Reach out and Connect
I spend a lot of time thinking, talking and writing about building collaborative teams, high performing teams, teams that deliver value. I have found over time that there is one central theme running through the skills needed to achieve this peak effectiveness. Connection Connecting with others sharpens our social skills, teaches us about communication and …
The Dreyfus Model (a visual summary)
Source: The Dreyfus Model (a visual summary)
Testing Walls
Testing walls This is the next post in my series on the types of walls that we can use when we are sharing our knowledge with out teams. Testing walls are similar to architecture walls but take a different dimension. By using the walls as a basis, you and your team can share information about …
Reporting Walls
Previously I have shared my thoughts on using walls. I elaborated on the concepts behind Architectural walls too. This post focuses on using walls to share more general information about delivery. Reporting walls All of the walls teams use can also be classified as reporting walls as they can be used to measure or assess …
Architecture Walls
Visual Planning, or putting things on walls (per my previous post) is to me one of the most important aspects of becoming a high performing team. However the information that you put on the walls does not have to be a "plan". Most teams on their agility journeys start with putting their Kanban board or planning …
W.A.I.T. for Collaboration
Why Am I Talking? (What value are you adding to the collaboration?) When Am I Talking? (How frequently or what triggers you to engage in the session? Are you talking too much? Too little?) What Am I Thinking? (What thoughts have been triggered by what you have just heard?) Why Am I Thinking that? (Examine your reactions to …
Productivity Hack #2 – Safe Zones
To be able to become more productive it is important to review your work regularly, what you are doing and how you are doing it. Be aware of what work and activities you are doing and why you are doing them. Ask yourself are you working to build battlements and walls for protection, or are …
Productivity Hack #1 – Headspace
I am running a series of experiments focused on how to increase my personal productivity, then extrapolate that to how to help others and teams increase their productivity, and reduce their personal and professional frustrations. #1 - Headspace To increase your productivity you need to be doing the right thing at the right time in …
Accountability = able to account?
We want people to be responsible and accountable, but in my experience this is a very poorly understood concept. We need to explore this more and understand what it means to each other before we can start "holding" people to these. If I am going to be "accountable" for something I want to know what …
Collaboration on Steroids!
Make your collaboration super effective - face the opposition head on!
Experiment 1 – the conclusion
So it's over now, the experiment has completed and I did it*! 21 days of getting up at 4.30 am The experiment It was hard! especially in week 2! Week 1, I was able to offset the impact by being interested and excited by doing the experiment, week 2, I was feeling the drag and …
Collaboration
nothing else to say.....this says it all!
Meeting versus workshop
I just read an article about collaboration overload and it got me thinking. there is a huge misunderstanding about the difference between a meeting and a workshop there is a huge misunderstanding about what collaboration means! so here's my 2 cents: Meetings are NOT Collaborative information is transmitted/shared decisions are made (sometimes/hopefully) no work gets …
Learning from others
So here's the question, why do you only want to learn from someone who is perceived to be "better" than you? What does that mean? Well, often times we want to learn and grow and we seek out people who we see to have the answers or who seem to know more about a particularly …
Agile2017 Recap – Day 3
Today, I had a un-conference experience, which was different and exciting. It just goes to show you the variety that’s offered at Agile2017 and why I love this conference.
I wasn’t able to participate in the morning sessions because I had a few work meetings that I needed to attend, and that’s okay.
After lunch out by the pool (again, it’s nice to be outside, even in 90+ degree weather), I headed to my first session, the Audacious Salon on Imposter Syndrome (Part 1). Candidly, I only planned to stay for the first part because there are so many options and competing sessions. Well, five minutes in, and I realized, yeah, this is how I’m spending my afternoon, and I’m coming back for Part 2. Thanks Billie!
Three hours later, after several exercises that got us in touch with our Imposter Syndrome tendencies and strategies for dealing with it…
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Experiment 1 – Free Mojo!
Have you ever lost your mojo? Ever feel like you are missing some zing? Ever think "there should be more"? "there should be.....more" I didn't think that I was down on mojo, but after 16 days of getting up early (#21earlydays) I am finding that I seem to have more "mojo" than ever. So what …
Agile2017 Recap – Day 2
Great topics here! Love the PMO summary – going to share this at work too! Thanks J!!
The morning got off to a great start by having breakfast with my professional idol, Johanna Rothman. We enjoyed the conference breakfast and caught up with what’s the latest in our lives. One of the highlights of the conference so far for sure! I really appreciated her spending some time with me.
Creating Leadership and Engagement at Every Level
This morning’s keynote was Creating Leadership and Engagement at Every Level by David Marquet, and wow, it was a good one. Definitely, check out the video when it’s posted online, and I’ll hit the highlights here.
David’s keynote was a story of him taking command over the USS Santa Fe, one of the poorest performing submarine teams in the Navy at the time, and he focused on:
- Converting an attitude of “just following a command” to a “thinking” one.
- The importance of language and mindsets.
- The distinction between Blue Work…
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Experiment 1 – the final week
So I survived the weekend! I thought that I would crumble on the weekend and succumb to a sleep in, I had hurt my shoulder quite badly so was taking pain killers which made me drowsy so I had expected it to be harder to get up early, but I still managed it. The pay …
Cynefin applied
A few years ago I was lucky enough to get exposed to the Cynefin model and it resonated deeply with me. I see it as a reference point for a lot of the transformation approaches that I use. A great explanation of Cynefin is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7oz366X0-8 I use the framework as the basis for transformation …
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