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Independent feedback

I’m always on the lookout for ways of getting better engagement, from planning sessions to retrospectives, project kick-offs to project wrap-ups, workshops to meetups. How can you get independent thoughts that aren’t influenced by that loud/experienced/dominating participant? One tool that I experienced recently (which was being used to get feedback… Read More »Independent feedback

Alistair Cockburn talk

Following the success of its recent session focusing on Alistair Cockburn’s Crystal Clear, the London Agile Discussion Group has teamed up with the London Scrum User Group, London Code Dojo and Adventures with Agile for an evening with Cockburn during a rare visit to the UK on 14 June 2016. Entitled… Read More »Alistair Cockburn talk

Our summer experiment

If you’re a regular to scrumandkanban.co.uk, you’ll know that James and I have been talking about estimation and forecasting quite a bit. We’ve also run a few experiments on the topic. Two books in particular have raised interesting ideas. Firstly, Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds talked about how crowds can beat… Read More »Our summer experiment

Turbine – In Brief

Turbine is a recently published “methodology” that outlines a vision for the continuous delivery of business value driven software iterations. The creators of Turbine; Marco Tedone and John Ferguson Smart, have put together a manifesto and a supporting structure for how a Turbine style delivery environment can be achieved, consisting of environment conditions… Read More »Turbine – In Brief

Estimation meets Cynefin

Question: Which provides a better estimate: Planning Poker or an ‘expert’? Many teams would answer that question by saying Planning Poker is always better than an expert’s estimates. We’ve been told it’s the case so many times, that few question it. Truth is, an expert estimate is sometimes more appropriate than an estimate… Read More »Estimation meets Cynefin

Systems Thinking

My old approach to systems thinking. When I met a new team, or the team’s primary focus changed, I used to run an exercise with the team that went like this: draw a flowchart of your processes. For example, a work request is made, it gets developed, then it is released.… Read More »Systems Thinking

What is Crystal Clear?

I’m sure you know how the Agile Manifesto came into existence. 17 men met in a ski resort in 2001 and, although they had different approaches to software development, they all shared certain beliefs. They formed the Manifesto that comprises four core values and 12 principles. But did you know… Read More »What is Crystal Clear?

The wisdom of crowds

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Turns out, averaging does not mean dumbing down. If you want a smart decision, you’re actually better off asking a group than trying to find the expert. I’ve been reading a lot about estimation and forecasting over the last few years, and one of the most referred to books is… Read More »The wisdom of crowds

The art of making mistakes?

I read an article recently that said: “If you want people to like you more, make a mistake.” The article explained that people like you more when you make a mistake and the bigger the blunder, the more they like you. Sounds strange? It did to me too. Turns out this… Read More »The art of making mistakes?