Tag: teams
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Stop Blaming Teams: See the System
Delivering software is hard. I often see companies undertake large, complex projects that span multiple years and involve hundreds of people. Then, when things deviate from the original plan, managers start finger-pointing at their teams and say the reason for the problems is how teams are “not collaborating,” or they “lack ownership,” or “aren’t aligned.”…
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There’s No One Right Way
Every decision in Agile carries a cost. There is no single “right” way to build products or organize teams; each choice comes with a hidden set of trade-offs. Recognizing Hidden Trade-offs in Agile Practices Agile teams often select practices with a specific goal in mind, overlooking the less obvious consequences. For example, escalating a technical…
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Drift to Waterfall
A typical scenario I encounter with teams that want to be more agile is when they slowly start slipping into more Waterfall ways of working. This drift to waterfall happens when the solutions teams come up with to solve their problems and end up negatively impacting the team’s agility and adaptability. Let’s look at some real-life examples that illustrate…
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The Team Dependency Matrix
In the large organizations I work with, dependencies are the number one blocker preventing fast flow. In these organizations that, for budgetary reasons, do annual planning, dependencies are the most significant determining factor to the success of their plans and the biggest afterthought. The tendency I see is for teams to plan their work as…
Flow Focused 