Are you ready for the latest Agile Adventure?

Management is ready to disband your new agile team and outsource your project. Can you save The Dream Team?

The Dream Team started their journey 18 months ago. Since then, life has become a nightmare. Progress has ground to a halt. Morale is low. Quality has become taboo. You have five days to figure out how to get the team back on track. There will be conflict and maybe tears. One thing is for sure: there will be plenty of tough decisions to make.

Inspired by a classic gamebook series, this fun and interactive story has eight different endings designed to enrich and put your agile development knowledge and experience to the test. Packed with familiar scenarios an agile team faces every day, The Dream Team Nightmare offers you the chance to see what would happen if you could do things differently so you can change the way you do things for real with confidence.

Combining practical team-building exercises with effective facilitation and Systems Thinking, by the end of the book you’ll be ready to rescue projects in trouble, and get new projects off to a better start.

What reviewers are saying…

Victoria Morgan-Smith, Scrum Master, says: “Engaging and fun to read, The Dream Team Nightmare is jam-packed with fresh ideas and techniques that are easy to adopt. It’s also a great springboard for follow-up reading on the bigger ideas such as systems thinking. I would heartily recommend it to everyone to share with their teams.”

James Major, Project Manager at Network Rail, says, “The Dream Team Nightmare is a breath of fresh air in comparison to other books on project theory and process out there. It provides you with a wealth of information to make better decisions on your project.”

Dyan Corutiu, Software Developer, says: “The Dream Team Nightmare is a crash course in Agile. I strongly recommend it to all readers involved in building software products, from technical to product people.”

Karl Scotland, Agile Coach at Rally Software, says: “The Dream Team Nightmare is an innovative and entertaining read that helped me learn some new ideas and techniques, had me thinking about how I work, and kept me wanting to continue the adventure.”

Liz Sedley, Author of Agile Coaching, says: “The Dream Team Nightmare is packed with tips and concrete techniques for how to do just about everything an Agile Coach does. Portia’s entertaining book is totally unlike any other Agile book you’ve ever read.”

Matt Gelbwalks, Transformation Coach at North Main, LLC, says: “This is the most fun read I’ve had in a long time. I anticipate that it will have the same dramatic effect for Agile methods as The Goal did for Systems Thinking. You should read it at least twice, once for enjoyment and a second time for deeper learning.”

Sandro Mancuso, Founder of the London Software Craftsmanship, says: “Portia shows, in a very engaging, unique, and fun way, how a sequence of small decisions and the way we interact with people can determine the success (or failure) of a project.”

Begin your Agile Adventure here.

Curiouser and Curiouser

The concept of a Peace Day, while applaudable, is a curiosity to me. If we’re to believe that we’re at what is probably the height of civilisation in the history of humankind, why then do we need a special day to encourage us to make peace with one another?

Begin with a Dream to Make Believe

The reality is that peace remains elusive, be it personal or world peace, much like contentment and humility. The good news is that there are plenty of us trying to make peace instead of war. May El-Khalil shares the story of how she turned her passion for running from tragedy into inspiration to all those around her. Check out her Ted talk here.

Make Peace Every Day

So how about we each of us make peace part of our every daily routine? Who will you choose to make peace with right now? Later on today? And tomorrow? To achieve world peace requires a lot less effort when each of us does our bit. Happy Peace Day!

“Isn’t it a beautiful day to be alive?” I remark to my friend Thoughtful Jim. It seems dreary summer weather in Britain has become the exception instead of the norm.

To which Jim replies, “Every day is a beautiful day to be alive.”

As usual, Thoughtful Jim’s made a good point.

If every day is indeed a beautiful day to be alive, why then do some days feel more like a rat race running off stale cheese than the time of our life?

We spend so much time rushing about, being busy, that we can’t stand still long enough to admire life’s beauty, let alone acknowledge it.

Instead of worrying what has been or what may come to pass, better that we pause long enough to smell the roses and enjoy the beauty which surrounds us.

Every day is a beautiful day to be alive.

Are you an effective team?

I first discovered the power of teamwork as a child playing badminton. I realised early on that while singles was fun, I enjoyed doubles more.

In doubles, I was no longer the keyman dependency to winning or losing. Instead, in doubles, you share everything, the game strategy, the hardwork and, best of all, the celebrations when you win.

Obvious or Oblivious?

Teams can be as small as two and as big as you need to accomplish a common goal.

You are likely to be part of a team both at work and at home.

To be an effective team, you need to be able to trust, believe in and rely on those around you.

Are you an effective team?

Where’s the milk?

It’s a beautiful summer Sunday morning. You’re looking forward to breakfast. You open the fridge and discover there’s no milk. Your eyes continue to scan the other shelves in case it has been misplaced. Like the shelves before you, you mind goes blank with silent rage.

The Blame Game

Then all the clamourous voices in your head complain as reality sinks in.

“Who’s drunk all the milk without replacing it? How can this have happened? I was having a great day and now it’s spoilt for good… Who’s to blame?!?”

Perhaps you keep your cool better than I do. May be you even stay cool for longer. One thing’s for certain. Everyone’s got something that makes them tick and go “Boom!”

What’s the one thing that drives you mad about a certain someone? What if the only thing you could change is yourself in a Boom situation?

Missing Me

By going from Denial, Blame, Justification, Shame and Obligation, we can all eventually arrive at Responsibility where the Good Life happens.

How can you transform a situation by taking responsibility and applying The Responsibility Model before all hell breaks loose on account of a bit of missing milk?

Becoming Whole

In Chinese, there’s a saying “Learn to become a whole person”. Growing up, this is the single phrase that sticks most in my memory.

“So-and-so doesn’t know how to behave like a whole person,” I’d overhear one auntie tell my mother, implying that someone hasn’t done the “right” thing.

“You’ll understand, when you become a whole person,” my teachers would say to many an enigma I stumbled upon.

“It’s important to learn to become whole, little one,” my father would remark, whenever I stamped my feet, impatient to make sense of the game of life.

I can’t help but remember fondly Shel Silverstein’s story of “The Missing Piece“.

Now that I’m grown up, I continue to ask myself: Why whole? How do we know which pieces are missing? How can they be obtained? How long does it take to become whole? What does it really mean to become a whole person anyway?

The older I get, the more I’ve come to value my physical and mental well-being. Whenever I get stuck in a reinforcing loop of negative thinking and feeling, the quickest way to break free and think fresh is to go for a walk. Better still, I go for a run.

Why run?

This morning, as I get ready to set off on my first 5K charity run after giving birth to a bouncing baby girl in December 2012, my friend Thoughtful Jim gives me a gentle nudge.

“Remember, you are not running for yourself,” says Jim, in his usual quiet voice.

Exercise With Heart

“Who am I running for then?” I snap back. Perhaps defiantly. More like petulantly. Most definitely selfishly.

Jim remains silent to give me time to reflect.

I feel my blood pressure rise as I psych myself up to beat my fellow runners. Raising money for charity is all well and good. Why shouldn’t I also use the opportunity to beat my PB?

When I see the swell of crowds gathering on the hilltop where we are to race, I remember.

That we are gathered here today to promote awareness of cancer sufferers past, present and future. That we are gathered here to prevent cancer by keeping fit ourselves. And that the race of life can be best enjoyed when run in the company of our friends.

Strange But Not Surprising

Just as there’s no definitive job description for “Mother”, “Mum” or “Ma” (or whatever you call your mother or mother figure), there isn’t one for “Father”, “Dad” or “Da” either.

Love No Matter What

To me, “Father” means gentle, kind, patient, loving, responsible, lead-by-example, team player, always learning and makes things better. After watching an inspiring Ted talk by Andrew Solomon, I have added to my list “accepting”.

According to Andrew Solomon, a father or parent not only loves their child unconditionally, they unconditionally accept who their child is. They accept who their child has chosen to be. They accept who their child has become.

The Transformative Power of Love

Now that I’m a parent, I realise acceptance is a big ask of a parent, perhaps even more than unconditional love, because it demands we forego judging our children.

So how do we stop judging our children when we spend so much time and effort judging what’s good and bad for them when they’re little (and may be even long after they need us to make decisions on their behalf)?

The answer lies in what defines a father. By being gentler, kinder and more patient with ourselves, we don’t just become better parents, it’s a chance to change who we are and become a better person.

Surprise!

The first ever Agile Adventure “The Dream Team Nightmare” is one year old today!

It’s a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure where you, the protagonist, get to play the role of Agile Coach and help out The Dream Team who are in deep trouble. Your choices steer the story and determine the outcome for the team.

About the Book

The book was self-published last year. Since then, it’s had more than 600 downloads.

To find out more about the book, visit Leanpub.com.

To find out more about the story behind the writing of the book, click here.

Last Chance to Own the First e-book Edition

The good news is that you can still get hold of the original version from Leanpub.com for a nightmarishly reasonable $6.66.

Or you can buy it as part of a great Agile bundle of books for $50 instead of the recommended price of $142.61.

But not for much longer. That’s because The Pragmatic Programmers and I are busy having fun producing the next edition which will exist as both an e-book and in hard copy. Yaay!

Not waving but drowning

Do you feel exhausted and frustrated? Or perhaps you feel annoyed and demotivated? May be you’ve had this feeling a thousand times before but can’t quite remember how to shake it? The French have a special name for this state of being. They call it “ennui” which roughly translates to boredom (and possibly something much darker). Whatever you choose to call it, don’t just wait for it to pass. Not this time.

In order to rediscover your mojo, we need to first agree on its meaning. Dictionary.com defines it as “the art or practice of casting magic spells; magic; voodoo”. In essence, it’s getting into the groove or feeling the buzz. In practice, it’s creating or doing things that make you feel remarkable, amazing, happy.

In his Ted talk, neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert has come up with an unusual premise of why the brain has evolved. According to him, our brains have evolved not to think or feel but to move. To create mojo.

Not drowning but waving

If Daniel Wolpert’s premise is true, that we’re creatures created for mojo, then the first step to rediscovering our mojo is to get moving.

1. Stop what you’re doing right now (in a safe way).
2. Say the one thing you’d really like to do today to get your mojo flowing again OUT LOUD. (Remember, you don’t have to realise your world domination dream today. That would be like trying to swallow the sun. Instead go for the smallest baby step you can do today towards your goal.)
3. Just do it.

Instead of “not waving but drowning”, get moving to find your mojo. Because if your mojo is missing, it misses you.