Zombie Agility & 3 Antidotes to Eradicate Infection In Your Organization – Part 2
In the previous article in this series, I covered the first antidote to the Zombie Agility contagion, the regular and generous application of compelling Business Outcomes. Today, I’ll jump into the second antidote: ensuring your internal Agile change agents aren’t carrying the virus themselves. Antidote #2: Make sure your Agile change agents aren’t infected themselves […]
Zombie Agility and 3 Antidotes to Eradicate It In Your Organization – Part 1
Preface: The author assumes the reader has a working understanding of zombies and is open to the possibility they are real. (Hint: They are.) Disclaimer: “Every analogy breaks down eventually.” – Marc Escobosa,1998. “Zombie Agility is here. I seen it.” – Erik Cottrell, 2019. Zombie Agility takes over when the goal of an organization is […]
“Behind the Agile Curtain: Why Leaders Choose Agility” Panel Presented at Keep Austin Agile 2019
In this panel at Keep Austin Agile, Erik Cottrell (CEO, Agile Velocity), Nicole Tanzillo (CO-Founder & COO, Ceresa), Ron Dovich (Assistant VP of Technology, AT&T Cybersecurity), and Amy Green-Hinojosa (VP, Project Management Office, Texas Mutual Insurance) shared an inside look into what it takes to convince leaders of Agile, the challenges and rewards of leading […]
“Make Shift Happen: Harnessing Culture for Change” Presented at Keep Austin Agile 2019 by Steve Martin
Culture is listed in many surveys as one of the biggest barriers organizations have in adopting Agile frameworks. While it is true that culture can be a blocker for change, culture can also be used to help accelerate adoption and transformation. Being able to identify and understand how culture is used at your organization is […]
HR Agility: An Example From Silicon Labs
Is HR Agile a thing? That’s what Samantha Wiseman (Sr. HR Business Partner) wanted to find out when she took our Scrum Master cert class this January. After spending two days learning about empirical process, Agile, and the Scrum framework, she began to see how it can be applied to her role as a […]
Ask Different Questions: Building Your Agile Leadership Skills
The Situation It’s Monday morning. You’ve just come off a long weekend of work. You were up all night Saturday deploying the product and then had multiple configuration issues to address on Sunday. Now, it’s Monday and you need to be in the office for an 8 AM meeting to hear what the new Agile […]
“Be The Change: Transform Your Organization Through Servant Leadership” Presented at Global Scrum Gathering Austin 2019
Be The Change: Transform Your Organization Through Servant Leadership – Global Scrum Gathering 2019 from Agile Velocity “Revolutionary Ideas do not change institutions. People change them.” – Robert K. Greenleaf. People over Process is the very first value in the Agile Manifesto. So why do we often begin our transformations focused on processes? Organizations will […]
“Make Shift Happen: Leading Change” Presented at Global Scrum Gathering Austin 2019
Make Shift Happen: Leading Change – Global Scrum Gathering 2019 from Agile Velocity Change is hard. Despite our best efforts, approximately 70% of change initiatives fail. For the 30% that did not fail, there was most likely tension along the way. The truth is, change is inevitable and organizations do not change… people do. In […]
Training and Return on Investment
Leaders and managers know the development and training of their employees is critical to the growth and success of their organization. However, as leaders are pressured with time and cost constraints, the training budget is often the first to go. It can be difficult to justify training costs without the hard numbers to back up […]
Only The Best: Expecting The Most From Your Agile Partner
I’ve found most executives genuinely want to know, “How do I help our Agile transformation?” Becoming an agile company is new for leaders and teams. Yet, leaders are often left out while teams get the lion’s share of the attention from Agile coaches. As a fellow leader, I feel for them. It’s crucial for leaders […]