Do you ever fantasize about Nirvana? Before you start humming one of Kurt Cobains hits, please hold on! That’s not the Nirvana I’m talking about đ . Here, Nirvana is meant as the state of perfect happiness. The ultimate fulfillment of once purpose in life. Pure perfection I would say. Well in the agile world, Nirvana is called ‘high performing squad. It’s the dream! I hear and see lots of people Read More …
âEnd to endâ squads and âend to endâ responsibility! Another one of those buzz words. A magical construct to solve all your delivery challenges. Just having everybody, every skill that is needed to deliver on a purpose together in one squad, heaven! When I – Saloua – first heard about it, I was an immediate fan. I became an enthusiastic aficionado to the believe and I spread the word. Well, that high ended Read More …
These past few months, weâve introduced so many new words in our company that it can make our heads spin. Some of them sound hilarious when you hear them for the first time. One of the real funny ones is the âPOCLAC.â What the hell? What to make of that and how to take it seriously? Well, It is actually serious business. No kidding. In an agile organization, a POCLAC is a special Read More …
Have you ever seen “Fight Club?” Brilliant movie in my – Marijke – humble opinion. How messed up is that guy played by Edward Norton, having multiple personalities? Seems like something that only happens in movies or mental health institutions right? Well, think again! I experience several personalities every (working) day. But hey, don’t worry! It’s nothing clinical. Not even something to worry about. I like it and itâs a Read More …
Starting this blog Saloua and I made a vow not to become one of those lovy dovy blogs that treat agile as a new religion (Yep. There are some hardcore believers out there. They can be scary!). We also vowed not to become a pretentious known-it-all agile blog. We dĂd however vow to write about our journey. And a journey can be hard at times. There are the great highs and Read More …
I – Saloua – remember being a child and joining my mother to the market place – souq – in Rabat, Morocco. Holding her hand tightly, I can still hear, smell and feel the buzzing of that central square at sunset. The noise – mostly actual shouting – of the the bargaining, the striking smell from the spices and the bright colors of the many stands. Such a special sensory experience and such a dear childhood memory Read More …
If you read about my – Marijke – introduction to scrum, you know there’s probably a voodoo doll somewhere with my face on it. I wish I could tell you that there’s only one of those and Iâve bettered my agile life since then. But like many wishes, one can only cross fingers⌠Let me tell you about the second time I drove a scrum team (actually in this story: multiple. I Read More …
Nobody wants to feel alone, right? Everybody wants to be part of something larger than themselves. Whether it’s the popular group in high school or the rowing club during their student years (yes, this is autobiographical. One of these goals was achieved. You guess which one đ ). At our company the organizational structure has been changed in a revolutionary way. No more traditional teams and value chains but volatile squads that come and go. Read More …
Wondering why I, Saloua, associate agility with morning sickness? Let me tell you all about it! It was 3 years ago, we were struggling with the vendor for one of our core systems. We were faced with a planning by which it would take one year to upgrade the software. One full year! The plan was that after receiving our signed off -with blood- specification, the vendor would go under Read More …
Don’t they say a picture is better than a thousand words? Well then, here you go. This is the Spotify model in a nutshell, by Henrik Kniberg: Oh and wait, that was only part 1. Ready for part 2? Impressive eh? Inspiring even! That is exactly what we thought. And after playing and working with it for a few months – and by that we mean the whole shabam, IT, Read More …
