Event: Agile2008, August 2008
Location: Toronto, Canada
Presenters: Giora Morein and George Schlitz

George Schlitz and I presented at the recent Agile2008 conference in Toronto on how to leverage Ambassador Models to enable highly effective distributed teams.

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Event: Microsoft Effective Agile Open House
Location: Herziliya, Israel
Presenter: Giora Morein

I would like to thank all who participated in the Microsoft Effective Agile Open House event today in Herziliya in Israel. Here are the presentations.

Agile Kickstart (pdf)

Effective Distributed Agile Teams (pdf)

My experience is predominantly within large, Fortune-class companies.  It is possible that many of my observations apply on to organizations that have grown to tens of thousands of people over many, many years.  I do not know if many of the same ailments apply to smaller companies – although with the exception of the odd start-up, I suspect that the same commitment-issues plague us all.  more »

I know that I might take some heat here, but I’m tired of hearing how Agile is just a mindset, a way of thinking: a collection of principles that should govern how we go about our business. That’s just not good enough. Not for me! Don’t get me wrong – I am a firm believer that to reap the success and benefits from the Agile process, individuals need to embrace these principles. However, embracing the Agile principles alone does not an Agile project make – nor should it imply some type of road to success. These principles need to be embraced hand-in-hand with the Agile practices. more »

I have heard many coaches provide various descriptions and metaphors in answering the question: “What is the Role of the Agile Coach?”. Shepard. Guide. Facilitator. Expediter. Sounding-board. Change-agent. Illuminator?  Mostly I tend to agree with how coaches view themselves and their role. Sometimes, however, I hear things that trouble me. One view that has grown in popularity — but one I simply cannot get behind — is the notion that the role of the coach is to “…help organizations discover new questions to ask”. So is the role of the Agile Coach truly to help identify questions?

Sorry — I’m just not buying it. more »

I am a huge fan of self-organizing, self-aggregating, self-directing teams. Huge! I have been witness to how much more productive and effective these teams are over traditional command-and-control teams subject to autocratic management styles. The self-organizing teams also foster an environment of elevated trust, shared responsibility and accountability. Gone are the days of internal finger-pointing or blame shirking. Without a doubt – these teams are better.

But on a few different teams I have worked with, I noticed some interesting things happen which I can only attribute to human-nature. more »

Time Wasted Managing Contract Changes
Technology projects are dynamic. Change is inevitable. Change comes as a result of many factors: shifting priorities, changing opinions, new learnings, volatile markets, shrewd competitors, emerging technologies – just to name a few. So how are changes dealt with on Fixed-Fee, Fixed Scope (FFFS) contracts? Enter the super-charged change-control process. more »