agile strategy Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

BONUS: Keeping Backlogs Lean With The Now-Next-Later-Never Roadmap Framework with Kent McDonald

In this BONUS episode, we explore the art of backlog management with product management expert Kent McDonald. As someone with decades of experience in software product development, Kent shares practical strategies for keeping backlogs lean, meaningful, and focused on outcomes that truly matter. Learn how to escape the trap of bloated backlogs and implement a Now-Next-Later-Never approach that will transform your product management practice.

The Problem with Bloated Backlogs

“Some teams use backlogs as ‘long term storage’ devices.”

Product backlogs often become unwieldy and difficult to manage because teams view them as a permanent repository for every idea that comes along. Kent explains that this “storage mentality” is one of the primary reasons backlogs grow out of control. Another common mistake is diving in too early and splitting items before they’re actually ready to be worked on, which multiplies the backlog size unnecessarily. These practices lead to confusion, lost focus, and ultimately decrease a team’s ability to deliver value efficiently.

The Now-Next-Later-Never Roadmap Framework

“You want to group things together on roughly categories of when you will attack it.” Continue reading BONUS: Keeping Backlogs Lean With The Now-Next-Later-Never Roadmap Framework with Kent McDonald

Rayyan Karim: The importance of team design and backlog structure in an Agile adoption process

In this episode, Rayyan discusses their experience working with IBM at a Brazilian bank. The teams were facing serious problems with delivery, despite having agreed on a strategy. Rayyan discovered that the root of the problem was organizational design. Although the program consisted of 300 people, the teams were organized functionally, which was hindering their success. Rayyan emphasizes the importance of considering the team’s design, the backlog design, and clear measurements of success when implementing Agile. They also stress the importance of addressing beliefs and providing an alternative identity for those who may not be sold on the ideas of agility.

Featured Book for the Week: “System of Profound Knowledge” on Deming’s work

In this segment, Rayyan recommends the resource “System of Profound Knowledge” about Deming’s work to help in understanding the true intent and start of agility. The article explores adaptive systems and helps readers understand the change that is happening in the workplace, as well as what a system is and how leaders think. The article also explains the concept of “tamper.”

Transform Your Agile Teams with Hard-Earned Lessons from Super-Experienced Scrum Masters

Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches – Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM’s that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!

About Rayyan Karim

Rayyan is and Agile Coach & Trainer and the founder of Design Your Future with presence in the UK and the UAE. Rayyan is known for supporting leading executives of FTSE100 and NASDAQ corporations to create transformational results quickly.

You can link with Rayyan Karim on LinkedIn and connect with Rayyan Karim on Twitter.

BONUS: Simon Severino on Strategy Sprints, Agile turned all the way up to 11!

Does Agile apply when managing a company? In this episode, Simon Severino shares his story and his business of taking Agile to the C-Suite of fast-growing companies!

If you follow this podcast, the success of Agile methods is not a news item. It’s clear that Agile has improved greatly our ability to deliver software products to the market. In this episode, however, we look at a different application of Agile ideas. What if we could apply Agile to the methods we use to manage our businesses? That’s where this interview focuses: how Agile changes our approaches to running a business.

Simon is a growth consulting, he works with business leaders to help them improve the performance of their business. He does that using methods that will sound familiar to all Agile product development team members.

Managing your business as if it were an empirical problem, not a planning problem

Continue reading BONUS: Simon Severino on Strategy Sprints, Agile turned all the way up to 11!

BONUS: Trent Hone, Karl Scotland and Henrik Mårtesson discuss Agile means for defining, and executing business strategy

Can we apply Agile ideas to the definition and execution of Strategy for our businesses? Trent Hone, award winning Naval historian, Karl Scotland, Agile Strategy pioneer, and Henri Mårtensson, long time author on the topic of business strategy got together to discuss just that.

Continue reading BONUS: Trent Hone, Karl Scotland and Henrik Mårtesson discuss Agile means for defining, and executing business strategy

BONUS: Karl Scotland on what is Agile Strategy?

Karl starts this episode by describing how he discovered the need to bring Agile to the level of strategic decision making. He tells the story of a team that was, by all measures, successful. They were delivering software, they were achieving their technology goals, but the business was not booming. What was wrong? This was the start of a long journey for Karl. During that journey, he discovered that there were a lot more topics that required an Agile approach. Not the least of which Strategy. Which had to become Agile Strategy.

From Strategy to Business

In the end, the Agile Strategy is nothing more than everything that is required to make the business Agile. We discuss what that means, what are the problems it tries to tackle, and the aspects required from businesses that want to be Agile.

We also discuss the characteristics of strategy, and how we can think of Agile as an enabler to business success.

The Agile Strategy framework: TASTE

In a changing business, we need to have a common and shared language about the ways of working, and the ways of defining strategy. Karl’s approach goes by the acronym of TASTE and tackles the aspects that he sees as being critical to the application of Agile at the business level. In this article, Karl describes those 5 aspects in more detail.

Putting Agile Strategy into practice with simple tools: The X-Matrix by Karl Scotland

How do we help organizations orient towards and Agile Strategy? We help them put it in practice with simple tools. And Karl has some good tools to share with us. He starts with the X-Matrix, a tool to help visualize the TASTE aspects in one page. He then suggests a book to help us understand better what Agile Strategy is about: The Art of Action by Stephen Bungay. And we also discuss the implications that Agile Strategy has on leadership. We refer back to the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast interview with David Marquet, where we discuss that topic in depth and introduce the Lean Practice of Catchball, a key practice in the deployment of Strategy for Lean organizations. And Karl generously shares with us the templates he has created to support the Agile Strategy work in his clients.

More references and places to look for inspiration

There are many other sources of information and inspiration for those that are helping their businesses become more agile. In this episode, we refer to:

The book by Pascal Dennis: Getting the right things done, a leader’s guide to planning and execution.
Karl Scotland’s website and blog where he publishes many of his ideas about Agile Strategy
Turn the ship around!, a book by David Marquet where he explains how a new style of leadership can enable organizational agility.

Now it is your turn! How are you planning to make your business agile? Leave a comment below!

About Karl Scotland

Over the last 15 years, he’s been an advocate of Lean and Agile approaches to achieve this, working with companies including the BBC, Yahoo!, EMC Consulting, Rally Software, Cisco, and SDL. During this time, he was a pioneer of using Kanban Systems and Strategy Deployment for product development, a founding member of both the Lean Systems Society and Limited WIP Society, as well as being active in the community and a regular conference speaker. He has been awarded the honorary Brickell Key Community Contribution Award at the 2013 Lean Kanban North America conference.

You can link with Karl Scotland on LinkedIn and connect with Karl Scotland on Twitter.