The Daily Standup

Project World | Business Analyst World - Day 3-4 ReviewDay 3 - Agile Fundamentals - One of the most common points of Agile adoption failure comes with the incremental on-boarding of Agile teams throughout an organization while not having everyone starting with the same foundational Agile knowledge. This workshop session is designed to help everyone on the team learn the fundamental principles behind what makes Agile work, and allows them to participate in several real world exercises. This structure allows everyone on the team to learn the ‘Why’ behind the ‘How’, and gives everyone a chance to leave with the tools needed to effectively do their job better. This session is designed for both new Agile / Kanban teams learning the ropes and experienced Agile teams who are trying to re-align or get started on the same Agile footing while establishing an internal Agile Center of Excellence. This workshop is often coupled with Agile Coaching in order to increase the effectiveness and impact. The Three Keys - Seeking & Embracing Success: Success can be defined by each of us in many different ways. The truth is there are three keys to a successful personal and professional career. Once we discover these keys and learn to use them, we are gifted the ability of a lifetime of success. This personal journey will teach you the importance of making dreams come true and give you the tools to make that happen.Day 4 - C-Suite Engagement - Too many transformation efforts stall not because the work is hard, but because the right people weren’t invited to the table — or they were, and nobody spoke their language. This session gives leaders a pragmatic, no-fluff playbook for turning executives from passive approvers into active sponsors. We’ll strip away the jargon and replace it with three things executives actually pay attention to: clear outcomes, short bets, and repeatable governance. Expect real templates (one-page decision memos, sponsor cadence scripts), live translation exercises to turn team metrics into executive value, and role-play scenarios you can use the moment you return to the office. If you want predictable, funded change — not theater — this workshop will help you get it. Attendees will leave with: • A one-page executive brief template that gets decisions — fast. • A sponsor-activation cadence that prevents “ghost sponsorship.” • Three scripts to convert technical/operational language into strategic outcomes.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/

Project World | Business Analyst World - Day 2 ReviewBeyond Delivery - Project success is too often measured at delivery. On time, on scope, on budget, yet real value is frequently lost after the work is “done.” In today’s evolving project and product environments, leaders are being asked to think beyond execution and focus on outcomes, adoption, and lasting impact. This session reframes project leadership through four enduring phases of successful work: Initiate (clarity and alignment), Discover (learning and risk reduction), Deliver (execution with feedback), and Release (adoption and value realization). While often associated with Agile thinking, these phases represent leadership behaviors that have always driven meaningful results when practiced well. Participants will explore how to manage stakeholder perceptions of value, make better decisions across the lifecycle, and ensure success is defined by outcomes, not just outputs. The session also introduces practical ways AI can support insight and decision-making, allowing leaders to focus more on judgment, communication, and impact. Key Takeaways Differentiate delivery success from value realization and explain why projects often fail after go-live. Apply the four phases (Initiate, Discovery, Delivery, Release) as a leadership lens across any delivery approach. Manage stakeholder perceptions of value throughout the lifecycle, not just at project close. Identify where value is commonly lost and take corrective action earlier. Use AI responsibly as a decision-support tool to improve insight, reduce risk, and strengthen outcomes.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/

Project World | Business Analyst World - Day 1 ReviewDay 1 was ABSOLUTELY amazing! The conference in Toronto proved not to disappoint. I did my session on day 1 about Shake your BA! Today, Tuesday, I am going to present my WAgile presentation! This is the BEST conference ever! 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/

Shake Your BA... The Importance of Understanding the POBAFATADay 1 of the PMBA Toronto Conference! I am certain it will be AMAZING! What does a BA do and why are they the most important part of the POBAFATA. 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 Change Management Is Today’s Leadership“No, I don’t want it.”Too bad, because the next change is on the way.And you know, it won’t wait for you. You need to wake up and take action. Arg. Grrr. You can play a pirate, but there is no way to avoid it.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 Pressure Backfires Faster Than Leaders Think - Mike CohnIf your team keeps overcommitting, the answer is probably not more pressure.It may be less.Most teams do not need help being optimistic. They already want to believe they can get more done. They want to be helpful. They want to be seen as capable. They want to say yes.So when a leader adds pressure, even subtly, it rarely creates a better plan.It creates a less honest one.And pressure is not always loud. Sometimes it sounds like urgency. Sometimes it sounds like enthusiasm. Sometimes it sounds like, “This would really help us hit our goals this quarter.”But teams hear the message underneath the message: We really want this to fit.Once they hear that, many teams do what people do under pressure. They lean toward the optimistic case. They discount risk. They stop saying the uncomfortable part out loud.That does not make the work smaller. It just makes the plan weaker.Your job during planning is not to squeeze confidence out of the team. Your job is to create the conditions for truth. That means asking questions like: What assumptions are we making?What could derail this?What feels least certain right now?What would have to go unusually well for this to work?Those questions do not slow planning down. They improve it.Because pressure does not eliminate uncertainty. It drives uncertainty underground. And once that happens, overcommitment is usually just a matter of time.If you want more realistic commitments, do not start by pushing harder.Start by making it safer to tell the truth.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/

Earth Day 2026 - The Boy and the SnakesIn 1979, after a massive flood hit the region of Assam, a 16-year-old Jadav was walking along the banks of the Brahmaputra River. He came across a sight that broke his heart: hundreds of snakes had been washed up onto a barren, treeless sandbar. With no shade to protect them and no forest to hide in, the snakes had died from the blistering heat.Jadav sat down and wept over their bodies. He realized that without trees, all living things—including humans—would eventually suffer the same fate.When he asked the local elders for help, they told him nothing would grow on that sandy wasteland, but they gave him twenty bamboo saplings to try. Jadav went to that desolate island and planted them.Then, he stayed.For the next 40 years, Jadav Payeng planted a tree every single day. He lived a simple life as a milk seller, but his true soul was poured into that sandbar. He carried seeds, transported red ants to improve the soil quality, and buckled down against the harsh river winds. He didn't do it for fame, money, or even a "thank you." He did it because he had made a promise to the earth.Decades passed before the world even noticed he existed. In 2008, forest officials were stunned to discover a dense, thriving forest where maps showed only a barren wasteland.Today, the Molai Forest spans over 1,300 acres—an area larger than New York’s Central Park. What started as a few bamboo shoots is now a lush sanctuary filled with:Thousands of species of trees.A herd of over 100 elephants that visits regularly.Bengal tigers, rhinos, and deer.Vibrant birdlife that had long since vanished from the region.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/

I Was Asked to Fire One-Third of the Company, Here’s What That Taught Me About Leadership and CoachingI still remember the silence in the room.My CEO had just finished speaking. The words were simple, almost clinical: “We need to reduce headcount by one-third.”No drama. No hesitation. Just a decision.And suddenly, I wasn’t just the Head of HR anymore.I was the person who would carry out one of the most painful transformations a company can go through.That day, I realized something uncomfortable:Being in HR doesn’t protect you from hard decisions.It puts you at the center of them.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/

The real reasons top performers quit, and what managers can do about itYou hired the best people on your team. They deliver results, take initiative, and raise the bar for everyone around them. And then, one day, they hand in their resignation.You run through the usual explanations — better pay, a bigger title, a competitor’s offer. But if you look more carefully, the answer is often closer to home.Most top performers don’t leave their jobs. They leave their managers.It’s hard to hear, but it’s the most important insight you can get. Because once you understand why your best people leave, you can fix what’s pushing them away and create a workplace they genuinely want to stay in.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/

Autistic Bowler Achieves Dream With His First Perfect 300 Game And Joins the PBA as a ProOn March 25, an autistic bowler who recently entered the Professional Bowlers Association achieved something he’s been dreaming about for years—his first-ever 300 game.For most casual bowlers, a sanctioned perfect game is rare. For Matt Sipes, it represented so much more than just 12 strikes. It was the result of years of dedication, focus, and determination, and although there have been challenges along the way, he never gave up on his goal.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/

The “Agile” Team That Was Actually Just Doing Waterfall in SprintsEvery two weeks, they ran a sprint review. The stakeholders attended. The demos were polished. The velocity charts trended in the right direction. And nothing significant ever changed based on what anyone said in that room.That’s not agile. That’s theater with a two-week rhythm.I’ve coached enough product teams to know that the mimicry of processes is one of the most expensive habits in software development. It looks like agility from the outside. It absorbs all the cost — the ceremonies, the tooling, the vocabulary; but delivers almost none of the benefit. Teams often know this, but feel powerless to speak up because the ceremonies themselves have become the “proof” of professionalism.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 Estimating and Planning Still Matter - Mike CohnOver the years, I’ve talked with a lot of teams who’ve been burned by estimating and planning.They’ve seen estimates treated as promises.Plans turned into contracts.Teams punished for being wrong rather than rewarded for learning.Given experiences like those, it’s understandable that many teams conclude the solution is to eliminate estimating and planning altogether.I think that’s a mistake.Estimating and planning still matter—not because the future is predictable, but because it isn’t. Teams and organizations still have to make decisions about what to work on, what to delay, and what risks they’re willing to accept. Those decisions don’t disappear just because we stop estimating.Any time we choose one piece of work over another, we’re estimating. The real choice isn’t whether to estimate, but whether those estimates are explicit or implicit. In my experience, explicit estimates create transparency. Implicit estimates just hide the guessing.One of the biggest problems with estimating is the belief that estimates exist to be accurate. A better question is whether an estimate is good enough to support the decision being made. When teams make that shift, estimating becomes far less stressful—and far more useful.The same is true of planning. Planning doesn’t reduce adaptability. Over-commitment does. Good planning aligns assumptions and intent so teams can adjust quickly when things change.I often hear people say, “Estimates are always wrong.” Being wrong isn’t the real problem. Estimates are hypotheses, and reality supplies the data. The real failure is treating estimates as promises and punishing teams when reality turns out to be more complex than expected.Before estimating or planning, I encourage teams to pause and ask three questions: What decision does this support?What happens if we’re wrong?Who will use this information—and how?If those questions don’t have clear answers, the problem usually isn’t how the team is estimating.It’s why.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/

The Sprint That Never DeliveredThree sprints in a row. Less than half of what the team committed — delivered.As a Scrum Master, that’s the kind of pattern that keeps you up at night. Not because of the numbers themselves, but because of what comes next: the questions from management, the looks in the retrospective, the slow erosion of the team’s belief in themselves.This was Team A. And they were trying. That much was clear.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/

Sprint After Sprint After Sprint… When Did This Stop Feeling Like Progress?Here’s a question I want you to sit with for a moment. When you picture a high-performing Agile team — what do you see?Fast delivery?Clean boards?Strong velocity?Stakeholders who are happy and aligned?Now let me ask you a harder question. In that picture — how does the team feel?Because I’ve been in organizations that had all the first things. And absolutely none of the second.And I will tell you from experience: that is not high performance.That is a machine consuming the people inside it.And machines don’t have retrospectives when they break down.They just — stop.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/

7 Mindsets of High Performers That Will Change How You WorkAfter years of working closely with teams, leaders, and organizations, one pattern becomes impossible to ignore. High performers aren’t just more talented, luckier, or even working harder than everyone else.They think, approach growth, and respond to pressure differently. And over time, those differences compound into extraordinary results.Mindset is the invisible architecture behind every decision, habit, and result. It shapes how people approach challenges, learn from mistakes, and keep moving forward when things get difficult.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/

The Unglamorous Truth About Building Trust I spent my first few months as a Scrum Master chasing the wrong thing. I thought trust was something you earned with one big moment. Deliver a miracle sprint. Shield the team from an impossible deadline. Stand up to that one difficult stakeholder in a meeting. I was waiting for my chance to be heroic.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/

Not Every Backlog Item Needs Detail - Mike CohnHere’s something I’ve noticed over the years:Many teams think backlog refinement means making the entire product backlog detailed and “ready.”That’s not how a healthy backlog works.A well-managed product backlog should have a gradient of clarity.Items near the top of the backlog—the ones you’re likely to work on soon—should be clear and reasonably detailed. They should have acceptance criteria, clarified assumptions, and enough shared understanding that the team can confidently bring them into a sprint.But items further down the backlog should be less detailed.They might be nothing more than a sentence or two.It’s not wrong to leave lower backlog items vague. It’s the right and agile thing to do.For example, imagine you’re building a travel booking website. Early on, you might have detailed backlog items about booking airfare and booking hotels. Those are core features, so they deserve detail.But you might also have an item about booking cabins on a cruise ship. If cruises aren’t central to your product, that item can stay vague for a long time. It doesn’t need to be “Sprint Planning ready” six months before anyone will work on it.If you fully refine backlog items far in advance, you’re doing a lot of work on items that will change, move, or disappear.So rather than trying to keep the whole backlog “ready,” focus your refinement effort where it matters most:At the top.Refinement should make sprint planning easier.That happens when the next sprint or two is well understood—not when the product backlog is documented 50 items deep.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/

Has Scrum Peaked Too Soon?I rarely write about Scrum anymore. Not because I suddenly dislike it, but because my work has gradually moved in a different direction.Still, I sometimes wonder whether Scrum peaked too soon. During the 20 years I worked as a Certified Scrum Trainer at Scrum Alliance, I delivered dozens of training sessions. One thing always stood out to me…The case studies used to explain the urgency of Scrum were often quite old. Think of the Kodak story. A company that missed the shift to digital photography.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/

One of the Impacts of Easter in Our LivesEaster is a particular time we set as a celebration of our God of the gospel—Christ dying on the cross for the payment of our sins, God accepting Jesus’ payment by raising Him from the dead, and the Holy Spirit’s transformative work in our lives for righteousness. One of the beautiful impacts of Easter on my life took form as I reflected on a particular incident.   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/

The Meaning and Significance of Good FridayWhy Good Friday is the Holiest Day of the YearGood Friday stands at the heart of the Christian faith. It is the day when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered and died on the cross for the salvation of humanity. While the name “Good Friday” may seem paradoxical—given that it commemorates Christ’s suffering and death—it is “good” because His sacrifice opened the gates of heaven and restored our relationship with God.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/

Which Leadership Pattern Shows Up Under Pressure? - Mike CohnEvery year around April 1st, we like to have a little fun.But as with most good humor, there’s usually a grain of truth underneath it.After working with thousands of teams and leaders over the years, one thing has become very clear: agile rarely succeeds or fails because of a framework. It succeeds or fails because of leadership behavior under pressure.When deadlines tighten…. When scope grows…. When velocity dips…. When stakeholders ask uncomfortable questions…Patterns emerge.Some leaders protect the outcome.Some protect the date.Some protect the process.Some protect momentum.None of these are “good” or “bad.” They’re instincts. And under enough pressure, we all fall back on instinct.So this year’s April Fools exercise is a simple (and only slightly unscientific) question:Which leadership archetype shows up most often?Answer it about yourself. Or answer it about someone you work with.Just choose the responses that feel uncomfortably familiar.The results are 100% accurate. Approximately.It’s easy to laugh at archetypes.It’s harder to recognize that under pressure, most of us drift toward one.Agile frameworks don’t fail because teams forget a ceremony. They struggle when leadership instincts unintentionally override the conditions that make empiricism work: transparency, adaptation, and trust.The good news? Leadership patterns aren’t fixed traits. They’re habits. And habits can change.If this exercise felt a little too accurate, that’s not a problem. It’s an opportunity.Because small shifts in how leaders respond — to scope, to deadlines, to uncertainty — can have an outsized impact on how teams perform.That’s the part that isn’t a joke.If you’re curious what those shifts look like in practice, we’ve spent the last two decades helping leaders explore exactly that.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/

The AI TPM LandscapeIf you search for "AI Technical Program Manager career advice," you'll find two things: job postings and generic reassurance that "your skills transfer." What you won't find is anyone mapping the actual landscape showing which companies expect what, and where your existing experience actually gets you.I've spent the last three years at a cybersecurity company during its AI transformation, watching how AI products actually ship. I've analyzed job descriptions across dozens of companies spanning three tiers (Frontier AI, AI-Applied-to-Business, and AI-Powered Applications).AI TPM roles vary more than the job titles suggest. Some require deep fluency in model development. Others require working knowledge of how to ship AI-powered products without building the models yourself.This distinction matters because it defines the depth of your technical pivot. It determines whether you need to master the 'physics' of model development, the 'orchestration' of AI-powered systems, or the strategic integration of AI into existing workflows. 

Scrum Is Dead - Here Is What Killed It!My dear friend Katharine reached out to me and asked me to review and reply to this LinkedIn post. NOW I perfectly understand why! Great job bringing this to my attention. 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/

That's What Friends Are ForWhat does true friendship look like? Join us for this Friday episode to learn what exactly stands behind true friendship. 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/

Predictability Is My North StarVelocity said “healthy.”The system said “unhealthy.”I chose to trust the system.For six straight Sprints, the velocity chart looked great. Every Sprint, the team hit the number. Every review, the dashboard showed green.And yet… the last couple of Sprints felt bad.Work thrashed. Priorities shifted. Unplanned items kept sneaking in. The team was exhausted, and I needed a way to explain why the system felt chaotic when the metric insisted everything was fine.That was the moment I realized velocity wasn’t telling me the truth. I needed a better way to understand what was happening. I needed a way to see what went wrong and account for the change.That’s when Predictability Became My North Star.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/

Corporate, Business or Functional Strategy? The differences between Corporate Strategy, Business Strategy, and Functional Strategy lie primarily in their scope, time horizon, and focus. These three levels form a hierarchy that ensures all parts of a diversified organization are aligned, moving from the broad, long-term vision down to specific, day-to-day actions.The structure of these strategies is often visualized as a pyramid, with the Corporate Strategy at the top providing the overall direction, the Business Strategy in the middle defining how to compete in specific markets, and the Functional Strategy at the bottom detailing execution within departments.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, When, and How Do We Clean a BacklogTeams working in an agile way commonly use a backlog. However, teams often find that managing a backlog becomes more complex than expected once it begins to fill up.We can agree on the importance of managing the backlog. When used properly, the backlog should be the core repository for requirements (with product backlog items referencing other artefacts as needed). Yet, it may contain needs and requests from various stakeholders, each with a very different perspective. If it transforms — paraphrasing Allan Kelly, in “Moving Away from Backlog Driven Development: A New Chapter in Agility?” — into a bottomless pit, we will lose sight of what is important.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/

How Are You Today? I'm Fine, Thanks...Have you ever asked someone, how are you today? Did you really care when you asked? How do you truly handle acting with kindness? 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/

The Five Dimensions of Real Scrum MasteryThe Courage to Have Uncomfortable ConversationsThe Art of Knowing When to Step In (And When to Step Back)Creating a Space Where People Feel Safe to Be HumanTeaching Teams to Fish (Instead of Giving Them Fish)Being the Change You Want to SeeHow 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/

Is Sprint Planning Quietly Hurting Teamwork? - Mike CohnI hated group projects when I was in school. I didn’t want to rely on others for success. I wanted to be accountable for what I’d personally done.Teams that are new to agile often feel the same way.A developer will gladly take responsibility for their own code. But tell that same developer they’re also responsible for someone else’s code and you’ll often get a confused look.And yet shared team accountability is one of the biggest predictors of whether an agile transition succeeds. High-performing agile teams understand: we succeed or fail together.Until that shared accountability exists, people experience their “commitment” as individual. I have my tasks, you have yours. That mindset leads to predictable behaviors: People stick to the parts of the product they already know.They avoid work outside their primary skill or role.They optimize for being “done with my work,” not for finishing as a team.So how do you help a team move from personal accountability to team accountability? Team accountability doesn’t exist without personal accountability. If someone doesn’t feel responsible for completing work that is clearly theirs, they won’t feel responsible for the work of others.A practical place to reinforce this is the Daily Scrum. Listen for whether people clearly state what they finished since yesterday—and whether they did what they said they would. If not, help the team talk about why, and what they’ll change today. Sprint Planning is your next best lever. Near the end of planning, ask a simple question:“Can we, as a team, meet the Sprint Goal and deliver these items?”Emphasize that the sprint backlog represents a team commitment. If one person is overloaded, we don't wish them good luck, we offer to help.That means  team members should speak up when someone is taking on too much, and then discuss how to lighten the load—by shifting work, pairing, swarming, or reducing scope.Team accountability will always be bounded by skills. A programmer won’t suddenly do award-winning design work. But they might research image options, draft alt text, or assemble reference examples—small contributions that protect the bottleneck and help the team finish together.One of the most practical ways to build shared accountability is to broaden skills across the team.Look for opportunities for pairing, mobbing, or short “teach me” sessions where teammates transfer knowledge as they work. Then protect time for it. People will (rightfully) resent being told to broaden skills if they’re expected to do it on nights and weekends. If you want team accountability, stop allocating tasks during sprint planning.Instead of pre-assigning everything, leave tasks unassigned and have team members pull work from the sprint backlog day by day. This keeps work flowing, increases collaboration, and makes it easier for people to help where help is needed.Personal accountability matters. But to succeed with agile, teams have to move beyond “my tasks” and toward “our outcome.”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/

The Lucky Green StringEvery year, St. Patrick’s Day turned the open floor into a sea of plastic shamrocks and forced cheer. There was a potluck, a “wear green or get pinched” joke that refused to die, and the inevitable moment when someone would nudge him and say, “C’mon, you’re Irish, right? Say something in Gaelic!” He wasn’t. His last name just sounded like it could be on a pub sign. By the time March rolled around this year, Liam had already decided: he would keep his head down, get his work done, and wait for the decorations to come down.On the morning of March 17, he arrived early to avoid the crowd. The office was quiet except for the hum of the lights. He dropped his bag at his desk and noticed a new bulletin board by the break room. Across the top, in crooked green letters, someone had pinned: “WHAT LUCK MEANS TO ME.” Underneath was a basket filled with small pieces of green string, each tied to a safety pin. A handwritten note said, “Take a string, share a story, pin it when you’re ready.”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/

Is Agile Coaching a Waste of Money?Around the world, software organizations are desperately trying to improve how their teams build and deliver software. Companies will hire herds of “wise sage” coaches to bring them out of the Dark Ages but are often disappointed when nothing extraordinary happens. Despite pouring loads of money into coaching efforts, their applications still fail to perform, their customers are still not having their needs met, and it still takes forever to get an idea to become reality. This project is 50% over budget, that one has missed three delivery dates now, and nothing seems to be going as planned. While all this is going on, agile coaches are hard at work “making the world a better place.”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/

Celebrating PI Day! “I finally see where I belong” often starts quietly, almost by accident. A student wanders into a Pi Day event because there’s free pie, not because they think math has anything to do with them. They expect to feel like an outsider again—another room where the “real” math people will do the talking. But as they listen, they hear a guest speaker casually mention being the first in their family to go to college, or struggling with math in middle school, or switching careers into STEM later in life. The stories sound less like polished genius and more like persistence, doubt, and small, stubborn steps forward.As the activities unfold, the room feels different from a normal class. There’s laughter during a silly pi‑recitation contest, teams arguing over who measured a circle more accurately, someone proudly wearing a homemade π shirt. Instead of being tested, everyone is invited to play: to estimate, to experiment, to be wrong and then correct themselves. In that environment, the student stops seeing math as a gate guarded by a few brilliant people and starts seeing it as a language that anyone can pick up, slowly, with practice.What makes Pi Day powerful in this story isn’t the number itself; it’s the way the day reframes who “gets” to enjoy math. The student notices a teacher cheering loudest for the kid who improved their pi‑digits record from 7 to 15, not just for the one who recites 200. They hear peers admit, “I thought this was going to be boring, but this is actually kind of fun.” For someone who has spent years feeling like they’re on the outside of every math conversation, that small, shared enthusiasm signals something profound: you don’t have to be the best to belong here.By the end of the day, nothing magical has happened to their test scores. What has changed is the story they tell themselves. Instead of “I’m not a math person,” it becomes “I’m a person learning math, and people like me are welcome at the table.” That internal shift doesn’t show up on a Pi Day poster, but it quietly shapes their future choices—raising a hand one more time, signing up for the next course, or even mentoring someone else who feels out of place. In that moment, surrounded by digits of π and crumbs of pie, they finally see where they belong—and it’s in the circle, not outside it.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 I Switched to a Hybrid Approach and Tripled My Team’s Delivery RateAgile was supposed to be the answer. Stand-ups, sprints, retros, these rituals promised faster delivery, happier teams, and stakeholders who finally felt in sync with engineering. For a while, it worked. My team hit a rhythm, delivered features quickly, and felt engaged in the process.But over time, the cracks showed.Velocity slowed to a crawl. Stand-ups became theater. Engineers dreaded sprint planning. Stakeholders kept asking when features would actually be done. And remote work made it worse with Zoom fatigue, Slack overload, and endless context-switching draining the energy Agile was supposed to give us.At first, I blamed the team. Maybe we weren’t “doing Agile right.” So I doubled down on the rituals. More retros, stricter sprints, tighter velocity tracking. But the harder I pushed, the more Agile turned into bureaucracy.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/

AI Is Changing The Economics of Software Development - Mike Cohn

5 Ways High Performers Disrupt Team HarmonyHigh performers rarely disrupt teams on purpose. More often, disruption happens because they move faster than the systems, processes, or people around them. Their confidence, speed, and problem-solving ability can subtly change how work gets done and how others show up.The problem isn’t their performance. It’s their speed and capability that invisibly reshape team dynamics. Teammates begin working around them instead of with them. And gradually, they become the team’s single point of dependency, which is great for short-term results but not for the long term. When strong performance starts disrupting team harmony, knowing how to guide it in a way that maintains both results and collaboration.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/

Scrum The Toyota WayScrum is everywhere.Most Product Owners understand the framework well. We manage backlogs, prioritize items, attend ceremonies, and track progress sprint after sprint.And still, many products struggle.Value takes too long to reach customers. Teams deliver features that are rarely used. Defects appear late. Dependencies and waiting time quietly erode delivery speed.This is not because Scrum is broken.It’s because Scrum alone does not address flow and waste deeply enough. That’s where Scrum the Toyota Way (STW) fundamentally changes how Product Ownership works.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/

A Single Act of Kindness..You know those days when you feel like you’re barely holding it together, but you still smile at the cashier, still help the person in front of you, still try to be kind—while secretly wondering if anyone even sees how hard you’re trying?This is a story about a mom like that…And a stranger who decided her quiet kindness was worth changing her life for.It’s an ordinary afternoon in San Diego.Fluorescent grocery store lights, kids negotiating for snacks, carts squeaking down the aisles. It’s the kind of place where everyone is close together, but no one really feels seen.In the middle of it all is Janae, a mom of four.You can picture her: one kid in the cart, another hanging onto the side, two more orbiting like moons—bumping into displays, asking a million questions, reminding her every thirty seconds that they’re hungry, tired, or both.What nobody in that store knows is that money has been tight.Tight enough that every item in her cart has already been mentally weighed against a bill waiting at home. Tight enough that she’s done the math three times and is still a little nervous about what the total might be.But she’s doing what moms do: pushing forward, getting it done, making it look manageable on the outside.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/

7 Strategies to Motivate and Retain EmployeesEmployee motivation and retention remain two of the most critical pillars of organizational success, yet they are among the hardest ones to sustain. Competitive salaries and benefits might open the door to top talent, but they’re no longer enough to keep people inspired and motivated.As workplaces evolve rapidly, employees want more than just a paycheck. They want purpose, recognition, and a sense of belonging. They look for growth opportunities, flexibility, and a culture that values their contributions.If you’ve noticed signs of disengagement or fear losing your top performers, it’s time to act — not with grand gestures, but with thoughtful, consistent actions that make people feel seen, supported, and inspired.Below are seven practical and powerful strategies to motivate your employees and build a loyal, high-performing workforce.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/

The Most Underrated Advantage of Short Sprints - Mike CohnA recent Gallup survey found that 80% of employees who received meaningful feedback in the past week are engaged at work.For comparison, Gallup’s overall engagement numbers are often around 30%.That’s a striking gap.It suggests something many leaders overlook: performance may depend less on changing team structure and more on improving feedback inside the structure you already have.When results lag, organizations often reach for the org chart. They reorganize teams, redraw reporting lines, or debate how many teams a coach or Scrum Master should work with.Sometimes those changes help. But they rarely go far if feedback is infrequent, unclear, or missing altogether.Feedback isn’t just a management technique. It’s a strategic advantage.And agile teams have been building that advantage into the way they work for years. When people talk about one- or two-week sprints, they usually focus on speed. “We need to move faster.”“We need more output.”“We need shorter release cycles.”But speed isn’t the real advantage of short sprints.The advantage is shortening the time between action and learning.A sprint isn’t a delivery cycle. It’s a feedback cycle.Each sprint gives a team a natural point to stop and ask: Did we build the right thing?Did we misunderstand the need?Are we still aligned with stakeholders?Are we learning what we hoped to learn?The shorter the sprint, the shorter the gap between assumption and validation.That’s not about velocity. That’s about reducing risk. Early Scrum teams often worked like this:Sprint, sprint, sprint… then release.That pattern made sense at the time in the 1990s and early 2000s. It was a huge improvement over what had come before. But it meant some feedback arrived in a big, delayed batch after the release.Over time, many teams evolved to:Sprint, release, sprint, release.And today, many modern teams have gone further still. They release whenever it makes sense—sometimes multiple times per sprint, sometimes many times per day.In other words, modern agile teams have largely decoupled sprints from releases.So if sprints aren’t primarily about shipping anymore, what are they for?Sprints provide a reliable cadence for feedback and alignment—even when delivery happens continuously. Many organizations treat the Sprint Review as a demo.It’s not.It’s where reality gets a vote.The Sprint Review is where the team inspects what was built with the people who care about it, and adjusts course based on what they learn.When that meeting becomes optional, rushed, or performative, you don’t just lose a ceremony. You lose your learning loop. And you start optimizing for finishing work instead of finishing the right work.If weekly feedback really is one of the biggest drivers of engagement and performance—as Gallup’s numbers suggest—then the Sprint Review isn’t overhead. It’s how you reduce rework, prevent expensive surprises, and stay aligned with what actually matters. Of course, simply running one-week sprints doesn’t guarantee meaningful feedback.Stakeholders can skip reviews.Teams can ignore input.The conversation can stay superficial.Short cycles create the opportunity for feedback. Leaders decide whether to use it.That’s where the advantage lives.If you’re running one- or two-week sprints, ask yourself:Are we using sprints as delivery deadlines—or as learning deadlines?Because the real power of agile isn’t producing more every two weeks.It’s learning more every two weeks.And that’s a competitive advantage that will help you succeed with agile,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/

Agile Anti-Patterns That Are Impacting Your VelocityVelocity is not vanity. It is feedback. When velocity stops reflecting reality, the team loses the ability to learn and improve. Velocity that lies is worse than no velocity at all. The goal here is clarity, speed, and humane work rhythms.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/

Sprint Goals DON'T Work - Or Do They? Sprint Goals sound beautifully simple.Set a goal for the team, organize the work around it, track progress daily, and finish with success.Sounds easy enough. And that’s exactly why it’s so hard.Behind this deceptively simple concept hides one of the most difficult ideas in Agile. As the Scrum Guide says:“Scrum is lightweight, simple to understand, difficult to master.”Sprint Goals are the perfect example of that. Even when you think you’re doing them right, you’re probably not.On the surface, Sprint Goals add a lot of value. And therefore, make a lot of sense. But do you really need them?What if I told you, there is a better way?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/

The Moment Everything Changed - A Shoutout To HumanityIn late 2025, what began as an ordinary beach day at Bondi became a living, breathing argument for why humanity is still worth believing in.​Bondi Beach was crowded—families, tourists, locals all spread along the sand, kids playing at the shoreline while surfers watched the swells further out. The ocean looked deceptively calm, but beneath the surface a strong rip current had formed, one of those invisible rivers that can drag even strong swimmers out in seconds.​A few swimmers drifted farther than they meant to.Then, almost in unison, their body language shifted—arms flailing, heads dipping under, that unmistakable look of panic when people realize they’re not just tired, they’re in real trouble. Shouts carried over the sound of the waves: people on the sand pointing, yelling for help, some frozen, some fumbling for their phones.​In that chaos, one person didn’t hesitate.Ahmed Al‑Ahmed, an ordinary beachgoer that day, saw the struggle and stripped off what he needed to, sprinting straight into the water. He had no rescue board, no flotation device, no backup—just a gut‑deep conviction that he couldn’t stand there watching while people disappeared under the water.​He fought his way through the surf toward the nearest struggling swimmer, timing his breaths between waves, pushing past the shock of cold, the drag of the current, the sting of salt in his eyes. When he reached the first person—a stranger, gasping, eyes wide with terror—he wrapped an arm around them and kicked hard, angling diagonally to escape the rip, dragging them inch by inch back toward safety.​On the shore, lifeguards were already launching into action, but the current was pulling more than one person out. Most people would have gotten that first swimmer in and collapsed. Ahmed did something else.​He turned around and went back.Witnesses later described watching him make multiple trips into the danger zone, each time more exhausted than the last, each time choosing to go anyway. He helped pull more swimmers—some barely conscious, some crying, some shaking with shock—back toward the reach of lifeguards and other helpers who were now in the water too.​Every time he came in, the safe choice was to stop.He could have told himself: “I’ve done enough. Someone else will get the rest.”Instead, he treated “enough” as if it didn’t apply when lives were on the line.By the time the rip had released its grip and everyone was accounted for, multiple people were alive who almost certainly would not have survived those minutes without someone intervening that fast and that decisively. Lifeguards later said the rapid response from Ahmed and others bought them those critical breaths, those extra seconds, that made the difference between rescue and recovery.​When it was finally over, Ahmed staggered out of the water, shaking from exertion and adrenaline, and collapsed on the sand. Around him, families were sobbing—parents holding their children like they might never let go again, friends clinging to each other, people staring out at the waves in stunned silence.​Then a different kind of wave began.Beachgoers started approaching him—not with cameras first, but with tears, hugs, and gratitude that words couldn’t quite contain. Some of the very people he had helped pull from the water wrapped their arms around him, drenched and trembling, saying “thank you” over and over as if repetition might somehow be enough.​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 managers there at all? - The Agile MindsetJust recently my colleague and friend Zoran Vujkov has drawn my attention to the following clip discussing trends in adoption of agile in large companies. I recommend the clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgBhZIjgTw4&feature=youtu.be) for watching if you already haven’t.Among a lot of information about the speed of agile adoption and critical factors for it, one thing caught my eye — importance of executive sponsorship.No doubt, this is a very important factor. However, it might be misinterpreted and misused by managers. One of the crucial roles of management in Agile organization is to remove obstacles or impediments that are preventing their teams from being efficient in their work.While this seems obvious, it does happen that managers start being involved into operational things, tactical decisions, even trying to influence, or limit product owners’ roles by making operational decisions and leading the product.This is potentially very dangerous situation as this sort of behavior can be concealed behind the veil of good intentions which sometimes it undoubtedly is (you know the one about the road to ruin being paved by good intentions). Urged by desire to show to the teams that they are committed to agile way of work, managers become a burden and an obstacle.I’m not gonna go into the role of management in agile setup, there’s a good article here on the topic.Here, I would like to remind managers that their role is not to control, direct, create tasks or organize their teams’ daily work. Their main role in agile way of work is to help team develop, create proper environment for the team, set strategic guidelines, believe in their teams and give them freedom to organize their work in the best way they need, know and can.Only with such a help, teams (and with them the whole organization) can be agile.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/

What Curling Can Teach Us About Agile - Mike CohnWith the Olympics underway, I’ve been watching a few events I don’t normally pay much attention to—like curling.At first glance, curling looks almost comically simple. Someone slides a stone down the ice. A couple of teammates run alongside it frantically sweeping the ice with brooms. The stone glides… and somehow ends up exactly where they want it.But the more you watch, the more you realize curling isn’t about making a perfect throw.It’s about making adjustments after the throw.And that’s what makes it a great analogy for agile.For a long time, traditional software development treated projects as if teams only had one chance to get everything right. The goal was to write the requirements document, create the design, then implement everything exactly according to plan. If you did enough planning up front, the thinking went, you could get it right the first time.The problem is that software development rarely works that way.Even if you have smart people and a solid plan, you’re still operating on uncertain “ice.” Customers don’t always know what they need until they see it. Stakeholders often describe what they want in ways that are incomplete, or ambiguous, or shaped by assumptions that turn out to be wrong. And developers—no matter how experienced—can misunderstand what they hear.That’s not incompetence. That’s just reality. Communication has friction. Uncertainty is built in.In curling, the team knows that too. They can’t control the ice. They can’t assume the stone will behave exactly the same way every time. Conditions vary. The surface isn’t perfectly predictable. If the players just stood there and watched the stone slide, hoping it ends up in the bullseye, they’d lose most of their matches.So instead, they sweep.Sweeping doesn’t completely change the outcome. It doesn’t teleport the stone to the target. But it nudges the stone’s speed and direction. It helps the team adjust to what’s happening in real time.That’s what agile does for software development.The plan is like the initial throw. It matters. You need to aim. Once the stone is moving, you don’t get to stop everything and start over—you can only respond. But agile recognizes that aiming once isn’t enough.The best teams don’t aim once—they keep aiming.They build something small, show it, listen, learn, and adjust. They use feedback to steer the product toward what users truly need—not just what they said they needed, but what they meant. The known needs and the unstated ones.In other words, agile isn’t about getting everything right up front.It’s about staying close enough to reality to make course corrections while they’re still cheap.One of the biggest mindset shifts agile asks of us is to stop treating change as failure. In the old model, change meant the plan was wrong. It meant rework. It meant someone made a mistake.But in agile, change is often a sign that learning is happening.Curling teams don’t apologize for sweeping. They don’t view it as an admission that the throw was bad. Sweeping is part of the game. It’s what turns a decent throw into a great result.Agile teams do the same thing. They don’t just launch work and hope it glides perfectly to the finish line. They inspect, adapt, and steer as they go.That’s how you succeed with agile.And in the meantime, enjoy the Olympics.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/

The Scrum That Actually WorkedIn 1996, Chrysler — a Fortune 500 company with resources to hire the best talent and buy the best tools — had spent two years and millions of dollars building payroll software.It hadn’t printed a single paycheck.The project was called C3: Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation. It was supposed to unify payroll for 87,000 employees across multiple divisions. It had executive sponsorship from CIO Susan Unger. It used Smalltalk, an object-oriented programming language that promised to solve exactly the kind of tangled legacy problems Chrysler faced.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/

The Concept of Scrum Fluid TeamsFluid Scrum Teams are a concept introduced by Willem-Jan Ageling, where a stable group of individuals (e.g., 20 members) self-organize into smaller, temporary teams each Sprint to address specific objectives. This approach allows for flexibility and adaptability, as team compositions change based on the current needs of the projects at hand.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/

The February Blanket - A Story of MaeEvery February in the little mountain town of Silver Hollow, winter wrapped everything in silence. The trees stood bare, the sky hung gray, and people rushed from their cars to their front doors, shoulders hunched against the cold.But one February, a woman named Mae decided she was tired of waiting for spring to make things warm again. Her husband had passed away three winters before, and the evenings had grown painfully quiet. So she picked up her old knitting needles — the same ones he’d bought her years ago when money was tight but love was plenty — and began to knit.Every night after dinner, she’d sit by the window and watch snowflakes tumble through the streetlight glow. One stitch became ten, ten became a hundred. Over the weeks, the yarn took shape — a thick, colorful blanket big enough for a stranger to wrap up in. When it was finished, she folded it neatly, wrote a small note — “If you’re cold, take this. If you’re lonely, you’re not alone.” — and left it on the park bench downtown.The next morning, the blanket was gone. Mae smiled, imagining someone out there a little warmer because of her. That night, she cast on a new blanket.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/

Are Agile Frameworks Really Agile? - A Blind Article ReviewHave you ever read an article before and just scratched your head and wondered to yourself... WHY? 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/

How Much Are Meetings Hurting You? - Mike CohnI’m emailing because we keep seeing the same issue surface in different organizations, even where teams are experienced and committed.If something isn’t working, it will usually show up in your meetings first. That’s because work habits show up in real meetings, under real pressure.If planning, reviews, retrospectives, and daily scrums aren’t working, agile won’t work. That’s where priorities get set, decisions get made, and trade-offs happen (or don’t).After seeing capable teams benefit from an objective view of their meetings, we designed:Meeting Observation & Recommendations (MOR) It isn’t more training (many teams don’t need ‘more’ training; they need direction)It doesn’t require your team to step away from workAnd it’s not about catching people outIt’s about removing the constraints that are holding your team back.You can read about how it works here: Meeting Observation & RecommendationsThis is a fast way to see what’s actually getting in the way, and find out what to change next.If you’re accountable for delivery and feel like agile should be helping more than it is, this might be worth a look.Agile Meetings Playbook: https://agiledad.com/documentsHow 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/