The pattern here is to craft a why for change, that people will buy and that is unique to your organization. And then repeat that why. Communicate this why three more times than you think you need to and you’re a third of the way done. A tip here is that when training for any way of working, whether that training is run internally or externally, ha

Instead, it is necessary to optimize for early and often learning in a real environment with real customers or consumers. This lowers the risk of delivery, generates value earlier, enables pivoting to maximize value, and locks in progress as you go. The best part is that, unlike pouring concrete, which sets, with knowledge-based products and servic

In order to maximize positive outcomes, everyone, especially those in senior roles who have a disproportionate impact on organizational culture, need to (1) be more leader and less commander, (2) foster psychological safety, and (3) leverage the fact that product development and organizational change is emergent, not deterministic. There is a need

As per the Cynefin framework introduced in Chapter 0, in the “Clear” and “Complicated” quadrants work is predictable and a fixed, standard approach to mitigating risks may be appropriate. However, “Complex” quadrant product development is unique. It has not been done before, either at all or in context, and there are unknown-unknowns. There is a ne

People have a limited velocity to unlearn and relearn. You cannot force the pace of change in the same way that King Canute could not hold back the tide. Forcing the pace of change will likely lead to real, lasting change either not happening at all (with new labels on the same old behavior) or taking longer and with more risk. Lasting behavioral c

Agility needs to emerge in an agile way. Empowerment, experimentation, respect for people, self-determination, learning, everybody bringing their brains to work and continuously improving how they do what they do, are core tenets of an agile and lean mindset. The work itself is emergent and so is improving the system of work for that work.

Sometimes, I will use the word “nimble” in place of agile in order to sense check. For example, we want to be nimble (i.e., we want to learn fast, continuously improve, and pivot), rather than we want to do Agile (we’re doing standups, counting points, and doing mandated, top-down two-week sprints, but not necessarily improving and still working wi

The idea of servant leadership was proposed by Robert Greenleaf in a 1970 essay, “The Servant as Leader.” Greenleaf distinguished between leaders who are motivated by leadership and leaders who see their role as helping others to achieve their potential. The best test of leadership, he argued, is whether those served grow as persons, whether they b

Like the tide going down, limiting WIP exposes the rocks that have been there all along, hidden in long lead times. Limiting WIP is an “enabling constraint,” surfacing pain points. Glossing over the blockers to flow, going around them, or leaving work waiting will not lead to better end-to-end business—outcomes. It will only leave inefficiencies in