The Daily Standup

Sprint Goals DON'T Work - Or Do They? Sprint Goals sound beautifully simple.Set a goal for the team, organize the work around it, track progress daily, and finish with success.Sounds easy enough. And that's exactly why it's so hard.Behind this deceptively simple concept hides one of the most difficult ideas in Agile. As the Scrum Guide says:“Scrum is lightweight, simple to understand, difficult to master.”Sprint Goals are the perfect example of that. Even when you think you're doing them right, you're probably not.On the surface, Sprint Goals add a lot of value. And therefore, make a lot of sense. But do you really need them?What if I told you, there is a better way?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 Moment Everything Changed - A Shoutout To HumanityIn late 2025, what began as an ordinary beach day at Bondi became a living, breathing argument for why humanity is still worth believing in.​Bondi Beach was crowded—families, tourists, locals all spread along the sand, kids playing at the shoreline while surfers watched the swells further out. The ocean looked deceptively calm, but beneath the surface a strong rip current had formed, one of those invisible rivers that can drag even strong swimmers out in seconds.​A few swimmers drifted farther than they meant to.Then, almost in unison, their body language shifted—arms flailing, heads dipping under, that unmistakable look of panic when people realize they're not just tired, they're in real trouble. Shouts carried over the sound of the waves: people on the sand pointing, yelling for help, some frozen, some fumbling for their phones.​In that chaos, one person didn't hesitate.Ahmed Al‑Ahmed, an ordinary beachgoer that day, saw the struggle and stripped off what he needed to, sprinting straight into the water. He had no rescue board, no flotation device, no backup—just a gut‑deep conviction that he couldn't stand there watching while people disappeared under the water.​He fought his way through the surf toward the nearest struggling swimmer, timing his breaths between waves, pushing past the shock of cold, the drag of the current, the sting of salt in his eyes. When he reached the first person—a stranger, gasping, eyes wide with terror—he wrapped an arm around them and kicked hard, angling diagonally to escape the rip, dragging them inch by inch back toward safety.​On the shore, lifeguards were already launching into action, but the current was pulling more than one person out. Most people would have gotten that first swimmer in and collapsed. Ahmed did something else.​He turned around and went back.Witnesses later described watching him make multiple trips into the danger zone, each time more exhausted than the last, each time choosing to go anyway. He helped pull more swimmers—some barely conscious, some crying, some shaking with shock—back toward the reach of lifeguards and other helpers who were now in the water too.​Every time he came in, the safe choice was to stop.He could have told himself: “I've done enough. Someone else will get the rest.”Instead, he treated “enough” as if it didn't apply when lives were on the line.By the time the rip had released its grip and everyone was accounted for, multiple people were alive who almost certainly would not have survived those minutes without someone intervening that fast and that decisively. Lifeguards later said the rapid response from Ahmed and others bought them those critical breaths, those extra seconds, that made the difference between rescue and recovery.​When it was finally over, Ahmed staggered out of the water, shaking from exertion and adrenaline, and collapsed on the sand. Around him, families were sobbing—parents holding their children like they might never let go again, friends clinging to each other, people staring out at the waves in stunned silence.​Then a different kind of wave began.Beachgoers started approaching him—not with cameras first, but with tears, hugs, and gratitude that words couldn't quite contain. Some of the very people he had helped pull from the water wrapped their arms around him, drenched and trembling, saying “thank you” over and over as if repetition might somehow be enough.​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 are managers there at all? - The Agile MindsetJust recently my colleague and friend Zoran Vujkov has drawn my attention to the following clip discussing trends in adoption of agile in large companies. I recommend the clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgBhZIjgTw4&feature=youtu.be) for watching if you already haven't.Among a lot of information about the speed of agile adoption and critical factors for it, one thing caught my eye — importance of executive sponsorship.No doubt, this is a very important factor. However, it might be misinterpreted and misused by managers. One of the crucial roles of management in Agile organization is to remove obstacles or impediments that are preventing their teams from being efficient in their work.While this seems obvious, it does happen that managers start being involved into operational things, tactical decisions, even trying to influence, or limit product owners' roles by making operational decisions and leading the product.This is potentially very dangerous situation as this sort of behavior can be concealed behind the veil of good intentions which sometimes it undoubtedly is (you know the one about the road to ruin being paved by good intentions). Urged by desire to show to the teams that they are committed to agile way of work, managers become a burden and an obstacle.I'm not gonna go into the role of management in agile setup, there's a good article here on the topic.Here, I would like to remind managers that their role is not to control, direct, create tasks or organize their teams' daily work. Their main role in agile way of work is to help team develop, create proper environment for the team, set strategic guidelines, believe in their teams and give them freedom to organize their work in the best way they need, know and can.Only with such a help, teams (and with them the whole organization) can be 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/

What Curling Can Teach Us About Agile - Mike CohnWith the Olympics underway, I've been watching a few events I don't normally pay much attention to—like curling.At first glance, curling looks almost comically simple. Someone slides a stone down the ice. A couple of teammates run alongside it frantically sweeping the ice with brooms. The stone glides… and somehow ends up exactly where they want it.But the more you watch, the more you realize curling isn't about making a perfect throw.It's about making adjustments after the throw.And that's what makes it a great analogy for agile.For a long time, traditional software development treated projects as if teams only had one chance to get everything right. The goal was to write the requirements document, create the design, then implement everything exactly according to plan. If you did enough planning up front, the thinking went, you could get it right the first time.The problem is that software development rarely works that way.Even if you have smart people and a solid plan, you're still operating on uncertain “ice.” Customers don't always know what they need until they see it. Stakeholders often describe what they want in ways that are incomplete, or ambiguous, or shaped by assumptions that turn out to be wrong. And developers—no matter how experienced—can misunderstand what they hear.That's not incompetence. That's just reality. Communication has friction. Uncertainty is built in.In curling, the team knows that too. They can't control the ice. They can't assume the stone will behave exactly the same way every time. Conditions vary. The surface isn't perfectly predictable. If the players just stood there and watched the stone slide, hoping it ends up in the bullseye, they'd lose most of their matches.So instead, they sweep.Sweeping doesn't completely change the outcome. It doesn't teleport the stone to the target. But it nudges the stone's speed and direction. It helps the team adjust to what's happening in real time.That's what agile does for software development.The plan is like the initial throw. It matters. You need to aim. Once the stone is moving, you don't get to stop everything and start over—you can only respond. But agile recognizes that aiming once isn't enough.The best teams don't aim once—they keep aiming.They build something small, show it, listen, learn, and adjust. They use feedback to steer the product toward what users truly need—not just what they said they needed, but what they meant. The known needs and the unstated ones.In other words, agile isn't about getting everything right up front.It's about staying close enough to reality to make course corrections while they're still cheap.One of the biggest mindset shifts agile asks of us is to stop treating change as failure. In the old model, change meant the plan was wrong. It meant rework. It meant someone made a mistake.But in agile, change is often a sign that learning is happening.Curling teams don't apologize for sweeping. They don't view it as an admission that the throw was bad. Sweeping is part of the game. It's what turns a decent throw into a great result.Agile teams do the same thing. They don't just launch work and hope it glides perfectly to the finish line. They inspect, adapt, and steer as they go.That's how you succeed with agile.And in the meantime, enjoy the Olympics.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 Scrum That Actually WorkedIn 1996, Chrysler — a Fortune 500 company with resources to hire the best talent and buy the best tools — had spent two years and millions of dollars building payroll software.It hadn't printed a single paycheck.The project was called C3: Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation. It was supposed to unify payroll for 87,000 employees across multiple divisions. It had executive sponsorship from CIO Susan Unger. It used Smalltalk, an object-oriented programming language that promised to solve exactly the kind of tangled legacy problems Chrysler faced.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 Concept of Scrum Fluid TeamsFluid Scrum Teams are a concept introduced by Willem-Jan Ageling, where a stable group of individuals (e.g., 20 members) self-organize into smaller, temporary teams each Sprint to address specific objectives. This approach allows for flexibility and adaptability, as team compositions change based on the current needs of the projects at hand.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 February Blanket - A Story of MaeEvery February in the little mountain town of Silver Hollow, winter wrapped everything in silence. The trees stood bare, the sky hung gray, and people rushed from their cars to their front doors, shoulders hunched against the cold.But one February, a woman named Mae decided she was tired of waiting for spring to make things warm again. Her husband had passed away three winters before, and the evenings had grown painfully quiet. So she picked up her old knitting needles — the same ones he'd bought her years ago when money was tight but love was plenty — and began to knit.Every night after dinner, she'd sit by the window and watch snowflakes tumble through the streetlight glow. One stitch became ten, ten became a hundred. Over the weeks, the yarn took shape — a thick, colorful blanket big enough for a stranger to wrap up in. When it was finished, she folded it neatly, wrote a small note — “If you're cold, take this. If you're lonely, you're not alone.” — and left it on the park bench downtown.The next morning, the blanket was gone. Mae smiled, imagining someone out there a little warmer because of her. That night, she cast on a new blanket.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/

Are Agile Frameworks Really Agile? - A Blind Article ReviewHave you ever read an article before and just scratched your head and wondered to yourself... 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/

How Much Are Meetings Hurting You? - Mike CohnI'm emailing because we keep seeing the same issue surface in different organizations, even where teams are experienced and committed.If something isn't working, it will usually show up in your meetings first. That's because work habits show up in real meetings, under real pressure.If planning, reviews, retrospectives, and daily scrums aren't working, agile won't work. That's where priorities get set, decisions get made, and trade-offs happen (or don't).After seeing capable teams benefit from an objective view of their meetings, we designed:Meeting Observation & Recommendations (MOR) It isn't more training (many teams don't need ‘more' training; they need direction)It doesn't require your team to step away from workAnd it's not about catching people outIt's about removing the constraints that are holding your team back.You can read about how it works here: Meeting Observation & RecommendationsThis is a fast way to see what's actually getting in the way, and find out what to change next.If you're accountable for delivery and feel like agile should be helping more than it is, this might be worth a look.Agile Meetings Playbook: https://agiledad.com/documentsHow 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 Three Paths Scrum OpensI have watched teams celebrate their “perfect Sprint.” Every ceremony attended. Every artifact updated. Every role filled. And yet their product no closer to solving the user's problem than it was three Sprints ago. They'd mistaken the map for the journey.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 Manifesto - 2026Please visit:https://agiledad.com/documents to download your very own copy! 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 Heart That Outlived Time - The Story of ValentinesImagine ancient Rome, nearly two thousand years ago. Streets echo with the clang of armor, the scent of incense, and the whispers of love forbidden.There lived a humble priest named Valentinus. He wasn't a rebel or a warrior—just a man who believed deeply in love. At that time, Emperor Claudius II had outlawed marriage for young soldiers, claiming that single men fought better than those bound by family. But Valentinus saw love as sacred, not sinful. So, in secret, beneath flickering candlelight, he performed weddings for young couples who refused to let the emperor's decree define their hearts.Each ceremony was an act of defiance—and of faith. Eventually, Valentinus was caught and imprisoned. But even behind bars, he kept sharing kindness. The legend says that before his execution, he befriended the jailer's blind daughter and sent her a note signed, “From your Valentine.” A gesture so simple, so human, it echoed through centuries.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/

How To Deal With Difficult People In A Group?I can only +

How To Provide a Release Plan Without Losing Agility - Mike CohnStakeholders want to know what will be delivered, and when. Your team wants to stay agile. So how do you create a roadmap (aka release plan or milestone plan) without locking down every detail? I'm about to start on a road trip between Idaho and Colorado: a 16-hour drive. I know where I'm going, and my general route, but I don't know every turn I'll take — and that's fine.That's how agile teams should treat release plans and roadmaps.My route is a plan, not a promise. It's not set in stone. The turns I made and my ETA could change based on roadwork, traffic congestion, an opportunity for an exciting detour, or even a flat tire. The further the distance I have to travel, the more uncertainty I should expect.Agile plans are the same. We can't predict every eventuality, but we can provide a forecast. We can provide a general idea of where we are planning to go, a predicted range of when we will likely hit key milestones, and our confidence level in the plan. Most agile teams know there's too much uncertainty to make guarantees. At the same time, they feel like a guarantee is the only thing stakeholders will accept.Here's what agile teams might be missing: Stakeholders have their own plans to make. And they are just as worried about being held accountable to their predictions as teams are.Stakeholders need accurate delivery dates and milestones (note I didn't say precise). They crave predictability.Sometimes it might feel like they're asking for a guarantee. But in truth, the only way to give them absolute certainty is to Overpad your estimates (like me telling someone my 16-hour drive will take 24, just in case), orRefuse to adapt when conditions change. Neither is good for the product, or the team. So what can you do when a stakeholder seems to want a guarantee vs a forecast? Try this: Talk to stakeholders in terms they understand.Here's one technique I've found helpful:Compare their request to requests for similar forecasts in their own domain.For example: Ask a salesperson what their comfort level would be if they were asked to guarantee exactly how much they'll sell — and which customers they'll close — in each of the next six months, or in the first year of a product's release.Ask a marketing person what their concerns would be if asked to commit to specific campaign results with exact timelines.Don't be confrontational. The point isn't to trap them — it's to show that uncertainty exists everywhere, and that agility is a strength, not a weakness. Then, share my road trip analogy with your stakeholders. Tell them that you can't give them a guarantee, but you can present a roadmap that looks ahead 3-6 months. The roadmap will show the team's goal, how much progress you believe you can make by when (expressed as a range), and your team's confidence in the plan.  Need help communicating your plans? Try our Plan Visualizer Tool, free for all MGS Essentials members.   Remind stakeholders that, like suggested routes on a long trip, agile roadmaps provide visibility, align expectations, and help people plan — without pretending every turn is known in advance.Freeing your team from unrealistic expectations can accelerate their move from good to great.A roadmap is a plan, not a promise Why stakeholders push for guarantees  The path to alignment starts with empathy Give stakeholders what they need to succeed 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/

5 Habits to Keep Your Team MotivatedManaging a team is never easy, and one of the biggest challenges is keeping everyone motivated. Motivation doesn't come from long meetings or fancy speeches. It comes from small, everyday habits that keep energy, focus, and inspiration alive.Things like starting the day with open communication, recognizing effort right away, or giving quick feedback may seem small, but when done daily, they make a big difference. Over time, these habits build a culture where your team feels inspired to give their best.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/

Rebuilding Psychological SafetyIf people feel unsafe, they do the minimum and pray no one notices. If the bar is too low, everyone's happy… until the customer sees the work. The sweet spot? High safety and high standards. People speak up, try things, and still hit the mark. Think: honest kitchen with a strict head chef, and nobody burns the risotto, but jokes are allowed.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 Man Who Proved Meaning Is Stronger Than SufferingIn the darkest chapter of human history, when hope seemed like a luxury few could afford, one man discovered a truth so powerful that it would outlive the horrors around him.His name was Viktor Frankl.Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist. In 1942, he was arrested by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. Over the next several years, he endured four different camps, including Auschwitz. He lost his parents, his brother, and his pregnant wife. Everything he owned—his career, his manuscript, his freedom—was taken from him.By any external measure, his life had been stripped of meaning.But here's where the story turns.While imprisoned, Frankl noticed something remarkable.People were experiencing the same starvation, brutality, and despair—yet some survived psychologically, while others gave up long before their bodies failed.The difference wasn't strength.It wasn't intelligence.It wasn't luck.It was meaning.Frankl observed that prisoners who could anchor themselves to a future purpose—a loved one waiting for them, work they still hoped to complete, or a reason to endure one more day—were far more likely to survive. Meaning, he realized, was not a luxury. It was a survival tool.One night, freezing and exhausted, Frankl imagined himself standing in a lecture hall after the war, teaching students about the psychology of the concentration camps—explaining how humans can endure unimaginable suffering if they understand why they are suffering.That imagined future kept him alive.After the war, Frankl returned to Vienna. He rewrote the manuscript that had been taken from him in the camps and published a book that would go on to change millions of lives: Man's Search for Meaning. It has since sold over 16 million copies and is considered one of the most influential books of the 20th century.Frankl didn't claim suffering was good.He didn't romanticize pain.Instead, he offered this quiet, powerful truth:“Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the freedom to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances.”He went on to develop logotherapy, a form of psychotherapy centered on helping people discover meaning in their lives—not by eliminating hardship, but by transforming it.Frankl lived to be 92 years old.The man who lost nearly everything proved something extraordinary:

Agile Is Not a Process. It's How Smart Teams Think.Most people think agile is Jira boards, sprints, standups, and sticky notes.Here's the thing.Those are just tools.Agile is a mindset about how work *should* move in a world that refuses to stay predictable.If you've ever worked on a project where requirements changed, deadlines shifted, or priorities flipped overnight, you already know why traditional project management struggles.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 Soft Skills Outlast Technical Skills on Product Teams - Mike CohnAnyone who has worked in product development for more than a few years has seen the same pattern repeat itself.The technical skills that once felt essential gradually—or sometimes suddenly—become obsolete. Tools change. Frameworks fall out of favor. Architectures that once seemed modern start to look dated.This isn't new, but it is accelerating.The half-life of technical skills keeps shrinking, especially in technology. In the 1980s, it took ten years for half of what you knew to become outdated. Today, it is four years, and will soon fall below two years according to a Stanford professor. This raises an important question for leaders:Where does investment in people have the greatest long-term impact?Technical skills are necessary, of course. But they are rarely durable.Soft skills behave very differently.When someone learns how to collaborate well, make good decisions, facilitate discussions, or lead others, those skills don't decay at the same rate. Instead, they tend to compound. They become part of how that person works.Learning how to learn is a good example. Once someone develops that capability, it stays with them. The same is true for decision-making, leadership, and collaboration. These are skills that can continue to improve over time—but they don't become irrelevant.I once saw just how important this was during a demo to a group of nurses.A programmer demonstrated new functionality and showed text on the screen that suggested giving Saltine crackers to a newborn—clearly clinically inappropriate.He tried to explain that it was just placeholder text. The real point, he said, was the workflow, not the words.But to the nurses, the words mattered a great deal.Their professional identity is grounded in “do no harm.” What they saw on the screen violated that principle. They were ready to escalate the issue and cancel the project.What saved the project wasn't a technical fix.It was the project manager's soft skills.He calmed the situation, acknowledged the nurses' concerns, explained what had happened, and persuaded them to come back a week later for a revised demo.The failure wasn't technical—it was a failure of empathy.Product development is full of uncertainty. We work with evolving requirements, incomplete information, and users whose trust we must earn and keep.Soft skills reduce risk in these environments.Empathy helps teams understand users. Clear communication builds trust. Collaboration prevents small misunderstandings from becoming major setbacks.And when these skills improve, the benefit isn't limited to one person.If someone learns a new technical skill, that benefit often stays with them. But when someone learns to collaborate better, the entire team benefits. Everyone gets better.This is one reason leaders often underestimate the return on investing in soft skills.The payoff isn't always immediate or easy to measure. It tends to show up most clearly under pressure—when teams need to have hard conversations, discuss options honestly, and make good decisions quickly.That's also when the absence of soft skills is most costly.Some leaders think these skills can wait until things slow down. In reality, pressure is when they matter most.Teams with strong soft skills can disagree productively, make tradeoffs together, and move forward with confidence—because trust was built earlier.Everyone on a product development team benefits from strong soft skills, but some roles depend on them especially heavily.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 Is Scope Churn? Businesses naturally want predictability from their software organizations. Promises have been made to customers, and there are business objectives to deliver as well. Often, those things have little to no wiggle room. The head of Marketing says “This must be completed on time, because we have a trade show on March 1st, and we have committed to present there.” The head of Product says “The only way we could save this angry customer was to promise that this would be completed on September 30th. If we don't deliver, they will walk.”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 Failed Us After 18 Months - Here we go...On month eighteen, our average lead time crossed 27 days. Production defects doubled. A supposedly minor release missed its window by three weeks.Nothing had “broken.” Velocity charts still looked healthy. Every ceremony was running on time. But releases slowed, confidence eroded, and engineers stopped believing what the board said.This hurt because customers felt it immediately. Bugs lived longer, features arrived stale, and every delay came with an explanation no one trusted anymore.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/

Ernest Shackleton and Leadership When Everything Falls ApartIn 1914, Ernest Shackleton set out on what was supposed to be one of the greatest expeditions in history: the first land crossing of Antarctica. His ship, the Endurance, carried 27 men into one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth.What happened next is the part that matters.The ship never reached Antarctica.Instead, it became trapped in pack ice for months—until the pressure finally crushed the ship. The Endurance sank, leaving Shackleton and his crew stranded on drifting ice floes, more than 1,000 miles from safety, with no communication, no rescue plan, and brutal Antarctic winter closing in.From that moment on, the mission was no longer exploration.The mission became survival.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/

5 Daily Habits To Keep Your Team Motivated and InspiredManaging a team is never easy, and one of the biggest challenges is keeping everyone motivated. Motivation doesn't come from long meetings or fancy speeches. It comes from small, everyday habits that keep energy, focus, and inspiration alive.Things like starting the day with open communication, recognizing effort right away, or giving quick feedback may seem small, but when done daily, they make a big difference. Over time, these habits build a culture where your team feels inspired to give their best.In this episiode, we'll explore five simple daily habits that can help you keep your team motivated and inspired — not through one-time efforts, but through steady consistency.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/

Using AI to Go From User Insight to Better Backlogs - Mike CohnAI is rapidly changing how product teams work—but the biggest opportunity isn't replacing product thinking. It's reducing the friction between understanding users and turning those insights into high-quality backlog items.To make the ideas concrete, I use a consistent example throughout: a team building software for valet-attended parking garages, initially selling to independent operations like boutique hotels. Each step builds on the previous one, showing how AI outputs can feed naturally into your existing agile practices.With a straightforward prompt, AI can help you build a detailed persona—including hopes, concerns, emotional triggers, and decision criteria. In my example, the persona that emerged was a garage owner/operator with high staff turnover, contract-renewal anxiety, and a strong desire for predictable labor costs. Several of these insights are things I might have missed or deprioritized on my own.Understanding a persona's aspirations—not just their functional needs—turns out to be especially valuable. Once a persona exists, you can ask AI to role-play that person and let you interview them. This is not a replacement for real user interviews, but it's a great way to explore assumptions, test questions, and uncover gaps in your thinking.AI is also excellent at preparing interview guides for real users who match a persona. With the right prompt, it can generate a structured guide that covers: Opening context (confidentiality, purpose, time commitment)Current workflows and pain pointsDesired future state and success criteriaConstraints (including regulatory or operational)Thoughtful wrap-up questionsLooking at the results, I was struck by how much better prepared I could have been for many interviews over the years if I'd had this kind of support. Once you're ready to move into backlog work, AI can help generate user stories and job stories that follow well-established agile guidance.By being explicit in the prompt—format, INVEST criteria, and output rules—you can get clean, ready-to-use stories that are easy to import into a backlog tool. AI can also correctly choose between user stories and job stories depending on whether the situation or the role is more important.In the valet parking example, this resulted in stories about vehicle handoff tracking, damage-claim protection, wait-time monitoring, staff accountability, and remote visibility into operations. I prefer to add acceptance criteria as a separate step, and AI handles this easily. You can ask for: A simple bullet list (great for user reviews), orGherkin (given-when-then) format for more formal specificationYou can even convert between formats later. Either way, this step quickly raises clarity and testability. AI isn't just for generating content—it's also useful for critique.With a structured prompt, AI can evaluate user and job stories against the INVEST criteria, identify only what's missing, explain why, and suggest a focused improvement. This works whether the stories were written by AI or by you.Over time, you can even build a library of good and bad examples to further improve the quality of feedback you get. AI won't replace talking to users, making judgment calls, or exercising product sense. What it can do is help teams move faster from vague ideas to concrete artifacts, surface blind spots, and raise the baseline quality of their work—especially when time or experience is limited.Used well, AI becomes a tireless collaborator: one that remembers persona details, never gets impatient with rewrites, and can move effortlessly from big-picture thinking to precise backlog items.The key mindset shift is this: don't ask whether AI can replace parts of product discovery or backlog refinement. Ask how it can help you arrive better prepared for the conversations that still matter most.

Story Point Estimations are failing your Team! - Here We Go Again...Story Pointing wasn't a completely novel idea. It evolved out of the Delphi method — a research technique that helped drive consensus and forecasting built on collective wisdom. In 1950s, RAND Corporation began using it as a way to forecast the effect of technology on warfare.So, it wasn't just an idea dreamed up by someone in the Agile community randomly — no. It's actually based on a scientific approach. Something that's been applied and true in other disciplines for many, many years.And, when Scrum needed a prescriptive technique to help the Teams estimate and measure the amount of work the Team could consistently deliver Sprint after Sprint, this became a recommended approach.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 Makes a Great Scrum Master?When people ask me, “What does it take to be a great Scrum Master?” my first response is always — In what kind of organization?It's not a dodge. It's the most honest answer I can give.We talk about Scrum Masters as if the role is universal — a fixed job description that applies equally everywhere. But the reality?The Scrum Master navigating a twenty — person startup looks completely different from one guiding a 200-person enterprise team.And both are doing the job right.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 7 Two-Minute Habits That Make People Actually Want to Follow You1) Active Listen BurstHere's the move: give someone 60 seconds of your full attention, then paraphrase what they said and ask one clarifying question. The moment someone starts speaking, resist the urge to formulate your response. Instead, just listen. Then say: “So what I'm hearing is ____. Did I miss anything?” This works because people trust leaders who make them feel truly seen — and it clears up confusion before solutions start flying around the room. Just watch out for one thing: don't hijack the moment with your own story. Paraphrase first, then ask your question.2) Values CompassBefore or after making a key decision, take a moment to name the value guiding your choice. It's simple: “I'm choosing X because it best serves [fairness / ownership / customer care].” This habit works because when values are explicit, your team immediately understands the trade-offs you're making. They might not always agree with the decision, but they'll understand the why behind it. Pro tip: keep your organization's core values in your notes and use the same vocabulary consistently so your team recognizes the pattern.3) Openness NudgeIn the final two minutes of every meeting, create space for dissent and missing perspectives. Simply ask: “What haven't I heard yet — especially if you disagree with me?” This is how you build psychological safety — it doesn't happen by accident. You have to actively pull the truth out of the room. If everyone stays quiet, try a 30-second silent vote: “Type your concerns in the chat now.” This removes the social pressure and gives people a safer way to speak up. The uncomfortable truths you uncover here will save you from bigger problems later.4) No-Blame LanguageDuring reviews or post-mortems, shift the conversation from “who's at fault” to “what system failed.” Ask: “What part of the system or process produced this outcome?” This reframing is powerful because shame kills learning, while systems thinking scales it. When people aren't afraid of being blamed, they'll be honest about what actually happened — and that's where real improvement begins. Make sure to close the loop by assigning one owner and setting a deadline for fixing the system issue you've identified.5) Compass Check (Fair? Clear? Kind?)Before you hit send on any tough message, run it through three quick filters: Is it fair? Is it clear? Is it kind? If you can't say yes to all three, go back and fix one line. This is emotional quality control that takes less than a minute but saves hours of cleanup later. It reduces drama, increases alignment, and helps you communicate difficult things in ways that maintain trust. The discipline of pausing before sending is what separates reactive leaders from respected ones.6) One-Line IntentAt the start of every meeting, state your goal in one clear sentence: “Goal: decide/align on ____.” That's it. This simple habit works because people relax when they know what “done” looks like. It eliminates the wandering discussions where everyone leaves confused about what actually happened. Put this goal at the top of your agenda and read it out loud in the first 30 seconds. It sets the tone and gives everyone permission to redirect the conversation if things go off track.7) Decision Note (What/Who/When)Right after any decision, log it in one sentence: “Decision: ____. Owner: ____. By: ____.” This creates transparency and accountability while saving everyone from those frustrating moments three weeks later when no one remembers what was actually decided. Future-you won't have to dig through five different chat threads trying to reconstruct the conversation. 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 Most Agile Teams Build Features Instead of Value and How To Flip the ScriptFor a long time, I believed that the number of features we shipped was a sign of a healthy product team. New capabilities meant progress. More releases meant momentum. A packed roadmap meant ambition. And during sprint reviews, when we showcased everything we had delivered, I felt proud as if quantity itself was proof of impact.But something always nagged me. After each launch, I would look at the data or talk to users and feel this uncomfortable tension between what we had built and what had actually changed. The features were there, polished, documented, deployed but the world around them stayed strangely still. The metric didn't move. The user behavior didn't shift. We were launching features into the void, and the void was yawning back.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/

Start The Year With a Clean Backlog - Mike CohnThink outside the box.Do you hate that phrase as much as I do?It's become another overused business cliché, and it bothers me for another reason: Creativity often comes from thinking inside the box.This is especially true in agile story-writing workshops. The difference between a successful story-writing workshop and one that fails to deliver often comes down to a single factor:Whether or not the product owner defines a clear, significant objective: a “box” within which the team can think.Workshops without boundaries often roam across the entire product. Teams may generate a long list of user stories but those stories lack cohesion or purpose. They're hard to prioritize, and even harder to act on. The most productive workshops start with a simple framing statement from the product owner, like: “We're here to think about this specific subset of the product.”That's it. One well-chosen boundary and suddenly the team is aligned, focused, and generating better, more valuable ideas.Early in the product's life, that boundary might be about identifying what's needed to deliver an MVP.Later on, it might center around a Minimum Marketable Feature (MMF), something small enough to ship but valuable enough to matter. When workshops are focused around a meaningful objective, you don't need to hold them every sprint. I typically run them about once a quarter because one well-run session generates a steady flow of high-value stories.As this year closes and a new one begins, it's a great time to schedule a story-writing session. You might even want to bring our trainers in for a Story-Writing Workshop, where we'll work with you to: Set powerful, objective-based boundariesWrite stories that are right-sized and ready to buildBuild a focused backlog that everyone can align around Discover how to kick off the new year with a backlog that's ready to go.Whether you hold your own story-writing workshop or bring us in to help, remember that thinking inside the box is a powerful way to take teams from good to great,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 OKR Illusion, Why Structure Without Direction Is Just NoiseOKRs (Objectives and Key Results) have gained significant traction over the past decade, especially after being widely adopted and championed by companies like Google. Originally developed at Intel, OKRs are a simple yet powerful framework for setting and tracking goals. At their core, OKRs are about defining what you want to achieve (Objectives) and how you'll measure progress (Key Results). While the concept is simple, the impact lies in how OKRs align teams, create focus, and connect everyday work to meaningful, measurable 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/

Celebrating Dr Martin Luther King JrUnderstanding Civil Rights Day and what we can do today to make a difference. 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/

Celebrating Episode 1500 - Special Edition With Bob HartmanJoin us for this once in a lifetime ONE HOUR edition of The Agile Daily Standup Podcast as we celebrate episode 1500 together! 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 in 2026 Looks Nothing Like ScrumThat delay cost us 42,000 failed checkout attempts and a week of executive explanations. Nothing was broken in the code. The failure was procedural. The fix was ready. The sprint boundary said no.That was the moment we stopped pretending Scrum was helping us ship.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 Doesn't Eliminate Agile Teams — It Increases the Need for Great Ones - Mike CohnEveryone today seems eager to talk about how AI is accelerating software development. Teams are shipping faster. Individuals are more productive. Entire backlogs can be written in minutes. Estimates are a click away. Code that once took days now materializes in minutes. With all this newfound speed, it's understandable that teams and leaders start asking whether they still need the same kinds of collaboration—or even the same kinds of teams.Yet hidden underneath all that enthusiasm is a risk that hasn't received enough attention. In fact, I would argue it is the risk that agile leaders should be paying the closest attention to.https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/ai-doesnt-eliminate-agile-teams-it-increases-the-need-for-great-onesHow 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/

Scrum Is NOT Dead... It's Obsolete?(Did someone actually Go here?) AAAAAAAhhhhhhhh!Stand-ups are still happening. Sprint planning still blocks calendars every few weeks. Retrospectives still end with “we should communicate better.” Jira boards are still very busy.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 made a VERY controversial Podcast Episode on January 1st and I think people may have completely missed it! There will be 3 CRAZY-BIG changes happening on the Agile Landscape in 2026:

Growth Is Not Becoming Someone Else, It's About Becoming More Fully Who You Actually AreLena was the kind of person who could organize a project, a pantry, or a party with military precision—but she could not organize her courage.At work, she was reliable, steady, always the one staying late to fix last‑minute mistakes. Her boss trusted her, her teammates liked her, and her performance reviews were consistently stamped with the same phrase: “Solid team player.” It was meant as a compliment, but every time she saw it, a small, restless ache formed behind her ribs.Because tucked between her color‑coded spreadsheets and carefully labeled folders was a sketchbook she never showed anyone.Lena drew in the margins of meeting notes. She sketched on napkins at lunch. She had ideas for children's books, a mental library of characters and worlds that lived only in her head and in the worn pages of that sketchbook. For years, she told herself a quiet story: One day, when things calm down, I'll really give this a try.Things never calmed down.One Thursday, after a long meeting, she dropped her notebook on her desk and it fell open, pages spilling out. A coworker walking by noticed a drawing of a small, determined fox wearing a too‑big backpack.“Whoa,” he said, picking up the notebook. “You drew this?”Lena's first instinct was to grab it back and laugh it off. “Oh, that? It's nothing. Just doodles.”But he lingered on the drawing. “This is… actually really good. Have you ever thought about doing something with them?”The question made her heart race and her stomach sink at the same time. She had thought about it—a lot. She just hadn't done anything. She shrugged, offered a vague “Maybe someday,” and changed the subject.That night, sitting on the edge of her bed, Lena heard a sentence in her mind that she couldn't shake: How much longer are you going to call the things that matter to you ‘nothing'?It wasn't a dramatic movie moment. There was no soundtrack, no lightning bolt of clarity. Just a quiet discomfort that felt different this time—not like shame, but like an invitation.She opened her sketchbook and flipped through the pages. There were dozens of characters: brave foxes, shy turtles, anxious owls, adventurous kids. She noticed something she'd never put into words before—almost every drawing was about someone who underestimated themselves and discovered they were capable of more.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/

Outcome Mapping for Agile Teams: A Simple Way to Connect Stories to ValueWhat is Outcome Mapping? Find out today... 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/

Want To Win Big? Focus Small - Mike CohnSomething momentous happened on December 20, 2020.Becky Hammon made history as the first woman to ever coach a men's team in a National Basketball Association professional game. Coach Hammon took over coaching the San Antonio Spurs when head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected in the first half.After the game, the press asked Coach Hammon what her thoughts had been when her glass-ceiling-busting moment arrived. She said, “Honestly, in the moment I was just trying to win the game. I say this a lot, but I try not to think about the huge picture and the huge aspect of it, because it can get overwhelming.”I love this attitude. Yes, Hammon was busting through a glass ceiling. And yes, winning the game is the big goal for her and her players. But she also knew that their best chance of winning was to focus on the short term and execute well, play by play. It's easy for teams–sports teams and agile ones–to get distracted by how much is riding on the outcome of their endeavor. However, great teams (and their coaches) know that the path to success is achieved one small, well-executed step at a time. For example, some teams stall—thinking they need to have a perfect and complete product backlog written before starting a project. The perfect, complete product backlog doesn't exist. And, if it did, it could only be written once the project is finished! I advise these teams to reframe the question. These teams are trying to answer the question, “What should we build overall?” They instead need to consider, “What should we build next?”Similarly, organizations stall in their agile adoption efforts waiting for the perfect project or the perfect team of people to become available.Or they try to map out every step they'll take on an agile transition.I worry these organizations have a Gantt chart covering their agile transition hanging on a wall somewhere.As with a team trying to write a perfect product backlog, an organization waiting for perfect conditions to go agile is asking the wrong question. And now for what famed radio host Paul Harvey called “The Rest of the Story.”When Coach Hammon's big moment arrived in 2020, the Spurs ultimately lost the game. And that's OK. You don't win every game you play or make every shot you take.But you know what Coach Hammon did in 2022? She led the Las Vegas Aces to their first WNBA Championship. Then did it again the year after that, making the Aces the first WNBA team in 20 years to repeat as champions in back-to-back years.Be like Coach Hammon. Focus on the next thing that needs to be done while keeping the ultimate goal in mind. When you do, you maximize your chances of taking your own teams from good to great,Success Doesn't Happen OvernightHow 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 Future of the Scrum Master Role In 2026The Death of the Ceremony ManagerAI Won't Replace You — But It Will Replace the Version of You That Stops LearningThe Role Shifts from “Team-Level Support” to “Delivery System Architect”The Rise of the “Hybrid Delivery Leader”The End of Framework FundamentalismA New Career Ladder EmergesThe Future Scrum Master Is a Culture EngineerWhat Gets Left BehindHow 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/

Most Leadership Courses Are Broken... Mine's NotCompanies weren't asking for more mentoring , they were asking for transformation. For someone who could walk into a room, change 12 minds, and walk out with measurable impact.That's why I created a system that supports leaders at scale based on where they are now, and what potential they can grow into.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/

It's Okay To Start Again - Mental Health EpisodeAt the end of 2025, Maya felt like the year had wrung her out and left her on the floor.She was sitting alone in her car in a grocery store parking lot, hands wrapped around a coffee that had gone lukewarm an hour ago, staring at the dashboard but not really seeing it. Her phone was full of unopened messages: friends checking in, her manager asking about a missed deadline, her mother sending another “Just making sure you're okay” text.She wasn't okay.In the span of twelve months, she had watched a relationship she thought would end in marriage quietly dissolve, lost a job she'd poured herself into, and moved back into a small, echoing apartment that felt more like a storage unit for her disappointment than a home. Every time she opened social media, it seemed like everyone else was posting highlight reels: promotions, engagements, babies, book deals. She felt like the only one stuck on repeat.“I'm so behind,” she whispered to no one in particular, the words fogging up the windshield.The week between Christmas and New Year's stretched in front of her like a hallway she didn't want to walk down. One night, she sat on the floor of her living room, surrounded by half‑unpacked boxes, and opened an old notebook. On the first page, in handwriting that looked a little more hopeful, she saw a list titled: “Goals for 2020.” It was a collage of big dreams—start a business, run a half‑marathon, travel more, learn another language.Almost none of them had happened.The familiar wave of shame rose in her chest: See? You never finish what you start. Something's wrong with you. She almost closed the notebook, but something in her—small and stubborn—stopped her hand.What if, just for one night, she didn't treat this list as a report card? What if she treated it as a love letter from a younger version of herself who believed in her?Maya picked up a pen and wrote, in darker ink across the top of the page:“Begin again.”She drew a line down the middle of the paper. On the left, she wrote “Things that ended in 2025.” On the right, “Seeds I'm carrying into 2026.” Under “things that ended,” she let herself name them: the relationship, the job, the version of herself who pretended everything was fine to keep the peace. There were tears as she wrote, but there was also relief in acknowledging that some chapters had truly closed.She realized that even in a year that felt like wreckage, seeds had been planted. She'd taken a free online course in the evenings about content creation. She'd started sharing small posts about resilience and healing, just for herself, with a handful of followers who would quietly message, “I needed this.” She'd gone on evening walks to clear her head and noticed that, even on the hardest days, she always felt a little more like herself after twenty minutes under the sky.They weren't big achievements. They were gentle threads. But they were real.On New Year's Eve, instead of going out, Maya lit a candle on her kitchen counter and made herself a simple dinner. The apartment was still cluttered, and there were still unanswered emails and bills she didn't know how she'd pay yet. Nothing external had magically fixed itself.But at 11:50 p.m., she did something different. She pulled out another blank page and wrote one sentence at the top:“In 2026, I will start small and start honestly.”She chose three tiny beginnings—so small they almost felt silly.Ten minutes each morning without her phone, just breathing, journaling, or looking out the window.One honest conversation a week, where she told the truth instead of saying “I'm fine.”One piece of creative work posted every week, whether or not she thought it was perfect.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 Future of Agile in 2026 - My TOP 3 Predictions!This video WILL BE the number ONE MOST listened to episode for 2026 and beyond! Here I make three predictions about the future of Agile in 2026 and beyond. 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 Top 5 Daily Standup Podcast Episodes of 2025Poltergeist Meetings — When Meetings Throw Things - October 29, 2025 The 5 Stages of Leadership - September 30, 2025Agile Contracting Models in 2025 - June 10, 2025The 1-Minute Introduction That Makes People Remember You Forever - August 21, 2025Start With No... Why Most People Should NOT Be Managers - March 27, 2025How 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 Shipping One Thing Beats Planning TenGood processes don't look impressive.They quietly help you move forward.And when you're building real-world products,that's what actually matters.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/

Finding Your Fit as a ScrumMasterHere's something nobody told me when I started as a Scrum Master: the most important interview isn't the one where they ask you about impediment removal or sprint velocity.It's the one you have with yourself.Everyone talks about whether you're a good fit for the role. But what about whether the environment is a good fit for you?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 Day After Christmas: Carry the Light ForwardHey everyone, and welcome to today's Agile Daily Standup.If you're listening to this on the Friday after Christmas, chances are things feel… a little quieter.The presents are unwrapped.The calendars are lighter.The pace is slower.And honestly? That's not a bad thing.Because the day after Christmas gives us something rare — space.Space to breathe.Space to reflect.Space to decide what we want to carry forward instead of rushing straight back into “busy.”Christmas — no matter how you celebrate — is a reminder of something important:That the most meaningful things in life don't arrive with noise or urgency. They arrive quietly.In Agile, we talk a lot about delivery.But today is about direction.Before the year accelerates again, ask yourself three simple questions:What gave me energy this year?What drained me?And what am I ready to leave behind as we step into the new one?This isn't about resolutions. It's about intentionality.Great teams don't just plan work — they create space for learning, gratitude, and renewal.Great leaders don't just push forward — they pause long enough to make sure they're headed the right way.So today, be kind to yourself.Be patient with your team.And remember that progress doesn't always look like motion.Sometimes, progress looks like rest.As we move toward a new year, carry the best parts of this season with you — the gratitude, the generosity, the hope — and let those guide how you show up for the people around you.Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today.I'm grateful for you, for this community, and for the journey we're all on together.Until next time — stay kind, stay curious, and stay 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 Christmas Story - by V. Lee HensonMerry Christmas from the team at AgileDad. 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 Here Now - Mike CohnOne of my favorite books is one I've never completely read. It's called Be Here Now. A friend's older brother was reading it when I was 10. He let me page through his copy.The book caught my attention because it was square, an unusual shape for a book. Many of the pages inside the book were hand-lettered and illustrated.I next came across the book when I was a college freshman. I read part of it then but never finished it because it's a guide to Hinduism for Westerners, which isn't my thing.But the title of that book has always resonated with me: Be Here Now.I think the ability to be here now is something too many of us are losing. We can't just be in the moment and in the place. Everyone has to be constantly on their mobile phones. We multitask between what we should be working on and whatever else catches our eye, meanwhile listening for the assorted dings demanding attention.(I admit to having paused once even while writing this to investigate the boing of a new email arriving. But I've so far withheld the temptation to look a second time.)I witness the inability to be here now while training or working with teams. Once, during an in-person class, I was unable to make eye contact with any participant. Each was banging away on a laptop.When they asked questions, they were like, “When does the sprint master help with the project backlog?”Am I any better, though? I love music and grew up listening to the three-minute rock songs of the era. I remember listening to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as a teen. It was OK (don't judge me!) but I thought, “Who has time for a one-hour song?”Now I hit skip halfway through my favorites on Spotify.I worry about attention spans and the ability to focus. The inability to be here now must have an impact on innovation, productivity, and teamwork. I don't have a solution.I don't have ”three quick tips to be here now.” I merely want to request that we each try to be here now a bit more often, a bit longer, and a bit more intensely each day,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 Vision Should Be ActionableMost companies have a vision statement. Few have a vision that actually matters.Too often, a vision ends up as a vague slogan on a PowerPoint slide or painted on the office wall. Inspiring? Maybe. Useful? Rarely.But a real vision isn't decoration. A real vision is a service.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/

When to Synchronize SprintsSynchronizing sprints isn't about control, it's about rhythm.And knowing when to bring teams into sync is what separates “we're delivering together” from “we're just drowning together.”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/