Podcasts about Agile

Scott Smith: Using MIRO to Build a Living Archive of Learning Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "We're in a servant leadership role. So, ask: is the team thriving? That's a huge indication of success." - Scott Smith   For Scott, success as a Scrum Master isn't measured by velocity charts or burn-down graphs—it's measured by whether the people are thriving. This includes everyone: the development team and the Product Owner.  As a servant leader, Scott's focus is on creating conditions where teams can flourish, and he has practical ways to gauge that health. Scott does a light touch check on a regular basis and a deeper assessment quarterly. Mid-sprint, he conducts what he calls a "vibe" check—a quick pulse to understand how people are feeling and what they need. During quarterly planning, the team retrospects and celebrates achievements from the past quarter, keeping and tracking actions to ensure continuous improvement isn't just talked about but lived. Scott's approach recognizes that success is both about the work being done and the people doing it. When teams feel supported, heard, and valued, the work naturally flows better. This people-first perspective defines what great servant leadership looks like in practice.   Self-reflection Question: How often do you check in on whether your team is truly thriving, and what specific indicators tell you they are? Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: MIRO as a Living History Museum "Use the multiple retros in the MIRO board as a shared history museum for the team." - Scott Smith   Scott leverages MIRO not just as a tool for running retrospectives but as a living archive of team learning and growth. He uses MIROVERSE templates to bring diversity to retrospective conversations, exploring the vast library of pre-built formats that offer themed and structured approaches to reflection. The magic happens when Scott treats each retrospective board not as a disposable artifact but as part of the team's shared history museum.  Over time, the accumulation of retrospective boards tells the story of the team's journey—what they struggled with, what they celebrated, what actions they took, and how they evolved. This approach transforms retrospectives from isolated events into a continuous narrative of improvement. Teams can look back at previous retros to see patterns, track whether actions were completed, and recognize how far they've come. MIRO becomes both the canvas for current reflection and the archive of collective learning, making improvement visible and tangible across time.   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

How often do you catch yourself wishing you could keep up, lead better, or just breathe for a minute, only to feel like the world's changing too fast, and you're already behind? If you nodded along, you are SO not alone. Pete Van Overwalle, has coached leaders through all kinds of change, from big corporate shifts to building businesses from scratch. Did you know your adaptability intelligence (AQ) may be the key factor that keeps your people focused on possibility instead of just playing catch-up in times of crisis? We're tackling why adaptability matters right now more than ever, and what gets in the way of leaders who know it's important but "just don't have time." You'll walk away knowing the 3 markers of true adaptability, how to measure and build your own adaptability, plus fun, real-world strategies like integrating learning into your daily work and tapping into the power of play. By the end of this episode, you won't just understand your relationship with change, you'll be equipped to strengthen your adaptability, resilience, and confidence, no matter what challenges come your way.   Chapter Highlights (00:00) How Leaders Fall Behind Without Time to Learn: Addressing fears about keeping up with constant change (02:18) Strategies for Integrating Leadership Development Into Daily Work: Building learning into your routine (05:10) Why Adaptability is the Ultimate Leadership Skill: Pete's journey and what every leader needs right now (07:40) Adaptability Quotient Explained: What is the Adaptability Quotient (AQ) and why does it matter as much as IQ and EQ (12:13) The Three Markers of Real Adaptability: How they work together (14:18) Do Leaders Overestimate Their Own Adaptability? The risk of blind spots and assessment tips (17:29) Proven Strategies to Create Space for Inner Work (19:03) The Power of Play in Learning and Leadership: How using play boosts memory, engagement, and teamwork (22:53) How To Assess and Improve Your Own AQ: Tangible steps to measure and grow your adaptability (26:27) Agile vs. Adaptable Leadership: Understanding the crucial difference (27:31) Mindset, Grit, Resilience, and Unlearning: Key traits and habits for thriving in disruption (32:22) Final Empowering Message: Keep calm, adapt on, what changes for you and your team   Connect with Pete van Overwalle https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-vanoverwalle/ https://omni-tp.com/   About Andrea Butcher Andrea Butcher is a visionary business leader, executive coach, and keynote speaker—she empowers leaders to gain clarity through the chaos by being MORE of who they already are. Her experiences—serving as CEO, leading at an executive level, and working in and leading global teams—make her uniquely qualified to support leadership and business success. She hosts the popular leadership podcast, Being [at Work] with a global audience of over 600,000 listeners and is the author of The Power in the Pivot (Red Thread Publishing 2022) and HR Kit for Dummies (Wiley 2023).   Connect with Andrea https://www.abundantempowerment.com/ Connect with Andrea Butcher on LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leaderdevelopmentcoach/   Abundant Empowerment Upcoming Events https://www.abundantempowerment.com/events            

Live from the iconic Venetian in Las Vegas, we're rolling out an exclusive mini-series dedicated to AWS re:Invent 2025!Tune in as we sit down with AWS visionaries and take the pulse of the industry on everything shaping the future, Cloud innovation, GenAI, Agents, and the hottest trends making waves.And because what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas, we'll spill the latest news, insider buzz, and a little Strip-side gossip to keep things spicy. Dave, Esmee, and Rob kick off their conversation with Tanuja Randery, Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA), diving into cloud innovation and the call to re:Accelerate Europe. TLDR00:49 – Introduction to Tanuja Randery03:29 – Keynote highlights with Tanuja and a deep-dive conversation31:00 – Imaginary tech and Star Trek GuestTanuja Randery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanuja-randery/ HostsDave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Live from the iconic Venetian in Las Vegas, we're rolling out an exclusive mini-series dedicated to AWS re:Invent 2025!Tune in as we sit down with AWS visionaries and take the pulse of the industry on everything shaping the future, Cloud innovation, GenAI, Agents, and the hottest trends making waves.And because what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas, we'll spill the latest news, insider buzz, and a little Strip-side gossip to keep things spicy.Dave, Esmee, and Rob bring a double-feature conversation on industry innovation—first with Rob Boetticher, Global Technology Leader for Automotive and Manufacturing, followed by Howard Gefen, GM of the Energy and Utilities Industry Business Unit at AWS. TLDR00:42 – Rob Boetticher & Howard Gefen introduced02:00 – Rob's keynote highlights07:52 –  The future of automotive innovation with Rob23:32 – Tech fiction examples25:59 – Howard Gefen introduced28:00 – Howard's keynote highlights31:04 – Howard on the future of Energy and Utilities50:14 – Tech fiction examples GuestRob Boetticher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-boetticher/Howard Gefen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hgefen/ HostsDave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Scott Smith: Building a Coaching Service Where Survey Scores Become Living Improvement Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Success is about feedback from coaching clients." - Scott Smith   Scott is tackling one of the most challenging aspects of organizational transformation: turning annual survey results into continuous improvement. Working with a domain of about 30 people, Scott is exploring how to create a coaching service that doesn't just react to once-a-year data but actively drives ongoing growth. The typical pattern in many organizations is familiar—conduct an annual survey, review the scores, maybe have a few discussions, and then wait another year. Scott is experimenting with a different approach.  He's setting up a coaching service that focuses on real-time feedback from the people being coached, making improvement a living practice rather than an annual event. The strategy starts with a pilot, testing the concept before scaling across the entire domain. Scott's measure of success is pragmatic and human-centered: feedback from coaching clients. Not abstract metrics or theoretical frameworks, but whether the people receiving coaching find value in what's being offered.  This approach reflects a fundamental principle of Agile coaching—start small, experiment, gather feedback, and iterate based on what actually works for the people involved. Scott is building improvement infrastructure that puts continuous learning at the center, transforming how organizations think about growth from an annual checkbox into an ongoing conversation.   Self-reflection Question: If you were to implement a coaching service in your organization, how would you measure its success beyond traditional survey scores?   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

In this episode, I was lucky enough to interview Joel Montvelisky, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of PractiTest.Joel shares his unlikely journey from Costa Rica to the world of software testing. He talks about becoming a Cowboys fan in the 1970s, stumbling into QA because it paid slightly better than bartending, and eventually discovering that testing was far more than bug hunting—it was about improving products, reducing risk, and helping teams release with confidence. He reflects on the evolution of QA from the dot-com era to modern Agile and DevOps practices, the absence of formal QA education, and how conferences and early industry leaders helped him realize that testing is, in fact, a real profession with deep methodology and purpose.Joel also shares the origin story of PractiTest, born from a gap he saw between enterprise tools like Quality Center and teams struggling to manage testing with spreadsheets. He explains how the company's very first customer found them before they even had a way to accept payments, how founder-led sales carried them for years, and why meaningful testing requires both intention and mindfulness—something he practices personally to stay focused as someone diagnosed with ADHD later in life. Hear how Joel Montvelisky turned unexpected beginnings into a career shaping the future of QA in this episode of The First Customer!Guest Info:PractiTesthttps://www.practitest.com/Joel Montvelisky's LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/joelm3/Connect with Jay on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jayaigner/The First Customer Youtube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/@thefirstcustomerpodcastThe First Customer podcast websitehttps://www.firstcustomerpodcast.comFollow The First Customer on LinkedInhttp://www.linkedin.com/company/the-first-customer-podcast/

Are You Protecting Your Team Against the Right Thing? - Mike CohnA lot has been written and said about the responsibility of a Scrum Master to protect the team.Examples of protecting the team typically involve running interference with well-meaning but overzealous product owners, stakeholders, and managers. Teams run into trouble all the time from people who want it all now or who keep adding more work in the middle or a sprint. Scrum Masters keep all that noise away so that the team can focus on delivery.But if you are only focused on problems coming from squeaky wheels, you're missing one of the biggest dangers out there: complacency.Agile is about continually getting better. I don't care how good a team is today; if they aren't better a year from now, they're not agile.Complacency can creep in when a team sees some initial improvement from adopting an agile approach. Team members will notice how improved they are and think that's enough.But there's almost always room for further improvement.Some teams become complacent about their process and stop looking for ways to deliver more value each iteration. Still other teams become complacent in seeking out new engineering practices that could make the team even better.Protect your team from complacency by setting high expectations and encouraging the team to set even higher expectations of their own performance.Teams that refuse to settle for the status quo are teams that advance 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/

Live from the iconic Venetian in Las Vegas, we're rolling out an exclusive mini-series dedicated to AWS re:Invent 2025!Tune in as we sit down with AWS visionaries and take the pulse of the industry on everything shaping the future, Cloud innovation, GenAI, Agents, and the hottest trends making waves. And because what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas, we'll spill the latest news, insider buzz, and a little Strip-side gossip to keep things spicy. Dave, Esmee, and Rob start their conversation with Chandra Pinapala, Director Global Strategic Partners, to explore why strong partnerships are essential for success in Cloud and AI. TLDR00:40 – Back in Las Vegas with highlights from the AWS re:Invent 2025 keynote12:07 – Meet Chandra Pinapala and dive deep into the conversation35:10 – A playful leap into the world of fiction GuestChandra Pinapala: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandrapinapala/ HostsDave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Live from the iconic Venetian in Las Vegas, we're rolling out an exclusive mini-series dedicated to AWS re:Invent 2025!Tune in as we sit down with AWS visionaries and take the pulse of the industry on everything shaping the future, Cloud innovation, GenAI, Agents, and the hottest trends making waves.And because what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas, we'll spill the latest news, insider buzz, and a little Strip-side gossip to keep things spicy. Dave, Esmee, and Rob continue their conversation with Tim Murnin, Head of Industry & Partner Strategy at AWS, exploring the evolving role of the CIO, adoption delays, and how trends vary across different sectors. TLDR00:36 – Welcome back with Tim Murnin and the team's highlights from the AWS re:Invent 2025 keynote08:04 – In-depth conversation with Tim, exploring key insights32:05 – Where fact meets fiction, including a look at the flying carGuestTim Murnin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmurnin/ HostsDave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini

In this Mob Mentality Show episode, we sit down with Abid Qureshi for a candid and eye-opening look at what Agile Software Development was meant to be versus what the industry turned it into. If you've ever wondered why “Agile” feels bloated today, why teams still struggle to adapt quickly, or why universities are still teaching outdated models like Waterfall, this conversation will hit home. Abid shares his perspective on why the original movement focused on lightweight methods, experimentation, and uncovering better ways of developing software. He explains how the software industry drifted toward heavyweight processes and off-the-shelf frameworks, and what gets lost when organizations treat Agile as a set of fixed best practices (independent of a code context) instead of an ever evolving software craft. He also challenges long-held assumptions about technical excellence, design, and the true sources of agility in modern software development. We dig into: - The contrast between early agile software development and what “Agile” represents today. - Why the title “Agile Manifesto” is misleading and what the document was actually about. - How advances in technology, object-oriented programming, automated testing, and continuous integration made genuine agility possible. - Why real adaptability comes from reducing the cost of change, not adding more process. - The danger of scaling up bureaucracy instead of scaling down and improving engineering practices. - How non-technical contributors sometimes unlock unconventional, high-value ideas that technical experts overlook. - Why many higher education programs still teach waterfall-style thinking and how that hurts new developers entering the industry. - The missed opportunity for universities to lead innovation in software development instead of echoing outdated industry norms. If you care about XP, Lean thinking, software craftsmanship, technical excellence, or getting back to the heart of agility, this episode offers a practical and refreshing reset. Abid's stories and insights challenge the assumptions that hold teams back and point toward a more grounded, engineering-driven approach to modern software development. Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/nJI-veSJdkQ  

Scott Smith: Why Great Scrum Masters Create Space for Breaks Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Think of the people involved. Put yourself in the shoes of the other." - Scott Smith   Scott found himself in the middle of rising tension as voices escalated between the Product Owner and the development team. The PO was harsh, emotions were running high, and the conflict was intensifying with each exchange. In that moment, Scott knew he had to act.  He stepped in with a simple but powerful reminder: "We're on the same team." That pause—that momentary break—allowed everyone to step back and reset. Both the PO and the team members later thanked Scott for his intervention, acknowledging they needed that space to cool down and refocus on their shared outcome.  Scott's approach centers on empathy and perspective-taking. He emphasizes thinking about the people involved and putting yourself in their shoes. When tensions rise, sometimes the most valuable contribution a Scrum Master can make is creating space for a break, reminding everyone of the shared goal, and helping teams focus on the outcome rather than the conflict. It's not about taking sides—it's about serving the team by being the calm presence that brings everyone back to what matters most.   Self-reflection Question: When you witness conflict between team members or between the team and Product Owner, do you tend to jump in immediately or create space for the parties to find common ground themselves? Featured Book of the Week: An Ex-Manager Who Believed "It was about having someone who believed in me." - Scott Smith   Scott's most influential "book" isn't printed on pages—it's a person. After spending 10 years as a Business Analyst, Scott decided to take the Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) course and look for a Scrum Master position. That transition wasn't just about skills or certification; it was about having an ex-manager who inspired him to chase his goals and truly believed in him. This person gave Scott the confidence to make a significant career pivot, demonstrating that sometimes the most powerful catalyst for growth is someone who sees your potential before you fully recognize it yourself. Scott's story reminds us that great leadership isn't just about managing tasks—it's about inspiring people to reach for goals they might not have pursued alone. The belief and encouragement of a single person can change the trajectory of someone's entire career.   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Welcome to another episode of Our Agile Tales, Navigating World Crises: The Agile-Law-AI Alliance in Action!In this continuation of our conversation with Ondřej Dvořák, CEO of AgiLawyer and COPS Solutions, we go deeper into how you actually run and scale an agile, cross-border legal-aid initiative in the middle of a war. If the first episode was about launching Linking Help, this one is about surviving the scale-up.Ondřej walks us through the messy, very human side of scaling legal aid for Ukrainian refugees: from dealing with thousands of requests in a language he didn't speak, to building a “clearing desk” and help desk function led by Ukrainian lawyers, to teaching volunteer lawyers across multiple countries how to work in a pull-based, Kanban system when they're used to command-and-control and assigned work.We explore how culture and ways of working showed up in very concrete ways - why France “just got it” from day one, while countries like Romania needed more support and education before becoming top performers. Ondřej talks about how simplifying the Kanban system (fewer columns, fewer concepts, one clear task: connect the person to a lawyer) was crucial to onboarding busy legal professionals quickly in a crisis.We also dig into scaling patterns: how they expanded country by country, used “early adopter” lawyers to grow local networks, and centralized the help desk while keeping case work decentralized. From there, the conversation shifts to constraints: the difficulty of fundraising for legal aid (which is hard to “picture”), differences in how pro bono is treated across jurisdictions, and the legal and ethical challenges of using AI to support legal work, especially questions of accountability and liability when AI-generated guidance might be wrong.If you're interested in how Agile, Kanban, and crisis-driven decision-making play out in the real world, across borders, cultures, and regulatory systems, then this episode is a rich case study in making agility practical, humane, and scalable beyond software.Episode Outline00:00 Introduction & recap of Part 101:05 The language barrier: Ukrainian requests and the need for a “clearing desk”07:58 Designing the help desk workflow10:45 Teaching lawyers a new way of working: pull vs. command-and-control13:12 Culture in action: why France “just worked” and Romania needed more coaching16:00 Simplifying Kanban for legal work18:48 Scaling country by country: early adopters, bar associations, and building local communities22:10 Centralized help desk, decentralized service: funding, hiring Ukrainian students, and managing demand24:55 Business model and funding constraints: the challenge of raising money for legal aid26:10 Legal and AI constraints: pro bono differences, AI-assisted legal opinions, and accountability28:30 Reflections on crisis as a catalyst and the future of global, AI-supported legal aid29:07 ConclusionAbout Ondrej DvorakOndřej is the co-founder of Linking Help, a nonprofit that mobilized legal aid for Ukrainian refugees using Scrum and Kanban to coordinate real-time support. It's a powerful story of how agility can make a real difference in humanitarian crises—far beyond the domain of business. Andre's work shows how Agile thinking can help even the most traditional sectors become more humane, responsive, and resilient. You can follow Ondřej on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ondrej-dvorak-agile/Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about

Many teams have a Notion page full of prompts. Very few have real, repeatable AI workflows. In this episode, host Susan Diaz and product/go-to-market leader Jason Dea dig into how to move from playing with prompts to designing workflows, building tiny specialist agents, and avoiding a new wave of shadow AI inside organizations. Susan is joined by venture studio and SaaS veteran Jason Dea from Coru Ventures in Toronto. They unpack why AI is not a magic wand or a single feature, but an enabling technology that only delivers value when it's wired into actual workflows. Jason shares his "swarm of bumblebees" metaphor for AI, how he builds small specialist agents to clone his own work style, and why enterprises are about to repeat the mistakes of shadow IT if they don't get serious about orchestration and governance. They close by talking about leaders using AI in their own day-to-day work, and Jason's personal experiments with family apps, coding, and even a butterfly-catching game for his daughter. Key takeaways Prompts ≠ workflows. Collecting prompts in a shared doc feels productive. But until you map the 8–10 steps of a job and decide where AI fits, you're just doing experiments, not transformation. AI is not a magic one-shot. It's an enabling technology. The real gains come when you see your work as a chain of small tasks and let AI take over the repetitive, boring, or "toil" links in that chain. Think "swarm of bumblebees." You are the queen bee. AI is a swarm of tiny worker bees, each doing one specific task very well (emails, slides, requirements, research), not one mega-agent doing everything. Documenting workflows doesn't have to be fancy. A workflow is just "tell me the 10 steps." Start with the human sequence. Tools come second. Once it's visible, the friction points where AI can help become obvious. Shadow IT is turning into shadow AI. Cheap, bolt-on AI features and swipe-a-card tools make it easy for every team to spin up their own stack. Without orchestration, you recreate silos, risk, and tool sprawl at AI speed. IT should govern, not own everything. Governance, security, and guardrails matter. But AI also democratises small bits of "coding" and automation, letting non-technical teams build more, faster—if they have guidance. Leaders need hands-on literacy. The fastest way out of the hype is to use AI yourself for your own toil. Drafting emails. Planning. Decomposing big tasks. You get more realistic about what it can and cannot do. AI is an "unstuck" tool in work and life. From relearning to code, to building tiny family apps, to cataloguing knick-knacks and designing games for kids, AI opens up projects that were unrealistic even five years ago. Episode highlights [00:01] Jason's background in startups, SaaS, product, and go-to-market, and his role at Coru Ventures. [02:00] Where we are on the Gartner hype cycle and why the trough of disillusionment is inevitable and useful. [04:40] Why some people can't imagine life before ChatGPT—and why that's not true for everyone inside organisations. [05:50] Mapping work as a sequence of steps instead of hunting for a single "magic" AI prompt. [08:01] The "swarm of bumblebees" metaphor: you as the queen, AI as many small worker-bee agents. [09:59] How to define a workflow in plain language: "tell me the 10 steps," tools aside. [11:00] Paperwork and OCR as a classic example of where generative AI finally unlocks messy, grey-area tasks. [13:50] Using AI first to remove the tasks you hate and identify the links you should outsource to machines. [15:20] Jason's "digital clone" AIs trained on his own content and patterns. [19:00] Building multiple mini-AIs: one for social posts, one for slide decks, one for product requirements. [21:10] Bolt-on AI features everywhere + messy workflows = amplified confusion and risk. [22:10] From shadow IT to shadow AI: why orchestration and shared understanding of workflows is critical. [24:40] Startups' speed vs enterprises' risk aversion, and what each can learn from the other. [27:10] Why IT should set guardrails while letting departments experiment and build more on their own. [30:10] Jason's advice to leaders: use AI yourself to see where it really helps and what it really takes. [36:00] Personal-life AI: relearning to code, family apps, cataloguing home items, and a butterfly game for his daughter. [38:00] Susan's idea: vibe-coding a family recipe app as a way to preserve memories and workflows. If your organization has a folder full of prompts but no clear AI workflows, this episode is your sign to pause and rethink. Share it with: The person who keeps buying new AI tools. The leader who thinks "IT will figure it out". The teammate who's already acting like the queen bee and quietly building their own swarm. Then ask as a team: "Where are our 10-step workflows, and which links should really be done by AI?" Connect with Susan Diaz on LinkedIn to get a conversation started. Agile teams move fast. Grab our 10 AI Deep Research Prompts to see how proven frameworks can unlock clarity in hours, not months. Find the prompt pack here.

Scott Smith: The Spotlight Failure That Taught a Silent Lesson About Recognition Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Not everybody enjoys the limelight and being called out, even for great work." - Scott Smith   Scott was facilitating a multi-squad showcase with over 100 participants, and everything seemed to be going perfectly. Each squad had their five-minute slot to share achievements from the sprint, and Scott was coordinating the entire event. When one particular team member delivered what Scott considered fantastic work, he couldn't help but publicly recognize them during the introduction.  It seemed like the perfect moment to celebrate excellence in front of the entire organization. But then his phone rang. The individual he had praised was unhappy—really unhappy. What Scott learned in that moment transformed his approach to recognition forever. The person was quiet, introverted, and conservative by nature.  Being called out without prior notice or permission in front of 100+ people wasn't a reward—it was uncomfortable and unwelcome. Scott discovered that even positive recognition requires consent and awareness of individual preferences. Some people thrive in the spotlight, while others prefer their contributions to be acknowledged privately. The relationship continued well afterward, but the lesson stuck: check in with individuals before publicly recognizing them, understanding that great coaching means respecting how people want to be celebrated, not just that they should be celebrated.   Self-reflection Question: How do you currently recognize team members' achievements, and have you asked each person how they prefer to be acknowledged for their contributions?   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

What happens when you've built an amazing team and then have to leave? Bob Galen and Josh Anderson explore the guilt, emotion, and complexity of leadership transitions. Learn why good leaders struggle most with leaving while bad leaders walk away without a second thought. Josh shares his gut-wrenching experience leaving Dude Solutions, Bob discusses how to maintain relationships through transitions, and both hosts reframe departure around legacy and the coaching tree concept. If leaving your team hurts, you probably did it right. Essential listening for any leader facing a career transition. Stay Connected and Informed with Our NewslettersJosh Anderson's "Leadership Lighthouse"Dive deeper into the world of Agile leadership and management with Josh Anderson's "Leadership Lighthouse." This bi-weekly newsletter offers insights, tips, and personal stories to help you navigate the complexities of leadership in today's fast-paced tech environment. Whether you're a new manager or a seasoned leader, you'll find valuable guidance and practical advice to enhance your leadership skills. Subscribe to "Leadership Lighthouse" for the latest articles and exclusive content right to your inbox.Subscribe hereBob Galen's "Agile Moose"Bob Galen's "Agile Moose" is a must-read for anyone interested in Agile practices, team dynamics, and personal growth within the tech industry. The newsletter features in-depth analysis, case studies, and actionable tips to help you excel in your Agile journey. Bob brings his extensive experience and thoughtful perspectives directly to you, covering everything from foundational Agile concepts to advanced techniques. Join a community of Agile enthusiasts and practitioners by subscribing to "Agile Moose."Subscribe hereDo More Than Listen:We publish video versions of every episode and post them on our YouTube page.Help Us Spread The Word: Love our content? Help us out by sharing on social media, rating our podcast/episodes on iTunes, or by giving to our Patreon campaign. Every time you give, in any way, you empower our mission of helping as many agilists as possible. Thanks for sharing!

Most enterprises don't have an AI problem. They have a literacy problem. In this episode, host Susan Diaz breaks down the "AI literacy divide" inside organizations, why it quietly creates haves and have-nots, and what baseline literacy actually looks like in practice. AI literacy should be treated the same way we treat financial or health literacy - as a non-optional, minimum standard for everyone, not a niche skill for "AI people". Susan maps out the current reality in many companies - a small group of confident experimenters, a vocal group of sceptics, and a silent majority stuck in the middle waiting for direction. Then she paints two futures and shows how intentional, organization-wide AI literacy turns curiosity into real innovation instead of resentment, inequity, and stalled adoption.   Key takeaways You don't have an AI tool problem. You have an AI literacy gap. Most people can "open ChatGPT" but don't understand what LLMs are, what they're good at, and where the risk line is. Think "financial literacy" not "prompt engineering". Just like everyone is expected to understand interest, debt, and prevention in health, everyone should understand the basics of everyday AI, not build custom agents on weekends. AI knowledge inside organizations is wildly uneven. A few people experiment confidently. A few are loudly doomsday. Many say nothing, don't feel safe asking questions, and quietly fall behind. That's the divide. Leadership is often the least literate group. Junior staff may be hands-on with tools, while executives and middle managers are too busy or embarrassed to be beginners again - creating a strange power/knowledge mismatch. Stop hunting for "one magic AI tool". AI in your company will look more like the internet than a single CRM. It will run through everything, not live on one platform. Literacy and workflows beat silver bullets. Two things to stop immediately: Stop treating AI as a binary "for or against" issue. It's already here, like calculators and the internet. The real question is how you'll adopt it. Stop pretending inequity isn't part of AI adoption. If training only reaches leaders, tech folks, or men who speak up first, you're baking old bias into a new system. Episode highlights [00:01] "Most enterprises don't actually have an AI problem. They have a literacy problem." [00:40] Financial and health literacy as models for what AI literacy should look like. [01:39] The current reality: pockets of brilliance, pockets of panic, and a big silent middle. [06:03] The Star Wars council metaphor: the Yoda faction, the doomscrolling faction, and the quiet middle. [10:16] The first big red flag: leadership has never sat down to talk about AI as a cultural, strategic, and operational shift. [12:13] Two employees in the same company: the confident AI experimenter vs the quietly left-behind colleague. [18:21] When formal power and AI experience don't live in the same people. [19:31] Why there will never be "one tool to rule them all" inside organisations. [26:20] Company A vs Company B: what baseline AI literacy actually looks like. [31:16] The skills every employee needs: plain-language understanding of LLMs, basic prompting, simple workflow mapping, and evaluation. [32:13] Two things to stop doing now: binary thinking about AI and ignoring inequity in who gets to learn. If you suspect your organization is quietly suffering scattered pilots, no shared language, lots of vibes but no vision, start here. Ask your leadership team: "What does baseline AI literacy look like for everyone here, and what's our plan to get there?" Then share this episode with one person in your org who's brave enough to start that conversation. Connect with Susan Diaz on LinkedIn to get a conversation started. Agile teams move fast. Grab our 10 AI Deep Research Prompts to see how proven frameworks can unlock clarity in hours, not months. Find the prompt pack here.

Ce mois-ci, on s'inspire de la libellule, vraie survivante des âges. Agile, rapide, capable de changer de direction en un éclair, elle ne vole jamais en ligne droite… et c'est précisément ce qui assure sa longévité. Nos parcours pro lui ressemblent : faits de détours, de virages, de réorientations parfois inattendues.Ces mouvements ne sont pas un signe d'instabilité, mais la preuve de notre capacité à nous adapter, à créer, à tenir dans la durée.Et si l'agilité était notre vraie force ?

n dieser Folge sprechen Dominique und Tim gemeinsam über die Lernreise vom Projektmanager zum Product Owner. Beide bringen eigene Erfahrungen aus der Projektwelt und aus dem Projektmanagement mit und beleuchten, wie stark sich Perspektiven und Entscheidungen verändern, sobald man Verantwortung für ein Produkt statt für ein Projekt hat. Was sich im ersten Moment wie ein natürlicher Übergang anfühlt, entpuppt sich im Alltag als echter Perspektivwechsel, der viel Umlernen, Mut und Neugier erfordert. Viele Menschen, die vom Projektmanager zum Product Owner wechseln, bringen ein ausgeprägtes Gefühl für Struktur und Verlässlichkeit mit. Das hilft in der Zusammenarbeit mit Stakeholdern und in Gesprächen rund um Erwartungen, Risiken und Entscheidungen. Der vertraute Blick auf Zeit, Budget und Umfang gibt Sicherheit, die im Produktalltag weiterhin wertvoll sein kann. Gleichzeitig spüren viele aber schnell, wie anspruchsvoll es ist, nicht mehr den Ablauf eines Vorhabens zu steuern, sondern ein Produkt so zu entwickeln, dass es echten Wert erzeugt. Entscheidungen entstehen nicht mehr durch Freigaben von außen, sondern aus einem eigenen Mandat heraus. Das ist eine neue Verantwortung und eine ungewohnte Freiheit. Die größte Veränderung beginnt im Kopf. Wer vom Projektmanager zum Product Owner wechselt, erlebt, wie eng alte Muster sitzen. Das Bedürfnis, alles zu organisieren und jede Unsicherheit zu beseitigen, meldet sich sofort zurück, sobald Druck entsteht. Die Umgebung trägt oft ihren Teil dazu bei. Stakeholder kennen die neue Rolle noch nicht gut und behandeln die Person weiter so wie früher. Die Versuchung ist groß, wieder zu schätzen, wieder zuzusagen, wieder in die alte Rolle zu rutschen. Doch genau hier entsteht der entscheidende Lernmoment. Die neue Rolle braucht Raum, Zeit und Unterstützung, damit sie wirken kann. Es ist sehr hilfreich die Verantwortung im Produkt nicht mit der Verantwortung für das Team zu verwechseln. Kontrolle loszulassen und Selbstorganisation zuzulassen gehört zu den schwersten Schritten. Gleichzeitig entsteht dadurch ein Arbeitsumfeld, in dem ein Team eigene Entscheidungen treffen kann. Und genau dort gewinnt ein Product Owner die Energie zurück, die für Discovery, Wertschätzung von Nutzerbedürfnissen und Experimente nötig ist. Wer vom Projektmanager zum Product Owner wird, erlebt oft zum ersten Mal, wie sich Fokus auf Wirkung anfühlt und warum es sich lohnt, alte Routinen zu hinterfragen. Viele kennen aus ihrer Projektvergangenheit sogenannte Lessons Learned, doch sie passieren meist spät und oft ohne Anschluss. Im Produktalltag zählt etwas anderes. Kontinuität. Eine Retro, die regelmäßig stattfindet, unterstützt das Team dabei, wach zu bleiben, zu lernen und das eigene Arbeiten bewusster zu gestalten. Diese Haltung ist ein Kern der Produktarbeit und ein wichtiger Teil der neuen Verantwortlichkeit. Zum Abschluss betonen Dominique und Tim noch einmal, dass dieser Wechsel kein automatischer Schritt ist. Wer vom Projektmanager zum Product Owner wechselt, braucht Unterstützung und ein Umfeld, das bereit ist mitzuwachsen. Rollen verändern sich nicht durch neue Titel, sondern durch gemeinsames Lernen. Und genau dafür möchten wir mit unserem Podcast Raum schaffen. Auf diese älteren Folgen nehmen Tim und Dominique im Gespräch Bezug: - Welchen Einfluss auf die Retrospektive hat ein Product Owner? - Dein Freund der Scrum Master Habt ihr auch Erfahrungen gemacht auf dem Weg vom Projektleiter bzw. Projektmanager zum Product Owner? Oder habt ihr einen solchen Wandel innerhalb eures Unternehmen beobachten können? Wir freuen uns, wenn du deine Erfahrungen aus der Praxis mit uns in einem Kommentar des Blog-Artikels teilst oder auf unserer Produktwerker LinkedIn-Seite.

Lots of teams are playing with AI. Few are documenting, sharing, or governing what actually happens. In this episode, Susan unpacks the hidden cost of experiment-only AI literacy inside enterprises, from duplicate spend to shadow AI, and offers a path from Wild West to structured innovation. Episode summary In this solo episode, Susan looks at what really happens when AI experimentation is encouraged, but never captured or guided. She explains why leadership often only sees one of two AI universes running inside the same company. Then she breaks down how to keep curiosity alive and add just enough structure to protect brand, budgets, and people. Key takeaways AI is already in your organisation, whether it's "approved" or not. Even with blanket bans, people de-identify data and reach for personal tools like ChatGPT or Claude on their phones. You're probably running two parallel AI universes. One official, "enterprise safe" tool stack that leadership can see. One unofficial, personal stack that actually solves problems. Experimentation is good culture. "Experiment-only" is expensive. Without reporting, shared learning, or guardrails, you get duplicate tools, compliance risk, brand drift, and fake efficiency. People are treating AI the way they once treated Google. If they can't get answers inside the firewall, they go around it. That behaviour is normal… but now the stakes are much higher. Stop chasing a single super-agent. AI can replace steps, not entire, multi-step, values-based processes that require judgement, politics, and context. The real leverage is in literacy, not licences. Tools without shared language, playbooks, and training will never compound into competitive advantage. Episode highlights [00:02] The conference metaphor: high inspiration, zero notes, nothing sticks. [01:30] The uncomfortable truth: people are using AI, even if policy says they shouldn't. [03:20] Why internal "safe" chatbots often feel generic and miss political and market nuance. [05:22] How smart staff quietly step outside approved tools and into personal LLMs. [10:05] The rise of two AI universes: official vs shadow, and where leadership can actually see. [14:22] Experimentation as a sign of healthy, curious culture. Where it tips into risk. [16:35] Hidden costs: duplicate spend, overlapping capabilities, and tool sprawl. [17:28] Shadow AI, compliance risk, and what happens when sensitive data hits public models. [18:05] Brand voice drift and micro-messaging shifts that compound over time. [20:21] What leaders can do next: audits, simple guardrails, sandboxes, and shared findings. [21:19] What a real AI playbook is (hint: documented workflows, not a buzzword PDF). [22:24] The core question: do you actually know how your people are using AI today? If you suspect there's an invisible AI Wild West running inside your organization, start here. Listen to the full episode and then ask your leadership team one question: "Do we really know how our people are using AI today?" If the honest answer is "not really", that's your starting point for an AI audit and a literacy plan. Connect with Susan Diaz on LinkedInfor to get a conversation started. Agile teams move fast. Grab our 10 AI Deep Research Prompts to see how proven frameworks can unlock clarity in hours, not months. Find the prompt pack here.

BONUS: When AI Knows Your Emotional Triggers Better Than You Do — Navigating Mindfulness in the AI Age In this thought-provoking conversation, former computer engineer and mindfulness leader Mo Edjlali explores how AI is reshaping human meaning, attention, and decision-making. We examine the critical question: what happens when AI knows your emotional triggers better than you know yourself? Mo shares insights on remaining sovereign over our attention, avoiding dependency in both mindfulness and technology, and preparing for a world where AI may outperform us in nearly every domain. From Technology Pioneer to Mindfulness Leader "I've been very heavily influenced by technology, computer engineering, software development. I introduced DevOps to the federal government. But I have never seen anything change the way in which human beings work together like Agile." — Mo Edjlali   Mo's journey began in the tech world — graduating in 1998, he was on the front line of the internet explosion. He remembers the days before the internet, watched online multiplayer games emerge in 1994, and worked on some of the most complicated tech projects in federal government. Technology felt almost like magic, advancing at a logarithmic rate faster than anything else. But when Mo discovered mindfulness practices 12-15 years ago, he found something equally transformative: actual exercises to develop emotional intelligence and soft skills that the tech world talked about but never taught. Mindfulness provided logical, practical methods that didn't require "woo-woo" beliefs — just practice that fundamentally changed his relationship with his mind. This dual perspective — tech innovator and mindfulness teacher — gives Mo a unique lens for understanding where we're headed. The Shift from Liberation to Dependency "I was fortunate enough, the teachers I was exposed to, the mentality was very much: you're gonna learn how to meditate on your own, in silence. There is no guru. There is no cult of personality." — Mo Edjlali   Mo identifies a dangerous drift in the mindfulness movement: from teaching independence to creating dependency. His early training, particularly a Vipassana retreat led by S.N. Goenka, modeled true liberation — you show up for 10 days, pay nothing, receive food and lodging, learn to meditate, then donate what you can at the end. Critically, you leave being able to meditate on your own without worshiping a teacher or subscribing to guided meditations. But today's commercialized mindfulness often creates the opposite: powerful figures leading fiefdoms, consumers taught to listen to guided meditations rather than meditate independently. This dependency model mirrors exactly what's happening with AI — systems designed to make us rely on them rather than empower our own capabilities. Recognizing this parallel is essential for navigating both fields wisely. AI as a New Human Age, Not Just Another Tool "With AI, this is different. This isn't like mobile computing, this isn't like the internet. We're entering a new age. We had the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Industrial Age. When you enter a new age, it's almost like knocking the chess board over, flipping the pieces upside down. We're playing a new game." — Mo Edjlali   Mo frames AI not as another technology upgrade but as the beginning of an entirely new human age. In a new age, everything shifts: currency, economies, government, technology, even religions. The documentary about the Bronze Age collapse taught him that when ages turn over, the old rules no longer apply. This perspective explains why AI feels fundamentally different from previous innovations. ChatGPT 2.0 was interesting; ChatGPT 3 blew Mo's mind and made him realize we're witnessing something unprecedented. While he's optimistic about the potential for sustainable abundance and extraordinary breakthroughs, he's also aware we're entering both the most exciting and most frightening time to be alive. Everything we learned in high school might be proven wrong as AI rewrites human knowledge, translates animal languages, extends longevity, and achieves things we can't even imagine. The Mental Health Tsunami and Loss of Purpose "If we do enter the age of abundance, where AI could do anything that human beings could do and do it better, suddenly the system we have set up — where our purpose is often tied to our income and our job — suddenly, we don't need to work. So what is our purpose?" — Mo Edjlali   Mo offers a provocative vision of the future: a world where people might pay for jobs rather than get paid to work. It sounds crazy until you realize it's already happening — people pay $100,000-$200,000 for college just to get a job, politicians spend millions to get elected. If AI handles most work and we enter an age of abundance, jobs won't be about survival or income — they'll be about meaning, identity, and social connection. This creates three major crises Mo sees accelerating: attacks on our focus and attention (technology hijacking our awareness), polarization (forcing black-and-white thinking), and isolation (pushing us toward solo experiences). The mental health tsunami is coming as people struggle to find purpose in a world where AI outperforms them in domain after domain. The jobs will change, the value systems will shift, and those without tools for navigating this transformation will suffer most. When AI Reads Your Mind "Researchers at Duke University had hooked up fMRI brain scanning technology and took that data and fed it into GPT 2. They were able to translate brain signals into written narrative. So the implications are that we could read people's minds using AI." — Mo Edjlali   The future Mo describes isn't science fiction — it's already beginning. Three years ago, researchers used early GPT to translate brain signals into written text by scanning people's minds with fMRI and training AI on the patterns. Today, AI knows a lot about heavy users like Mo through chat conversations. Tomorrow, AI will have video input of everything we see, sensory input from our biometrics (pulse, heart rate, health indicators), and potentially direct connection to our minds. This symbiotic relationship is coming whether we're ready or not. Mo demonstrates this with a personal experiment: he asked his AI to tell him about himself, describe his personality, identify his strengths, and most powerfully — reveal his blind spots. The AI's response was outstanding, better than what any human (even his therapist or himself) could have articulated. This is the reality we're moving toward: AI that knows our emotional triggers, blind spots, and patterns better than we do ourselves. Using AI as a Mirror for Self-Discovery "I asked my AI, 'What are my blind spots?' Human beings usually won't always tell you what your blind spots are, they might not see them. A therapist might not exactly see them. But the AI has... I've had the most intimate kind of conversations about everything. And the response was outstanding." — Mo Edjlali   Mo's approach to AI is both pragmatic and experimental. He uses it extensively — at the level of teenagers and early college students who are on it all the time. But rather than just using AI as a tool, he treats it as a mirror for understanding himself. Asking AI to identify your blind spots is a powerful exercise because AI has observed all your conversations, patterns, and tendencies without the human limitations of forgetfulness or social politeness. Vasco shares a similar experience using AI as a therapy companion — not replacing his human therapist, but preparing for sessions and processing afterward. This reveals an essential truth: most of us don't understand ourselves that well. We're blind navigators using an increasingly powerful tool. The question isn't whether AI will know us better than we know ourselves — that's already happening. The question is how we use that knowledge wisely. The Danger of AI Hijacking Our Agency "There's this real danger. I saw that South Park episode about ChatGPT where his wife is like, 'Come on, put the AI down, talk to me,' and he's got this crazy business idea, and the AI keeps encouraging him along. It's a point where he's relying way too heavily on the AI and making really poor decisions." — Mo Edjlali   Not all AI use is beneficial. Mo candidly admits his own mistakes — sometimes leaning into AI feedback over his actual users' feedback for his Meditate Together app because "I like what the AI is saying." This mirrors the South Park episode's warning about AI dependency, where the character's AI encourages increasingly poor decisions while his relationships suffer. Social media demonstrates this danger at scale: AI algorithms tuned to steal our attention and hijack our agency, preventing us from thinking about what truly matters — relationships and human connection. Mo shares a disturbing story about Zoom bombers disrupting Meditate Together sessions, filming it, posting it on YouTube where it got 90,000 views, with comments thanking the disruptors for "making my day better." Technology created a cannibalistic dynamic where teenagers watched videos of their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers being harassed during meditation. When Mo tried to contact Google, the company's incentive structure prioritized views and revenue over human decency. Technology combined with capitalism creates these dangerous momentum toward monetizing attention at any cost. Remaining Sovereign Over Your Attention "Traditionally, mindfulness does an extraordinary job, if you practice right, to help you regain your agency of your focus and concentration. It takes practice. But reading is now becoming a concentration practice. It's an actual practice." — Mo Edjlali   Mo identifies three major symptoms affecting us: attacks on focus/attention, polarization into black-and-white thinking, and isolation. Mindfulness practices directly counter all three — but only if practiced correctly. Training attention, focus, and concentration requires actual practice, not just listening to guided meditations. Mo offers practical strategies: reading as concentration practice (asking "does anyone read anymore?" recognizing that sustained reading now requires deliberate effort), turning off AirPods while jogging or driving to find silence, spending time alone with your thoughts, and recognizing that we were given extraordinary power (smartphones) with zero training on how to be aware of it. Older generations remember having to rewind VHS tapes — forced moments of patience and stillness that no longer exist. We need to deliberately recreate those spaces where we're not constantly consuming entertainment and input. Dialectic Thinking: Beyond Polarization "I saw someone the other day wear a shirt that said, 'I'm perfect the way I am.' That's one-dimensional thinking. Two-dimensional thinking is: you're perfect the way that you are, and you could be a little better." — Mo Edjlali   Mo's book OpenMBSR specifically addresses polarization by introducing dialectic thinking — the ability to hold paradoxes and seeming contradictions simultaneously. Social media and algorithms push us toward one-dimensional, black-and-white thinking: good/bad, right/wrong, with me/against me. But reality is far more nuanced. The ability to think "I'm perfect as I am AND I can improve" or "AI is extraordinary AND dangerous" is essential for navigating complexity. This mirrors the tech world's embrace of continuous improvement in Agile — accepting where you are while always pushing for better. Chess players learned this years ago when AI defeated humans — they didn't freak out, they accepted it and adapted. Now AI in chess doesn't just give answers; it helps humans understand how it arrived at those answers. This partnership model, where AI coaches us through complexity rather than simply replacing us, represents the healthiest path forward. Building Community, Not Dependency "When people think to meditate, unfortunately, they think, I have to do this by myself and listen to guided meditation. I'm saying no. Do it in silence. If you listen to guided meditation, listen to guided meditation that teaches you how to meditate in silence. And do it with other people, with intentional community." — Mo Edjlali   Mo's OpenMBSR initiative explicitly borrows from the Agile movement's success: grassroots, community-centric, open source, transparent. Rather than creating fiefdoms around cult personalities, he wants mindfulness to spread organically through communities helping communities. This directly counters the isolation trend that technology accelerates. Meditate Together exists specifically to create spaces where people meditate with other human beings around the world, with volunteer hosts holding sessions. The model isn't about dependency on a teacher or platform — it's about building connection and shared practice. This aligns perfectly with how the tech world revolutionized collaborative work through Agile and Scrum: transparent, iterative, valuing individuals and interactions. The question for both mindfulness and AI adoption is whether we'll create systems that empower independence and community, or ones that foster dependency and isolation. Preparing for a World Where AI Outperforms Humans "AI is going to need to kind of coach us and ease us into it, right? There's some really dark, ugly things about ourselves that could be jarring without it being properly shared, exposed, and explained." — Mo Edjlali   Looking at his children, Mo wonders what tools they'll need in a world where AI may outperform humans in nearly every domain. The answer isn't trying to compete with AI in calculation, memory, or analysis — that battle is already lost. Instead, the essential human skills become self-awareness, emotional intelligence, dialectic thinking, community building, and maintaining agency over attention and decision-making. AI will need to become a coach, helping humans understand not just answers but how it arrived at those answers. This requires AI development that prioritizes human growth over profit maximization. It also requires humans willing to do the hard work of understanding themselves — confronting blind spots, managing emotional triggers, practicing concentration, and building genuine relationships. The mental health tsunami Mo predicts isn't inevitable if we prepare now by teaching these skills widely, building community-centric systems, and designing AI that empowers rather than replaces human wisdom and connection.   About Mo Edjlali   Mo Edjlali is a former computer engineer, and also the founder and CEO of Mindful Leader, the world's largest provider of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training. Mo's new book Open MBSR: Reimagining the Future of Mindfulness explores how ancient practices can help us navigate the AI revolution with awareness and resilience.   You can learn more about Mo and his work at MindfulLeader.org, check out Meditate Together, and read his articles on AI's Mind-Reading Breakthrough and AI: Not Another Tool, but a New Human Age.

Daniel is joined by Chris Morrison, vice president of product marketing at Agile Analog, the customizable analog IP company. Chris has over 18 years' experience developing strong relationships with key partners across the semiconductor industry and delivering innovative analog, digital, power management and audio products.… Read More

Charu Roy, Chief Product Officer at Enlil, shares her extensive journey in the software industry, which began in the late 1980s and evolved into her leadership role in medtech. Charu discusses her role at Enlil, where she oversees the development of an AI-powered platform to enhance medical device lifecycle management. She emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs, fostering team potential, and ensuring cybersecurity in medtech software solutions. With profound insights on her career growth, leadership style, and the technological advancements propelling the industry forward, Charu's story is an inspiring tale of innovation and dedication to improving lives.  Guest links: https://enlil.com/ |  https://www.linkedin.com/company/enlil-inc/ Charity supported: ASPCA Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at theleadingdifference@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host & Editor: Lindsey Dinneen Producer: Velentium Medical   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 069 - Charu Roy [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello and welcome back to another episode of The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host Lindsey, and today I'm absolutely delighted to introduce you to Charu Roy. Charu is the Chief Product Officer at Enlil, where she leads product strategy, vision, and execution for the company's AI powered medtech development platform. With over two decades of experience building and scaling enterprise software products, Charu brings deep industry expertise in product management, user-centered design, and go to market leadership. Before Enlil, she held senior product roles at industry leaders, including Epicor, Oracle, I-2 Technologies slash Aspect Development, HP and Agile Software, where she drove software innovation across enterprise cloud SaaS and data driven solutions. Known for her ability to align customer needs with business strategy, she is passionate about delivering products that transform complex industries and enable measurable impact. Well, welcome, Charu, to the conversation today. I'm so excited to be speaking with you. [00:01:54] Charu Roy: Thank you so much for having me. I'm very really excited about being here on this podcast. [00:02:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, awesome. Yeah. Well, I would love, if you wouldn't mind starting off by sharing a little bit about yourself, your background, and what led you to medtech. [00:02:10] Charu Roy: Sure. As every other sort of person who gets into the software world, I came in a while back in 1987 to 89, where I did Master's in Computer Science at University of Louisiana. That was my first introduction to America, really. And computer science brought me to the Bay Area where I worked at HP, Hewlett Packard. In those days, it was called Scientific Instruments Division in Palo Alto. And there I programmed robotic hands to, to sort of move that, the vial from samples, drug samples from athletes so that they could get tested for drugs. So, I didn't know the importance of all this. It was my first job. I enjoyed myself seven years, you know, software programming, really, and understood how a large company works. And then slowly I started getting a little bored. So I went on to my next startup and was involved in the same kind of principles that drive things today. So I just sort of built my way up. In terms of the software, I joined different groups, ran consulting services, ran engineering, and sort of worked myself up through the ranks and into sort of more decision making capabilities, and you know, continued to join companies and learn new things and leave them for some better opportunities. So I moved from Hewlett Packard to a startup that was called Aspect Development, which got sold to I-2 Technologies for $9.3 billion in those days. So, you know, I went through that acquisition, trying to understand the market, what kind of software triggers buying, you know-- so sort of just the software aspects of how to sell software, how to develop software, how to deploy it. So in general, I was learning all of the ropes until I came to Agile PLM, which is a company which, very popular company which made it very sort of easy to deploy software, especially software called Product Lifecycle Management. So I was -- here, I was in and out of companies, learning and understanding the world of software until I fell into med device companies being my customers. So med device being our customers meant, you know, a lot more strictness, a lot more process, with the software itself. So here I was trying to now go through those kind of features, trying to understand what med device needed when they were building products. So, from Agile, I went to Conformia. Again, it was the same, it was regulatory product for wine, spirits and pharma --very adjacent to med device. But again, it was the same thing about how to be provide, how to provide a traceable platform where our customers can trace there, the make of the wine or make of the spirit, or make of a pharma drug or make off of med device. All the principles underlying it are the same because it's a regulated product at the end of the day, but so that's how I kind of fell into it, and I enjoyed every bit of that until I got acquired by Oracle. And so I continued at Oracle doing the same thing over and over again; rebuilt the same products again at Oracle in the clouds, and I was managing the old Agile products. So it's an interesting journey where I was, you know, started off as a software programmer. And I didn't know anything about, you know, the use cases until the time I sort of joined Oracle and understood my customers better. And that's how I came in there. And of course I was at Epicor and finally I made my way to Enlil, which is a very small company, and I'm doing the same thing again. It's just with a different set of customers, very small to medium sized companies. So that's how my career sort of spanned 30 years. [00:06:11] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Oh my goodness. Well, there is so much to dive into all of that. Thank you for sharing. It's so cool to hear about all of the winding paths that lead us to maybe, you know, where we're meant to be in, in any given season. And yeah, I just love learning about it. So, okay. So I'm curious, you know, way back when did you like growing up, did you always have an interest in computers and computer science? Is this something you knew you wanted to get into? [00:06:40] Charu Roy: Not at all, actually it was a suggestion, and in those days, parents kind of suggested that you be a engineer or a doctor or a chartered accountant. The choices were very limited. And so my father said, "you will do computer science." And I said, "okay." And there I was and there was no, no sort of emotional attachment to any of those professions. And, I liked it well enough to continue, and I found it was easy enough to understand the principles and work at it. So yeah, there was no-- you know, in these days I think kids are training themselves like by seven or eight to program. And I'm seeing, you know, machine language I mean AI, ML, LLMs being taught to seven year olds and sort of trying to shape them, but in those days it was just some very simple choices, I guess. So, yeah, not a very romantic story. I was never programming younger in my younger days, but I think you know, compared to all the choices youngsters have these days, but just fell into it. [00:07:44] Lindsey Dinneen: Sure. Oh, how fun. You know, even though, yes, it was somewhat prescribed for you, at least originally, and I'm so glad that you fell in love and it ended up being a happy place for you because... [00:07:57] Charu Roy: Yeah, and I think I fell in love with the customer, how customers reacted to the software. I didn't fall in love with the software delivery process or anything else, but it was just the way customers said, "oh, I like that. It's gonna make it easier for me to do something. I'm having a tough time tracking it on paper. I just hate it what I'm doing right now, and your software will help." So I think that's a part that makes me feel really pleased that okay it's going into some good hands and it's going to be used. [00:08:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes, by people who really appreciate and value what you can contribute, what maybe comes --at this point, I guess-- naturally to you. And so it's, you're able to translate somebody's ideas or dreams into a really tangible solution. [00:08:48] Charu Roy: Yeah. And in fact, somebody's pain points, like they're really sort of, trying their best to use little resources they might have, wasting a lot of time on either tracking something on paper or in emails. And I think those are the kind of pain points that I really like to understand and say, "Hey, will the software help really help your day to day life? Will it make it easier to find things?" I think that's where I find my sort of biggest thrill of when a customer says, "Yes, you shaved off three hours of my time by giving me this efficient system." [00:09:26] Lindsey Dinneen: Nice. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Yes , and the products that you're making are indeed life impacting and make a difference. And that is rewarding because you know that the work you --do all work is important, but it's really fun when you get to know personally the impact that you get to have. [00:09:45] Charu Roy: Right, right. [00:09:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, so I'm, I'd love to dive in a little bit more to your current company and role and learn about that, and how you're helping, you're still helping people you know, win through this. [00:10:00] Charu Roy: So, yes, absolutely. Enlil is part of Shifamed, the portfolio. Shifamed invests in med device devices typically, so ophthalmology devices or cardio devices. Enlil came about as an enterprise software company within the portfolio because they realized that they needed some software to throw all their data into, right? So they had early designs, prototype data. They might have had some user requirements, what kind of standards they might have to follow. So all those were floating about, again, in emails and paper. Enlil came in saying that we can store this data more successfully, more cleanly in a structured fashion so that our users can find that data. And this becomes really important as the med device company moves on and tries to apply for regulatory approval at that time, they need all that history and the data behind the device. And they wanna be able to find it easily and present it to auditors. So, Enlil's a structured way of describing all the data that the customer has and being able to find it easily and then run their audits using the data. So it's a very crucial part of their lifecycle, their product lifecycle. And so it's really important for us to be secure, reliable, available, 24/7. All of that applies to us and basically defines how they go about driving their product lifecycle. [00:11:34] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Well, and you know, one thing that stood out to me when you were talking about that was of course the security aspect. And as we all know, we're, we're probably much more so than in the past, hyper aware of the critical need for cybersecurity and the role it plays specifically in medical device technology. And I'm curious if you could speak a little bit more to that particular element. [00:11:55] Charu Roy: Yeah, we have a lot of layers of security, you know, right from the folks who are accessing the software. The software is hosted in a well-known, reputable cloud service environment. So apart from them providing us cybersecurity and access control and everything else, we have another set of layers on top of that. So our users are vetted and they all have a password. People can be invited and not just sort of show up. So, there's a lot of control of what they can see and can do. Every button sort of, you know, has a role behind it or a layer of control. So not everyone can do everything and press any and all buttons. So, security is at many levels. And we also have a lot of audit trails, e-signatures, and so on. So everything is done to protect the data, and audits are run regularly by them and by us to make sure that nobody who's supposed to be, you know, people who are not supposed to see the data, don't see the data. [00:13:01] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Excellent. Yeah, I know that's just something that is, should be at least, on the forefront, especially of startups' minds as they're thinking about this and working towards having a really secure device. So it sounds like you've built in all of that safeguarding really well and really intentionally. So, so, okay, so I know that -- well, there's a few things that really stood out to me on your LinkedIn profile, and I'm just curious if we could dive into a couple things. One was, I love how you said that you're "passionate about teams and people delivering to their full potential," and I was wondering if you could speak a little bit more to that. [00:13:42] Charu Roy: Yeah, so, you know, along the years I've noticed that people in my team, the team members, they're there, they're working hard, but I do like to understand what's making them tick, what might they be wanting to do, which they haven't got gotten to do yet. Can we unlock some potential, some skill, some talent? And I think that comes about by sort of just talking about it , trying to give them openings about, "Hey, look, I've got this cool project or this cool feature. Any thoughts on that?" Just to understand, are they happy doing what they're doing, or is there something more they could do? And so I think that human touch, you know, is -- it was given to me, or at least it was taught to me by some mentors along the way. And I think that's a part that I really like to explore and see how can teams do better, not just in a numbers, not just turnaround features and releases on time, but are they happy doing it? Did they contribute something meaningful along the way? Did they feel they grew in the process? Did they feel they were recognized for some new responsibilities that they may not have stepped up for in some other companies? So that's a feeling I'm trying to always give them and sort of hoping that we contribute to their growth, not just the company and the bottom line. [00:15:02] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's critical and key,, and really speaks to who you are as a leader. And I'm actually very curious, you know, you mentioned earlier having kind of worked your way up at HP and then, you know, that may be opening some doors for you for of course, your future opportunities, and I'm curious, what has your own leadership journey looked like? Has, does leadership come naturally to you? Have you spent a lot of, you know, time and resources, whatever, developing those skill sets or how did that work for you? [00:15:29] Charu Roy: I think I was thrown into the deep end of the pool several times, you know, like, so I kicked into the pool, so to learn to swim. So similarly I was made to take on responsibility pretty much the very beginning. So I kind of knew that there were certain things expected that I should be doing, can be doing and then this introspection saying that, did I give the right amount of energy to that particular responsibility and did I do well? So just a lot of introspection and being able to understand, did I do well as a leader? But I've been honing it, honing skills. I mean, nothing out of an MBA school, nothing out of, you know, college that helped me. I think it was just about pure interest in psychology, pure interest in humans, you know, just being able to connect and how did I make them feel? How did they make me feel in those interactions? And is that, was that good? Was there something we could do to incorporate more people to get that feeling of ownership or anything? So it wasn't a, you know, by rote or something that I learned in a school. It was more of just sort of. Being thrown into situations where I had to come out of it somewhat gracefully and some somewhat feeling like I had also learned along the way. [00:16:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah, that, that's wonderful and incredible. And I think, you know, you mentioned learning along the way, and one thing also that stood out to me was, the recommendations on your profiles are so lovely for you. And two things stood out: they, one thing was somebody mentioned you're always learning, which is a gift in and of itself. And then the other thing was you're always letting others succeed. And that's such a beautiful gift and I'm wondering if you could talk more about both of those as well. [00:17:16] Charu Roy: Yeah, I think it's not about just me being sort of the boss and being able to tell people what to do, though I think success comes from enabling or encouraging the teams to again contribute without any barriers, any levels, or politics. I love the fact that we are in a small company, and I can say safely that, you know, politics --in larger companies there are politics. People are always trying to sort of be showing that they are very valuable. But in a small startup, it's very quickly apparent that there are certain valuable players there and startups, everybody is valuable, right? So I think being able to encourage the team members to do what they think is best for the problem to solve it. And of course, there are reasons why you can't sometimes accept the solution, but the fact that they're thinking about it and the fact they're able to openly express their opinions and say, "No, you're wrong, Charu." I think this is the way to do it. I love that. I think, somebody disagrees with me in a meeting, I just think that's the best thing that could have happened as a style of management. Because I'm not, you know, insecure in that sense. I don't sulk afterwards. I have had bosses and so on who don't like that kind of, you know, disagreements in public. And I think that's a part where I beg to differ, and I want to have people say what they think, what are they feeling, what are the problems, really the truth, and fix it, really. So I think it's less waste of a time when people are honest, and get to the point, and we are able to solve it together rather than hide behind, you know, facades, I guess. [00:19:01] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's beautiful. And yeah, I've often said for me personally, that, you know, more heads are better than one. I mean, I could have a, an opinion on whatever it is that we're talking about, but really, until we collaborate and start sharing those ideas and those thoughts and opinions , all of a sudden those kinds of sparks happen where, you know, you start with one thing and then it, and then somebody else catches that and they take it even to the next level and it just keeps going. And it's so cool to see the creativity and problem solving and innovation that comes from allowing those conversations. [00:19:36] Charu Roy: Yes, exactly. Creativity and innovation. You've said it so well. That comes with smart people being in the same room, arguing, not agreeing, and then something comes out of that, right? I mean, either your thoughts get clearer because you've seen every side of the coin and you're able to say, "Okay, I know the pros and cons and we can go this way, knowing the full effect of what we are going to do." So I think surrounding myself with smart people who have varied opinions, I think that's a beauty and a blessing really. [00:20:12] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes it is, and you've nailed it with varying opinions. You know, it's easy to get yourself into a situation-- and not necessarily intentionally-- but just it's easy to give into a situation where you've surrounded yourself with people who all kind of have the same opinions on things. And so inviting those conversations to take place that might be difficult, might be challenging, might be frustrating at times, but allowing for that and being open to other points of view and experience. I mean, that's the beauty of a really good collaborative environment is all of those varying opinions that don't necessarily match yours. [00:20:50] Charu Roy: Yes, exactly. Exactly. [00:20:52] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, so looking back, could 10-year-old you have ever imagined where you'd end up today? [00:21:00] Charu Roy: No, absolutely not. I thought I wanted to be a doctor or something vague. 10-year-old me was climbing trees and eating guavas off the trees in Delhi. So it was really crazy childhood. And you know, it wasn't filled with studies and rules and stuff. So I think coming to this, a country when I was young, being able to absorb everything, the culture, the of course the education itself and being able to sort of grow within the companies that I joined, i, I think that was the journey that I was sort of a pointing more towards rather than the childhood me. The childhood me was horrible, I think. [00:21:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh man. Honest reflection right there. That's awesome. Yeah, okay. Are there any moments that really stand out to you, perhaps with your current position or, you know, something in your past where you really thought, "Wow, what I'm doing makes a difference. I am in the right industry, at the right time, in the right place." [00:22:07] Charu Roy: I think it's the technology now that, you know, speaking from a technical viewpoint of shipping software, meaning full software, more easily, the time is now. I feel that the culmination of everything I've learned about pain points and users and customers, all of that's culminating in in the product that I'm managing right now, using new technologies, having the right technologies to choose from and being able to propel that software forward to our users. I feel that, "Wow, what a time to be a product officer really, when we have so many choices and being able to be able to apply that to real world problems and real pain points." I had the same pain points 20 years ago, even 30 years ago, but we couldn't do much. We had to, you know, write painful programs. We had to write database queries and, you know, things like that. It was quite painful, I would say. And then now to see all the tools where we can create things overnight and be able to ship it to customers, just hitting the nail on the head. We had to experiment a lot in the old days but I think the time now is is really special. We are on an sort of an industrial revolution or a computer science revolution here with the AI, MML, the LLMs, being able to do so much with probably less resources than before. So. [00:23:39] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. So seeing the impact of the work and getting to not have it be so painful. [00:23:45] Charu Roy: Yes. It used be very painful and now I'm thinking, I think we're at the right time, right place now with this product. And it's not just about the products. It's the kind of help we are getting as software professionals to help deliver software and support our users. I think that's really special and I, we are still learning, we're still trying to understand all the technologies that are available to us and how can we make our lives easier and our customers feel that we've solved some problems for them. [00:24:14] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that there's just, it is really wonderful again-- just to, to circle back to this kind of been a running theme of getting to be able to experience for the end user or with the end user, that moment of, "Oh wow, I needed this is so helpful and it's gonna make a difference." [00:24:36] Charu Roy: Yeah. I remember in my past, same sort of software tracking wine being made. And that software was pretty cool. It, it used to track where the wine sat and which barrel for how long. And so the pleasure of talking to wine makers, and being able to show them how the software track the progress of the wine and being able to print out a label at the very end for them, saying that "this wine sat in these bottles or these barrels for a while," and that technology application for a simple, naive user, I thought that was it. That was the, you know, the culmination of all the learnings that I had over the years to be able to explain the software so easily to a end user who might be a distiller or a winemaker or somebody, a farmer. I thought that was pretty cool. And that since then, of course, technology has changed, but I think we're beginning to see the effect on a naive user, which we couldn't do, you know, 30 years ago. [00:25:37] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. Oh my goodness. That is, it is so cool. And I love the work you're doing and just learning all about your history so far and just exciting to see where it's gonna end up too, and as you continue along your career path, but pivoting the conversation a little bit just for fun. Imagine that you were to be offered a million dollars to teach a masterclass on anything you want, could be within your area of expertise, it doesn't have to be. What would you choose to teach? [00:26:06] Charu Roy: I would probably think about teaching psychology of the individual. I don't have a PhD or a even basic courses in psychology, but I just love the fact that, you know, you can apply psychology, figure out how a user might or somebody might react to something that you say, do, think so I, if it was a master class and I'd be teaching you know, teaching more about life interactions, you know, ordinary interactions. How can they be made more meaningful, more fruitful, using psychological tricks or phrases? I don't know all of those things, but I would really think that I could teach that based on, you know, facial expressions, body mannerisms, or body-- what do they call it, sort of, you know, criminal stories. They read your mind based on certain mannerisms of flutter viol. So yes, psychology is a masterclass I would teach, but more applied to daily interactions, maybe work situations and being able to use psychology better to improve your own work relationships with people and even just general interactions. Yeah, so that would be my attempt at being a psychologist and eventually be a criminal psychologist. [00:27:28] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. Oh my goodness. That would be so interesting. Yeah, I love that idea. And the masterclass sounds fabulous, so I'm signing up whenever you do it. [00:27:37] Charu Roy: Okay, I'll go get my degrees for it then. [00:27:40] Lindsey Dinneen: Right, right, right. Yeah. Ah, details. Awesome. How do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:27:50] Charu Roy: This is something that I've always felt deeply about. It's not what you say or what you do, it's how you make people feel, that Maya Angelo said that this much nicer than what I'm saying, but and I've had a few people say this to me, saying that, "We worked together 30 years ago, but that day you made me feel good." And I don't even remember what I said, what I did, but the fact that they remember me for what I made them feel. The fact that somebody also told me that they "don't avoid me when I'm walking up to them because, because I make them feel like things are okay, things are good, however bad the problem is." So they say that with other people they would duck and, you know, go away in the opposite direction. But with me they're waiting for me to come up to them. I'd like to continue that, that feeling that somebody feels like, "Hey, you are coming up to them and you just make them feel good in some fashion." Nothing else. I think that feeling, if I could evoke in people, they say, "Oh yeah, she made me feel good that day. I don't know what she said, but she made me feel good." That's enough. [00:29:01] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that, yes, that is more than enough. What a beautiful legacy. Yeah, and then final question, what is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:29:15] Charu Roy: I think my dogs smile. I would say he's got missing teeth and so when he looks at me when I first come, you know, come back home and he is smiling almost, and he is sniffling and, you know, trying to sneeze and smile at the same time. Oh my God, what kind of a character dog this is? So that makes me smile and laugh the whole time, especially the missing teeth. Poor thing. He doesn't understand that his teeth are missing because of me, and yet he's smiling at me, so. [00:29:50] Lindsey Dinneen: That is so sweet and cute. Oh my goodness. I love, I know somebody at one point said, "You know, dogs don't actually smile." I don't believe them. They smile. [00:30:00] Charu Roy: They smile and they choke while they smile because my dog has a small nose, I guess. So he chokes when he smiles, and so he is choking, and he is smiling, and this missing teeth there. I was like, "Oh my God." [00:30:16] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh my goodness. Yes. I mean, that would just I, yes, I can just sort of picture this. I love, love dogs and so I'm just picturing this and I, that would bring me joy every single day, definitely. Excellent. Well, this has been such a wonderful time spent with you today. Thank you for sharing your stories and your journey and your advice, and I really appreciate some of those in particular, your leadership advice, and the impact that you can have as a leader, inviting the collaboration, having conversations that encourage people to have varying opinions and maybe outright disagree with you. I love what you're wanting to, you know, wanting your legacy to be, and so that's how you're intentionally showing up in the world. And so I just wanna thank you so, so very much for being here. We're really grateful to have you. [00:31:10] Charu Roy: Thank you, and thank you so much for your intelligent questions and insightful questions that go above and beyond just you know, a company and it's gold. It's there, there's something so human about your questions-- and I love when I'm like, "Oh my goodness, this is so, so interesting to see in this day and age, somebody taking the time to ask such questions" and I really appreciate you for that. [00:31:36] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, thank you. Well, I really appreciate that feedback too, because it's, you know, you come up with an idea-- speaking of sometimes echo chambers, you come up with an idea and you think, "Oh, this is how I'd like to go about this, but does it resonate with somebody else?" So that's delightful to hear. [00:31:51] Charu Roy: Fantastic, thank you, thank you for having me. [00:31:54] Lindsey Dinneen: And we're so honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is dedicated to preventing animal cruelty in the United States. So thank you for choosing that organization to support Thank you so much, and gosh, I just wish you the most continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. And to all of our listeners for tuning in, I wanna thank you for being here as well. And if you're feeling as inspired as I am right now, I'd love it if you'd share this episode with a colleague or two, and we'll catch you next time. [00:32:31] Charu Roy: Thank you. [00:32:32] Dan Purvis: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium Medical. Velentium Medical is a full service CDMO, serving medtech clients worldwide to securely design, manufacture, and test class two and class three medical devices. Velentium Medical's four units include research and development-- pairing electronic and mechanical design, embedded firmware, mobile app development, and cloud systems with the human factor studies and systems engineering necessary to streamline medical device regulatory approval; contract manufacturing-- building medical products at the prototype, clinical, and commercial levels in the US, as well as in low cost regions in 1345 certified and FDA registered Class VII clean rooms; cybersecurity-- generating the 12 cybersecurity design artifacts required for FDA submission; and automated test systems, assuring that every device produced is exactly the same as the device that was approved. Visit VelentiumMedical.com to explore how we can work together to change lives for a better world.

In this episode we're in conversation with Manjit Singh, the president and founder of Agilious and an instructor at ACT-IAC Academy. They delve into the importance of agile frameworks, particularly scrum, for government IT acquisition and modernization. Manjit shares his extensive technical background and the significance of scrum mastery in managing projects efficiently. He discusses the role of a Scrum Master, common misconceptions, the importance of asking the right questions, and the impact of emerging technologies like AI. The episode also highlights continuous upskilling and the value of lean principles in achieving productivity.Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform to never miss an episode! For more from ACT-IAC, follow us on LinkedIn or visit http://www.actiac.org.Learn more about membership at https://www.actiac.org/join.Donate to ACT-IAC at https://actiac.org/donate. Intro/Outro Music: See a Brighter Day/Gloria TellsCourtesy of Epidemic Sound(Episodes 1-159: Intro/Outro Music: Focal Point/Young CommunityCourtesy of Epidemic Sound)

Accelerating cloud adoption to drive innovation across domains like space, identity, and naval systems presents unique challenges. Success depends on aligning organizational culture, governance, financial models, and regulatory frameworks to enable collaboration, scalability, and software-defined capabilities.  This week, Dave, Esmee, and Rob speak with Danny Polaine, Chief Information Officer at Thales, about the strategic shift to cloud technologies in a high-security sector like defense and the unique challenges that come with it. TLDR:00:52 – Introduction to Danny Polaine03:35 – Rob is confused about the AI privacy dilemma07:40 – Exploring tech in high-security sectors with Danny35:34 – The biggest challenge isn't tech, it's people adapting to new ways of working44:55 – Reflections on the CIO role and a fun story about singing waiters at a wedding Guest Danny Polaine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-polaine-5713454/?originalSubdomain=uk  HostsDave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Rob Kernahan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/Esmee van de Giessen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Blue Origin is fresh off an incredible few weeks—a successful second launch and first landing of New Glenn, followed by an exciting unveil of upgrades to the vehicle, including an enormous new version, New Glenn 9x4.This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Lee, Natasha Tsakos, Fred, Will and Lars from Agile, Ryan, Stealth Julian, Pat, Heiko, Kris, Jan, Better Every Day Studios, Theo and Violet, Matt, Josh from Impulse, Russell, Joel, Warren, Joonas, Joakim, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Donald, David, Frank, Steve, The Astrogators at SEE, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters.TopicsBlue Origin's New Glenn rocket came back home after taking aim at Mars - Ars TechnicaJeff Bezos on X: “Good overview of the landing. We nominally target a few hundred feet away from Jacklyn to avoid a severe impact if engines fail to start or start slowly. We'll incrementally reduce that conservatism over time. We are all excited and grateful for yesterday…”New Glenn Update | Blue OriginBooster 18 suffers anomaly during proof testing - NASASpaceFlight.comSenate Commerce Committee schedules hearing on Isaacman renomination - SpaceNewsLawmakers writing NASA's budget want a cheaper upper stage for the SLS rocket - Ars TechnicaThe ShowLike the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.comFollow @WeHaveMECOFollow @meco@spacey.space on MastodonListen to MECO HeadlinesListen to Off-NominalJoin the Off-Nominal DiscordSubscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhereSubscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off NewsletterArtwork photo by JAXAWork with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works

Być może często słyszysz w zespole „Niech ktoś to podzieli” i nie bardzo wiadomo, kto dokładnie powinien się za to zabrać. To jedno z częstych wyzwań w dzieleniu projektów na mniejsze części. Omawiamy też jeszcze kilka innych problemów z tym związanych. Dostaniesz od nas po kilka gotowych rozwiązań do każdego z nich. Odciąży to Twój zespół i sprawi, że dzielenie pracy stanie się naturalnym elementem codziennego działania. Porządny Agile · Wyzwania w dzieleniu projektów na mniejsze części Zapraszamy Cię do obejrzenia nagrania podcastu Dodatkowe materiały Dlaczego warto dzielić pracę na małe części? Transkrypcja podcastu „Wyzwania w dzieleniu projektów na mniejsze części„ Poniżej znajdziesz pełny zapis rozmowy z tego odcinka podcastu Porządny Agile. Kuba: Niedawno zakończyłem serię warsztatów na temat praktyk dzielenia większych inicjatyw produktowych i projektowych na mniejsze części. Grupa mierzyła się m.in. z tematem wyzwań, jakie występują przy okazji procesu dzielenia. Wypracowaliśmy w poszczególnych grupach bardzo wartościową treść, zarówno jeśli chodzi o samą definicję tych wyzwań, jak i możliwe rozwiązania, więc tutaj postanowiliśmy, że wycinek tej treści, a konkretnie te konkretne wyzwania, które grupy wygenerowały, będą stanowiły wsad do tego nagrania. A przy okazji serdecznie pozdrawiam wszystkie pięć grup. Wiecie dobrze, że przepracowaliśmy o wiele więcej wątków, ale w odcinku może zmieścić się tylko część z tego, co omawialiśmy. Jacek: Spis treści na dzisiaj to wyzwania, jakie poruszymy. A są to problem z dobrym zrozumieniem celu projektu, presja biznesu na wdrożenie całości, wyważenie perspektywy technologii i biznesu przy podziale, czasochłonność procesu dzielenia i mentalność – niech ktoś to podzieli. Kuba: Schemat odcinka będzie dosyć prosty. Wejdziemy w definicję tego, co konkretnie oznacza daną wyzwanie. Te hasła nie zawsze są zrozumiane na pierwszy rzut oka. No i potem wygenerujemy po trzy rozwiązania, jakie przychodzą nam do głowy jako takie najczęściej się sprawdzające w praktyce rzeczy, które są w naszym doświadczeniu możliwym rozwiązaniem albo chociaż minimalizacją danego wyzwania. Jacek: Pierwsze wyzwanie to problem z dobrym zrozumieniem celu projektu. Jest to naszym zdaniem popularny bloker, który powoduje, że bardzo trudno jest zasiąść do mądrego podzielenia projektu czy inicjatywy, jeżeli tak naprawdę nie rozumiemy, co chcemy uzyskać. Oczywiście bez zrozumienia celu możemy tak bardzo mechanicznie spróbować podzielić pewien projekt na mniejsze części, ale prawdziwa magia dzieje się wtedy, kiedy bardzo dobrze rozumiemy cel, ponieważ wtedy otwierają nam się furtki do tego, jak pewne rzeczy możemy zrealizować w o wiele mądrzejszy sposób, niż tak patrząc na projekt bez zrozumienia, co tak naprawdę chcielibyśmy tym projektem uzyskać. Kuba: I jest tak, że to zrozumienie jest tutaj fundamentalnym wstępem do dobrego podziału, więc pierwsza porada może być dosyć oczywista. Zapewnij, że cel jest zrozumiały. Tutaj mamy na myśli kilka możliwych realizacji tego zapewnienia. Jedną z rzeczy na pewno jest dobry kick-off, czyli jakiś rodzaj spotkania otwierającego daną inicjatywę, dany projekt, daną zmianę produktową czy dany etap rozwoju danego produktu. Nie przechodź do założenia, że ludzie wiedzą, bo ty wiesz, tylko zapewnij jakiś wstęp, jakieś exposé, jakieś dobre wtajemniczenie ludzi w dotychczas zebrane badania, w taki kontekst biznesowy, dlaczego pewną rzecz realizujemy. I te przygotowania się do tego kick-offu nie pójdą na marne, bo też zapewnienie zrozumienia celu może być poprzez powtarzanie tych informacji. Czyli też zbuduj sobie praktykę wracania do celu przy każdej nadarzającej się okazji. To mogą być jakieś Przeglądy Sprintów, jeśli stosujesz Scruma, to mogą być jakieś demo, spotkania projektowe, jakieś warsztaty, jakieś podsumowania. Wszystkie te miejsca, gdzie zebrany jest zespół lub jego wyraźna część, to mogą być okazje do tego, żeby wrócić do tej mantry, co jest celem, co jest istotą tego, co jest realizowane w danym momencie. No i tutaj trochę założenie, że wielokrotne powtórzenie, być może powtórzenie na pewne różne sposoby, przekazanie tej informacji sprawi, że ten cel będzie rozumiany, da okazję do tego, żeby się tak mocniej w zespole osadzić. No i tym samym, gdy przyjdzie moment na aktywność związaną z dzieleniem, czy na początku jakiegoś kroku, czy w trakcie już dalszych prac, to ten cel będzie pamiętany, łatwy do przypomnienia, czy po prostu tak już na tyle zrozumiały, że w zasadzie wszyscy to traktują jako oczywistość. Jacek: Druga porada jest pewnego rodzaju pogłębieniem tego, co powiedział Kuba, czyli rekomendujemy użycie sprawdzonych technik, które wspierają pracę na celach, lepsze zrozumienie tego, czym ten cel właściwie jest. I mamy tutaj na myśli szereg różnych technik, podejść. Chcielibyśmy je teraz troszeczkę wymienić, tak żeby rozsypać takie ziarenka możliwości. Na pewno sensowną techniką do rozważania jest impact mapping, podejście golden circle, koncepcja product vision board, OKR-y czy opportunity solution tree. Jeżeli te nazwy niewiele ci mówią na ten moment, żadna strata po prostu wyszuka je w internecie, jeśli jeszcze ich nie znasz. Mamy z Kubą doświadczenie w większości tych narzędzi no i faktycznie możemy potwierdzić, że nie dość, że są fajnym narzędziem, które wspomaga zrozumienie, po co pewne rzeczy robimy, to zwykle są to też narzędzia, które są wizualne. Tak więc praca z nimi to nie jest tylko rozmowa, jest też ta część taka widoczna, która bardzo mocno poprawia i zwiększa zrozumienie tego, co on tak naprawdę jest esencją danej zmiany. Kuba: I tu konkretnie, jeśli by zespół zawierał się do jakiejś sesji dzielenia, to jeśli do tej pory nie zostało to zrobione, to rekomendujemy wykorzystanie jako swego rodzaju rozgrzewki czy wstępu właśnie któregoś z tych narzędzi lub powrotu do tych narzędzi, jeśli one zostały już przepracowane na wcześniejszych etapach. Kuba: I trzecia praktyka, którą rekomendujemy to stosowanie tak często, jak tylko się da sprawdzenia zrozumienia celu. To nie tylko osoba zarządzająca projektem, lider produktu czy manager zespołu, może być osobą, która komunikuje, jaki jest cel, ale możemy też poprosić o to, aby to uczestnicy w jakiejś formie ćwiczeniowej albo po prostu na zasadzie takiej szybkiej śmierci po prostu powiedzieli, przypomnieli, czy swoimi słowami opowiedzieli, jaki jest cel danej inicjatywy. To może być okazja do tego, żeby w ogóle sprawdzić, czy to jest zrozumiałe, to może być też narzędzia aktywizujące czy rozgrzewające uczestników, ale też jest fajna okazja do tego, żeby skorzystać z różnorodności zespołu, różnych perspektyw, różnych osób, z różnych profesji, które na sprawy patrzą trochę inaczej. Również warsztatowo na wspomnianym szkoleniu przeze mnie było to bardzo doceniane. Mieliśmy miks osób o bardzo różnych specjalizacjach na warsztacie i też właśnie ten aspekt wychodził. Pewne osoby patrzą na sprawy bardziej systemowo, inne bardziej biznesowo. No i ta parafraza celu albo próba zrozumienia celu też może być atakowana na różne sposoby i w efekcie to zrozumienie jest lepsze. Więc dąż do tego, żeby sprawdzać zrozumienie na przykład poprzez parafrazę przez osoby zaangażowane w zespół. Kuba: Przejdźmy zatem do drugiego wyzwania. Jest to presja biznesu na wdrożenie całości. Co mamy na myśli? Całości projektu, całości zakresu, całości inicjatywy, czasami może całość jakiejś zdefiniowanej funkcji w produkcie. To zjawisko może powodować, że jest pewna niechęć czy pewne poczucie bezsensu dzielenia. No bo po co dzielić, jeśli i tak musimy na końcu wdrożyć wielką całość tak, jak została ona zdefiniowana, a czasami z tą presją biznesu może się wręcz wiązać czy z presją może managementu, może się nawet wiązać takie poczucie, że podzielenie to proszenie się o kłopoty, bo być może ta strona, która wywiera tę presję, może wręcz zaraz zacząć dostrzegać się, że my chcemy spróbować się wyślizgnąć z jakiegoś kawałku zakresu. Więc szereg pewnych takich negatywnych emocji, które mogą powodować, że tego dzielenia nie chce zespół zrealizować. Jacek: I pierwsza nasza rekomendacja odnośnie do tego wyzwania jest taka, żeby pokazać korzyści, które wynikają z tej dekompozycji na wczesnym etapie. Warto założyć, że nie wszyscy wiedzą, nie wszyscy doświadczyli tego, jakie to są korzyści. A myślimy tutaj przede wszystkim o wczesnym obniżaniu ryzyk, zarówno biznesowym. Czyli mamy okazję wcześniej przekonać się, że to, co wymyśliliśmy, faktycznie trafia w potrzebę rynkową, jest właściwie rozwiązane. Ryzyk technologicznych, czyli czy potrafimy posługiwać się konkretną technologią, której chcemy użyć, czy ryzyk społecznych, czyli czy ta grupa osób, która odpowiada na implementację tego rozwiązania, czy potrafią ze sobą efektywnie współpracować. Więc ryzyka to jest jakby jedna strona tej monety, a z drugiej strony jest taka koncepcja, że chcielibyśmy tę najważniejszą wartość, tę esencję tak naprawdę, konkretne zmiany projektu czy inicjatywy, chcielibyśmy dostarczyć jak najwcześniej. Jeżeli ten temat jest dla Ciebie interesujący, to zdecydowanie polecamy nasz wcześniejszy odcinek, odcinek, który nazwaliśmy „Dlaczego warto dzielić praca na małe części?”, ponieważ zawarliśmy tam całą masę pomysłów, koncepcji i wskazówek, dlaczego warto dzielić. Odsyłamy do odcinka numer 76 dostępnego pod adresem porzadnyagile.pl/76. Kuba: Drugi z możliwych rozwiązań na presję biznesu na wdrożenie całości jest zrozumienie obaw interesariuszy, które blokują ich na tenże podział. Tutaj proponuję uruchomić empatię, proponuję zrozumieć i wczuć się w perspektywę tych Interesariuszy. Coś, co widać z zewnątrz z perspektywy też może konkretnego zespołu wykonawczego jako jakiegoś rodzaju niezrozumiała albo wręcz nieracjonalna presja, może tak naprawdę być czymś unikalnym dla tej osoby, dla tego konkretnego managera czy tej konkretnej grupy ludzi z jakiejś części organizacji. To może być coś, czego ty nie doceniasz, a jednak trzeba zagospodarować. Co mam tu na myśli? Bardzo konkretny przykład z konkretnej firmy, w której uczestniczyłem. Na przykład zespół odpowiedzialny za operację, czyli jakieś takie działania związane z usługami, na przykład po sprzedaży i obsługą klienta. Bardzo bał się, że ich narzędzia zostaną uznane za nieistotne, albo w ogóle nie zostaną zrealizowane w całym projekcie, dlatego oni byli bardzo sceptyczni i bardzo tacy twardzi w negocjacjach, bardzo niechętni do jakiegokolwiek dzielenia tego, co oni zgłosili, jakichś puli, ich wymagań, ich potrzeb narzędziowych. No bo ich życiowe doświadczenie z przeszłości jakichś poprzednich projektów pokazywało, że często kończyło się tym, że pod presją czasu w ogóle żadne narzędzia dla nich nie były wykonywane i muszą obsługiwać klienta Excelami i mailami pisanymi z ręki, bo system nie zagospodarował tego, choć pierwotnie było to planowane. Więc tutaj warto wziąć na to poprawkę, warto wczuć się w tę perspektywę i też zrozumieć ewentualne obawy. Jacek: Innym przykładem obawy może być sytuacja, w której ktoś komuś obiecał bardzo precyzyjny i zwykle bardzo rozbudowany zakres. Często jest tak, że osoby te nie mówią tego wprost albo po prostu może trochę im jest trudno też przyznać, że gdzieś tam komuś coś takiego obiecały no i będą opornie podchodzić do tematu, żeby ten duży kawałek, tą całość podzielić. Z takiej obawy, że to dzielenie będzie jednak być może pretekstem do tego, żeby z tego zakresu wyleciało. Kuba: Taki przykład specyficzny już dla pewnej grupy firm to to, że jest też w niektórych organizacjach taki pęd ku robieniu dużych, spektakularnych rzeczy. I tutaj w tym kontekście idea dzielenia trochę stoi z tym w poprzek. No bo trzeba robić wielkie projekty strategiczne, robić wielkie wow, mieć wielkie premiery, mieć wielkie nagrody za jakieś tam przełomowe niesamowite odkrycia czy innowacje w danej branży. W tym sensie warto tę perspektywę też złapać, że może być tak, że osoba właśnie szykuje się na przyszłą konferencję innowacji w bankowości i tam naprawdę ma wielką ochotę wyskoczyć na scenę i poopowiadać, jak to wielkie, wspaniałe, nowe implementacje, pewnie w tym roku AI w apce, ma w planach. Oczywiście to nie oznacza, że spektakularne rzeczy muszą być niepodzielone, ale warto może mieć tutaj świadomość tej sytuacji i ewentualnie dbać o tę komunikację, bo jedno nie stoi w przyszłości z drugim. W najgorszym razie faktycznie wdrożenie może mieć miejsce jako wielki wow, co nie znaczy, że nie warto podzielić na wcześniejszych etapach i też dostarczać kawałkami, być może kawałkami, które nie będą jeszcze publikowane. Jacek: I to, co Kuba powiedział, to właściwie przesuwa nas do trzeciej porady, czyli przepracowania z biznesem różnic pomiędzy podziałem na części, a obietnicą realizacji całości. W największym skrócie chodzi o to, że to, że podzielimy na mniejsze kawałki pracę, nie musi automatycznie oznaczać, że nie wdrożymy potrzebnej całości. Przy czym jednak tutaj oczywiście dostrzegamy pewną kontrowersję, no bo może być tak, że masz doświadczenie z aktualnej firmy czy z wcześniejszych firm, że jednak ze względu zwykle na jakieś ograniczenia czasowe taki podział powoduje, że do konkretnej daty jednak wdrażana jest jakaś tam część. Bywa, że ona jest satysfakcjonująca i nie są realizowane te rzeczy, których nie zdążyliśmy zrobić w dalszej kolejności, tylko realizowane są jakieś kolejne inne koncepcje. Więc co do zasady nie musi tak być, ale rozumiemy, że doświadczenie i historię wcześniejszych projektów mogą podpowiadać, że z tą poradą trzeba byłoby czy do tej porady podchodzić w ostrożny sposób. Kuba: W szczegółach jest też druga kontrowersja, to koncepcja potrzebnej całości. Może się okazać, że tutaj ktoś się bardzo kurczowo trzyma tego czegoś, co jest wyobrażeniem całości zakresu czy całości rozwiązania, co powstało na bardzo wczesnym etapie. No i czasami niektórzy zbyt kurczowo się trzymają tej wizji raczej zakładając, że od początku mieli rację co do tego, co jest potrzebne, od początku wiedzieli, że dokładnie ten cały zakres jest tym, czego potrzebuje rynek czy potrzebuje klient. Więc tutaj wracamy też do ryzyk biznesowych. Zbyt dużo decyzji podjętych na zbyt wczesnym etapie może być, tak naprawdę złudzeniem co jest potrzebne. Więc rada z podwójną kontrowersją jak to pokazaliśmy, ale mimo wszystko na etapie takim bardzo wczesnym, być może bardziej dyplomatyczne jest powiedzenie, „Podzielimy na kawałki i wdrożymy to, co jest potrzebną całością”, gdzie ja w swojej głowie mówię, potrzebna całość to nie będzie cały zakres, tak jak go czujemy dzisiaj, bo jeszcze czas pokaże, co to dokładnie będzie to coś, co wdrożymy. Jacek: Trzecie wyzwanie to wyważenie perspektywy technologii i biznesu przy podziale. Mamy tutaj na myśli sytuację po dwóch stronach osi. Z jednej strony, kiedy podział dzieje się wyłącznie w izolacji biznesowej i osoby technologiczne do tego podziału nie są zapraszane, co oczywiście powoduje, że tracimy bardzo istotny aspekt wykonalności, jak również dostępnych opcji, które płyną nie z głów biznesowych, a od osób technologicznych. Z drugiej strony próba podziału wyłącznie technologicznego, co może się udać z perspektywy podziału tego na mniejsze kawałki, ale dobrze nie rozumiejąc aspektów biznesowych albo nie mając możliwości dopytania – przykładowo, jaki to będzie miało impakt biznesowy – również spowoduje, że taki podział będzie jakiś, ale na pewno nie będzie to podział optymalny. Kuba: Rozwiązanie pierwsze jest dosyć oczywiste. Zaproś przemyślany skład, będący reprezentacją potrzebnych stron. I to idzie trochę dalej niż tylko te dwie skrajne kawałki osi, które wymienił Jacek, bo to może być też perspektywa na przykład prawna, to może być perspektywa user experience, więc tutaj uczestników tego typu warsztatów czy aktywności związanych z podziałem powinno być prawdopodobnie sporo w zależności od kontekstu i specyfiki twojego produktu. Natomiast w tej Radzie „Zaproś” jest też koncept tego, że w ogóle rozmawiamy po co, kto, z czym ma przyjść i jaką perspektywę reprezentować. Mnie serce boli, jak często słyszę ze strony biznesowej, że zaprosili na przykład przedstawicieli IT, jakiś architektów, jakiś senior developerów, po czym się okazało, że te osoby były bardzo ciche na spotkaniu, nie za bardzo zabierały głos, nie za bardzo dokładały od siebie – nawet zapytane. Moim zdaniem tu może być taki błąd pierwotny w tym, że ktoś zaprosił te osoby, przyszły, bo warto, bo trzeba, bo tak wypada, bo taki jest zwyczaj, natomiast tak naprawdę te osoby mogłyby nie wiedzieć, po co na danym spotkaniu są. Więc tutaj pojawia się bardzo ważna rola osoby zapraszającej, ktokolwiek to jest w danym kontekście, która również wyjaśnia wszystkim obecnym czy wszystkim planowanym do wzięcia udziału w tych czynnościach, żeby jednak bardzo jasno wyrazić, na co liczę, na czego oczekuję od Ciebie, jako uczestnika tego typu warsztatów. Żeby też nikt się nie bał, nie krygował, nie hamował, zwłaszcza, że prawdopodobnie w ramach takiego dzielenia się będzie trochę tarć. Ktoś zaproponuje podział biznesowy, który nie do końca jest dobry technologicznie, któryś podział biznesowo-technologicznie fajnie się zapowiadający będzie trochę bezsensowny z perspektywy prawnika, czy z perspektywy osoby odpowiedzialnej za bezpieczeństwo. Więc tutaj się rzeczy będą tarcia, więc każdy musi rozumieć też, po co jest na tym warsztacie, czy na tym spotkaniu, czy uczestniczy w tych aktywnościach. Jacek: Druga wskazówka ustal facylitatora i oczekuj od tej osoby, że zadba o każdą perspektywę. Mówiąc prostszym językiem, zadba, żeby była osoba, która zadba o to, żeby przebieg tego warsztatu był maksymalnie efektywny, żeby równomiernie wybrzmiały dostępne na spotkaniu perspektywy, nawiązując do tego, co powiedział Kuba, jak również, żeby zbalansować też głębokość tych rozmów. Czyli przykładowo, żeby nie zabrnąć w jakieś super niskopoziomowe detale na przykład technologiczne, bo to może powodować, że wszystkie te inne osoby, które nie są tak techniczne, może się o nich rodzić poczucie, że to spotkanie tak nie do końca jest dobrze poprowadzone. Kto może prowadzić takie spotkanie? To może być ogarnięty analityk, to może być lead developer, to może być architekt. Tak naprawdę nie ma to znaczenia, jak nazywa się ta konkretna rola. Ważne jest natomiast, żeby ta osoba była po pierwsze dobrze przygotowana do poprowadzenia takich warsztatów, czasem serii warsztatów, bo to może być więcej niż jednorazowa akcja, i żeby starała się ta osoba trzymać perspektywę wszystkich stron będących na tym spotkaniu równomiernie, a nie była tylko reprezentantem tej jednej. Bo tak jak wspomniałem przed chwilą może to spowodować, że nie do końca będzie to dobra reklama na przyszłość dla tego typu inicjatyw w organizacji. Kuba: I trzecia porada, jak sobie poradzić z wyważeniem perspektywy technologii i biznesu, to zastosować techniki wizualne, które są zrozumiałe zarówno dla biznesu, jak i IT. Mamy tu konkretnie przede wszystkim na myśli Story mapping, który lubimy, robimy, często rekomendujemy i sami też regularnie wręcz stosujemy do swojej własnej pracy biznesowej czy pracy związanej z podcastem. Podobnie jak z poprzednimi wymienionymi technikami, nie będziemy tutaj w odcinku ich opisywać. Zakładam, że Story Mapping jest już na tyle powszechną techniką, że akurat on powinien być wśród odbiorców znany naszego podcastu, ale jeśli nadal go nie znasz, to mocno rekomendujemy sprawdź to, może dołącz do jakiegoś warsztatu, gdzie jest to realizowane, bo technika jest supermocna, jeśli chodzi o wizualizację, jeśli chodzi o pokazanie zakresu, pokazanie opcji, ale też między innymi w kontekście tego, o czym tu mówimy, takie pokazanie sobie, czym jest w ogóle to przedsięwzięcie, które realizujemy, jaką ono się dzieli na mniejsze kawałeczki i te kawałeczki najczęściej są realizowane z perspektywy użytkownika, więc zrozumiałe są zarówno dla biznesu, jak i dla strony tych osób, które będą później to implementować. Obiecująco wygląda też zastosowanie Event stormingu. Ja sam osobiście nie prowadzę tych sesji, ale kilkukrotnie uczestniczyłem jako obserwator czy jako uczestnik. Mam tu mniejsze doświadczenia, ale jeśli ktoś umie to poprowadzić, to uważam, że może dać bardzo podobny rezultat co Story mapping, choć rządzi się trochę innymi prawami. Jacek: Zanim pójdziemy dalej, krótka informacja, mamy dostępny z Kuba webinar dotyczący kwestii tego, jak dzielić pracę na mniejsze kawałki. Ten webinar nauczy Cię formułować celne argumenty za tym, że w ogóle warto dzielić, nauczy Cię też używać w praktyce wyselekcjonowanych przez nas konkretnych metod dzielenia. W webinarze pokazujemy wszystko na bazie łatwych, do zrozumienia przykładów, jak dzielić oraz podpowiadamy sporo wskazówek z naszej praktyki, jak lepiej dzielić elementy, angażując w to wydarzenie całe zespół. Więcej informacji oraz możliwości zakupu webinaru znajdziesz na stronie porzadnyagile.pl/deco. Kuba: Czwartym wyzwaniem jest czasochłonność procesu dzielenia. Często, gdy przekonuję jakiś zespół do tego, że warto dzielić, słyszę jako jeden z argumentów przeciwko dzieleniu, jest to, że to jest praca do wykonania, ktoś to musi zrobić, ktoś to musi wpisać, tu będzie dużo elementów, które później trzeba zarządzić, skoordynować. I przyjmuję do wiadomości, że to jest pewna praca, to jest pewien wysiłek, ale dla wielu zespołów czy w wielu organizacjach jest to po prostu pewnego rodzaju wyzwanie, jak się za to zabrać. Co tutaj rekomendujemy? Jacek: Przede wszystkim warto zadbać o zmianę myślenia, że dzielenie to nie jest koszt i tak nie nazywać tego procesu, tylko raczej myśleć o tym, że to jest inwestycja w proces dostarczania, która pomoże zespołowi uchwycić po pierwsze dobre zrozumienie zakresu, da też o wiele lepszą kontrolę nad postępem prac, przez to, że będziemy pracować na trochę mniejszych klockach i też zmniejszy złożoność danego kroku większej inicjatywy, które mamy do wykonania. Za tym wszystkim płynie cały szereg technicznych aspektów, a mianowicie sam przepływ pracy wewnątrz zespołu powinien tak naprawdę przy pracowaniu na mniejszych kawałkach przyspieszyć, przez to, że szybciej coś zostanie zaimplementowane, szybciej będziemy w stanie to przetestować, szybciej będziemy w stanie zrobić code review, czy ostatecznie szybciej pewne rzeczy zmergować, czy wypuścić na środowisko produkcyjne. Jest więc cała masa bardzo pozytywnych rzeczy, które dostaniemy, tylko jeśli zainwestujemy czas w to, żeby tę pracę, która na nas czeka, po prostu, żeby ją podzielić na mniejsze fragmenty. Kuba: Druga rada to wykorzystaj reużywalność narzędzi i instrukcji. Faktycznie może być tak, że ten koszt czy inwestycja, jak to Jacek przed chwilą bardzo wyraźnie wskazał czy skorygował, może po prostu zajmować pewien konkretny czas i częścią tego czasu może być przygotowywanie się lub niepotrzebne wgryzanie się w techniki czy w narzędzia związane z dekompozycją czy właśnie dzieleniem elementów. Tutaj mocno rekomenduję, zwłaszcza osobom, które pełnią jakieś funkcje liderskie w zespole, czy odpowiadają za proces pracy, by jak najmocniej wykorzystywać okazję do szykowania czy reużywania checklist, na przykład metody dzielenia. To jest bardzo prosta checklista, jakimi metodami możemy podzielić dany projekt czy dany element, który podlega właśnie warsztatowaniu. To mogą być przygotowane szablony, wymieniliśmy konkretne już techniki, te techniki można mieć już przygotowane, jakieś boardy na jakimś miro czy jakieś przygotowane gotowe kawałki do przepisania na flipchart czy do przepisania na jakieś kartki. Ale chodzi też o znane zespołowi schematy. Nie trzeba się silić za każdym razem, żeby zrozumieć o co chodzi tej osobie, która prowadzi daną sesję warsztatową, tylko zespół się dopracowuje z czasem gotowych ścieżek, tych, które już można nawet prawie nie dawać żadnych instrukcji, tylko po prostu wejść na takim trochę automacie. Oczywiście nie sugeruję, te instrukcje zawsze jednak jakieś powinny być, ale one mogą być super związłe, niewymagające żadnych dodatkowych omówień i też wchodzące zespołowi, tak nazwij, gładko. Czyli zespół płynnie wchodzi w temat, nie ma żadnych dyskusji, ale o co ci chodzi, gdy każesz nam tu coś rozpisać albo co masz na myśli, gdy mówisz o dzieleniu po jakiś tam elementach, bo to wszystko zespół już zna, czuje. Więc też w jakimś sensie jest okazja do oszczędności czasowej, jeśli tylko do tego podchodzi się w taki bardzo świadomy sposób i dzięki temu, zwłaszcza kolejne dzielenia, gdy już bazujesz na checklistach albo schematach, są już mniej czasochłonne. Jacek: To co powiedział Kuba jest wprowadzeniem do trzeciej porady, czyli nabierzmy wprawy w dzieleniu. Kiedy zbudujemy doświadczenie, kiedy będziemy mieć te wszystkie checklisty, te wszystkie rzeczy, które nam ułatwiają, wtedy dzielenie staje się czymś naturalnym, płynnym, oczywistym i jest po prostu przeprowadzane w sposób generalnie dosyć sprawny. Przestaje być tematem, na którym trzeba się zastanawiać, nic nas nie blokuje, nie ma tej obawy jak to zrobimy, tylko po prostu staje się tu naturalną częścią pracy zespołów, coś co jest absolutnie oczywiste i należy poświęcić na to trochę czasu. To nie jest tak, że to się po prostu wydarzy, ale pierwsze podzielenie, drugie, trzecie. Zwykle pojawiają się bardzo wartościowe efekty dzielenia, powodują, że w tej pamięci mięśniowej zespołu zostaje taka myśl, że to po prostu warto robić, więc z perspektywy czasu nie ma już myślenia, czy to zrobimy, tylko tak naprawdę, kiedy to zrobimy, bo po prostu wiemy, że to po prostu trzeba robić, że to ma sens. I też skojarzenie jest takie, że zrobiliśmy to tyle razy, że zrobimy to z równą łatwością, kiedy przyjdzie kolejna okazja czy konieczność, żeby wykazać się tymi umiejętnościami. Kuba: I pokuszę się o taką szpileczkę, że wyzwanie z czasochłonnością dzielenia, szczególnie przecenia czy niepotrzebnie uwypukla ta grupa, która tego dzielenia nie robi. Czyli tutaj jest pewnego rodzaju obietnica osoby, które realizują dzielenie rutynowo, po prostu uważają to za nieodłączną część pracy, robią to dosyć płynnie i nie robią z tego niepotrzebnego szumu. Jacek: Ostatnie wyzwanie, które chcemy pokryć w dzisiejszym odcinku, to mentalność, niech ktoś podzieli. Czyli jest to sytuacja, w której nie do końca wiadomo, kto powinien się zabrać za dzielenie. Może i czujemy, że dobrze by było podzielić, ale to na pewno nie powinniśmy robić my. To powinni zrobić oni, albo to powinien zrobić ktoś. Jeżeli więcej osób w organizacji pomyśli w ten sam sposób, odrzucając trochę tę rękawicę pod tytułem wezmę i zrobię, to może się okazać, że czas sobie będzie płynął, co jest nieuniknione i po prostu zaczniemy pracę z tym, co mamy, czyli będziemy pracować z projektem w takim stanie, jaki jest, bez podziału. Jakie mamy pomysły na to, żeby sobie z tą mentalnością poradzić? Kuba: Pierwsza praktyka, chociaż nieatakująca problemu wprost, to podział na poziomie całego portfela. Mówię, że nie atakuję to wprost, bo to nie rozwali tej mentalności, że ktoś inny powinien podzielić, a w pewnym sensie nawet wręcz właśnie rekomenduję, żeby faktycznie ktoś inny podzielił, ale mam tu na myśli to, że jednym z problemów tego takiego przytłoczenia albo potrzeby, żeby ktoś podzielił, jest właśnie ta perspektywa, że często do zespołów wykonawczych, czy takich zespołów produktowych, projektowych trafia coś, co jest bardzo dużych rozmiarów i to tak z góry zdeterminowane, czy z góry zdefiniowane w taki sposób, że ten podział nie jest prosty. Więc tutaj mocno rekomenduję, by to na poziomie portfela, czy produktu, czy Road mapy, czy całego portfela projektów, jeśli tak to funkcjonuje w twojej organizacji, zastanowić się, czy by tego podziału jednak w jakimś sensie, albo nie wymusić, albo chociaż propagować jako dobrą praktykę. Bo wtedy, jeśli do zespołu trafi coś, co jest mniejszą cząstką, jakimś mniejszym etapem projektu, mniejszym wycinkiem celu, albo realizacją tylko jednego z najważniejszego celu spośród kilku, które dana inicjatywa pierwotnie miała realizować, to ten podział w tym zespole już konkretnym będzie trochę prostszy. Więc ta mentalność niech ktoś podzieli, moim zdaniem może m.in. częściowo bazować na tym, że zespół jest konfrontowany z trochę za dużymi elementami i rozwiązaniem na to jest podział na wczesnym etapie, jeszcze tak trochę ponad zespołem, czy na tym etapie takim strategicznym, albo chociaż taktycznym. Jacek: Druga porada to zasada, którą chcemy zaproponować, że warto się na nią umówić w zespole, która brzmi, jak widzisz linię podziału, to zgłaszasz propozycję podziału. Czyli koncepcja, w której jeżeli przechodzi Ci do głowy, jak można coś byłoby podzielić, to po prostu mówisz to. Z czego wynika ta propozycja? Wielokrotnie spotykam się z sytuacją, że obserwuję np. podczas procesu superwizji, jak pracuje konkretny zespół. Ktoś zadaje pytanie, pada pytanie, nikt się nie odzywa. Można odnieść wrażenie, że w zespole nie ma odpowiedzi. Kiedy zagłębić się i porozmawiać na spokojnie z pojedynczymi osobami, albo kiedy zastosujemy inną strukturę, która w lepszy sposób aktywizuje osoby dostępne w zespole, okazuje się, że zespół ma całą masę różnych pomysłów, bo tylko z jakichś powodów się tymi pomysłami nie dzieli. Zasada, którą tutaj proponujemy, ma na celu zbudowanie śmiałości w ludziach. Na zasadzie uprościmy sobie życie, jeśli ktoś zobaczy fajny, sensowny sposób podziału, to się w danym momencie odezwie. Brzmi to banalnie, ale wiem z doświadczenia, że czasem pojedynczy sygnał, impuls, komentarz potrafi uruchomić bardzo fajną zmianę w zespole. Zdecydowanie do umówienia się na takie proaktywne działanie rekomendujemy. Kuba: Trzecia, ostatnia porada w tym wyzwaniu to kształtowanie przez management konieczności dzielenia. To dzielenie musi być oczekiwane, czyli członkowie zespołu. Jeśli wprowadzili tę zasadę Jacka, to powinni być za nią doceniani. Jeśli jej nie wprowadzają albo zasłaniają się, że idzie, jak idzie, albo postępów nie ma, albo ryzyka projektowe się ziściły, bo nie podzieliliśmy, to powinien być wstęp do bardzo poważnej rozmowy o tym, że to jest problem, bo jako management organizacji, czy jako Product manager, czy Project manager, czy jakiś manager strukturalny, hierarchiczny, wszyscy wymagają tego, żeby to dzielenie miało miejsce. Warto postawić dzielenie jako oczekiwanie, dawać feedback, jeśli to dzielenie następuje, dawać feedback, jeśli nie następuje. Też wspierać pomysły na podział, zwłaszcza takie bardziej odważne, wiążące się też z zahaczeniem o aspekty wyższego poziomu biznesowe, czy związane ze zrozumieniem celu. Wszystko to warto propagować. I przez odwrotność też powiem, nie doprowadzać do sytuacji, w której zespół ma poczucie, że ma zablokowaną możliwość dzielenia. Mam na myśli takie jakieś wytyczne czy jakieś stawianie pewnych spraw, że na przykład wszystko musi być wdrożone jako całość, co było przedmiotem innego wyzwania, czy jakieś inne rodzaje blokerów albo komunikatów, które powodują, że zespół nie wierzy w efekty pracy przyrostowej i nie widzi w związku z tym sensu dzielenia. Jacek: Na koniec kilka myśli, którymi chcemy się podzielić zamiast takiego klasycznego podsumowania. Dzielenie pracy na mniejsze kawałki to zawsze dobry pomysł. Jeszcze nie spotkałem zespołu, który byłby zawiedziony efektami dobrze przeprowadzonego dzielenia. Kuba: Dzielenie jest superpraktyką. Analogicznie do tego jak o żywności mówi się superfood. Daje masę korzyści na wielu poziomach i jest jednym z fundamentów efektywności zespołów. Jacek: Warto kreować kulturę pracy wspierającą dzielenie pracy na mniejsze części i aktywnie mierzyć się z ewentualnymi wyzwaniami, z takimi aktywnościami. Kuba: Jeśli mierzysz się w swojej organizacji z wyzwaniami związanymi z dzieleniem, tymi, które wymieniamy albo innymi, skorzystaj z naszej oferty wsparcia konsultacyjnego. W Twoim konkretnym kontekście pomożemy przemyśleć dany temat albo wskazać konkretne rozwiązania z naszego wieloletniego doświadczenia. Sprawdź całość oferty na 202procent.pl/konsultacje. Jacek: Ja również polecam się odezwać do nas. Natomiast notatki do tego odcinka, artykuł, transkrypcja oraz zapis wideo znajdziesz na stronie porzadnyagile.pl/139. Kuba: I to by było wszystko na dzisiaj. Dzięki, Jacek. Jacek: Dzięki, Kuba. I do usłyszenia wkrótce. ________ To była pełna transkrypcja odcinka podcastu Porządny Agile. Dziękujemy za lekturę!The post Wyzwania w dzieleniu projektów na mniejsze części first appeared on Porządny Agile.

I’m launching new cohorts for The Forge Lightning and The Forge Genesis. Go to https://learning.fusechamber.com to find out more and register today. What’s The Latest in Badass Leadership? Something is definitely up. People are angrier, meaner, less fulfilled, less patient and more intolerant. Manners and decorum are taking a back seat to ego and impulse. I won’t get into where I think this is all coming from, but I do know one thing. If you want to make things better, the fastest way is to set an example with Badass Leadership. For a leader to set a powerful example, they have to be in control of their emotions. You have to let situations bounce off of you – including criticism, failure, unfairness, difficulty and conflict. Technically, it doesn’t have to “bounce off of you”, but the badass leader must be in charge of their response to situations like these. That means you’re aware of how situations affect you. You understand your default reactions, and learn how to subvert them. It means you know what is important to you as a leader, and never allow your ego (or your emotions) to take precedence over your vision. It’s never been more important to let your badass leadership shine. What Is Badass Leadership? Thinking back to some very early episodes, Badass Leadership refers to the qualities that a highly seasoned and powerful leader possesses. You are not influenced by currents and tides, nor the opinions of others. You can see clearly where you want to go, and are willing to experiment in an effort to get there. You don’t value being right. You don’t need credit, acclaim, wealth or fame in exchange for what you do. Your leadership is about serving. That means bringing clear value to those who need it the most. At its core, Badass Leadership is about strength. Steadiness, especially in the face of adversity, is a sign of great wisdom and power. Having the humility to realize you’re not perfect, but on a path to mastery, is key. When you’ve begun to master emotional control in yourself, you’ll notice something very cool happening. You can notice it in others. If you’ve been working on emotional control in yourself, you can then use your wisdom and experience to help others. That’s what Badass Leadership is all about. Here’s some episodes touching on Badass Leadership I thought you might also enjoy: The Forge – Badass Agile Immersion Experience Career Freedom with Forge Genesis Episode 168 – The 13 Qualities Of A Badass Leader (Revisited) **JOIN MY BETA COMMUNITY FOR AGILE ENTREPRENEURS AND INTRAPRENEURS** The latest wave in professional Agile careers. Get the support you need to Forge Your Freedom! Join for FREE here: https://learning.fusechamber.com/offers/Sa3udEgz **CHECK OUT ALL MY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES HERE:** https://learning.fusechamber.com **THE ALL NEW FORGE LIGHTNING** 12 Weeks to elite leadership! https://learning.fusechamber.com/forge-lightning **ELEVATE YOUR PROFESSIONAL STORYTELLING – Now Live!** The most coveted communications skill – now at your fingertips! https://learning.fusechamber.com/storytelling **JOIN THE FORGE*** New cohorts for Fall 2025! Email for more information: contact@badassagile.com **BREAK FREE OF CORPORATE AGILE!!*** Download my FREE Guide and learn how to shift from roles and process and use your agile skills in new and exciting ways! https://learning.fusechamber.com/future-of-agile-signup We’re also on YouTube! Follow the podcast, enjoy some panel/guest commentary, and get some quick tips and guidance from me: https://www.youtube.com/c/BadassAgile ****** Follow The LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/badass-agile ****** Our mission is to create an elite tribe of leaders who focus on who they need to become in order to lead and inspire, and to be the best agile podcast and resource for effective mindset and leadership game. Contact us (contact@badassagile.com) for elite-level performance and agile coaching, speaking engagements, team-level and executive mindset/agile training, and licensing options for modern, high-impact, bite-sized learning and educational content.

This episode of the Global Medical Device Podcast features a compelling conversation with Perry Parendo, a seasoned expert in product development and project management within the MedTech sector. Host Etienne Nichols and Perry delve into the challenges and opportunities facing medical device development, emphasizing the critical role of agile practices, risk management, and the necessity for a patient-focused approach. The discussion sheds light on how companies can navigate regulatory landscapes, manage project risks, and drive innovation to enhance patient care.Key Timestamps:00:00:15 - Introduction of Perry Parendo and the episode's focus00:03:50 - Discussing the challenges of MedTech product development and regulatory hurdles00:12:20 - Agile methodologies vs. traditional project management in MedTech00:22:35 - The importance of risk management and Monte Carlo simulation in project planning00:34:10 - Perry's perspective on innovation, compliance, and balancing project priorities00:45:55 - Strategies for efficient and effective product development processesQuotes:"We're so focused from a compliance point of view on patient and health risk, we're not focused on project risk. And when I worked in the defense industry, we were hugely focused on project risk," Perry Parendo"There's waterfall, there's agile, there's Toyota, there's set based design, and there's APQP in the automotive industry. They're all a blend. There's no organization that's doing purely the theoretical of any one of those processes," Perry ParendoTakeawaysInsights on MedTech Trends:The convergence of agile and traditional methodologies tailored to MedTech's unique demands.The rising importance of advanced risk management techniques, like Monte Carlo simulations, in navigating project uncertainties.A call for innovation that transcends regulatory compliance to genuinely benefit patient care.Practical Tips for Listeners:Adopt a flexible approach to project management by integrating various methodologies based on project needs.Prioritize risk management early in the development process to foresee and mitigate potential challenges.Always align product development objectives with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes.Questions for Future Developments:How will evolving regulatory standards shape the next generation of medical devices?What role will patient feedback play in the design and development of future MedTech innovations?Can MedTech sustain its pace of innovation while ensuring safety and compliance?References:Perry Parendo on LinkedInEtienne Nichols on LinkedInBehavioral Grooves podcast with Annie Duke - Thinking in BetsBook - Someday is Today, Ron RichardYoutube video - the Heartbeat of New Product DevelopmentQuality Culture for Product Design SuccessDesign News Columns

Bob Galen and Josh Anderson dissect toxic workplace culture and challenge leaders to take ownership. Learn why stack ranking exists (spoiler: because leaders aren't doing their jobs), why brutal AI-driven hiring processes are destroying recruitment, and how to properly use performance improvement plans. Stop passing the buck to HR or the C-suite. If your workplace is toxic, it's your responsibility to detoxify it. Bob shares his experience refusing to participate in stack ranking, Josh explains why hiring can't be automated, and both hosts deliver their "Make it so" challenge for leaders ready to do the hard work. Stay Connected and Informed with Our NewslettersJosh Anderson's "Leadership Lighthouse"Dive deeper into the world of Agile leadership and management with Josh Anderson's "Leadership Lighthouse." This bi-weekly newsletter offers insights, tips, and personal stories to help you navigate the complexities of leadership in today's fast-paced tech environment. Whether you're a new manager or a seasoned leader, you'll find valuable guidance and practical advice to enhance your leadership skills. Subscribe to "Leadership Lighthouse" for the latest articles and exclusive content right to your inbox.Subscribe hereBob Galen's "Agile Moose"Bob Galen's "Agile Moose" is a must-read for anyone interested in Agile practices, team dynamics, and personal growth within the tech industry. The newsletter features in-depth analysis, case studies, and actionable tips to help you excel in your Agile journey. Bob brings his extensive experience and thoughtful perspectives directly to you, covering everything from foundational Agile concepts to advanced techniques. Join a community of Agile enthusiasts and practitioners by subscribing to "Agile Moose."Subscribe hereDo More Than Listen:We publish video versions of every episode and post them on our YouTube page.Help Us Spread The Word: Love our content? Help us out by sharing on social media, rating our podcast/episodes on iTunes, or by giving to our Patreon campaign. Every time you give, in any way, you empower our mission of helping as many agilists as possible. Thanks for sharing!

Sara Di Gregorio: Coaching Product Owners from Isolation to Collaboration Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Using User Story Mapping to Break Down PO Isolation "One of the key strengths is the ability to build a strong collaborative relationship with the Scrum team. We constantly exchange feedback, with the shared goal of improving both our collaborating and the way of working." - Sara Di Gregorio   Sara considers herself fortunate—she currently works with Product Owners who exemplify what great collaboration looks like. One of their key strengths is the ability to build strong collaborative relationships with the Scrum team. They don't wait for sprint reviews to exchange feedback; instead, they constantly communicate with the shared goal of improving both collaboration and ways of working.  These Product Owners involve the team early, using techniques like user story mapping after analysis phases to create open discussions around upcoming topics and help the team understand potential dependencies. They make themselves truly available—they observe daily stand-ups not as passive attendees but as engaged contributors. If the team needs five minutes to discuss something afterward, the Product Owner is ready. They attend Scrum events with genuine interest in working with the team, not just fulfilling an attendance requirement. They encourage open dialogue, even participating in retrospectives to understand how the team is working and where they can improve collaboration. What sets these Product Owners apart is their communication approach. They don't come in thinking they know everything or that they need to do everything alone. Their mindset is collaborative: "We're doing this together." They recognize that developers aren't just executors—they're users of the product, experts who can provide valuable perspectives.  When Product Owners ask "Why do you want this?" and developers respond with "If we do it this way, we can be faster, and you can try your product sooner," that's when magic happens. Great Product Owners understand that strong communication skills and collaborative relationships create better products, better teams, and better outcomes for everyone involved.   Self-reflection Question: How are your Product Owners involving the team early in discovery and analysis, and are they building collaborative relationships or just attending required events? The Bad Product Owner: The Isolated Expert Who Thinks Teams Just Execute   "Sometimes they feel very comfortable in their subject, so they assume they know everything, and the team has only to execute what they asked for." - Sara Di Gregorio   Sara has encountered Product Owners who embody the worst anti-pattern: they believe they don't need to interact with the development team because they're confident in their subject matter expertise. They assume they know everything, and the team's job is simply to execute what they ask for. These Product Owners work isolated from the development team, writing detailed user stories alone and skipping the interesting discussions with developers. They only involve the team when they think it's necessary, treating developers as order-takers rather than collaborators who could contribute valuable insights.  The impact is significant—teams lose the opportunity to understand the "why" behind features, Product Owners miss perspectives that could improve the product, and collaboration becomes transactional instead of transformational. Sara's approach to addressing this anti-pattern is patient but deliberate. She creates space for dialogue and provides training with the Product Owner to help them understand how important it is to collaborate and cooperate with the team. She shows them the impact of including the team from the beginning of feature study.  One powerful technique she uses is user story mapping workshops, bringing both the team and Product Owner together. The Product Owner explains what they want to deliver from their point of view, but then something crucial happens: the team asks lots of questions to understand "Why do you want this?"—not just "I will do it."  Through this exercise, Sara watched Product Owners have profound realizations. They understood they could change their mindset by talking with developers, who often are users of the product and can offer perspectives like "If we do it this way, we can be faster, and you can try your product sooner."  The workshop helps teams understand the big picture of what the Product Owner is asking for while helping the Product Owner reflect on what they're actually asking. It transforms the relationship from isolation to collaboration, from directive to dialogue, from assumption to shared understanding.   In this segment, we refer to the User Story Mapping blog post by Jeff Patton.   Self-reflection Question: Are your Product Owners writing user stories in isolation, or are they involving the team in discovery to create shared understanding and better solutions?   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Hello San Francisco - we're arrived for Microsoft Ignite 2025! The #CloudRealities podcast team has landed this week in San Francisco, we're bringing you the best updates right from the heart of the event. Join us to connect AI at scale, cloud modernization, and secure innovation—empowering organizations to become AI-first. Plus, we'll keep you updated on all the latest news and juicy gossip. Dave, Esmee, and Rob continue their conversation with Alistair Speirs, GM of Global Infrastructure for Microsoft's Azure Business Group, exploring how to build and scale the AI and Cloud datacenters of the future worldwide—while also addressing sovereignty requirements.  TLDR00:40 – Introduction to Alistair Speirs04:42 – Keynote highlights and Expo floor insights06:50 – Deep dive conversation with Alistair36:36 – Favorite IT-themed movie, using your brain as compute storage, and why people still matter GuestAlistair Speirs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistair/ HostsDave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Hello San Francisco - we're arrived for Microsoft Ignite 2025! The #CloudRealities podcast team has landed this week in San Francisco, we're bringing you the best updates right from the heart of the event. Join us to connect AI at scale, cloud modernization, and secure innovation—empowering organizations to become AI-first. Plus, we'll keep you updated on all the latest news and juicy gossip. Dave, Esmee, and Rob wrap up their Ignite 2025 series with Yina Arenas, CVP of Microsoft Foundry, to discuss why Foundry is the go-to choice for enterprises and how it champions responsible development and innovation.  TLDR00:40 – Introduction to Yina Arenas01:14 – How the team is doing, keynote highlights, and insights from the Expo floor02:50 – Deep dive with Yina on the evolution of Cloud Foundry29:24 – Favourite IT-themed movie, human interaction, and our society31:56 – Personal (and slightly juicy) reflections on the week37:30 – Team reflections on Ignite 2025, including an executive summary per guest and appreciation for Dennis Hansen50:54 – The team's favorite IT-themed movies59:30 – Personal favorite restaurantGuestYina Arenas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yinaa/ HostsDave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podc

Sara Di Gregorio: How to Know Your Team Has Internalized Agile Values Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Scrum isn't just a process to follow, it's a way of working." - Sara Di Gregorio   For Sara, success as a Scrum Master isn't measured by what the team delivers—it's measured by how they grow. She knows that if you facilitate team growth in communication and collaboration, delivery will naturally improve.  The indicators she watches for are subtle but powerful. When teams come to her with specific requests outside the regular schedule—"Can we have 30 minutes to talk and reflect mid-sprint?"—she knows something has shifted. When teams want to reflect outside the retrospective cycle, it means they've internalized the value of continuous improvement, not just going through the motions. She listens for the word "goal" during sprint planning.  When team members start their planning by talking about goals, she feels a surge of recognition: "Okay, for me, this is very, very, very important." Success shows up in unexpected places. One of her colleague's teams pushed back during a cross-team meeting, saying "We're going out of the timebox" and suggesting they move the discussion to a different time. That kind of proactive leadership and accountability signals maturity. It means the team isn't just attending Scrum events because they have to—they truly understand why each event matters and actively participate to make them valuable.  When Sara first met a team, they asked if she wanted to change things. She said no. What she focuses on is how people improve and understand the process better. For her, it starts with the people—when people change and understand the value, that's when real changes happen in the company. It's about helping people feel good and be guided well, because when they're working well, that's when transformation becomes possible. As Sara reminds us, Scrum isn't just a process to follow—it's a way of working that teams must embrace, understand, and make their own.   Self-reflection Question: Are your teams coming to you asking for reflection time outside scheduled events, and what does that tell you about how deeply they've internalized continuous improvement? Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Unstructured Retrospective After facilitating many structured retrospectives, Sara started experimenting with an unstructured format that brought new energy to team reflection. Instead of using predefined frameworks, she brings white paper, sticky notes, and sharpies of different colors. She opens with a simple question: "Guys, what impacted you mostly during the last week? How do you feel today?" Sometimes she starts with data and metrics; other times, she begins with how the team is feeling.  The key is creating open space for conversation rather than forcing it into a predetermined structure. What Sara discovered is remarkable: "They are more engaged, more open, and more present in the conversation, maybe because it was something new." Instead of the same structured format every time, the unstructured approach breaks the routine and creates space for true reflections that bring out something deeper and more meaningful. It allows people to express what's genuinely going on for them, not just what fits into a predefined template.  Sara doesn't abandon structured formats entirely—she alternates between structured and unstructured to keep retrospectives fresh and engaging. She also recommends, if you work hybrid, trying to schedule unstructured retrospectives for days when the team is in the office together. The physical presence combined with the open format creates an environment where teams can be more vulnerable, more creative, and more honest about what's really happening. The unstructured retrospective isn't about chaos—it's about trusting the team to surface what matters most to them, with the Scrum Master providing light facilitation and space for authentic reflection.   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Hello San Francisco - we're arrived for Microsoft Ignite 2025! The #CloudRealities podcast team has landed this week in San Francisco, we're bringing you the best updates right from the heart of the event. Join us to connect AI at scale, cloud modernization, and secure innovation—empowering organizations to become AI-first. Plus, we'll keep you updated on all the latest news and juicy gossip.  Dave, Esmee and Rob, continue their discussion with John Link, Partner Product Manager at Microsoft, exploring Frontier organizations and how AI and quantum are reshaping R&D, all within the context of Microsoft Discovery. TLDR00:58 – Introduction to John Link (and some fun food spellings)03:55 – Keynote highlights and Expo floor insights06:42 – Deep dive conversation with John25:00 – Favorite IT-themed movie, thoughts on brain implants, and the simulation theory GuestJohn Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmlink/ HostsDave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Hello San Francisco - we're arrived for Microsoft Ignite 2025! The #CloudRealities podcast team has landed this week in San Francisco, we're bringing you the best updates right from the heart of the event. Join us to connect AI at scale, cloud modernization, and secure innovation—empowering organizations to become AI-first. Plus, we'll keep you updated on all the latest news and juicy gossip. Dave and Esmee continue their conversation with Rob Lefferts, CVP Threat Protection about the key security announcements and explore how we leverage agents to protect, defend, and respond at AI speed.  TLDR00:50 – Introduction to Rob Lefferts01:40 – Keynote highlights and insights from the Expo floor03:19 – In-depth conversation with Rob on why security is critical in the era of AI22:53 – Favorite IT-themed movie linked to the Asimov's principles and the Louvre password  GuestRob Lefferts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-lefferts/ HostsDave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini

In this Scrum.org Community Podcast episode, host Dave West speaks with Nathaniel Davis, CEO of Barrel One Collective, and PST Yuval Yeret about applying Agile principles beyond software — into the heart of business operations.Nathaniel shares his journey from working in a large brewing company to leading Barrel One Collective, a brewing group where he's working to make Agile the foundation for innovation and entrepreneurialism. Together, they explore how Agile thinking can balance experimentation and consistency, drive outcome-oriented leadership, and shape company culture as a product.Tune in to hear how organizations can expand their definition of “product” — from beverages to behaviors — and how agility helps leaders continuously learn, adapt, and deliver value.

Sara Di Gregorio: Facilitating Deeper Retrospectives—When to Step In and When to Step Back Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "When they start connecting and having an interesting discussion, I go to the corner, and I'm only trying to listen." - Sara Di Gregorio   Sara faces a challenge that many Scrum Masters encounter: teams that want to discuss too many topics during retrospectives without going deep on any of them. The team had plenty to talk about, but conversations stayed surface-level, never reaching the insights that drive real improvement. Sara recognized that the aim of the retrospective isn't to talk about everything—it's to go deeper on topics the team genuinely cares about.  So she started coaching teams to select just three main topics they wanted to discuss, helping them understand why prioritization matters and making explicit which topics are most important. But her real skill emerged in how she facilitated the discussions. When she saw communication starting to flow and team members becoming deeply connected to the topic, she moved to the corner and listened. She didn't abandon the team—she remained present, ready to help shy or quiet members speak up, watching the clock to respect timeboxes.  But she understood that when teams connect authentically, the Scrum Master's job is to create space, not fill it. Sara learned to ask better questions too. Instead of repeatedly asking "Why? Why? Why?"—which can feel accusatory—she reformulated: "How did you approach it? What happens?" When teams started blaming other teams, she redirected: "What can we influence? What can we do from our side?" She used visual tools like white paper, sharpies, and sticky notes to help teams visualize their discussion steps and create structured moments for questions.  Sometimes, when teams discussed complex technical topics beyond her understanding, she empowered them: "You are the main expert of this topic. Please, when someone sees that we're going out of topic or getting too detailed, raise your hand and help me bring the communication back to what we've chosen to talk about."  This balance—knowing when to step in with structure and when to step back and listen—is what transforms retrospectives from checkbox events into genuine opportunities for team growth.   Self-reflection Question: In your facilitation, are you creating space for deep team connection, or are you inadvertently filling the space that teams need to discover insights for themselves?   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

10 Mistakes Enterprises Make When Scaling Agile — and How to Avoid ThemWhen I walk into a Fortune 500 boardroom and hear, “We've adopted Agile,” I brace myself. Usually, what follows is a whirlwind of rebranded status meetings, overwhelmed middle managers, and teams confused about whether they're sprinting or slowly marching in circles.Enterprise Agile transformations are rarely short on ambition. But too often, the reality is a mismatched combination of frameworks, tool obsession, and unclear intent. Over the past decade, I've led Agile rollouts in healthcare, finance, and tech. These are the ten recurring mistakes I see — paired with practical remedies rooted in experience.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/

Episode SummaryIn this inspiring and deeply human episode, Kathy and Linda sit down with Amanda Mavropoulis, a global project and portfolio management leader in technology including 15 years in the electric utility space, and one extraordinary career pivot.Amanda shares her unconventional STEM journey—from early days taking apart alarm clocks, to working in IT as a student worker, to a long career in utilities, and ultimately into her “unicorn job” at a major tech company. Along the way, she opens up about her unexpected breast cancer diagnosis, navigating treatment after leaving a longtime job, and the clarity and boldness it brought to her next steps.This conversation is filled with humor, wisdom, honesty, and plenty of laughs as Amanda, Kathy, and Linda reflect on career longevity, teamwork, life detours, and why sometimes you just have to “science the hell out of it.”Topics We CoverA full-circle reconnection: How Linda and Amanda met during a massive utility system conversion—and why team culture matters.Life in a global tech environment: Agile management, nonstop meetings, time zones, boundaries, and protecting heads-down time.Finding balance: Hybrid work, maintaining work–life separation, setting expectations, and empowering teams.Career pivoting after 15 years in utilities: What it's like to be “new again” in a fast-paced tech company.Breast cancer survival and perspective shifts: How Amanda approached treatment, resilience, and redefining what she wanted out of life.Unicorn jobs: Applying for stretch roles, building confidence, and not letting fear stop you.STEM pathways that aren't linear: Environmental science beginnings, early IT work, accidental opportunities, and embracing unexpected journeys.Hiring challenges today: Entry-level roles requiring experience, the impact of layoffs, and navigating the job market as a new grad.Diversity of thought & representation in tech: Why it matters and what Amanda sees in her new workplace.About Amanda MavropoulisAmanda is a technical project and portfolio management leader with a BS in Environmental Studies from Texas A&M, an MS from Walden University, and three decades in the IT and utility sectors. She's known for her leadership, empathy, ability to build strong teams, and her passion for mentoring women entering STEM fields. She's also a breast cancer survivor whose resilience fueled her leap into a dream role in global technology.Connect with the PodcastWe'd love to hear from you!Have a question, comment, or want to submit your own “Ask the Not-Expert” question?Email: ordinarilyextraordinarypod@gmail.comWebsite & Voicemail: ordinarilyextraordinary.comMusic by Kay Paulus Follow Kay on Instagram @kaypaulus8Support the showSupport the show

Hello San Francisco - we're arrived for Microsoft Ignite 2025!The #CloudRealities podcast team has landed this week in San Francisco, we're bringing you the best updates right from the heart of the event. Join us to connect AI at scale, cloud modernization, and secure innovation—empowering organizations to become AI-first. Plus, we'll keep you updated on all the latest news and juicy gossip. Dave, Esmee and Rob kick off with Rob Cromwell, CVP of Engineering and explore the exciting evolution of Copilot and share insights on what's coming next. TLDR 00:50 – Back in San Francisco 02:45 – Highlights from the first keynote 11:08 – Intro and chat with Rob Cromwell 30:40 – Tackling tech and authentication challenges 32:28 – Favorite IT-related film and a glimpse into the near future GuestRob Cromwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robcromwell/HostsDave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ProductionMarcel van der Burg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/SoundBen Corbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Hello San Francisco - we're arrived for Microsoft Ignite 2025! The #CloudRealities podcast team has landed this week in San Francisco, we're bringing you the best updates right from the heart of the event. Join us to connect AI at scale, cloud modernization, and secure innovation—empowering organizations to become AI-first. Plus, we'll keep you updated on all the latest news and juicy gossip. Dave, Esmee, and Rob continue their conversation with Jonathan Hunt, CVP of Business Solutions at Microsoft, diving into the differences between AI-driven business solutions and traditional business applications, and exploring how customers can learn where—and how—to get started with AI.  TLDR00:35 – Introduction and conversation with Jonathan Hunt, plus updates from the event floor22:15 – Favorite IT-themed movie starring Arnold SchwarzeneggerGuestJonathan Hunt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-hunt1/HostsDave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Cloud Realities' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Sara Di Gregorio: Rebuilding Agile Team Connection in the Remote Work Era Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "The book helped me to shift from reacting to connecting, which completely changed the quality of conversation." - Sara Di Gregorio   When COVID forced Sara's team into full remote work, she noticed something troubling—the team was losing real connection. Replicating in-office meetings online simply didn't work. People attended meetings but weren't truly present. The spontaneous coffee machine conversations that built relationships and surfaced important information had vanished.  So Sara started experimenting. She introduced 5-minute chit-chat sessions at the start of every meeting: "Guys, how are you today? What happened yesterday?" She created "coffee all together" moments—10-minute virtual breaks where the team could drink coffee or have aperitivos together, sometimes three times per week. She established weekly feedback sessions every Friday morning—30 minutes to recap the week and understand what could improve.  These weren't just social niceties; they were deliberate efforts to recreate the human connections that remote work had stripped away. Sara recognized that mechanized interactions—"here are the things I need you to do, let's talk next steps"—kill team dynamics. Teams need moments where they relate to each other as people, not just as functions.  The experiments worked because they created space for genuine connection, allowing the team to maintain the trust and collaboration that makes effective teamwork possible, even when working remotely.   In this episode, we refer to Non-Violent Communication concepts and practices.   Self-reflection Question: How are you creating moments for your remote or hybrid team to connect as people, not just as colleagues executing tasks? Featured Book of the Week: Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg Sara credits Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg (translated in Italian as "Words are Windows, or They are Walls") as having a deep impact on her career. The book explores how to listen without judging, how to ask the right questions, and how to observe people to understand their real needs. But above all, it teaches how to communicate in a way that builds connection rather than creating barriers.  For Sara, the book was remarkably practical—she didn't just read it, she experimented with the techniques afterward. She explains: "I think that without this mindset, it's easy to fall into reactive communication, trying to defend, justify, or give quick answers. But that often blocks real understanding." The book helped her shift from reacting to connecting, which completely changed the quality of her conversations.  As a Scrum Master working with people every day—facilitating meetings, mediating conflicts, supporting teams—the way we communicate determines whether we open dialogue or close it. Sara found that taking time to reflect instead of giving quick answers transformed her ability to help teams discover dependencies, improve dialogue, and address communication issues. For anyone in the Scrum Master role, this book provides essential skills for building the kind of connection that makes true collaboration possible. In this segment, we also refer to the NVC episodes we have on the podcast. Check those out to learn more about Nonviolent Communication   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Whether you're looking for hope, practical advocacy tips, or updates on current legislation, you'll find inspiration in how collective action—powered by real stories—can fuel progress. Stay tuned for an uplifting, honest, and actionable conversation that's helping shape the future of women's health. This episode with Liz Powell, hosted by Lisa Malia covers timely topics like the FDA's recent announcement about hormone therapy, the vital work of the Breast Cancer Early Detection Coalition, and accessible ways anyone can join the movement for better health outcomes. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Women's Health Advocacy Network 05:28 Holistic Women's Health Advocacy 08:21 "Empowerment Through Advocacy Stories" 09:49 Hormone Therapy Misunderstood in WHI 15:43 Staying Hopeful Amid Overwhelm 17:09 "Easy Steps to Advocacy" 19:56 "Change Starts Within Us" 23:26 "2024: Women's Health Revolution" 28:49 Supplemental Breast Cancer Screening 30:30 "Fighting for Double Mastectomy" 36:19 Advocacy Secures Funding Success 39:52 "Open, Agile, Impactful Leadership" 41:26 "Grateful to Be Involved"   LEARN MORE:  The Clear Pathways Program: https://www.breastdensitysummit.org/ The Breast Density Summit: https://www.breastdensitysummit.org/webinar-registration MAKE A DONATION: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=NJMF86A8Y9RJQ Follow LISA MALIA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisamalianorman/   WOMEN'S HEALTH ADVOCATES: https://womenshealthadvocates.org/ BREAST CANCER EARLY DETECTION COALITION: https://womenshealthadvocates.org/bcedc/ G2G CONSULTING: https://www.g2gconsulting.com Follow LIZ POWELL LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-powell-507b135/   Liz is Founder of G2G Consulting, which creates and implements government to growth (G2G) strategies for clients—securing $550 million since 2007. We advance health and high-tech innovation for businesses and nonprofits by accessing non-dilutive funding, shaping policies and regulations, and building relationships with key decision-makers. Liz founded the Women's Health Advocates, which is in all 50 states and has organized the first-ever Women's Health Capitol Hill Day on May 21, 2025, the Breast Cancer Early Detection Coalition Hill Day on July 16, 2025, Congressional Briefings and online forums, advocacy letter-writing campaigns, the drafting of legislative language, and grassroots mobilization events across the country. Previously, she served as Legislative Director in Congress where she staffed the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, Armed Services Committee and Small Business Committee and served as a Policy Analyst for UK Parliament's Health Committee as well as congressional and presidential political campaign staff. She has received the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award and Women of Achievement Award and earned her MPH from Harvard, JD from George Washington, and BA from Colgate.

When high-stakes motions are due, most firms face bottlenecks, inconsistent quality, and last-minute chaos. In this episode, Hellmuth & Johnson attorneys Brendan Kenny and Neven Selimovic share how they've rebuilt their legal writing process using Kanban visibility, Agile principles, and smart AI support to deliver consistent, high-quality work. Their internal system worked so well that they now offer it as a legal writing subscription, helping other firms adopt a more predictable, scalable approach. Get full show notes, transcript, and more information here: agileattorney.com/96 Take your law practice from overwhelmed to optimized with Greenline LegalFollow along on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnegrantFollow Brendan on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brendanmkennyFollow Neven on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/neven-selimović-b53717b4Mentioned in this episode:Take Your Law Practice from Overwhelmed to Optimized GreenLine helps you see the progress of every matter, shows what each person should focus on, spots delays, helps you decide where to use your team members, and even predicts when you can deliver results to your clients. Learn more or sign up for the beta here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/greenlinelegalLearn more about GreenLine Legal hereLIVE WORKSHOP: Better Client Relationships, Fewer InterruptionsThis 90-minute interactive workshop will teach you proven strategies for creating more peaceful, productive client relationships... for the rest of your legal career! When? Friday, December 12 – Live via Zoom Only 12 Seats Available Reserve your spot here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/ccwSign Up For the Dec 12 Workshop Here

Sara Di Gregorio: When Teams Lose Trust—How Scrum Masters Rebuild It One Small Change at a Time Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "I continue to approach this situation with openness, positivity, and trust, because I truly believe that even the smallest changes can make a difference over time." - Sara Di Gregorio   Sara faced one of the most challenging situations a Scrum Master can encounter—a team member who had lost all trust in change, creating a negative atmosphere that weighed heavily on the entire team. She remembers the heaviness on her shoulders, feeling personally responsible for the team's wellbeing. The negativity was palpable during every meeting, and it threatened to undermine the team's progress.  But Sara refused to give up. She started experimenting with different approaches: one-to-one conversations to understand what was happening, bringing intentional energy to meetings, and trying new facilitation techniques in retrospectives. She added personal check-ins, asking "How are you today?" at the start of stand-ups, consciously bringing positive energy even on days when she didn't feel it herself.  She discovered that listening—truly listening, not just hearing—means understanding how people feel, not just what they're saying. Sara learned that the energy you bring to interactions matters deeply. Starting the day with genuine interest, asking about the team's wellbeing, and even making small comments about the weather could create tiny shifts—a small smile that signaled something had changed.  Her approach was rooted in persistence and belief: she continued approaching the situation with openness, positivity, and trust, knowing that even the smallest changes can make a difference over time. For Sara, reestablishing a good environment wasn't about quick fixes—it was about showing up every day with the right energy and never giving up on her team.   Self-reflection Question: What energy are you bringing to your interactions with the team today, and how might that be shaping the team's atmosphere?   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Velocity = The Most Abused Agile Metric EverWelcome to the dark side of velocity — the number that started as a planning aid and ended up as a weaponized performance metric, often wielded by people who've never touched a user story in their lives.In this episode, we'll break down:What velocity is supposed to doHow it gets misunderstood and misusedWhy chasing it kills team healthAnd how to bring it back from the deadLet's sprint into it. (Pun 100% intended.)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/

Unser heutiger Gast ist eine erfahrene Organisationsberaterin, ausgebildete Systemikerin – und eine, die nicht nur über neue Arbeitswelten spricht, sondern sie aktiv mitgestaltet. Nach Stationen in der klassischen Unternehmensberatung und im Projektmanagement wechselte sie zu Hello Agile, wo sie heute als Beraterin, Coach und Trainerin Führungskräfte dabei unterstützt, Strategiearbeit und Zielorientierung neu zu denken. Ihre Spezialität: die Einführung und Weiterentwicklung von OKR – Objectives & Key Results – als Führungs- und Lernsystem. Ich selbst kenne sie aus unserem New Work Master Skills Executive Programm – und seitdem verfolge ich mit großem Respekt, wie konsequent und klar sie Organisationen durch komplexe Veränderungsprozesse begleitet. Und wie selbstverständlich sie dabei Haltung, Methodik und Menschlichkeit verbindet. Seit über acht Jahren beschäftigen wir uns in diesem Podcast mit der Frage, wie Arbeit den Menschen stärkt, statt ihn zu schwächen. In mehr als 500 Gesprächen mit über 600 Persönlichkeiten haben wir darüber gesprochen, was sich verändert hat – und was sich weiter verändern muss. Heute fragen wir: Wie gelingt es Führungskräften, Strategiearbeit nicht nur zu denken, sondern in konkrete, motivierende Ziele zu übersetzen? Was braucht es, damit OKR mehr ist als ein Buzzword und echte Wirkung in Teams entfaltet? Und welche Rolle spielen Haltung, Stärkenorientierung und technologische Unterstützung wie KI bei der praktischen Umsetzung? Fest steht: Für die Lösung unserer aktuellen Herausforderungen brauchen wir neue Impulse. Deshalb suchen wir weiter nach Methoden, Vorbildern, Tools und Ideen, die uns dem Kern von New Work näherbringen. Und wir fragen weiterhin: Können wirklich alle Menschen das finden und leben, was sie im Innersten wirklich, wirklich wollen? Ihr seid bei On the Way to New Work – heute in einer Kollaborationsfolge mit unboxing new work, live aufgenommen bei den OKR Open mit Hannah Nagel. [Hier](https://linktr.ee/onthewaytonewwork) findet ihr alle Links zum Podcast und unseren aktuellen Werbepartnern

BONUS: Flawless Execution — Translating Fighter Pilot Precision to Business Results In this powerful conversation, former fighter pilot Christian "Boo" Boucousis reveals how military precision translates into agile business leadership. We explore the FLEX model (Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief), the critical difference between control-based and awareness-based leadership, and why most organizations fail to truly embrace iterative thinking. From Cockpit to Boardroom: An Unexpected Journey "I learned over time that it doesn't matter what you do if you're always curious, and you're always intentional, and you're always asking questions." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Christian's path from fighter pilot to leadership consultant wasn't planned—it was driven by necessity and curiosity. After 11 years as a fighter pilot (7 in Australia, 4 in the UK), an autoimmune condition ended his flying career at age 30. Rather than accepting a comfy job flying politicians around, he chose entrepreneurship. He moved to Afghanistan with a friend and built a reconstruction company that grew to a quarter billion dollars in four years. The secret? The debrief skills he learned as a fighter pilot. By constantly asking "What are you trying to achieve? How's it going? Why is there a gap?" he approached business with an agile mindset before he even knew what agile was. This curiosity-driven, question-focused approach became the foundation for everything that followed. The FLEX Model: Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief "Agile and scrum were co-created by John Sutherland, who was a fighter pilot, and its origins sit in the OODA loop and iteration. Which is why it's a circle." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   The FLEX model isn't new—fighter pilots have used this Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief cycle for 60 years. It's the ultimate simple agile model, designed to help teams accelerate toward goals using the same accelerated learning curve the Air Force uses to train fighter pilots. The key insight: everything in this model is iterative, not linear. Every mission has a start, middle, and end, and every stage involves constant adaptation. Afterburner (the company Christian now leads as CEO) has worked with nearly 3,800 companies and 2.8 million people over 30 years, teaching this model. What's fascinating is that the DNA of agile is baked into fighter pilot thinking—John Sutherland, co-creator of Scrum, wrote the foreword for Christian's book "The Afterburner Advantage" because they share the same roots in the OODA loop and iterative thinking. Why Iterative Thinking Doesn't Come Naturally "Iterative thinking is not a natural human model. Most of the time we learn from mistakes. We don't learn as a habit." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Here's the hard truth: agile as a way of working is very different from the way human beings naturally think. Business leadership models still hark back to Frederick Winslow Taylor's 1911 book on scientific management—industrial era leadership designed for building buildings, not creating software. Time is always linear (foundation, then structure, then finishing), and this shapes how we think about planning. Humans also tend to organize like villages with chiefs, warriors, and gatherers—hierarchical and political. Fighter pilots created a parallel system where politics exist outside missions, but during execution, personality clashes can't interfere. The challenge for business isn't the method—it's getting human minds to embrace iteration as a habit, not just a process they follow when forced. Planning: Building Collective Consciousness, Not Task Lists "Planning isn't all about sequencing actions—that's not planning. That's the byproduct of planning, which is collectively agreeing what good looks like at the end." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Most people plan in their head or in front of a spreadsheet by themselves. That's not planning—that's collecting thoughts. Real planning means bringing everyone on the team together to build collective consciousness about what's possible. The plan is always "the best idea based on what we know now." Once airborne, everything changes because the enemy doesn't cooperate with your plan. Planning is about the destination, not the work to get there. Think about airline pilots: they don't tell you about traffic delays on their commute or maintenance issues. They say "Welcome aboard, our destination is Amsterdam, there's weather on the way, we'll land 5 minutes early." That's a brief—just the effect on you based on all their work. Most business meetings waste 55 minutes on backstory and 5 minutes deciding to have another meeting. Fighter pilots focus entirely on: What are we trying to achieve? What might get in the way? Let's go. Briefing: The 25-Minute Focus Window "You need 25 minutes of focus before your brain really focuses on the task. You program your brain for the mission at hand." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   The brief is the moment between planning and execution when the plan is as accurate as it'll ever get. It's called "brief" for a reason—it's really short. The team checks that everyone understands the plan in today's context, accounting for last-minute changes (broken equipment, weather, personnel changes). Then comes the critical part: creating the mission bubble. From the brief until mission end, there are no distractions, no notifications. If someone tries to interrupt a fighter pilot walking to the jet, the response is clear: "I'm in my mission bubble. No distractions." This isn't optional—research shows it takes 25 minutes of uninterrupted focus before your brain truly locks onto a task. Yet most business leaders expect constant availability, with notifications pinging every few minutes. If you need everyone to have notifications on to run your business, you're doing a really bad job at planning. Execution: Awareness-Based Leadership vs. Control-Based Leadership "The reason we have so many meetings is because the leader is trying to control the situation and own all the awareness. It's not humanly possible to do that." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   During execution, fighter pilots fly the plan until it doesn't work anymore—then they adapt. A mission commander might lead 70 airplanes, but can't possibly track all 69 others. Instead, they create "gates"—checkpoints where everyone confirms they're in the right place within 10 seconds. They plan for chaos, creating awareness points where the team is generally on track or not. The key shift: from control-based leadership (the leader tries to control everything) to awareness-based leadership (the leader facilitates and listens for divergences). This includes "subordinated leadership"—any of the four pilots in a formation can take the lead if they have better awareness. If a wingman calls out a threat the leader doesn't see, the immediate response is "Press! You take the lead." This works because they planned for it and have criteria. Business teams profess to want this kind of agile collaboration, but struggle because they haven't invested in the planning and shared understanding that makes fluid leadership transitions possible. Abort Criteria: Knowing When to Stop "We have this concept called abort criteria. If certain criteria are hit, we abort the mission. I think that's a massive opportunity for business." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   There are degrees of things going wrong: a little bit, a medium amount, and everything going wrong. When everything's going wrong, fighter pilots stop and turn around—they don't keep pressing a bad situation. This "abort criteria" concept is massively underutilized in business. Too often, teams press bad situations, transparency disappears, people stop talking, and everyone goes into survival mode (protect myself, blame others). This never happens with fighter pilots. If something goes wrong, they take accountability and make the best decision. The most potent team size is four people: a leader, deputy leader, and two wingmen. This small team size with clear roles and shared abort criteria creates psychological safety to call out problems and adapt quickly. The Retrospective Mindset: Not Just a Ritual "A retrospective isn't a ritual. It's actually a way of thinking. It's a cognitive model. If you approached everything as a retrospective—what are we trying to achieve? How's it going? Why is it not going where we want? What's the one action to get back on track?" — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   The debrief—the retrospective—is the most important part of fighter pilot culture translated into agile. It's not just a meeting you have at the end of a sprint. It's a mindset you apply to everything: projects, relationships, personal development. Christian introduces "Flawless Leadership" built on three M's: Method (agile practices), Mindset (growth mindset developed through acting iteratively), and Moments (understanding when to show up as a people leader vs. an impact leader). The biggest mistake in technology: teams do retrospectives internally but don't include the business. They get a brief from the business, build for two months, come back, and the business says "What is this? This isn't what I expected." If they'd had the business in every scrum, every iteration, trust would build naturally. Everyone involved in the mission must be part of the planning, briefing, executing, and debriefing. Leading in the Moment: Three Layers of Leadership "Your job as a scrum master, as a leader—it doesn't matter if you're leading a division of people—is to be aware. And you're only going to be aware by listening." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Christian breaks leadership into three layers: People Leadership (political, emotional, dealing with personalities and overwhelm), Impact Leadership (the agile layer, results-driven, scientific), and Leading Now (the reactive, amygdala-driven panic response when things go wrong). The mistake: mixing these layers. Don't try to be a people leader during execution—that's not the time. But if you're really good at impact leadership (planning, breaking epics into stories, getting work done), you become high trust and high credibility. People leadership becomes easier because success eliminates excuses. During execution, watch for individual traits and blind spots. Use one-on-ones with a retrospective mindset: "What does good look like for you? How do we get to where you're not frustrated?" When leaders aren't present—checking phones and watches during meetings—they lose people. Your job as a leader is to turn your ears on, facilitate (not direct), and listen for divergences others don't see. The Technology-Business Disconnect "Every time you're having a scrum, every time you're coming together to talk about the product, just have the business there with you. It's easy." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   One of the biggest packages of work Afterburner does: technology teams ask them to help build trust with the business. The solution is shockingly simple—include the business in every scrum, every planning session, every retrospective. Agile is a tech-driven approach, creating a disconnect. Technology brings overwhelming information about how hard they're working and problems they've solved, but business doesn't care about the past. They care about the future: what are you delivering and when? During the Gulf War, the military scaled this fighter pilot model to large-scale planning. Fighter pilots work with marines, special forces, navy, CIA agents—everyone is part of the plan. If one person is missing from planning, execution falls apart. If someone on the ground doesn't know how an F-18 works, the jet is just expensive decoration. Planning is about learning what everyone else does and how to support them best—not announcing what you'll do and how you'll do it. High-Definition Destinations: Beyond Goals "Planning is all about the destination, not the work to get there. Think about when you hop on an airplane—the pilot doesn't tell you the whole backstory. They say 'Welcome aboard, our destination is Amsterdam, there's weather on the way, we'll land 5 minutes early.' All you want is the effect on you." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Christian uses the term "High-Definition Destinations" rather than goals. The difference is clarity and vividness. When you board a plane, you don't get the pilot's commute story or maintenance details—you get the destination, obstacles, and estimated arrival. That's communication focused on effect, not process. Most business communication does the opposite: overwhelming context, backstory, and detail, with the destination buried somewhere in the middle. The brief should always be: Here's where we're going. Here's what might get in the way. Let's go. This communication style—focused on outcomes and effects rather than processes and problems—transforms how teams align and execute. It eliminates the noise and centers everyone on what actually matters: the destination.   About Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Christian "Boo" Boucousis is a former fighter pilot who now helps leaders navigate today's fast-moving world. As CEO of Afterburner and author of The Afterburner Advantage, he shares practical, people-centered tools for turning chaos into clarity, building trust, and delivering results without burning out.   You can link with Christian "Boo" Boucousis on LinkedIn, visit Afterburner.com, check out his personal site at CallMeBoo.com, or interact with his AI tool at AIBoo.com.  

Alidad Hamidi: When Product Owners Facilitate Vision Instead of Owning It Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Co-Creating Vision Through Discovery "The best product owner I worked with was not a product owner, but a project manager. And she didn't realize that she's acting as a product owner." - Alidad Hamidi   The irony wasn't lost on Alidad. The best Product Owner he ever worked with didn't have "Product Owner" in her title—she was a project manager who didn't even realize she was acting in that capacity. The team was working on a strategic project worth millions, but confusion reigned about what value they were creating. Alidad planned an inception workshop to create alignment among stakeholders, marketing, operations, advisors, and the team.   Twenty minutes into the session, Alidad asked a simple question: "How do we know the customer has this problem, and they're gonna pay for it?" Silence. No one knew. To her immense credit, the project manager didn't retreat or deflect. Instead, she jumped in: "What do we need to do?" Alidad suggested assumptions mapping, and two days later, the entire team and stakeholders gathered for the workshop. What happened next was magic. "She didn't become a proxy," Alidad emphasizes. She didn't say, "I'll go find out and come back to you." Instead, she brought everyone together—team, stakeholders, and customers—into the same room.   The results were dramatic. The team was about to invest millions integrating with an external vendor. Through the assumption mapping workshop, they uncovered huge risks and realized customers didn't actually want that solution. "We need to pivot," she declared. Instead of the expensive integration, they developed educational modules and scripts for customer support and advisors. The team sat with advisors, listening to actual customer calls, creating solutions based on real needs rather than assumptions. The insight transformed not just the project but the project manager herself. She took these discovery practices across the entire organization, teaching everyone how to conduct proper discovery and fundamentally shifting the product development paradigm. One person, willing to facilitate rather than dictate, made this impact. "Product owner can facilitate creation of that [vision]," Alidad explains. "It's not just product owner or a team. It's the broader stakeholder and customer community that need to co-create that."   Self-reflection Question: Are you facilitating the creation of vision with your stakeholders and customers, or are you becoming a proxy between the team and the real sources of insight? The Bad Product Owner: Creating Barriers Instead of Connections "He did the opposite, just creating barriers between the team and the environment." - Alidad Hamidi   The Product Owner was new to the organization, technically skilled, and genuinely well-intentioned. The team was developing solutions for clinicians—complex healthcare work requiring deep domain understanding. Being new, the PO naturally leaned into his strength: technical expertise. He spent enormous amounts of time with the team, drilling into details, specifying exactly how everything should look, and giving the team ready-made solutions instead of problems to solve.   Alidad kept telling him: "Mate, you need to spend more time with our stakeholder, you need to understand their perspective." But the PO didn't engage with users or stakeholders. He stayed comfortable in his technical wheelhouse, designing solutions in isolation. The results were predictable and painful. Halfway through work, the PO would realize, "Oh, we really don't need that." Or worse, the team would complete something and deliver it to crickets—no one used it because no one wanted it. "Great person, but it created a really bad dynamic," Alidad reflects. What should have been the PO's job—understanding the environment, stakeholder needs, and market trends—never happened. Instead of putting people in front of the environment to learn and adapt, he created barriers between the team and reality.   Years later, Alidad's perspective has matured. He initially resented this PO but came to realize: "He was just being human, and he didn't have the right support and the environment for him." Sometimes people learn only after making mistakes. The coaching opportunity isn't to shame or blame but to focus on reflection from failures and supporting learning. Alidad encouraged forums with stakeholders where the PO and team could interact directly, seeing each other's work and constraints. The goal isn't perfection—it's creating conditions where Product Owners can connect teams to customers rather than standing between them.   Self-reflection Question: What barriers might you be unintentionally creating between your team and the customers or stakeholders they need to serve, and what would it take to remove yourself from the middle?   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Alidad Hamidi: Maximizing Human Potential as the Measure of Success Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Does my work lead into maximizing human potential? Maximizing the ability of the human to use their potential and freedom." - Alidal Hamidi   Alidad calls himself a "recovering agility coach," and for good reason. For years, he struggled to define success in his work. As an enterprise coach, he plants seeds but never sees the trees grow. By the time transformation takes root, he's moved on to the next challenge. This distance from outcomes forced him to develop a more philosophical definition of success—one rooted not in deliverables or velocity charts, but in human potential and freedom.   His measure of success centers on three interconnected questions. First, are customers happy with what the teams create? Notice he says "create," not "deliver"—a deliberate choice. "I really hate the term product delivery, because delivery means you have a feature factory," he explains. Creating value requires genuine interaction between people who solve problems and people who have problems, with zero distance between them. Second, what's the team's wellbeing? Do they have psychological safety, trust, and space for innovation? And third, is the team growing—and by "team," Alidad means the entire organization, not just the squad level.   There's a fourth element he acknowledges: business sustainability. A bank could make customers ecstatic by giving away free money, but that's not viable long-term. The art lies in balance. "There's always a balance, sometimes one grows more than the other, and that's okay," Alidad notes. "As long as you have the awareness of why, and is that the right thing at the right time." This definition of success requires patience with the messy reality of organizations and faith that when humans have the freedom to use their full potential, both people and businesses thrive.   Self-reflection Question: If you measured your success solely by whether you're maximizing human potential and freedom in your organization, what would you start doing differently tomorrow? Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Six Intrinsic Motivators Alidad's favorite retrospective format comes from Open Systems Theory—the Six Intrinsic Motivators. This approach uses the OODA Loop philosophy: understanding reality and reflecting on actions. "Let's see what actually happened in reality, rather than our perception," Alidad explains.   The format assesses six elements. Three are personal and can have too much or too little (rated -10 to +10): autonomy in decision making, continuous learning and feedback, and variety in work. Three are team environment factors that you can't have too much of (rated 0 to 10): mutual support and respect, meaningfulness (both socially useful work and seeing the whole product), and desirable futures (seeing development opportunities ahead).   The process is elegantly simple. Bring the team together and ask each person to assess themselves on each criterion. When individuals share their numbers, fascinating conversations emerge. One person's 8 on autonomy might surprise a teammate who rated themselves a 3. These differences spark natural dialogue, and teams begin to balance and adjust organically. "If these six elements don't exist in the team, you can never have productive human teams," Alidad states. He recommends running this at least every six months, or every three months for teams experiencing significant change. The beauty? No intervention from outside is needed—the team naturally self-organizes around what they discover together.   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]