Nov 8Member-onlyFacilitating Healthy StormingSome teams form and norm skipping storm, and consequently perform mediocrely. Other teams storm badly and norm chillingly with low team trust. The key is in facilitative leadership and in this Mental Model Dōjō community session we discussed the professional topic of how to help Agile teams, or any…Coachtakeshi8 min readCoachtakeshi8 min read
Nov 7Member-onlyBetter Teamwork with Synchronous & Asynchronous CommunicationAt the heart of the issue of post-COVID “back to office” is trust, or lack thereof, from management and the sense of disempowerment by the employees. Fair enough, nothing beats face-to-face interaction and there is valid cause for making in-office work back the norm. So as leaders, what can…Coachtakeshi10 min readCoachtakeshi10 min read
Sep 30Member-onlyFair Process — A PrimerINSEAD is big on “Fair Process”, a leadership mental model formulated by the creators of Blue Ocean Strategy W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, and I am in that camp. Here’s a primer on what Fair Process is. Summarized in Kim and Mauborgne’s 2003 Harvard Business Review article, Fair Process…Fairprocess7 min readFairprocess7 min read
Aug 31Member-onlyIs Agile a Methodology?Question: would you agree with me, along with many other agile practitioners, that agile* is not a methodology? Indeed, agile does use methods and processes, but is itself a methodology? The easy answer is that you can’t do agile in a step-by-step, prescriptive way. In the same token, agile makes…Agile2 min readAgile2 min read
Aug 29Member-onlyCapital “A” Agile and lower case “a” agile/agilityOne VERY helpful framing we use when we go inside organizations to help them on their agile transformation, is the notion of Capital “A” Agile and lower case “a” agile/agility. Capital “A” Agile is the disciplined application of Agile frameworks such as Scrum, while lower case “a” agile and agility…Agile3 min readAgile3 min read
Aug 28Member-only7 Telltale Signs of Waterfall Agilewaterfall agile [ˈwɔːtəfɔːl aj-ahyl]: the paradoxical phenomenon observed in large organizations where agile transformation is attempted to be delivered with waterfall project management This is a follow-up article to earlier published Addressing the Irony of Waterfall Agile. At Agile OD we get called in by client organizations to resuscitate stalling…Agile6 min readAgile6 min read
Jul 26Member-onlyTry This Simple Two Step Approach to Conflict ResolutionCaught in an argument, tough negotiation or even a full-blown office battle? Try this simple two step conflict resolution approach. I’ve been using it to great effect, and I don’t know how many times it has saved me from trouble. Step 1: Convert disagreement into misalignment Step 2: Convert misalignment…Agile3 min readAgile3 min read
May 7Member-onlyThe Many Faces of a Learning ProfessionalOur need to be right is persistant and we learning professionals are no exception. The key to be an effective and helpful learning professional is to tame that need and accept that learning is a complex and dynamic process with the learner. …Learning Organization3 min readLearning Organization3 min read
Aug 5, 2022Member-onlyWhat is a High Performing Leader?At Agile Organization Development we regularly design and deliver High Performance Leadership Development Programmes for MNCs. The set up by the client is typically a few months to one year journey among a pool of mid to senior leaders designated as “HIPOs” (high potentials) and next generation executive leaders. Client…Agile6 min readAgile6 min read
May 29, 2022Member-onlyIt’s seductive to assume that data is really knowledge.Dr. W.E. Deming, the father of TQM (Total Quality Management) and the whole Lean movement, once said: Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion. And then Professors Milo Jones and Philippe Silberzahn, authors of an insightful book that dissects the failures of arguably the largest data organization in…Leadership2 min readLeadership2 min read
