Simon Noone

Trying to make a difference in helping people to work in a more agile way to achieve cool stuff

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@tastapod @NitsanAvni @snow_gibbon Nailed it 💪

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@geoffcwatts I was at a party a few weeks ago in Soho. Two shots of tequila, what do you think?

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

#scrum is about developing products your user needs rather than developing products you think they want. Delivering increments of working product each iteration is what enables you to do this.

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

This is very representative of many examples I see and hear about within large orgs

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

Someone asked me what the most important part of #Scrum is. It’s a difficult one, but my answer is the #increment. It’s what really enables the pillars of empiricism. To go further incremental product delivery is arguably the most important part of #agile approaches. Thoughts?

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@allenholub @You_Rebel_Scrum The Scrum Master isn’t a role on the team. It’s an accountability which is required for Scrum to be effectively implemented. So hypothetically speaking anyone can wear the Scrum Master hat, so long as they do the accountabilities justice.

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@johncutlefish Sometimes it is because people don’t do the appropriate research, so “reinvent the wheel” so to speak. But, maybe sometimes people do it when they are learning and putting their learning into practice.

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@kosciejew Then start and work on new features in addition to the in flight features because upper management has committed to it being done by a fake deadline

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@neil_killick @the_chrismo I am seeing a lot of bad practice emerging, which is making it quite hard to align around good practice. I fear there may be a vicious cycle where people learn anti patterns from “experts” and so on. This is something I have experienced a lot with Scrum as an example

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@ryanripley @neil_killick Thanks for sharing. Good explanation and examples

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

#ScrumTip If you are using #Scrum and finding it hard to deliver increments, don’t compromise by breaking down into valueless chunks. Instead use it to shine a spotlight on the blockers, and improve the system. System improvement rather than system management

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

Implementing #Scrum is a revolution. Certain things are necessary for it to work e.g. the increment/s as an output of the sprint, to enable empiricism. Scrum is really difficult to get right and requires discipline. #Kanban is more of an evolution, starting with what you do now

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@allenholub @kkrikor I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately there are counter arguments to this (not saying they are right), where component teams with deep specialism are preferred and performance management rewards things that get in the way of collaboration. How have you influenced in this scenario?

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@allenholub This is a serious challenge in teams. Seeing lots of teams losing sight of who their user is and why they need the new thing. A focus on outcome using the “in order to” approach really helps with this

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@allenholub Why is scaling agile seen as such a bad thing? Surely agility is a very good thing, and scaling that IMO is a good thing assuming it means expanding things that you have learnt work well as long as it is not restrictive. Or are you taking specifically about a certain framework?

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@AGILEartisan What about face to face in a virtual environment?

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@TotherAlistair Ha, great share. This I can relate to! I experience on a daily basis, where data is challenged by someone’s opinion that has no basis on any data or proven practice.

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

#Strategy is hard, but worth the investment. Good strategy = focus + alignment = great outcomes. Poor strategy = waste = sub optimal outcomes. This is especially important for larger orgs, because at scale it’s even easier to lose alignment #coaching

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@AGILEartisan Poor understanding of agility is the problem IMO. It’s too easy for someone to go on a 2-day course and market themselves as an expert, and their lack of understanding is presented as an expert opinion. Over time this has watered down true agility and makes it really difficult

[Simon Noone @agile_toolkit]

@carstenhag @allenholub @PreusslerBerlin Or just close it, and if it’s important enough to come back again you can just search it out and access the ticket detail. When something has been in a backlog for so long it’s better to not rely on old information anyway, take time to think through in the current reality