Did you know that there was once a project manager that successfully delivered a project on time, on budget, and according to specification? Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard the story – it turned out quite embarrasing in the end, so it might have been covered up a little bit. Here’s what happened. After […]
Author Archives: Tobias Fors
Prioritizing Effectively as a Team
My new article “Prioritizing Effectively as a Team” is up on AgileConnection.com. The article starts out like this: “A common reaction to the product owner role is to see it as too big for a single person. If the idea were that one person should do everything from guiding the vision to writing user stories, I […]
The Birth, Death, and Rebirth of Ideas
Watching the waxing and waning of software development methodologies made me think about the lifecycle of ideas. Throughout the ages, humans have come up with ideas. Some ideas never become more than a thought. Others spread globally, affecting people for a long time. The life of ideas seems to be an eternal cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.
Managing as Helping
Are you a manager, or maybe an informal leader with implicit influence and responsibility? Have you considered how you think about your role? Have you considered thinking about yourself as a helper? If you’re reading this, chances are you’re working in a knowledge-based organization: an enterprise that builds its success on being able to convert human […]
The Worst Daily Scrum Ever
I once observed what was probably the worst daily scrum ever. Just when I thought it was over, something interesting happened.
What Is an Advanced Scrum Master?
Being a scrum master is more than just reminding a team to perform certain ceremonies, it’s about growing the best possible workplace. To begin with, let’s clarify this whole thing about the “scrum master”. It’s the name of a role. It’s a relatively new and pretty ridiculous name by intent, because a change was needed […]
Broken Software
I sometimes hear the agile manifesto being criticized for focusing on “just working software”. It’s said that working software is not enough, that we need to reach further. I agree that we need change, but not in the wording. If your definition of working software is “if it compiles, ship it”, then the manifesto’s words […]
Check-in in a Circle
When I kick off a class or workshop, I want participants to engage as soon as possible after entering the room. I do work through some practical bits first, but after that I quickly hand things over to participants. For a long time, I’ve been using an opening exercise I learned from Ken Schwaber. In […]
The Freedom to Solve Problems
Isn’t it really sad that employees in some companies aren’t allowed to solve the customers’ problems? In Sweden, the major telecom operators are notorious in this regard, in my personal experience. What is it like in your company? Is everyone allowed to and capable of really helping your customers? “In addition to encouraging creativity, bossless […]
There’s Always One [Drop|Comment|Question] Left
My childhood friend’s mother was a “dagmamma”, literally, a “daytime mother”. In other words, she took care of a bunch of other people’s kids in her own home. She was a very kind and intelligent person. One of the things she said has stuck with me to this very day. “There’s always one drop left.” […]