay in.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Autistic Bowler Achieves Dream With His First Perfect 300 Game And Joins the PBA as a ProOn March 25, an autistic bowler who recently entered the Professional Bowlers Association achieved something he's been dreaming about for years—his first-ever 300 game.For most casual bowlers, a sanctioned perfect game is rare. For Matt Sipes, it represented so much more than just 12 strikes. It was the result of years of dedication, focus, and determination, and although there have been challenges along the way, he never gave up on his goal.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The “Agile” Team That Was Actually Just Doing Waterfall in SprintsEvery two weeks, they ran a sprint review. The stakeholders attended. The demos were polished. The velocity charts trended in the right direction. And nothing significant ever changed based on what anyone said in that room.That's not agile. That's theater with a two-week rhythm.I've coached enough product teams to know that the mimicry of processes is one of the most expensive habits in software development. It looks like agility from the outside. It absorbs all the cost — the ceremonies, the tooling, the vocabulary; but delivers almost none of the benefit. Teams often know this, but feel powerless to speak up because the ceremonies themselves have become the “proof” of professionalism.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Why Estimating and Planning Still Matter - Mike CohnOver the years, I've talked with a lot of teams who've been burned by estimating and planning.They've seen estimates treated as promises.Plans turned into contracts.Teams punished for being wrong rather than rewarded for learning.Given experiences like those, it's understandable that many teams conclude the solution is to eliminate estimating and planning altogether.I think that's a mistake.Estimating and planning still matter—not because the future is predictable, but because it isn't. Teams and organizations still have to make decisions about what to work on, what to delay, and what risks they're willing to accept. Those decisions don't disappear just because we stop estimating.Any time we choose one piece of work over another, we're estimating. The real choice isn't whether to estimate, but whether those estimates are explicit or implicit. In my experience, explicit estimates create transparency. Implicit estimates just hide the guessing.One of the biggest problems with estimating is the belief that estimates exist to be accurate. A better question is whether an estimate is good enough to support the decision being made. When teams make that shift, estimating becomes far less stressful—and far more useful.The same is true of planning. Planning doesn't reduce adaptability. Over-commitment does. Good planning aligns assumptions and intent so teams can adjust quickly when things change.I often hear people say, “Estimates are always wrong.” Being wrong isn't the real problem. Estimates are hypotheses, and reality supplies the data. The real failure is treating estimates as promises and punishing teams when reality turns out to be more complex than expected.Before estimating or planning, I encourage teams to pause and ask three questions: What decision does this support?What happens if we're wrong?Who will use this information—and how?If those questions don't have clear answers, the problem usually isn't how the team is estimating.It's why.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The Sprint That Never DeliveredThree sprints in a row. Less than half of what the team committed — delivered.As a Scrum Master, that's the kind of pattern that keeps you up at night. Not because of the numbers themselves, but because of what comes next: the questions from management, the looks in the retrospective, the slow erosion of the team's belief in themselves.This was Team A. And they were trying. That much was clear.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Sprint After Sprint After Sprint… When Did This Stop Feeling Like Progress?Here's a question I want you to sit with for a moment. When you picture a high-performing Agile team — what do you see?Fast delivery?Clean boards?Strong velocity?Stakeholders who are happy and aligned?Now let me ask you a harder question. In that picture — how does the team feel?Because I've been in organizations that had all the first things. And absolutely none of the second.And I will tell you from experience: that is not high performance.That is a machine consuming the people inside it.And machines don't have retrospectives when they break down.They just — stop.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

7 Mindsets of High Performers That Will Change How You WorkAfter years of working closely with teams, leaders, and organizations, one pattern becomes impossible to ignore. High performers aren't just more talented, luckier, or even working harder than everyone else.They think, approach growth, and respond to pressure differently. And over time, those differences compound into extraordinary results.Mindset is the invisible architecture behind every decision, habit, and result. It shapes how people approach challenges, learn from mistakes, and keep moving forward when things get difficult.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The Unglamorous Truth About Building Trust I spent my first few months as a Scrum Master chasing the wrong thing. I thought trust was something you earned with one big moment. Deliver a miracle sprint. Shield the team from an impossible deadline. Stand up to that one difficult stakeholder in a meeting. I was waiting for my chance to be heroic.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Not Every Backlog Item Needs Detail - Mike CohnHere's something I've noticed over the years:Many teams think backlog refinement means making the entire product backlog detailed and “ready.”That's not how a healthy backlog works.A well-managed product backlog should have a gradient of clarity.Items near the top of the backlog—the ones you're likely to work on soon—should be clear and reasonably detailed. They should have acceptance criteria, clarified assumptions, and enough shared understanding that the team can confidently bring them into a sprint.But items further down the backlog should be less detailed.They might be nothing more than a sentence or two.It's not wrong to leave lower backlog items vague. It's the right and agile thing to do.For example, imagine you're building a travel booking website. Early on, you might have detailed backlog items about booking airfare and booking hotels. Those are core features, so they deserve detail.But you might also have an item about booking cabins on a cruise ship. If cruises aren't central to your product, that item can stay vague for a long time. It doesn't need to be “Sprint Planning ready” six months before anyone will work on it.If you fully refine backlog items far in advance, you're doing a lot of work on items that will change, move, or disappear.So rather than trying to keep the whole backlog “ready,” focus your refinement effort where it matters most:At the top.Refinement should make sprint planning easier.That happens when the next sprint or two is well understood—not when the product backlog is documented 50 items deep.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Has Scrum Peaked Too Soon?I rarely write about Scrum anymore. Not because I suddenly dislike it, but because my work has gradually moved in a different direction.Still, I sometimes wonder whether Scrum peaked too soon. During the 20 years I worked as a Certified Scrum Trainer at Scrum Alliance, I delivered dozens of training sessions. One thing always stood out to me…The case studies used to explain the urgency of Scrum were often quite old. Think of the Kodak story. A company that missed the shift to digital photography.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

One of the Impacts of Easter in Our LivesEaster is a particular time we set as a celebration of our God of the gospel—Christ dying on the cross for the payment of our sins, God accepting Jesus' payment by raising Him from the dead, and the Holy Spirit's transformative work in our lives for righteousness. One of the beautiful impacts of Easter on my life took form as I reflected on a particular incident.   How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The Meaning and Significance of Good FridayWhy Good Friday is the Holiest Day of the YearGood Friday stands at the heart of the Christian faith. It is the day when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered and died on the cross for the salvation of humanity. While the name “Good Friday” may seem paradoxical—given that it commemorates Christ's suffering and death—it is “good” because His sacrifice opened the gates of heaven and restored our relationship with God.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Which Leadership Pattern Shows Up Under Pressure? - Mike CohnEvery year around April 1st, we like to have a little fun.But as with most good humor, there's usually a grain of truth underneath it.After working with thousands of teams and leaders over the years, one thing has become very clear: agile rarely succeeds or fails because of a framework. It succeeds or fails because of leadership behavior under pressure.When deadlines tighten…. When scope grows…. When velocity dips…. When stakeholders ask uncomfortable questions…Patterns emerge.Some leaders protect the outcome.Some protect the date.Some protect the process.Some protect momentum.None of these are “good” or “bad.” They're instincts. And under enough pressure, we all fall back on instinct.So this year's April Fools exercise is a simple (and only slightly unscientific) question:Which leadership archetype shows up most often?Answer it about yourself. Or answer it about someone you work with.Just choose the responses that feel uncomfortably familiar.The results are 100% accurate. Approximately.It's easy to laugh at archetypes.It's harder to recognize that under pressure, most of us drift toward one.Agile frameworks don't fail because teams forget a ceremony. They struggle when leadership instincts unintentionally override the conditions that make empiricism work: transparency, adaptation, and trust.The good news? Leadership patterns aren't fixed traits. They're habits. And habits can change.If this exercise felt a little too accurate, that's not a problem. It's an opportunity.Because small shifts in how leaders respond — to scope, to deadlines, to uncertainty — can have an outsized impact on how teams perform.That's the part that isn't a joke.If you're curious what those shifts look like in practice, we've spent the last two decades helping leaders explore exactly that.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠- [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠- [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠- [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

The AI TPM LandscapeIf you search for "AI Technical Program Manager career advice," you'll find two things: job postings and generic reassurance that "your skills transfer." What you won't find is anyone mapping the actual landscape showing which companies expect what, and where your existing experience actually gets you.I've spent the last three years at a cybersecurity company during its AI transformation, watching how AI products actually ship. I've analyzed job descriptions across dozens of companies spanning three tiers (Frontier AI, AI-Applied-to-Business, and AI-Powered Applications).AI TPM roles vary more than the job titles suggest. Some require deep fluency in model development. Others require working knowledge of how to ship AI-powered products without building the models yourself.This distinction matters because it defines the depth of your technical pivot. It determines whether you need to master the 'physics' of model development, the 'orchestration' of AI-powered systems, or the strategic integration of AI into existing workflows.