Podcast appearances and mentions of mike cottmeyer

A couple years ago, Mike Cottmeyer did a webinar series on the fundamental building blocks of agility. These days, we're calling these building blocks the physics of agile. Today, Mike and Dave get together to discuss the four laws that make up the physics of agile and why these laws must be taken into account to make agile work inside large organizations. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you'd like to contact Mike, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ X: x.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you'd like to contact Dave, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo X: x.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you'd like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com Interested in CSM or CSPO Training? You can find all the details at www.leadingagile.com/scrum-training/

Large organizations that want to stick around and maintain their competitive edge have to stop treating everything in their business like a distinct set of processes. How your technology is architected, your organization is designed, and your teaming strategies, resource management, governance, OKRs, and KPIs are all part of the same system. And you need to start treating them that way. In this podcast, Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Prior talk about the current state of Agile, how a lack of systems thinking is tanking the market, and the role of systems thinking as the transformation industry moves forward. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you'd like to contact Mike, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ X: x.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you'd like to contact Dave, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo X: x.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you'd like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com   Interested in CSM or CSPO Training? You can find all the details at www.leadingagile.com/scrum-training/

How You Define Success In Agile Matters! - Mike Cottmeyer There's been a divide in the Agile community for a while now. On one side, you have the camp that's all about team-based, iterative and incremental delivery. On the other side, you have the camp that sees Agile more of a social movement; this side is all about empowering the teams and building a culture or a mindset of Agility. Meanwhile, as the debate rages on, a lot of the executives and leadership teams we talk to don't even want to talk about Agile at all. It's become a dirty word, they tried it and it didn't work,  and now they just don't believe in it anymore. So, how do we get these leadership teams back on board with Agile? https://www.leadingagile.com/2023/09/how-you-define-success-in-agile-matters/?utm_source=How%20You%20Define%20Success%20in%20Agile%20Matters&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%20Reader How to connect with AgileDad: - [website] https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Why are so many Agile coaches and ScrumMasters getting laid off? Is it because Agile is disappearing? Or is it because they've gotten so dogmatic about the rules and ceremonies surrounding Agile that they're more of a burden then they are valuable? In our latest episode of SoundNotes, Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Prior explore the how to balance the competing priorities of the Agilists and the leaders they're trying to help so that everyone can get back succeeding with Agile. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you'd like to contact Mike, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you'd like to contact Dave, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you'd like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com Interested in CSM or CSPO Training? You can find all the details at www.leadingagile.com/scrum-training/

Mike Cottmeyer debates ChatGPT and sits down with Dave to discuss what it really means to scale Agile. Over the course of the podcast, Mike and Dave explore the difference between Agile principles and practices, cloud migration, and what the Agile industry can learn from the US Air Force's concept of Agile, Open, and Digital. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you'd like to contact Mike, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you'd like to contact Dave, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you'd like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com Interested in CSM or CSPO Training? You can find all the details at www.leadingagile.com/scrum-training/

Today, the market for Transformation is a transition period. We see some companies looking for the next big thing, and others going back to what they know. Is this a sign that Agile is waning? Is it evolving? Or is Agile so deeply engrained in the way business gets done, people have just started calling it something else to deny the fact they just aren't very good at it? Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Prior sit down to discuss this interesting moment in time for our industry and more in this episode of SoundNotes.   Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you'd like to contact Mike, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com   Contacting Dave Prior If you'd like to contact Dave, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you'd like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com Interested in CSM or CSPO Training? You can find all the details at www.leadingagile.com/scrum-training/

Agile practices don't automatically lead to Business Agility. In the presence of dependencies and organizational impediments that the teams have no ability to change, going through the motions of Scrum or SAFe isn't going to lead to greater Business Agility either. So, you can train the teams all you want, but if it doesn't lead to greater Agility, who cares? Listen as Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Prior discuss some common misconceptions about Agile Transformation, how training often leaves businesses wanting more, and some things to consider if you're thinking about starting an Agile Journey of your own. Also, stick around for the end, where Mike reveals who his favorite fictional Project Manager is.   Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you'd like to contact Mike, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you'd like to contact Dave, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you'd like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com Interested in CSM or CSPO Training? You can find all the details at www.leadingagile.com/scrum-training/

People have debated whether or not SAFe is Agile for as long as it's been around. LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer, joins Dave on this episode of SoundNotes to explore the roots of small team Agile and to discuss how SAFe stacks up against the ideals of the Agile Manifesto. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you'd like to contact Mike, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you'd like to contact Dave, you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you'd like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com Interested in CSM or CSPO Training? You can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/scrum-training/

During Transformation, we need a way to measure its performance and improvements to the organization so that leaders continue to support the initiative. Metrics need to be used to help teams get better over time and drive the right kinds of outcomes that leadership is looking for. In this episode, Mike Cottmeyer shares his insights into different Agile metrics and what are the right ones that give leaders what they need to make the necessary changes to the system and improve overall performance. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you'd like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you'd like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you'd like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com Interested in CSM or CSPO Training? You can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

This week on SoundNotes our Founder and CEO, Mike Cottmeyer, joins Dave to discuss why simply showing up and having the answer for the customer is not enough. During this conversation, Mike explains the process he follows when engaging with clients to ensure he is truly hearing them and understanding the way they see the problem, and how that begins a series of steps that enables him to work with the client to find the best solution for them. If you are involved with introducing change in an organization, especially from a consulting standpoint, this interview is a must.

At LeadingAgile our approach to helping organizations transform the way they work is deeply rooted in First Principles. These are core beliefs we all have in common that shape the way we work. People who work here come from different backgrounds and have different experiences, but First Principles are things we all believe to be true. In our interactions with clients, these core beliefs are an essential ingredient in our ability to deliver on the promises we make and to fulfill the Trust-Influence loop. In this episode of SoundNotes, Mike Cottmeyer joins Dave to discuss First Principles, what they are, why they are so important, how they work, and how they become more important as we grow.

This episode of SoundNotes is an interview with LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer who takes on 3 separate topics during the interview: 1. Locus of Blame (01:38) 2. Elevate Agile (27:38) 3. Speaking with Authority  (41:39) Locus of Blame Things happen. They don't always happen the way we want them to. You get a flat tire on the way to a job interview, your supplier is late resulting in a massive delay in your delivery of a project, there's a pandemic and that messes up pretty much everything you had planned. The questions you ask yourself in response to these kinds of setbacks are very important. Learning how to learn from these challenges may not come naturally to you but it is a critical skill. Elevate Agile  This September, LeadingAgile will be holding an event to celebrate its 11 year anniversary (because Covid got in the way of the 10 year anniversary), and we're also holding our 2nd Elevate Agile conference. During the interview Mike shares some details about this very exciting event. Speaking with Authority While advancing in their career many people get to a stage where it is important for them to be able to enter a room, take over, and lead. For some, this comes with ease, but for many, it is the opposite. They can't see how to get from being the person who was never asked (or allowed) to lead, to being someone who can "own" a room of people. Mike shares details about how (and when) he worked through that. And similar challenges he has worked through since. If you are someone who does not feel you have the agency/experience/authority/power to take the room, you'll find some helpful tips in this part of the interview. Elevate Agile https://elevateagile.com/ Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you'd like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you'd like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you'd like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to Dave.

You can have different levels of Agility in an organization—and those are all necessary and great. But it takes more to achieve Business Agility, which is entirely different from team-level Agility, or enterprise-level, and so forth. In this podcast, Dave Prior and LeadingAgile CEO Mike Cottmeyer think through and explore the nuances of Business Agility and what it takes to achieve it.

Dave Prior sits down for a conversation with LeadingAgile CEO Mike Cottmeyer and they explore Mike's Agile approach to personal development and dig into the details of how and why his approach to growth and development has evolved over time. If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you’re interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

You have to deeply understand how what you’re doing at all levels of the organization is going to drive quality. In this week’s podcast, LeadingAgile CEO Mike Cottmeyer joins us to dig into why increased quality should matter to you, and some actionable steps to take to enable more of it across your organization. If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you’re interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

When large organizations set out to take on Agile Transformation, it's never for Agile's sake. They're usually after one or more of these 6 things, Predictability, Quality, Cost Savings, Early ROI, Product Fit, or Innovation. In this week's episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, Dave Prior talks with Mike Cottmeyer to discuss the steps you can take to get more predictable and make and meet your commitments. If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

This week in LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, we’re focusing on Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).  Andrew Young joins Dave to talk about this history of OKRs, why they have become such an important part of how we track and measure performance, why they matter to Executives, and why teaching Executives about OKRs requires a very specific approach. Want more on OKRs? Agile Unplugged - Episode 02 with Mike Cottmeyer and Dennis Stevens An Introduction to OKRs: Objectives and Key Results Tracking and Reporting: What Should the PMO Be Tracking? w/ Derek Huether  Contacting Andrew Young LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/andrew-young/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atyoung/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/exclamation101 Email: andrew.young@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

In this episode we talk about Agile First Responders - people brought in to deal with "Agile disasters". How do you know when you need help with your agile transformation, and what do first responders do to identify and fix the root causes of problems and to then stabilize the situation. Mike Cottmeyer’s work referenced in the podcast can be found at https://www.leadingagile.com/whitepaper/.

This week in SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Founder and CEO Mike Cottmeyer joins Dave to explore the ways in which Executive Leadership plays the role of Product Owner in an organization. During the conversation, Mike reflects back on how his understanding of what it means to be an organizational product owner has evolved as LeadingAgile has grown over the last ten years. Mike shares some of the ways he copes with the challenges of being the Product Owner of an organization that continues to evolve, how he responds to the successes and failures along the way, and his take on one of the most critical things a leader must do in order to be ready for what comes next. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

On October 7th, 2019 LeadingAgile will hold its first-ever conference—Elevate Agile. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile CEO and Founder, Mike Cottmeyer explains why Elevate Agile exists and how we hope it will shape the conversation around business and organizational Agility moving forward. The event is sold out, but you can check out the live stream from the conference on Elevate Agile's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/elevateagile/ Also, be sure to follow Elevate Agile on social to find out details for next year's event as they become available. Elevate Agile on Social  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/19229690/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/elevateagile Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevateagile/   Links from the Podcast ElevateAgile: www.elevateagile.com Mindset by Carol Dweck Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Last week, the biggest conference in the Agile industry took place in Washington DC at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. We were proud to be a sponsor of this event and we were even more excited about catching up with friends—both old and new. For those of you who couldn't make it to the conference, here's a live-stream of our podcast from our booth in the Prince George Exhibitor Hall. We had a chance to talk to a lot of really smart and interesting people while we were there; some who were speaking at the conference, others who were simply attending, and even a few who were involved in turning this event into a reality. In this live session, we chat with LeadingAgile CEO Mike Cottmeyer about Organizational Resistance, the factors that influence how you can successfully orchestrate your Agile Transformation, and what it takes to gain the support you need for the outcomes you want.

What causes a man to want to go to Warrior Week when his business is the most successful it’s ever been, and life is good? Welcome to this week’s episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit with Coach Sam and his guest, Mike Cottmeyer, where we discover the answer to that question and learn why Mike chose to walk through the gates of Warrior Week #52 even after learning about his wife’s life-threatening diagnosis a mere two days before. Parable #1: Feeling Isolated In the summer of 2018, it was the viewing of one video that caused Mike to step into the world of Warrior via the Kings Kit Challenge, which proved to be a poignant turning point in his life. Although he had more monetary success than ever before, he was feeling disconnected on every level and was feeling completely isolated. The message from the video that resonated with Mike the most was this idea that guys who are really successful in business are bored. “I know people have problems paying their electric bill; I had a problem making my million and a half payroll every month. Who do you share that kind of pressure with?” QUESTION How is having an association of men to share life with making a difference in your life? Parable #2: Taking a Leap When Mike took the leap out of corporate America to start his company, he gave away the security and promise of the paycheck for the uncertainty of doing his own thing. “What I found was, that was just the first of many leaps.” Pre-Warrior, Mike felt that he had reached the ceiling on what he could accomplish as a leader, as a husband, and as a father. He was feeling overwhelmed. Two days before he entered the doors of Warrior Week, his wife was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. QUESTION Where have you been taking leaps in your life? How has your life changed because of those leaps? Parable #3: The Cemetery When Mike was 23, his mother passed away from cancer, which was the most painful thing he had experienced up to that point in his life. Fast forward two decades to Warrior Week where the group is in a van traveling to visit a cemetery. When asked by one of the coaches what his reaction would be if his wife were to die from her illness, the best response Mike could muster in that moment was, “I would be sad.” “With my mother’s death, that was a pivotal time in my life which turned off a range of emotions for me. If it doesn’t crack that level, fuck it. It is what it is. You want to trigger an emotion in me? Put me in a cemetery thinking about my mom and writing letters to my kids about what would happen if I were to die. I can get to that emotion, but I’m not comfortable living there.” QUESTION When was the last time you gave yourself permission to experience deep emotion? Parable #4: Modeling Behavior Mike’s involvement in Warrior has allowed him to create space for conversations with his sons Zach, Daniel, and Noah. What he’s trying to model for them is “just because things get fucked up or go a little sideways, doesn’t mean it’s over. Don’t give up.” “Basically, it’s modeling behavior. They’re seeing me get into better shape, pray & meditate, emotionally connect with their mom & them every day. They’re seeing what’s going on in the business, that we’re going to continue to collide, and that I’m not giving up.” QUESTION What behavior are you modeling for your children? Parable #5: Letting Go to Lead Post-Warrior, Mike has chosen to spend more time with his wife which has meant letting go and whittling down the hours he works on his business. “In my little niche of the world, I’m the Garrett White of my industry. I’m the speaker, I’m the rain-maker, I’m the one who’s out there. When I take a step back, there’s a real risk for it to slow down.” “When you have strong leaders, you’ve got to give them space to lead. And when you’re a control freak like me, it’s hard to know which pieces you can let go of and which pieces you can’t. It’s a tough balance.” QUESTION Whether in your home or business, what can you let go of in order to create space for others to lead? Parables from the Pit: “It doesn’t matter what the fuck you say – whether it’s wrong or right – as long as you’re certain, people will follow.” —Sam Falsafi “Warrior Week for me was the beginning of a journey. It was like having a veil lifted and realizing there was a whole different way of looking at the world that I hadn’t been paying attention to.” -Mike Cottmeyer

When it comes to Agile Transformation, every organization has to deal with things in the system that are blocking them from developing an Agile System of Delivery. Impediments to Transformation exist at many levels: organizations, architectural, cultural, etc. Many of these impediments are common across companies and can be known and planned for ahead of time. In LeadingAgile's approach, there are 3 Things that are necessary for an organization to be capable of an Agile approach. Those 3 Things are stable teams, a well-formed backlog, and the ability to deliver a working tested increment of product on a regular basis. Anything that gets in the way of these 3 Things must be addressed as part of the Transformation. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Founder and CEO, Mike Cottmeyer, and Dave Prior discuss what a System of Transformation, some of the more common impediments to Agile Transformation, and ways to cope with those impediments. This episode is a follow up to the podcast: System of Delivery vs. System of Transformation. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Organizations embracing an Agile approach to their work value their ability to inspect and adapt. They value the ability to continually learn and deepen their understanding of what problems they are trying to solve so that they can inspect and adapt toward a better solution. The challenge is that just because we're Agile and we want to inspect and adapt our way to a better solution doesn't mean that we can ignore the constraints of scope, cost, and time. Those constraints matter and we need to find the best solution possible within those constraints. Figuring out how to do that is no small thing. In this week's podcast, LeadingAgile's Founder and CEO, Mike Cottmeyer spends some time talking with Dave Prior about how to maximize the value we're able to deliver in the presence of constraints. Mike's presentation from TriAgile http://bit.ly/2HICyon Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Mike Cottmeyer with LeadingAgile explains how company culture is created with each new hire, each new policy, and each operational change. His business is ran with 100% transparency and honesty with intentional tweaks along the way. Hire and build, hire and build!

When people talk about Agile, they often talk about the approach they are taking: Scrum, Kanban, Extreme Programming, SAFe, LeSS, DAD, Nexus, etc. These and the other frameworks and methodologies that could be considered to fall under the Agile umbrella are Systems of Delivery because they are techniques for delivering. There's often an assumption that if we adopt the System of Delivery, our organization will Transform to Agile. Sometimes this happens, but often, organizations need more than a System of Delivery. They need a way to go about helping their organization evolve into a state where it's capable of realizing the benefits of the various Systems of Delivery. This journey from your current state, into a state that's capable of fully leveraging the System of Delivery, may actually require a System of Transformation. In this episode of SoundNotes, our CEO & Founder, Mike Cottmeyer spends some time with Dave digging into what a System of Transformation is, why this is different than a System of Delivery, how the two are connected, and why having a System of Transformation is such a critical part of your organization's ability to realize the benefits of taking an Agile approach to delivering work. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Mike Cottmeyer on Leading Agile, Daniel Goleman on Coaching For Leaders, Christina Wodtke on Build by Drift, Joe Vallone on Agile Amped, and Cindy Alvarez on Product Love. I'd love for you to email me with any comments about the show or any suggestions for podcasts I might want to feature. Email podcast@thekguy.com. This episode covers the five podcast episodes I found most interesting and wanted to share links to during the two week period starting February 4, 2019. These podcast episodes may have been released much earlier, but this was the week when I started sharing links to them to my social network followers. MIKE COTTMEYER ON LEADING AGILE The Leading Agile podcast featured Mike Cottmeyer with host Dave Prior. To kickoff 2019, Dave and Mike got together to talk about the year ahead. What I liked most about this conversation is how it got into a discussion of how to introduce Agile to an organization that is just beginning to move away from traditional waterfall methods. Mike talked about how meal prep services got his wife interested in cooking for the first time and contrasted this with the way Agile is often introduced to enterprises: exclusively showing the end state and leaving out details about what Agile looks like when you’re just starting. Just as the meal prep services show more respect for people beginning to take up cooking, Mike says that the Agile community needs to show more respect for people beginning their Agile journey. iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/kicking-off-2019-w-mike-cottmeyer/id995790407?i=1000427423678&mt=2 Website link: https://www.leadingagile.com/podcast/kicking-off-2019-with-mike-cottmeyer/ DANIEL GOLEMAN ON COACHING FOR LEADERS The Coaching For Leaders podcast featured Daniel Goleman with host Dave Stachowiak. As a fan of Daniel’s work on Emotional Intelligence, I was eager to hear this interview. Daniel talked about three different kinds of empathy: cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and empathic concern and compared and contrasted them. I loved what Daniel had to say about distinguishing between a healthy and an unhealthy showing of vulnerability, especially since I read so much advice telling leaders they need to be vulnerable. iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/391-getting-better-at-empathy-with-daniel-goleman/id458827716?i=1000428075330&mt=2 Website link: https://coachingforleaders.com/podcast/391/ CHRISTINA WODTKE ON BUILD BY DRIFT The Build by Drift podcast featured Christina Wodtke with host Maggie Crowley. Christina’s book, Radical Focus, has been showing up on the recommended lists of most of the people I follow, with some saying that it was the first book they read that really showed how to apply Objectives and Key Results or OKRs, so I was quick to hit play on this new-to-me podcast. What I heard was a great conversation on high-performing teams, avoiding traps in setting OKRs, and most importantly, the fact that OKRs are supposed to be stretch goals. iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/build-15-christina-wodtke-on-radical-focus-living-your/id1445050691?i=1000426996091&mt=2 Website link: https://www.drift.com/blog/christina-wodtke-okrs/ JOE VALLONE ON AGILE AMPED The Agile Amped podcast featured Joe Vallone with host Adam Mattis. While there was a lot of talk about the Scaled Agile Framework in this conversation and I’m still working out how I feel about that, there was also a great conversation about lean startup ideas, particularly innovation accounting and Joe provided concrete examples from the SR21 Blackbird to self-driving cars to make his point. iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/innovation-accounting/id992128516?i=1000427846817&mt=2 Website link: https://solutionsiq.podbean.com/e/innovation-accounting/ CINDY ALVAREZ ON PRODUCT LOVE The Product Love podcast featured Cindy Alvarez with host Eric Boduch. Cindy Alvarez is the author of a book in Eric Ries’ Lean series: Lean Customer Development. I loved how Cindy took the old saw about Henry Ford and the faster horse and talked about how maybe Ford should have rephrased the question to get the customers to talk about problems instead of solutions. I also loved her emphasis on good listening techniques and how this can mean having to tolerate an uncomfortable amount of silence. iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/cindy-alvarez-joins-product-love-to-talk-about-customer/id1343610309?i=1000428744289&mt=2 Website link: https://productcraft.com/podcast/product-love-podcast-cindy-alvarez-product-manager-at-microsoft-and-author-of-lean-customer-development/ FEEDBACK Ask questions, make comments, and let your voice be heard by emailing podcast@thekguy.com. Twitter: https://twitter.com/thekguy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithmmcdonald/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thekguypage Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_k_guy/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysPayr8nXwJJ8-hqnzMFjw Website:

When we try to explain Agile, many of us begin by trying to describe some of the characteristics of how we approach work. We often talk about things like: Limiting work in process Delivering smaller increments of work Reducing team size and empowering the teams to become cross-functional and self-organizing These are all things that, from an Agile point of view, are good because they help us to focus on the most important things, optimize flow, localize decision making, and deliver the most important thing at a higher level of quality.   But, for those who are not familiar with our approach, what they may hear is I can't have all the things I want The things I do get will be smaller I no longer have control of the people and how they work A lot of this comes down to the words we use to convey the message.   This week's episode of SoundNotes is a discussion centered around the Language of Loss and the Language of Gain. During the podcast, you'll hear LeadingAgile Founder and CEO Mike Cottmeyer, Senior Consultant Andrew Young, and Dave Prior as they dig into the different levels of this topic. Together, the three of us will discuss how we can raise our awareness and shift the conversation to focus on what Agile gives, as opposed to what Agile takes. Links Whitepaper: https://www.leadingagile.com/whitepaper/ The Trust and Influence Loop Podcast: https://www.leadingagile.com/podcast/trust-influence-loop-mike-cottmeyer/ Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Andrew Young LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/andrew-young/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atyoung/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/exclamation101 Email: andrew.young@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Iteration 2019 has begun and we’re starting off the year with an episode of SoundNotes where, LeadingAgile CEO and Founder, Mike Cottmeyer shares what's on his mind as we begin the new year. During the interview Mike talks about some of the trends he’s been paying attention to in and around the Agile space, the changes he sees coming down the pike, and how that's influencing his focus and expectations for the next 12 months. Oh.. and… Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Links Whitepaper - https://www.leadingagile.com/whitepaper/ WakeUp Warrior.com http://wakeupwarriormovie.com Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Last Spring, Martin Fowler gave a talk at Agile Australia called "The State of Agile Software in 2018." (A transcript of Fowler’s talk can be found using the link provided below.) During the talk, he mentions “post-agile.” It is a phrase I had previously heard mention of here and there by folks who tend to be pretty deep with agile and who are frustrated for one reason or another by how it is being (mis)used by others. I spent time time researching what “post-agile” actually means. What I found was a wide range of explanations, but no clear, definitive answer. The more I dug into it, the more I found myself gravitating towards my own inner explanation. Since I didn’t really want to end up mansplaining the term to myself, I thought it might be a good idea to seek some professional help. In this podcast you’ll hear a conversation between Dhaval Panchal, Michael Tardiff, and myself where we explore the topic of “post-agile”—what it actually means and whether or not it is something you need to worry about. Dhaval and Michael are deeply seasoned agile coaches who are also really fun to interview. Talking with them always provides me with a new perspective and deeper clarity on things. That was definitely the case with this discussion. Hopefully it will be valuable to you as well. This podcast is our conversation exploring the topic of what “post-agile” actually means and whether or not you need to worry about it. Here are some of the links referred to in the podcast: Martin Fowler’s transcript of the State of Agile Software in 2018 https://bit.ly/2NDfHLk My interview with Mike Cottmeyer on Fowler’s talk https://bit.ly/2Rpqx8Y Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber https://amzn.to/1ttQuId Bullshit Jobs: A Theory https://amzn.to/2RthMLk If you’d like to contact Dhaval: Web: https://evolveagility.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/evolveagility Email: dhaval.panchal@evolveagility.com If you’d like to contact Michael: Web: https://feelingagile.wordpress.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/mjt Email: michael@taoproductions.com

Earlier this month, Dave sat down for another Q&A with our CEO, Mike Cottmeyer. Prior to recording, we asked the audience to submit their questions via a sign up sheet, and Dave collected some questions from the students in his certified Scrum training classes. However, when people get to asking questions about Agile, Mike has found that the questions are often the wrong question. In order to get the right answer from a wrong question, you have to go back what Mike calls "first principles." Learn more about first principles, and Mike's latest thoughts on Agile Transformation in this episode of SoundNotes Live. Contacting Mike Cottmeyer If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave Prior If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Once again, Mike and Dave sat down to discuss some of Mike's latest thoughts on Agile Transformation and answer questions that we received from the audience. Some of the topics discussed were: Agile PMO, velocity, and governance just to name a few. These live Q&A sessions will be recurring, so make sure you're on the lookout for the next installment. For more of Mike's latest thoughts on Agile Transformation, you can check out his latest white paper, here:www.leadingagile.com/whitepaper Contacting MikeIf you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/Twitter: twitter.com/mcottmeyerEmail: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting DaveIf you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungoTwitter: twitter.com/mrsungoEmail: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Back in September, Mike and Dave got together for our first ever live Q&A. The conversation was streamed on Facebook, so they were able to answer some viewer questions, as well as questions Dave had been collecting, beforehand, in his CSM and CSPO classes. We're planning on making the live Q&A a recurring event, so make sure you're on the lookout for the next one. We want to answer all of your burning, Agile related questions. Contacting Mike If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

his Spring at Agile Australia 2018, Martin Fowler, Chief Scientist at Thoughtworks and Agile Manifesto co-author gave a Keynote titled "The State of Agile Software in 2018". He recently published the text of his talk here. (If you refer video, you can find it on InfoQ.) His Keynote centered around 3 specific concerns with the current state of Agile, the first of which was The Agile Industrial Complex and imposing process on teams. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer shares his thoughts on the Agile Industrial Complex and some of the problems it can create. During the interview we dig into why the challenges come into play and what we can do to try and resolve them.   Contacting Mike If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

LeadingAgile's very own CEO, Mike Cottmeyer, stopped by the booth to talk about his Agile 2018 speaker session entitled: Agile Transformation Explained. To download the white paper that corresponds to Mike's talk click the link below:Download the White Paper Contact InfoMike:leadingagile.com/ Twitter 

In this episode of SoundNotes, Mike Cottmeyer and Dave Prior discuss how organizational Transformation continues to evolve. The conversation offers a brief preview of some of the things Mike will be covering at his Agile 2018session: “Agile Transformation Explained”http://sched.co/EUF1 During the interview, Mike and Dave discuss how the skill sets needed to lead and shepherd those Transformations have grown to include much more than what we would have expected from an Agile coach several years ago. They also explore how we continue to refine our understanding of what happens during organizational Transformation and how we can better prepare our clients for the changes they will experience.   LeadingAgile at Agile 2018 Mike Cottmeyer’s session “Agile Transformation Explained”will take place on Tuesday, August 7 at 3:45 PM.  You can learn more about it here: http://sched.co/EUF1 Paul Argiry’s session “Addressing Your CFO’s Concerns to an Enterprise-Wide Agile Transformation”will take place on Thursday, August 9 at 9:00 AM. You can learn more about it here: http://sched.co/EU93 John Tanner’s session “Agile Metrics - The GQM Approach”will be held on Wednesday, August 8 at 10:45 AM. You can learn more about it here: http://sched.co/EUCr Contacting Mike If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

“Culture is just the boogeyman people use when they don't know how to articulate an organizational change management strategy that executives will buy into.” ~ Mike Cottmeyer In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer shares his thoughts on why we need to stop blaming culture when organizations are unable to adopt Agile. During the interview, Mike and Dave dig into the reasons why many of the organizations that struggle with Agile are dealing with deeply rooted mechanisms that extend far beyond culture. Unfortunately, one of the most common refrains in the Agile community is that the culture is the primary thing that must be addressed, and once that is solved, the rest will take care of itself. For many organizations that buy into the promise of Agile without having clarity on the organizational impediments they must overcome for Agile to be able to exist, maybe culture isn't the best place to start. If you'd like to read Mike's blog post on the topic, you can find it here: https://bit.ly/2pO8YU4 Contacting Mike If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

As organizations continue to grow and evolve in their practice of Agile, what they expect from Agile transformation coaches continues to evolve as well. Ten years ago, an Agile coach was someone who had enough experience working with Agile to help others pick up the basic habits and avoid some common mistakes. Today, we need a lot more. In this episode of SoundNotes, Mike Cottmeyer talks with Dave Prior about how the needs and expectations of coaching have changed over the last 10 years. During the interview, Mike explains how LeadingAgile has evolved its understanding of the specific areas of skill and expertise the company needs to focus on when talking with transformation coaches during the interview process. Dave and Mike also discuss how coaches can address some of these gaps, and why it is so important to understand what type of coaching you are passionate about and how to leverage that. Contacting Mike If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Email: mike@leadingagile.com Contacting Dave If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at: LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com And if you are interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified Scrum Master or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/  

One of the best parts of working at LeadingAgile is the continual focus on helping the brilliant people who work here amplify their ability to deliver value for customers. We have a weekly call where we focus on different aspects of the work we do and how we can get better at delivering on the LeadingAgile approach so that our customers can achieve their goals. In a recent call Mike Cottmeyer walked through the Trust Influence Loop, which explains the way we interact with our clients in order to develop the safety and trust we need to be able to help them achieve the outcomes they are looking for. The model had a huge impact on me and I asked Mike if he’d be willing to do an interview on it so that we could share it with others.  While this podcast is a little on the long side, the whole conversation is incredibly valuable. SHOW NOTES 00:08 Interview Begins 00:30 How LeadingAgile syncs up in the morning 02:47 The Tuesday Night Calls 04:17 The Trust Influence Loop Model - Part 1: Influence 08:55 Getting Access… then what” 11:12 The importance of continually creating safety and earning the right to have influence 13:25 Demonstrating empathy, listening and learning 17:43 Why it is so important to hear the client’s explanation of the problem 19:18 The girl with the nail in her head 20:34 The difference between thinking everything is a nail and asserting a position you believe in 23:31 The Trust Influence Loop Model - Part 2: Trust 26:45 Integrity in context  - are you going to do what you said you are going to do 28:04 Developing integrity from the promise through the delivery 30:13 Integrity and maintaining a shared understanding with the client throughout execution 36:28 It’s not about artifacts, it is about demonstrating integrity, building consensus and reaching shared understanding 37:52 You have to understand who the client is and what problem you are trying to solve 43:13 How the Trust-Influence loop applies outside of work 46:19 Why LeadingAgile writes SOWs that take one trip through the loop at a time 49:06 Mike’s journey of unpacking what’s he’s learned and sharing it with other people 50:17 Random Question for Mike: What was the last album you downloaded and listened to that wasn’t Collective Soul? 51:29 Nothing but peace and martinis LINKS FROM THE PODCAST Trust Influence Loop Graphic You can download a copy of the Trust Influence Loop here If you want to watch the video of the girl with the nail in her head, you can find it here: It’s Not About The Nail The Slash album Mike refers to during the interview is: Slash (2010) CONTACTING MIKE If you’d like to reach Mike, here is how you can contact him: Email: mike@leadingagile.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer

LeadingAgile CEO and Founder, Mike Cottmeyer led two sessions at Agile 2017: Agile Transformations Explained and Faster Food and a Better Place to Sleep: Applying Agile Outside of Software. In this interview Mike and Dave discuss how an organization can get better at setting appropriate constraints, making iterative and incremental decisions that inform execution and creating feedback loops that will help drive a more successful adoption of agile across the organization. If you’d like to learn more about Mike’s sessions at Agile 2017:Agile Transformations Explained: sched.co/ATZ5Faster Food and a Better Place to Sleep: Applying Agile Outside of Software: sched.co/ATa2 And if you would like to contact Mike, here is how you can reach him:Web: leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/Twitter: twitter.com/mcottmeyerLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/

In this week’s podcast, LeadingAgile Founder and CEO Mike Cottmeyer shares his thoughts on how Agile Transformation has been evolving, common patterns of transformation, what steps an organization needs to take to become fit for transformation, and to develop the optionality needed to fulfill the promise of Agile. SHOW NOTES The list of show notes was too long to fit into the SoundCloud listing. To view the ShowNotes for this podcast, please visit https://www.leadingagile.com/podcast/mike-cottmeyer-e…e-transformation/ Links from the Podcast: Switch - Chip and Dan Heath http://amzn.to/2tenVOE LeadingAgile on YouTube http://bit.ly/2uRq1X2 LeadingAgile on Periscope http://bit.ly/2sQt4xb Agile 2017 LeadingAgile Sessions Mike Cottmeyer Sessions Agile Transformations Explained http://bit.ly/2sPQNO4 Tuesday, August 8 3:45 PM Faster Food and a Better Place to Sleep: Applying Agile Outside Software http://bit.ly/2uiLoDt Wednesday, August 9, 10:45 AM Paul Argiry Session Avoiding the Pitfalls of Capitalizing Software in an Agile World http://bit.ly/2vcFtfE Tuesday, August 8 3:45 PM Rick Austin Session Portfolio Management in an Agile World, http://bit.ly/2t43rx8 Tuesday, August 8 10:45 AM Contacting Mike LeadingAgile https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/ LInkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/ Twitter https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer Contacting Dave LeadingAgile: http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrsungo
Personal Blog: http://drunkenpm.net LeadingAgile CSM & CSPO Classes For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/. Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class. Feedback/Questions If you have comments on the podcast, or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at dave.prior@leadingagile.com

2017 is here and Mike Cottmeyer is ready. In this episode of SoundNotes, the CEO of LeadingAgile shares his thoughts on the primary issues facing organizations as they continue working to transform. There are many who claim culture is the main issue, but is that really the impediment to Organizational Agility? ShowNotes 00:08 Interview Starts 00:47 How do you lead change in large organizations? 02:17 Is the biggest impediment to Agile really culture change? How do you do that at scale? 03:00 What is getting in the way of culture? 04:16 I can change my attitude and value system, but will the organization support that changed attitude and belief? 04:51 The mindset shift is just the starting point 07:15 How do you get 1,000 people to simultaneously have a mindset shift and then know what to go do 07:42 Is the industry still stuck? How do we get past wanting Agile to being able to do Agile? 08:12 A positive Agile culture has to be reinforced 10:07 The difference between culture and the basic actions you should do 11:29 Can you have the behavior without the culture system shift? 13:29 Can you use the mechanics to reach a desired end state without worrying about becoming Agile? 15:35 Where does Mike see the industry going in 2017? 19:49 Does the organization really need to understand how Agile works or can someone coach the organization into an Agile state? 22:02 How does the organization recognize the fundamentals of what needs to be changed to achieve Organizational Agility? 24:18 Does having data that explains the problem help strengthen the case for change? 25:10 Your organization is deeply flawed. 26:41 How are we going to measure that the problem was indeed solved? 28:07 The organizations are broken. Teaching them to want something is not enough. At some point you have to do the work. 30:00 If we teach culture change will people really self organize in the presence of constraints 31:19 Should everyone be more disruptive? Who designs the structure to support that? 32:18 Is there a point where you need to be more directive to help people become more Agile? 33:04 We are so myopically focused on self organization. 34:02 If i am an executive with limited time to learn and research, what do I focus on? 35:18 The problem is that people are overselling how Agile can work. 38:35 Do you want to do Agile on a team, or do you want to become an Agile organization? 39:08 How Agile do you need to be? 43:57 The music Mike has been listening to lately and is looking forward to listening to. 45:05 The one thing Mike wishes all the clients knew before he got into the room. 46:41 Closeout Books Mentioned in the Podcast The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey http://amzn.to/2jUektH Christian Self-Mastery by B.W. Maturin http://amzn.to/2jU0cjZ The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn http://amzn.to/2jzO4DL Music Mentioned in the Podcast Collective Soul http://www.collectivesoul.com Peace Trail by Neil Young http://amzn.to/2kmlFBU Reaching Mike If you’d like to know more about Mike, or reach him with follow up questions: http://bit.ly/2kvoOyo Feedback/Questions/Reaching Dave If you have comments on the podcast, or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at dave.prior@leadingagile.com LeadingAgile CSM and CSPO Classes For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

One of the most important things an organization can do in order to help teams deliver working, test software is to manage organizational dependencies. In this SoundNotes interview, LeadingAgile Enterprise Transformation Consultant, Andrew Fuqua shares his thoughts on how organizations can manage and remove dependencies in order to better their teams to deliver. 00:08 Interview Starts 00:45 Some background on Andrew 01:25 How the topic of Managing Dependencies Across the Value Stream (until we can break them) came up on LeadingAgile’s internal Slack channel 03:20 The difference between breaking dependencies and managing them across the value stream 04:55 Figuring out where the dependencies exist within your organization 06:35 Dependencies and user stories vs. dependencies created by the organizational structure 08:07 How cross functional do your teams need to be before you can fully address dependencies within your organization? 09:31 Making responsible choices when it comes to setting up cross functional teams that can deliver fully tested working product 11:08 How do you help an organization figure out what is reasonable to achieve with setting up teams 11:52 Changing the organization in an iterative manner 12:32 Refactoring the organization is an ongoing effort 13:38 Stable Teams vs. a constantly changing organization 14:41 Key things you need to focus on if you want to remove dependencies within an organization 15:53 Techniques you can use to surface where the dependencies exist 16:24 Why you need multiple ways to identify the dependencies and remove them 17:05 Managing the environment you are in 18:42 Manage the heck out of the dependencies that matter, until you can break them 20:16 What’s the right way to do this? There is no best practices, just good practices given a specific context 21:07 Helping your organization learn to cope with impact of the dependencies you have in place 22:25 Are we leaning into the waterfall or just being practical by having design work a Sprint ahead? 23:02 If you feel your organization needs to have design work ahead, is that a bad thing or are there times when that is ok? 24:49 It’s ok, but it’s not ok that it’s ok… refactoring organizations in flight 25:42 Other suggestions for managing dependencies 27:05 Why would you commit to something you have no control over? 28:55 How do you deliver on the promise of the epic and know what is “good enough” to release? 31:26 Being flexible about what you have to release can help you manage dependencies as well 31:58 Steps you can take right out of the gate to help the organization cope with dependencies 34:05 Are there elements of a waterfall approach that can help if you are able to maintain an Agile mindset 35:52 PUT THE PMBOK AWAY! Just worry about the real world stuff and manage that stuff. 37:26 Andrew’s parting words of advice for managing and removing dependencies 39:17 The Lean + Agile Atlanta UnConference leanagileatlanta.co 40:30 How to reach Andrew if you want to follow up with him on this conversation Email: andrew@leadingagile.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewmfuqua Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewMFuqua LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewfuqua You may also want to check out Mike Cottmeyer’s post on Managing Dependencies here: http://www.leadingagile.com/2011/10/dependencies-break-agile/ Or his post on How to Structure Your Agile Enterprise http://www.leadingagile.com/2014/02/structure-agile-enterprise/

Agile is everywhere now. Regardless of the flavor (Scrum, Kanban, XP), everybody's using Agile to greater or lesser extent. After more than a decade of being Agile, why are so few organizations actually reaping the benefits of implementing it in the first place? Mike Cottmeyer of Leading Agile offers three simple and obvious things that an organization of any size needs to be able to do to be truly Agile:  1. Form teams. 2. Create backlogs. 3. Produce working tested software. Here are some tidbits from his engaging interview: - "A team is an encapsulated value stream... that has no dependencies on the rest of the organization, they can operate with autonomy, they can inspect and adapt..." - "Every failure mode in Scrum ... starts with a team that is not complete and well formed." - "Cargo-cult Scrum: going through the motions but not getting the benefits." SolutionsIQ's Howard Sublett hosts at Keep Austin Agile 2016 (http://conference.agileaustin.org/). About Agile Amped The Agile Amped podcast series engages with industry thought leaders at Agile events across the country to bring valuable content to subscribers anytime, anywhere. To receive real-time updates, subscribe at YouTube, iTunes or SolutionsIQ.com. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SIQYouTube, http://bit.ly/SIQiTunes, http://www.solutionsiq.com/agile-amped/ Follow: http://bit.ly/SIQTwitter  Like: http://bit.ly/SIQFacebook

In this edition of our Sound Notes podcast, we sat down with LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer to talk about the big splash our company plans to make during the World's Largest Agile Conference in Atlanta.

In this version of our Sound Notes podcast, we sat down with LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer to talk about the focus of Agile in 2016. We discuss why organizations are still struggling to successfully adopt agile, how the systems of many large organizations are still broken, and how the popular scaling methods are only a part of the solution to successful enterprise agile adoption. From there, Mike and Dave Prior use a couple of metaphors to describe the past, present and future of agile along with the difficult change management aspects of agile transformation.

In this version of our Sound Notes with Dave Prior, we speak with LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer on the rise of Bimodal IT Enterprises and how it is impacting modern businesses. Based on new research coming out of Gartner, we explore where Bimodal IT found it's roots and how it is being applied today. From there, Mike and Dave discuss the differences between mode 1 and 2, as well as how organizations can make the journey from a more traditional form of delivery with mode 1, to a more exploratory and nonlinear model with mode 2. Lastly, we'll explore how mode 1 and mode 2 relate to LeadingAgile's Compass for Enterprise Transformation, the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and what it takes to make the shift from mode 1 to mode 2.

Hosts Ryan Ripley, Tim Ottinger, Don Gray Discussion Ryan Ripley (@RyanRipley) Tim Ottinger (@tottinge) and Don Gray (@donaldegray) got together to talk about the word “enterprise”. Quite a few connotations were thrown around: inertia, masses of people, waterfall. Better, Faster, Cheaper was even discussed. We moved on to talking about the limitations imposed on scaling by Dunbar's Number (150) and then learned about the Rule of the 2nd Floor: “Nobody 2 levels above or below you in the organization really understands what you do for a living.” The discussion then shifted to how we can do Agile with 5,000 people. Typical scaling patterns emerged: Scale by Division:  Dividing people in to functional teams. Scale Out, Not Up:  Group people in to feature teams. Holocracy:  Peer to peer organization. Using Extreme Programming (XP) and other disciplined software engineering practices to improve team outcome were discussed as was an organizationals ability to move up the Agile Fluency Model. We talked about Mike Cottmeyer's recent post about stopping the anti-management rhetoric and finding ways to meet management where they are and help them find the path to an agile organization. The discussion then shifted to how teams can measure their agility and the renaissance of craftsmanship in the software development world. Don walked us through transformation management theory, we asked why organizations should even go “agile” in the first place, and worked on a definition of “agile” in the enterprise. And then…we called it a night. Agile for Humans is brought to you by audible.com – get one FREE audiobook download and 30 day free trial at www.audibletrial.com/agile Resources, Plugs, and More Ryan – https://ryanripley.com Nature of Software Development by Ron Jeffries Holocracy by Brian Robertson Name Calling and Ad Hominem Attacks by Mike Cottmeyer Dan Greening's Agile Base Patterns Tim – http://agileotter.blogspot.com/ Industrial Logic Blog Agile by Example Don – http://donaldegray.com The Art of Thought by Graham Wallas Managing Transitions by William Bridges Jerry Weinberg books on lean pub The Future of Organizations The post AFH 015: The USS Agile Enterprise [PODCAST] appeared first on Ryan Ripley.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this follow up podcast to a previous blog post, LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer describes how no one wants to tell the emperor, or in this case the organization, he has no clothes. Listen in as we discuss self-organization of teams, creating a system of accountability and the role of leadership with Agile.

In this edition of Sound Notes, Dave Prior sits down with LeadingAgile CEO, Mike Cottmeyer to talk about the world's largest Agile Conference, Agile2015. Listen in as they discuss what to expect of the conference for new attendees, the diversity of perspectives and the social aspect of putting over 2,000 Agilists in the same place for five days. Mike also shares a preview of his Agile2015 talk, Three Things You Must Know to Transform Any Sized Organization into an Agile Enterprise as the two share common challenges around Enterprise Agile Adoption and Transformation.

In this interview with LeadingAgile CEO and Founder, Mike Cottmeyer, we explore the background of LeadingAgile, our beliefs around transformation and how companies can begin their transformation journey.