Author: Robert Crouch

Quarterly Think Day – Reenergize, Plan, and Set Priorities

Post author By Robert Crouch
Post date February 15, 2021

It is very, very easy to get lost in the day-to-day. There’s always some fire to put out, or some recurring task that needs doing, which makes it hard to focus on big-picture stuff.

This is what a Quarterly Think Day is all about. The idea is to take time and space to reflect, learn, and prioritize for the next three to six months. I learned about this concept from Jessie Link, VP of Engineering at Twitter, at a LeadDev Together conference session on personal development.

I decided to try it out. I found it a good way to prioritize, think strategically, and re-energize. I’m going to talk about what I learned, but first, let’s talk about how to plan your own Quarterly Think Day.

Agile Transformation

Scaled Agile Framework 5.1

Post author By Robert Crouch
Post date February 8, 2021

Scaled Agile has announced an update to its SAFe 5 methodology. The company says the evolving Scaled Agile Framework expands upon the advances in strategy, execution, technical and leadership competencies. The key components needed by any organization to deliver innovative business solutions faster than the competition.

According to Dean Leffingwell, SAI co-founder and chief methodologist, “The digital world is changing at an ever-increasing pace. Scaled Agile is committed to the evolution of the framework to help organizations achieve business agility.”

Relentless improvement is central to this mission. It helps us improve SAFe based on experiences from our customers and partners,” Leffingwell added.

Agile Transformation Collaboration Organizational Improvement

The Roles Every Team Needs to Be Effective

Post author By Robert Crouch
Post date February 1, 2021

If your goal is to level up the performance of a senior leadership team. There are many models and frameworks available to assess team behavior and performance. Each of them has pros and cons in different situations.

One of my favorites comes from the psychologist David Kantor and is called the Four-Player Communication Model. It applies to any team solving problems and collaborating to reach common goals. Each role is fairly simple to understand, yet getting them working together on a team can be a balancing act.

Tags Teams

Agile Transformation Change Management

Agile at Scale

Post author By Robert Crouch
Post date January 25, 2021

When implemented correctly, agile innovation teams almost always result in higher team productivity and morale, faster time to market, better quality, and lower risk than traditional approaches can achieve. What if a company were to launch dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of agile teams? Could whole segments of the business learn to operate in this manner?

Personal Improvement

What we can’t see can help us find things

Post author By Robert Crouch
Post date January 18, 2021

If you’re going to take a memory-jogging hot tip from anyone, it should be the folks at Johns Hopkins University. Recently, Jason Fischer, PhD, a cognitive neuroscientist in the university’s department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, found something strange: When we’re on the hunt for something misplaced, remembering the actual texture of the object can be more helpful in uncovering it than recalling its visual attributes.

Organizational Improvement Personal Improvement

Collaborating with a new colleague? Ask these questions.

Post author By Robert Crouch
Post date January 11, 2021

Collaborating with someone you haven’t met before can be awkward. You may feel inclined to simply introduce yourself and “get to work.” But before you dive into your joint project, spend some time getting to know each other better, so you can work together more effectively. (An hour is usually enough.) Here are some questions to guide that conversation.

Agile Transformation Project Management

Why Agile Goes Awry — and How to Fix It

Post author By Robert Crouch
Post date January 4, 2021

Agile processes go awry because as companies strive for high performance, they either become too tactical (focusing too much on process and micromanagement) or too adaptive (avoiding long-term goals, timelines, or cross-functional collaboration). The key is balancing both tactical and adaptive performance. Whether you’re an engineer or product manager, here are a few changes to consider to find this balance.

Change Management Personal Improvement

Stop making New Year’s Resolutions.
Create a Start-Stop-Continue Plan Instead.

Post author By Robert Crouch
Post date December 28, 2020

Real change requires more than just doing something new. It also involves stopping what doesn’t work and continuing what’s already working well.

Agile Transformation

How to Make Agile Work for the C-Suite

Post author By Robert Crouch
Post date December 21, 2020

Many companies are attempting a radical — and often rapid — shift from hierarchical structures to more agile environments, in order to operate at the speed required by today’s competitive marketplace. Companies like ANZ, the Australian-based banking giant, have made explicit commitments to adopt agile principles, while others like Zappos, are on the bleeding edge of organizational transformation. Many stopping points exist along the continuum from hierarchy to holacracy. To successfully transform to a more agile enterprise, companies must make conscious choices about where and how to become agile. They have to decide where to adopt agile principles and mindsets, where to use agile problem-solving methodologies to dynamically address strategic and organizational challenges, and where to more formally deploy the full agile model, including self-managed teams.

Agile Transformation Change Management Innovation

Embracing Agile

Post author By Robert Crouch
Post date December 14, 2020

Over the past 25 to 30 years, agile innovation methods have greatly increased success rates in software development, improved quality and speed to market, and boosted the motivation and productivity of IT teams. Now those methods are spreading across a broad range of industries and functions and even reaching into the C-suite. But many executives don’t understand how to promote and benefit from agile; often they manage in ways that run counter to its principles and practices, undermining the effectiveness of agile teams in their organizations.

From their work studying and advising companies that have successfully employed agile methods, the authors have discerned six crucial practices for capitalizing on agile’s potential: (1) Learn how agile really works; (2) understand when it is appropriate; (3) start small and let passionate evangelists spread the word; (4) allow teams that have mastered the process to customize their practices; (5) practice agile at the top; and (6) destroy corporate barriers to agile behaviors. They expand on each, providing executives with a practical guide for accelerating innovation and profitable growth.