The Liberators Network

There is a growing trend in our industry to distinguish between “Agility” and “Business Agility”. The idea here is that Agile is limited only to teams and to software and that more is needed. Many consultancy firms are now jumping into that gap with additional frameworks and models.This makes no sense to me. I think that this distinction reveals a glaring misunderstanding of the purpose of Agile. More importantly, I think that the distinction between Agility and Business Agility only muddies the waters and distracts leaders away from what it is they should be doing.We take a history tour to visit some of the precursors of Agile and learn what made them different from what came before, and why. With this historical understanding, we then revisit the distinction between business agility and agility to see if it makes sense. We also explore the notion that "Agile is only for teams" and "Agile is only for software".This episode is an opinion piece. You may agree or you may not. Either way, we hope you learn something from it.A transcript is available here (an account for Medium is necessary)Support the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Great Scrum Teams know that refinement is one of the best ways to optimize the flow of work and deliver more value to stakeholders. Refinement is the act of breaking down and clarifying work for this and upcoming Sprints. We also know this from our research with 1.200 Scrum Teams; teams that actively refine also release more frequently. And they have more satisfied stakeholders and higher morale.Sounds good! But how? It is often surprisingly hard for teams to break down large chunks of work in such a way that the smaller pieces still deliver value on their own. Often, work is broken down across technical layers (horizontal) instead of functional layers (vertical).In this podcast, we share the 10 strategies that have worked well for us, and the Scrum Teams we've been part of. Each strategy breaks work across functional layers. We give examples for each strategy and explain how they support your team and the Product Owner.  We still actively use them for our work on the Scrum Team Survey too! We apologize for the length. You can easily listen to the episode in parts though.Download the cheatsheet (it is free):https://shop.theliberators.com/collections/free-downloads/products/experiment-10-powerful-strategies-to-break-down-product-backlog-itemsGet the Powerful Questions deck:https://shop.theliberators.com/collections/scrum-teams/products/powerful-questionsRead the original post this podcast is based on:https://medium.com/the-liberators/10-powerful-strategies-for-breaking-down-user-stories-in-scrum-with-cheatsheet-2cd9aae7d0ebSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

"Professionals don't need psychological safety" is what someone recently told us. Perhaps you are on the fence about the need for psychological safety too. Or you get the point, but always struggle to make it practical. In this podcast, we explore psychological safety from a scientific perspective. And we offer many practical recommendations for what psychological safety looks like in teams and how to develop it. You can also hear some great ideas and suggestions that were generated by our growing community of patrons. Read the transcript here (includes references):https://medium.com/the-liberators/why-psychological-safety-improves-the-effectiveness-of-your-team-7592d76f3c9bFind many free do-it-yourself workshops to improve psychological safety (among other things):https://shop.theliberators.com/collections/scrum-teams/improve-continuousSupport our work too at:https://patreon.com/liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Does refinement in your team feel like a slog? Do developers go there with lead in their shoes? Many Scrum Teams struggle with refinement, and understandably so. Yet, in many ways, this is where some of the most important work happens. And some of the hardest work. In this episode, we offer a reflection on the purpose of refinement. And we offer recommendations to make the process more enjoyable and effective — many of which originate from a discussion we had with experienced Scrum Masters on the Discord server that is accessible to our patrons.Check out the transcript here:https://medium.com/the-liberators/refinement-the-mise-en-place-of-great-scrum-teams-78d7556a7952The paper we wrote with Daniel Russo is available here:https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.12439Download the free cheatsheet with 10 breakdown strategies here:https://shop.theliberators.com/products/canvas-10-powerful-strategies-to-break-down-product-backlog-itemsOr try this fully prepared do-it-yourself workshop for refinement:https://shop.theliberators.com/products/workshop-refine-tough-or-unclear-product-backlog-items-with-stakeholdersSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

The biggest challenge in Product Development is to distinguish between what the product can become one day, and what it should incrementally become first to validate critical assumptions that clear the way towards that future. This presents a major struggle for Product Owners, customers, users, and developers as they are all inclined to spend most of their time thinking about the “Largest Potential Product” instead of the “Smallest Valuable Product”. In this podcast, Christiaan talks about product discovery, minimum valuable (or viable) products and offers many ideas on how to engage in product discovery.Diagnose (free) how well your Scrum team is discovering their product:https://scrumteamsurvey.orgFind a transcript here (requires a Medium-account):https://medium.com/the-liberators/from-largest-potential-product-to-smallest-valuable-products-daa729080819Support our work:https://patreon.com/liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

How does "team cognition" make some Scrum teams more effective than others? In this podcast, we explore scientific research into team cognition and mental models. And we translate it into actionable improvements you can make to make your Scrum teams more effective.By the end of the episode, you will have learned:How team cognition is essentially the "mind of a team", with its own memory and perception of the world.What team cognition is and how substantial its influence is on the effectiveness of teams according to large-scale research effortsHow team cognition helps us understand what cross-functionality should look like for Scrum teams.What team cognition looks like for Scrum teams, and what signs tell you whether it's there or not. And if it isn't, what you can do about that.What research in this area tells us about how you can design, support, and encourage teams to develop team cognition and become high-performing.Why frequent changes to team composition are not a good idea if you want to maintain effectiveness, no matter how they are initiated.More resourcesSupport this podcast by becoming a patronRead the transcript here (a medium account is, unfortunately, necessary until it is published)Try the Scrum Team SurveyBarry Overeem and I created three do-it-yourself workshops (#1, #2, and #3) to help your team create shared goals.ReferencesButler, A. C., Chapman, J. E., Forman, E. M., & Beck, A. T. (2006). The empirical status of cognitive-behavioral therapy: a review of meta-analyses. Clinical psychology review, 26(1), 17–31.Cannon‐Bowers, J. A., & Salas, E. (2001). Reflections on shared cognition. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 22(2), 195–202.DeChurch, L. A., & Mesmer-Magnus, J. R. (2010). The cognitive underpinnings of effective teamwork: a meta-analysis. Journal of applied psychology, 95(1), 32.Kearney, E., Gebert, D., & Voelpel, S. C. (2009). When and how diversity benefits teams: The importance of team members' need for cognition. Academy of Management journal, 52(3), 581–598.Kozlowski, S. W., & Ilgen, D. R. (2006). Enhancing the effectiveness of work groups and teams. Psychological science in the public interest, 7(3), 77–124.Mathieu, J. E., Heffner, T. S., Goodwin, G. F., Salas, E., & Cannon-Bowers, J. A. (2000). The influence of shared mental models on team process and performance. Journal of applied psychology, 85(2), 273.Stout, R. J., Cannon-Bowers, J. A., & Salas, E. (2017). The role of shared mental models in developing team situational awareness: Implications for training. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems DiSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

When we started as #ScrumMaster, the thing that scared us the most was how to translate those lofty ideals into actual down-to-earth behavior. While it sounded great that #Scrum is about #empiricism”, we had no idea what that should look like with our teams, how we should behave to support that and how flexible we could be with the framework of Scrum.In this episode of our #podcast, we collected five practical insights that we think every starting Scrum Master should know, and that are inspired by mistakes I made over the years. If anything, we wish we would've realized these when we started. For this episode, we also asked our growing community of experienced Scrum practitioners on Discord for help.A transcript for this episode is available here (Medium account required, unfortunately):Here are some helpful exercise materials for starting Scrum TeamsWe designed a bunch of do-it-yourself workshops to start Scrum Master communities in your own area or organizationEnjoy!Support the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Even when we don't want to admit it, the Covid-19 pandemic changed how we work. Even after the pandemic ends, it is likely that many Scrum Teams will continue to work from home. Or at least, more often than before the pandemic hit.What is the impact of working from home on productivity and personal well-being? How can organizations support it well? And what can Scrum Masters do? We invited Daniel Russo, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science from the University of Aalborg to talk about his research that was funded by the Carlsberg foundation. During the pandemic, he and three colleagues had a unique opportunity to follow a group of developers during the early months of the pandemic. Their research gives us compelling insights into how working from home impacts productivity and well-being - often in surprising ways. It also gives us a handle on what we can do to support developers that work from home during pandemics, and hopefully also outside of pandemics.Read the entire study online here:https://www.danielrusso.org/files/2021EMSE_RemoteWork.pdfSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

This episode is all about what is impossible when you work with Scrum. Deliver a new and working version of the product every Sprint? Impossible! Give a Product Owner mandate over how to spend the product budget? Impossible! Have only one Product Owner for several Scrum Teams? Impossible!But is it really impossible? In this episode we look at how self-limiting beliefs can impede potential improvements. And how those beliefs tend to spread in organizations. At the same time, we offer you an alternative approach to investigate with your team where these beliefs came from. Or which decisions were made somewhere in the past that makes it seem impossible today.Enjoy!A transcript of this episode is available here.Support the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

This episode is all about that dreaded question: "When is it done and what will it cost?". Its also one of the most natural questions for customers and managers to ask. After all, they're either investing their own money or they will be held accountable when the product fails to return on its investment.So what can you do? In this episode, we draw from personal experience and what - after many experiments - worked for us. Will you play along in "risk management theater"? Or will you offer your customers and other stakeholders an approach that has unique benefits that they don't otherwise have? The blogpost this episode is based on can be found here (a Medium account is required):https://medium.com/the-liberators/so-when-will-it-be-done-and-how-much-will-it-cost-a49d14c61250An older - and admittedly rougher - version of the post is also available here:https://medium.com/the-liberators/the-agile-response-to-how-much-will-it-cost-and-when-will-it-be-done-86d907573871You can also support at patreon.com/liberators.Support the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

We often talk about how "Zombie Scrum" lacks frequently releases. Teams are not shipping fast. And while people often easily recognize this in their own team, what does it actually look like on the other side?In this episode, we take a close look at shipping fast. Why is it important? And how can it be turned into the competitive advantage - or asset - that it really is? We also offer some of the strategies that healthy Scrum Teams use to make releases as effortless as possible, and reduce the stress and pressure that often accompanies "big bang releases".This episode draws from material in the Zombie Scrum Survival Guide. Get your copy here:https://zombiescrum.orgYou can also find a whole bunch of do-it-yourself workshops (some free, some for a small price) to improve your Scrum here:https://shop.theliberators.com/collections/do-it-yourself-workshops-meetups-and-strings/ScrumSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

The Scrum framework exists to deliver value to stakeholders sooner. Sounds good, right? But when is something “valuable”? For something that seems so central to Scrum, it is remarkably hard for many Scrum Teams to determine what the value of the work on their Product Backlog actually us.In this episode, we offer a more fine-grained approach to understand what “value” means to your product and the items on your Product Backlog, and to start a conversation around that with your team and its stakeholders.You can read a transcript for this episode here.Or download a (free) poster of the five types here (PDF).Or get a fully-prepared string of Liberating Structures to start a conversation around value, and the five types of value, with your team and stakeholders.Support the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

How do you know that you're actually delivering value to your stakeholders? That you're responsive to their needs? And that the quality of your work is what they expect?This episode is all about value and stakeholders. We introduce a new feature for the Scrum Team Survey that allows team invite their stakeholders for their perspective. And we share a great way to involve your stakeholders in the creation of product strategies.Support the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

In today's episode, we make the connection between the Scrum Framework and continuous improvement. Few Scrum Teams start from a position where everything works smoothly. Often, you initially don't know very well who your stakeholders are, you don't have access to them or you can't release as frequently as you'd want to. So there's a lot to improve and to learn. And if that doesn't happen, you're bound to get stuck in deep Zombie Scrum.At the same time we see many organizations engage in "Agile Transitions" that promise to change from one state (e.g. waterfall-based development) to another (e.g. Agile) in a short amount of time. But an exploration of organizations that have undergone such transitions shows that stakeholders are still not involved, releases still happen very infrequently and little value is delivered to stakeholders.So we draw from two helpful perspectives - organizational learning by Chris Argyris and the force field model by Kurt Lewin - to understand how continuous improvement is vitally important to effective Scrum - and change in general - and unlikely to be rushed on by "Agile Transitions" and "mindset changes".We apologize for the sound quality here and there. The gain of our microphone was a bit too high, which means that there are a few cracks here and there. The good news is that we've learned to reduce the gain now for the next recording :)Support the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Paul Klipp and Justyna Pindel recently reviewed our new book "The Zombie Scrum Survival Guide". They also graciously invited us to talk about our book with them. The ensuing conversation was so nice, that we asked them if we could also publish it as part of our podcast.So here it is :) In it, we talk about how we've seen Zombie Scrum happen around us, how we wrote the book to help Scrum Teams and how our industry sometimes contributes to Zombie Scrum because it is so strongly focused on certificates.Follow the Agile Book Club here:https://www.agilebook.club/Get your copy of the book here:https://zombiescrum.orgOr diagnose your team for free here:https://survey.zombiescrum.orgSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

We often talk about "resistance", and how to overcome it in others. But ironically, we often create resistance ourselves.In this episode of our podcast, Christiaan shares one of his biggest lessons about change and resistance. With this in mind, we also explore how group dynamics helps us explain how we can easily create and amplify resistance through our own behavior.If you like this podcast, and our content, please consider supporting us:https://patreon.com/liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

In today's episode, we talk about self-management and self-organization. How are those concepts related. And why are incredibly both valuable and important, even now that the Scrum Guide changed its language to emphasize "self-managing Scrum Teams" instead of "self-organizing Scrum Teams"?Coincidentally, we dedicated a chapter in our book - the Zombie Scrum Survival Guide - to self-organization and self-management. In it, we make the case that the Scrum Guide always meant "self-managing" in the first place, and how those self-managing Scrum Teams enable self-organization on a larger level (the department, the organization).In this episode, we give examples of what self-management and self-organization looks like. And more importantly, how self-managing Scrum Teams act as a crowbar to increase agility and responsiveness by driving self-organization on the level of the organization.This episode features a part of one of the chapters from our book. You can get it at your favorite bookstore, or directly from us.Support the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

"Without good developers, Scrum is lipstick on a pig". Yet, a quick look on blogs, LinkedIn and popular podcasts makes it obvious that more attention goes to Scrum Masters, Product Owners and coaches than to developers. Why is that?In this episode, we share a personal story about a what contributes to a "Developer Culture". This is a culture where software craftmanship is celebrated, and developers work hard to increase quality and their skills. Without this, it will be very hard to work empirically and overcome tough technical challenges that you're likely to face.We explore eight factors that seem to contribute to a successful developer culture, at least based on our experience. If anything, it may inspire you with ideas for things to try or ways to create a similar culture in your organization.This episode is based on this blogpost (which also contains the pictures):https://medium.com/the-liberators/what-makes-a-developer-culture-e10232d0b40cYou can support the show on Patreon:https://patreon.com/liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Are you excited about the new Scrum Guide? We certainly are, if only because every version makes it more clear what Scrum is really about — which is also our mission.In this episode, we take a look at the four most significant changes and why they were made. While it is tempting to talk about all the nitty-gritty linguistic changes, we believe it is more helpful to understand the underlying patterns and how they reinforce what Scrum has always been about.You can find a transcript of this episode here:https://bit.ly/32NxfhlThe new Scrum Guide is available (as always) at:https://scrumguides.orgYou can download our updated Scrum Framework poster here:https://bit.ly/33hE5uKSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

At its core, Scrum is a framework for learning. But learning is hard when what you learn remains superficial and never challenges existing rules and beliefs. In this episode, we talk about the foundational work by theorist Chris Argyris on organizational learning. He developed a model for organizational learning that distinguishes between single- and double-loop learning. Where single-loop learning concerns itself with correcting mistakes in the actions that you take, double-loop learning takes it several steps deeper and challenges why you're even taking those actions. In our own work, we recognize that Scrum doesn't work when there is only single-loop learning. For example, many Scrum Teams struggle to find the best way to estimate their work and experiment with story points, t-shirt sizing, or functional points. But the deeper question is; why are we estimating work that we know is inherently unpredictable? What existing beliefs are making us estimate our work, that we should revisit and change?The Liberating Structure "Myth Turning" is all about double-loop learning:http://bit.ly/2JOmr9PWe developed a deck of Powerful Questions to help you challenge existing beliefs:https://bit.ly/3o6HaaSSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

It is easy to start new initiatives. And much harder to make them endure. Whether or it is a new team, a new community, or a new product, how do you create a foundation to build on?Thankfully, the Liberating Structure "Purpose to Practice" is of great help here as it gives groups five essential elements to focus on: purpose, principles, participants, structure, and practices.We've frequently used Purpose to Practice (P2P) to start new teams, communities of Scrum Masters, change initiatives, and even entire organizations. In this episode, we share how we've used P2P in our work, specifically for our growing community of patrons, and how you can use it in your own work.Read a blog post we wrote about Purpose to Practice here:http://bit.ly/2RSh65OOr try this prepared string for a Purpose-to-Practice with your team.Or download a free PDF canvas for Purpose to Practice.And we happily invite you to join our growing community of patrons and work with us to refine our Purpose to Practice together: https://patreon.com/liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

"How is it a good idea to mirror this complexity in the product with complexity in the group of people that develop this product?"Scaling Scrum is seriously hard, right? How do you work with many teams on one product? How many Product Owners should you have for one large product? How can many teams deliver a "Done" Increment every Sprint? How do you manage the increasing number of dependencies between teams? Honestly, we believe that -  in most cases -  scaling Scrum is tantamount to solving the wrong problem. And we say that irrespective of the framework you use, Nexus, LeSS, or SAFe: Scaling Scrum is a contradiction.In this episode of our podcast, we explain why. And we offer you five strategies to avoid scaling.Support the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Few teams start from a position where the Scrum Framework works like a charm from the start. Scrum is radically different from the way that teams have built products and worked with stakeholders in the past. Scrum Teams usually need to improve in many different areas, and overcome many barriers, in order to reach their goals of higher customer satisfaction. Unfortunately, we've found that many Scrum Teams struggle to improve at all. And that easily leads to Zombie Scrum: something that may look like Scrum from a distance but lacks the beating heart. In this episode, we address one common reason for this: a lack of tangible improvements.Read a transcript of this episode here:https://bit.ly/2Nl8UaFMore about 15% Solutions can be found here:http://bit.ly/2NXpIX0You can pre-order the Zombie Scrum Survival Guide here:https://zombiescrum.orgSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

How do you sell Agile to your customer?"One of our biggest customers preferred the traditional way of doing projects. This boiled down to writing a massive requirement document, estimating the hours the work, and translating that to a fixed budget. We would then set a deadline and get to work."And this is understandable. From the perspective of the customer, this gives them the guarantees on budget, date, and scope they need to sell the work internally and to their own management, who in turn demand similar guarantees.The irony of course is that, despite these guarantees, the scope inevitably changed during the work anyways. After all, those new ideas emerged if we wanted to or not. And in many cases, we simply made incorrect assumptions in the requirement document that we based our estimates on. So we had to move deadlines, request additional budget, and frequently covered overly optimistic hour estimates on our part with our own money.As a wise person once told me after a feverish attempt to sell Scrum to them: “don't sell me the hammer, sell me its benefits”. This was an important learning moment for me as I realized that I was explaining how it benefitted us, but not necessarily the customer. So what benefits does Agile offer to the customer?A transcript is available here:https://bit.ly/36IKBOBBecome a patron to support and participate in our work:https://www.patreon.com/liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Last year, we brought together 30 Scrum Masters to talk about what made their success possible. We used a string of Liberating Structures to include everyone's voice. In this episode we share the 5 most important contributors that the group identified. How are you investing in those contributors yourself?We offer many strings to explore similar questions with your team, your meetup or your community of Scrum Masters.This episode is based on this blog-post:http://bit.ly/tl-scrummastersuccessBecome a patron to support and participate in our work:https://www.patreon.com/liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

What if Scrum doesn't fit? If you work as a Scrum Master or Agile Coach, you have probably run into teams where Scrum just doesn't take off. The various Scrum Events feel like a chore, motivation is low and people complain about Scrum.One of the downsides of the popularity of the Scrum Framework is that organizations, teams, consultants, and coaches sometimes try to force Scrum onto problems it isn't designed for. And the resulting tension is often experienced by the teams, making their perceived “resistance” very understandable.In this episode of our podcast, we explore indicators of "bad fit". We also explore how "coherence" is central to the Scrum Framework. Without it, Scrum can easily feel artificial and forced. Even when that coherence isn't there now, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be there. In fact, you may find that creating more coherence makes your team many times more effective. Or you may conclude that it isn't feasible, and Scrum isn't going to fit.This episode is based on this blog-post:https://bit.ly/whenscrumdoesntfitBecome a patron to support and participate in our work:https://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

This episode is about how unreliable, nonobjective, and biased your and my thinking is. As sociologists and psychologists have long pointed out, we should develop a more skeptical and nuanced view of our own opinions.In this episode, we explore eight biases and explore how they influence our beliefs in the workplace. A bias called "regression to the mean" can easily lead management to conclude that punishment for mistakes is more effective at producing desired behavior than rewards for achievements. The "survival bias" can lead people to conclude that certain methodologies or best-practices are successful purely because they only see the successes, but never the failures. Or "illusory superiority" leads to frustration and resentment because people feel that they are contributing more than others - as we all tend to do.This episode is part of our "In-Depth" series. This means that we don't offer easy answers, but instead invite you to build a deeper understanding of how things work. Furthermore, we made an effort to dig deep into on-going scientific research. With this episode in mind, I'm sure you understand why we like Liberating Structures and Scrum so much. Or why we distrust "best practices". This extra-long episode is based on this blog-post (all references are there):https://bit.ly/30Je2NiDonate to support our work:https://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

This year has been challenging for all of us. It wasn't any different for our company, The Liberators. At the same time, seemingly insurmountable challenges are also drivers of innovation.In this personal episode, we share how we are turning the ship around. Our purpose is to liberate teams from dehumanizing and ineffective ways of organizing work by putting them in control of shaping their future.This change in direction also means saying goodbye to things that are dear to us, including the Professional Scrum Master II class, training in general, and our stewardship at Scrum.org. But we take our mission too seriously to work on it with anything less than 100% focus.Yes, this is super scary for both of us, and cause for some sleepless nights. At the same time, we believe in our mission and our community to make this work. We may fail. We may succeed - the experience will be worth it.This episode is based on this blog post:https://bit.ly/3h4OoY3Donate to support our work:https://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

"Teams make people more than people make teams."It may be a bold statement, but there is a surprising amount of scientific evidence that shows the overwhelming effect of our social environment on our behavior and performance. By understanding why it is easier to understand what makes change so difficult.In this episode of our podcast, we explore a different way to understand organizations. Rather than the dominant perspective today - to understand them as "machines" - we look at organizations as social systems. We draw from five domains of scientific research to show just how useful this perspective is, what it teaches us about change and how we can do better.This episode is part of our "In-depth"-series; a series that doesn't offer easy answers but aims to create deeper understanding. Our hope is this makes it easier to come up with your own answers, rather than having to rely on experts and consultants to tell you.This episode is based on this blog post (which includes all the references too):https://bit.ly/3lfEx4TDonate to support our work:https://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Liberating Structures are easy-to-learn, easy-to-facilitate techniques that build real engagement and involvement in groups of any size. We've been using them for a while now. One thing we've learned is that coming up with good ‘invitations' is 90% of the work. In this episode we share some of the lessons we've learned and are still learning.This episode is based on this blogpost. In the episode, we also mention this document with helpful starting stems for your invitations. We also have many examples available of strings (and invitations) we've used with the Dutch LS User Group. Donate to support our work:https://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

There is a problem with traditional learning models where experts tell people what they need to know: it doesn't work. Scientific research tells us that people don't learn from being told what they need to learn. In this episode, we explore an alternative approach called Visual Thinking Strategies. Although only one piece of the puzzle, it creates engaging learning environments by guiding groups in their own learning. And VTS is super simple; only 3 questions.When you've listened to this episode, give it a try with your own team. We're eager to learn what happened!This episode is based on this blogpost:http://bit.ly/2Quic6qDonate to support our work:https://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

What creates Zombie Scrum? One clear theme we — and many others — have found is that people use the Scrum Framework for the wrong reasons. When you ask people in a Zombie Scrum organization what they are hoping to get out of Scrum, you'll hear things like “more speed”, “more brains”, “more output” and “more efficiency”. That's very different from the actual meaning of the word “agile”. It's also very different from what the Scrum Framework is designed for. Where does this contradiction come from?In this episode, which is an excerpt from our book "The Zombie Scrum Survival Guide", we explore how the "Efficiency Mindset" that is prevalent in so many organizations can easy mess-up your work with the Scrum Framework.The blog-version is available here:https://bit.ly/3g6vS2fSign up to be notified when the book becomes available:http://bit.ly/2zrdywvFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

"That doesn't work in the real world", "Our product is too complex" and "That works only for hip startups" are some of the reasons that people offer when we ask them why they don't ship faster.In environments with Zombie Scrum, people don't understand why it's important to ship fast. When you ask them, they respond with a shrug. Or with a dismissive smile, because "that can't possibly work for a product or organization as complex as ours". For them, shipping fast is only possible for small and inconsequential products or for huge tech companies like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Etsy. Even if they'd want to, the investment would simply be too large. It's more convenient to keep batching many updates into large, infrequent releases. Honestly, this is not very different from seeing the appeal in a healthy lifestyle but refusing to do the frequent workouts to get there.But ironically, the more complex the product or its environment is, the more important it is to use release small increments to reduce the risks that are inherent to that. The reasons that people often give why they can't ship faster are ironically *exactly* the reasons why they should.In this episode, which is an excerpt from our book "The Zombie Scrum Survival Guide", we share one of the reasons why teams that suffer from Zombie Scrum often can't release as fast as they want.The blog-version is available here: https://bit.ly/2BBNV0xSign up to be notified when the book becomes available:http://bit.ly/2zrdywvFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

In this episode, we take a birds-eye view of what is happening in and around us. Technological innovations are emerging rapidly and our work is increasingly globalized, inter-connected and dependent on technology. And it seems to be accelerating: welcome to the technological Supernova! In this episode we capture two complementary perspectives on this supernova and how to survive it. We also connect it to the Scrum Framework, and how it helps us survive - and even thrive on - all this growing complexity.The transcript for this episode is available here as a blogpost:http://bit.ly/35tTsQ4Donate to support our work:https://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

“Self-organization is the process by which spontaneous order arises from something that is initially disorganized.”That sounds very deep, but what does it mean in practice? For such a popular topic as "self-organization", its often remarkably unclear what it means or how to make it happen. In this episode, we explore how Liberating Structures are effectively instruments for self-organization in teams and organizations. We also offer five tips that worked for us.The transcript for this episode is available here as a blogpost:https://bit.ly/3chbkAROur next 2-day Immersion Workshop takes place on November 18 & 19 (Amsterdam):http://bit.ly/2UMk6xYDonate to support our work:https://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

“Stakeholders are less satisfied, less value is delivered and team morale is markedly lower when management hardly interacts with the teams”This is one finding from the 2.000+ teams that have participated to date in our Zombie Scrum Survey. In this episode, we explore the improvements we made to the survey based on the data we collected to data. We also shared other preliminary findings.This episode is based on this blogpost:https://bit.ly/2YaNimiDonate to support our work:https://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Does your Scrum Team use Sprint Goals? If not, why? Perhaps your team finds it hard to identify a goal for the Sprint out of the patchwork of items on the Sprint Backlog? Or perhaps your Product Owner doesn't know how to balance the requests from many different groups of stakeholders?In this episode, we bust one of the most persistent myths in Scrum; the notion that Sprint Goals are optional in Scrum. That they are nice-to-have, but hardly ever practically possible. We will show that the reverse is true. It is very hard, maybe even impossible, to do Scrum well when you don't have Sprint Goals.This episode is based on this blog-post (where you can find the other things we reference):http://bit.ly/2kZhh0VDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

A simple way to understand Scrum would be to emphasize that its all about releasing faster and sooner. But what if everything that is released isn't valuable or useful? How beneficial is Scrum then? In this episode, we explore the curious case of the missing customer in Scrum. It's a case we often see in the Scrum Teams we work with. Even the Scrum Guide itself makes no direct mention of 'users' and 'customers'. What might be going on here?This episode is based on this blogpost:http://bit.ly/2Ft67buDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

A good start for a new Scrum Team is really half the work. This is where you can start building the psychological safety and self-organizing skills that are so vital to the further success.In this episode we share our approach to starting new Scrum Teams. And we offer 10 practical things you can do with a new team. Or even with teams that have been going on for a while, but can use a refresher.This episode is based on this blog-post (where you can find the posters and examples):http://bit.ly/2PBowJwDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

"By indulging in their own desire to 'try new structures' or dazzle the group with amazing riffs and mashups of Liberating Structures, facilitators may actually be preventing users from becoming skilled at them themselves.This episode is a reflection on Liberating Structures, and in particular, an insight that we developed during the Liberating Structures Learning Gathering in 2019 in Hamburg.Instead of facilitation methods, Liberating Structures are more like communication skills. And just like learning how to give feedback, ask questions and actively listen, it takes time for groups to become comfortable with Liberating Structures. So instead of falling into the trap of making it more about the facilitator, start simple, practice, and repeat.This episode is based on this blogpost:http://bit.ly/36x1kSfDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Almost everybody sees the value of Sprint Goals. But most teams struggle with them nonetheless. In this short episode, we offer 10 Powerful Questions that we've found to be very helpful. Where some of the questions focus on identifying the general direction for the Sprint Goal, others are more about selecting the work that is needed for that. Or narrowing down to the Sprint to what is possible.This episode is based on this blogpost:http://bit.ly/2w6M3KmDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

When you work in a team or with others, you'll recognize that conflict is a natural part of our work with others. Where some conflicts are visible, most remain below the surface and manifest only as tension and frustration. They happen, regardless of our intentions and experience.There are different ways to deal with conflict. The Dual Concern Model for Conflict is a helpful way to look at this. It distinguishes five distinct styles that people (can) use to navigate conflict. But not all styles are equally effective.In this episode we explore the five styles as well as what scientific research says about their effectiveness. And as the cherry on top, we share how Liberating Structures can help.You can read the original blogpost here:http://bit.ly/2TLmdmZSign up for our upcoming 'Addressing the Elephant'-workshop here:http://bit.ly/2JVSHcgFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Conflicts are fascinating. They are a natural part of working with other people and can drain significant amounts of energy way from our work together. Yet, for something that is so natural, we're often pretty bad at recognizing conflicts when they happen. For most us, 'conflicts' are those moments when people throw with doors, raise their voices or openly express their disagreement. But more often than not, conflict happens entirely below the surface. These are the "Elephants" that need to be addressed.In this episode, we explore different types of "elephants" and our beliefs about conflict in general. We also share some of our own experiences, as well as what scientific research tells us.Read the blogpost here:http://bit.ly/2LSD99gSign up for the next 'Addressing the Elephant'-workshop here:http://bit.ly/2JVSHcgFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

What is the Scrum Framework? How does it work? What is its purpose? And how do all these roles, events and artifacts work together?This episode of our podcast is for everyone who wants to learn what Scrum is, or wants to refresh their understanding. Recently, we noticed that we don't have an episode dedicated to explaining the Scrum Framework itself. We often touch on elements or bust 'myths' about it, but we never talk about the whole. In part, this is because there is an excellent official Scrum Guide at scrumguides.org. But there is often value in hearing it explained in other words and with different metaphors. Plus, we often do this as part of our work as stewards and Professional Scrum Trainers for Scrum.org.We created this content as part of our upcoming book, the Zombie Scrum Survival Guide. In it, we use the tongue-in-cheek metaphor of Zombie Scrum to understand Scrum from the perspective of what it absolutely shouldn't be (but often is): Zombie Scrum. It contains over 40 helpful experiments to make Scrum work and explains both Scrum, and why it sometimes turns into Zombie Scrum.The official Scrum Guide:https://scrumguides.orgFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Technical debt, or the accumulation of low-quality code, seems to be inevitable when you create software. It is one of the biggest frustrations and demotivators of Development Teams. They are often acutely aware of technical debt, but feel powerless and unable to explain why technical debt should be a priority. Instead, they feel that ‘business keeps adding more features over stabilizing the foundation'.In this episode we offer four practical tips on how to make technical debt transparent and how to help ‘business' make a better trade-off between code quality and new features.This episode is based on this blogpost:http://bit.ly/2T1jqYDDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

One of our patrons, Chris Davies, shares with us a challenge that he and his team are facing. What should you do when your team is unable to deliver done and working software within a Sprint? When is it okay to lengthen a Sprint? And what considerations come into play.In this episode we use the Liberating Structure "Troika Consulting" to offer help. In true Troika-fashion, Chris first shares his challenge. We then explore the challenge with Chris with some open-ended questions. Then, we start exchanging ideas, suggestions and questions for 10 minutes while Chris listens. Afterwards, Chris shares some of his takeaways. Although our ideas are based on many assumptions, the idea of Troika is that simply listening to other people talk about your challenge can already generate ideas that you haven't considered before. Learn more about Troika Consulting here.Have a challenge for us?If you have a challenge you are facing, and you'd like to hear our perspectives through Troika Consulting, let us know. You can email us at info@theliberators.com or connect wit us through other means.Donate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Recently, we had the huge pleasure of participating in an hour-long episode of The Agile Wire by Jeff Bubolz and Jeff Maleski. Its basically just one hour of us talking about what we care about the most, what we've learned through our work with Scrum Teams and what can is made possible when teams work empirically. We also share a lot of our mistakes (and had a good laugh). But we also share some of the success stories we've experienced.A common theme throughout the episode is how our learning journeys - and that of our community as a whole - are about uncovering better ways to work together. Practices that seemed like a good idea in the past, may not do so in hindsight. And that's okay; it shows that we're learning - individually and as a community.Check out the podcast The Agile Wire here:https://www.theagilewire.comDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

The Scrum Framework urges teams to involve stakeholders. But many Scrum Teams struggle to do so. For some, involving one or two internal stakeholders seems plenty. For others, stakeholders can only be involved when the entire product is done.In a previous episode, we described one of the symptoms that let you know that your stakeholders are not adequately involved. This article explores the main cause behind this zombified interaction.Want to get your hands on our book when we publish it? Sign up here:http://bit.ly/2zrdywvYou can also read the accompanying blog post here (all sources are in there as well):http://bit.ly/38vmHUxDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

In this episode we make a bold argument: stop using separate environments for development, testing, acceptance, and production - commonly called DTAP. Why? Because DTAP-pipelines create queues and accumulate all sorts of waste. Not only does this cost you a lot in terms of money and effort, they also make it harder to respond quickly to changing needs and emerging issues.In this episode, we explore what the problem with DTAP-pipelines is. We also offer a number of alternative strategies that allow you to deploy faster AND with higher quality and reliability. You can also read the accompanying blog post here (all sources are in there as well):http://bit.ly/35vPVAzDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

In the past, we often corrected how people spoke about work. Whenever someone mentioned “project”, we would correct it to “product”. With a pedantic tone, we would explain that “we're building a product here, not doing a project” (with an implicit “you silly”). People who are passionate about Scrum usually don't love projects. They are believed to be the opposite to what we're trying to do with the Scrum Framework. But is that so?A reality is that most organizations are used to working with projects. So should we start a crusade to banish the word "project" from the lexicon? In this episode, we explore the myth that you cannot do projects with Scrum. Instead, we offer a more constructive perspective that is all about meeting people where they are instead of where you want them to be.Let us know what you think in the comments. Or send an email to info@theliberators.com.Read the original blogpost here:http://bit.ly/2uvzZCcDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)

Our brains have not evolved for complex work. Our memory is limited. We make decisions based on heuristics instead of a full rational analysis of all the facts. And that is exactly why the Scrum Framework works so well: it helps us think by Sprinting.In this longer-than-usual episode of our podcast, we explore how scientific insights from cybernetics, cognitive psychology and human factors help us understand why the Scrum Framework is better for navigating complex problems than plan-based approaches.You can also read the accompanying blogpost here (all sources are in there as well):http://bit.ly/2tHbfWvDonate to support our workhttps://bit.ly/supportheliberatorsFollow us on Medium:https://medium.com/the-liberatorsSupport the show (https://bit.ly/supportheliberators)