Large Features and Long Deadlines Mean You Have a Gantt Chart, Not a Roadmap

Several of my clients have internal struggles about how to internally see the future of the product. The teams want…

Read More »

Purpose vs. Product: Differentiate Your Strategy from Tactics (Portfolio & Roadmaps)

I’m struggling to write several posts and I realized I need to define my terms. I keep seeing managers confuse…

Read More »

Writing Secret 2: Increase Writing Speed When You Separate Writing From Editing

Too many nonfiction writers still listen to advice from their long-ago English teachers. That advice was, “Edit as you go.”…

Read More »

With Agile Approaches, No Need to “Meet” or “Enforce” Deadlines

Several of my clients struggle with their deadlines. One of them, Brad, quoted Douglas Adams to me and frowned: “I…

Read More »

Use “Typical,” Not “Average” Durations to Manage Risk

Many managers and teams talk about “average” durations for work. On average, how long does it take a team to…

Read More »

A Simple Way to Measure Work Satisfaction and See Trends

I explained in Leadership Tip #8 that measuring happiness was a lost cause because happiness is a function of more…

Read More »

Leadership Tip: Give Credit as Often as Possible

Your team finished something difficult. They released it. You celebrated the team’s accomplishment with the team. Let’s assume your name…

Read More »

Why Shared Services “Teams” Don’t Work with Agility

However, the testers and UI people are part of pools of people. The organization calls these testers and UI people,…

Read More »

Managers: Are You Responsible “To” or “For” People?

A manager said to me, “I’m responsible for this department of people.” I asked, “What does that mean?” He said,…

Read More »