Blog - page 11

Learn How Difficult Conversations Unlock Successful Digital, Agile, Devops and Lean Transformations

Bosses From Mars

Bosses From Mars

If your boss isn't helping like you think she should, maybe she's not from Mars, but actually trying to give you more autonomy. We reflect on this in light of real-world coaching stories.

A Series of Unfortunate Ideas?

A Series of Unfortunate Ideas?

A reader asks whether following the "bad idea" advice from last episode can lead to an unrecoverable local maximum, sentencing the team to endless patches and obscure bugs. Squirrel and Jeffrey have different takes on this based on their ancient greybeard stories.

The Power of a Bad Idea

The Power of a Bad Idea

Drawing lessons from Squirrel's driving test experiences, we explore why making a cultural or process change that's intentionally suboptimal can be surprisingly valuable.

Driftwood vs Planks - Agile Team Roles and Skills

Driftwood vs Planks - Agile Team Roles and Skills

We start with a listener question on roles in an agile team, but quickly divert to Squirrel's "driftwood theory" of hiring and role specification, which turns out to be based on effective conversations and flexible problem solving (what a surprise!)

Driving Lessons

Driving Lessons

How giving work to your boss positions you as the driving force, not the bottleneck—and more methods and mindset shifts to change the perception "gee, that tech team sure is slow".

Why (and Why Not!) To Ask,

Why (and Why Not!) To Ask, "Why?"

We discover that we've given opposing advice about asking "Why" questions—including in our chapter on the Why Conversation!

We're The Aliens - Three Ways to Seek Safety

We're The Aliens - Three Ways to Seek Safety

Jeffrey tells us stories about three ways agile teams deal with uncertainty and we analyse why the first two often don't work and why the third is so threatening to adopt.

Johanna Rothman on Modern Management: Part II

Johanna Rothman on Modern Management: Part II

The fabulous Johanna Rothman, author of 18 books on tech and management, joins us for part II to describe what modern management is and how empathy, safety, and purpose can motivate and inspire your agile team.

Johanna Rothman on Modern Management - Part I

Johanna Rothman on Modern Management - Part I

The fabulous Johanna Rothman, author of 18 books on tech and management, joins us to describe what modern management is and how empathy, safety, and purpose can motivate and inspire your agile team.

CT Newsletter No 1 of 2021

CT Newsletter No 1 of 2021

Upcoming events, conversational dojos, and 2020 resources. We're glad to have you here—keep talking!

Our Intentions for 2021

Our Intentions for 2021

After last week's episode on ahas in 2020, we describe what we're planning to do to help people do the work, move faster, and be productive

© Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick. All rights reserved.