Congratulations! THE BIG DAY you’ve been training for for the past 364 days will soon by upon us. It’s time to cash in on the benefit of the thousands of Agility exercises you’ve been putting into practice at work. Let’s hope all the agile flexing of both brain and brawn pays off. 
Ho! Ho! Ho! Contenders [...]

The first and most important thing I share with any team I work with are the Agile Values, also known the XP Values from Kent Beck and Cynthia Andres.
The Five Agile Values
1. Communication is a two way thing. It’s about talking and listening.
2. Simplicity is about simple solutions that do what’s required, no more, no [...]

Change Happens
P.: I hear you’re an Agile Coach.
Agilista: You are correct.
P.: What do you do as a coach?
Agilista: I change people.
P.: In my experience, you can only change yourself.
Agilista: I change people. Like psychologists do.
P.: My mistake. I thought you said you were an Agile Coach.
With great power comes great responsibility
Agile Coaching is a people [...]

Today’s a special day for my team: we’ve got one more day before our Iteration 1 Show & Tell and, of course, it’s Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. During the second part of our standup this morning (what we call ‘Information Broadcast’ where we share useful information among the team outside of the 3 [...]

‘To some, responsibility is a burden. To others, responsibility is a reward. For many, responsibility means having someone to point to.’
- Christopher Avery
It was great to finally meet Christopher Avery at the Agile Business Conference this Wednesday. His presentation on the Responsibility Model, delivered in person, was every bit as insightful and entertaining as I [...]

One Agile coach says to another, ‘How do you find the strength to carry on?’
The other coach replies, ‘I believe in “happily ever after“‘.
Going Off the Rails
In my experience, the toughest period on any Agile Enablement gig is the first two iterations. Some have described it as a rollercoaster ride - the corkscrew-space-mountain type where [...]

Fear of the Unknown
One interesting similarity between being a coach on an Agile Enablement gig and presenting at a conference is this: dealing with an audience who secretly fears the Unknown.
In my experience, there are 3 main groups:
a) Those who ask for help
b) Some too afraid to ask for help
c) Others who think they know [...]

I’m in Toronto for Agile 2008 with Pascal Van Cauwenberghe to present two sessions: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall… Why Me? and Les Neuf Cases (known as ‘The Nine Boxes‘). Being away from home is great because it gives me time and distance to reflect on my Agile Enablement gigs both past and present.
Nothing is [...]

Why Exoftware?
So that on a beautiful summer’s day I find myself cycling along the low road on one of the Aran Islands to spend time with the most diverse, smart, nice and fun bunch of Agilistas I know.

Imagine: You nip to the loo in an office building you’re visiting for the first time. After washing your hands, you look into the mirror and what do you see? A see-through sticker with white writing.

‘Bullying. Let’s Cut It Out’
Five simple words. Words that send so many alarm bells ringing.

Who let the bullies in? [...]