Future State Now: A Business Technology Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Can you use Agile for Mergers and Acquisitions? w/ Rick McMichael Feb 27, 2020

Show notes

This week in SoundNotes we’re focusing on a question asked by a student in a recent class:

Can you use Agile for Mergers and Acquisitions?

To address the topic, LeadingAgile Principal Consultant Rick McMichael joins Dave to discuss Mergers and Acquisitions (or M&A). Rick has years of experience working in Agile and he's been a part of many M&A efforts over the years. During the podcast we discuss the various steps involved in bringing two different organizations together to form a new one, and how Agile practices can be applied to help this work go smoother and deliver more value for the companies involved, the people who work at them, and the customer.

Link to the Latest LeadingAgile Case Study

http://info.leadingagile.com/techcasestudy

Contacting Rick

Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/rick-mcmichael/
Email: rick.mcmichael@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave

Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
LeadingAgile: http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrsungo
Personal blog: http://drunkenpm.net

We Need Reviews

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Feedback/Questions

If you have comments on the podcast or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at dave.prior@leadingagile.com

LeadingAgile CSM and CSPO Classes

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

Lean Portfolio Management w/ Tina Wang Feb 21, 2020

Show notes

This week in LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, Tina Wang spends some time with Dave talking about Lean Portfolio Management. During the conversation, Tina and Dave cover exactly what Lean Portfolio Management is and how it differs from a more traditional approach to Portfolio Management. A good part of the discussion is spent on the topic of how to create alignment from strategic goals at the organizational level down to delivery team execution and the role that funding plays in this.

If you have questions about Lean Portfolio Management or you're curious about how to apply Lean practices and systems thinking to traditional portfolio management to consistently deliver value at a sustainable pace, this podcast is a great place to get started.

For additional content on the LeadingAgile site about Lean Portfolio Management, click here.

Contacting Tina

Email: Tina.Wang@leadingagile.com
LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/tina-wang/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-wang-spc/

Contacting Dave

Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
LeadingAgile: http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrsungo
Personal blog: http://drunkenpm.net

Link to the Case Study:

http://info.leadingagile.com/techcasestudy

We Need Reviews

Feedback/Questions

LeadingAgile CSM and CSPO Classes

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

Putting the Enterprise Back in Enterprise Architecture w/ Ross Beurmann Feb 14, 2020

Show notes

Despite the fact that in many organizations the Enterprise Architect and the Enterprise Solutions Architect are often conflated, they are very distinct roles that require different skill sets and areas of expertise.

The Enterprise Solutions Architect is a role that focuses on designing solutions to problems that tend to be IT-centric, while an Enterprise Architect focuses more on designing or documenting the relationship between all the systems across the Enterprise and how they interact to deliver value.

In this episode of LeadingAgile's SoundNotes, Ross Beurmann is back to bring some clarity to the difference between the two roles, the nature of the work, and the differences in the skill sets required for each role.

Zachman Framework

During the interview, Ross references the Zachman Framework, which was developed by John Zachman in the 1980's. The framework "provides a formal and structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise" (see Wikipedia link below). If you'd like to read up on it, here are some places to get started:

Zachman Framework in Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachman_Framework
The Concise Definition of The Zachman Framework by: John A. Zachman
https://zachman.com/about-the-zachman-framework

Contacting Ross

Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/ross-beurmann/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbeurmannzcea/
Email: Ross.Beurmann@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave

Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
LeadingAgile: http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrsungo
Personal blog: http://drunkenpm.net

We Need Reviews

Feedback/Questions

LeadingAgile CSM and CSPO Classes

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

Tying the Investment Tier Back to Agile Delivery w/ Matt Smith Feb 06, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Managing Consultant, Matt Smith, joins Dave for a conversation about why we need to make sure that the investment made in portfolio tiers of the organization ties directly back to Agile delivery, and how we can make sure that is happening. If you are an executive who has responsibility for making decisions about where and how the organization makes strategic investments across the portfolio, this interview may expose some areas of focus that you may want to give more attention.

Many organizations introduce Agile, and begin funding Transformation, at the team level, but they fail to ensure that they’ve created an environment and organizational system that can support those teams, and/or teams who are working on things without understanding why because they don’t have visibility into how they link back to company strategy. This makes it difficult for them to make the best possible choices when developing a product. Throughout the podcast, Matt and Dave talk through examples of how detrimental this disconnect between the head and the body of an organization can be.

Making sure there is a direct line from investment to execution is critical to ensuring you are maximizing the value your organization (and your clients) are getting from your agile delivery mechanism.

Contacting Matt Smith

Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/matt-smith/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-f-smith/
Email: Matt.Smith@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave Prior

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Executive Leadership as Product Owner w/ Mike Cottmeyer Jan 30, 2020

Show notes

This week in SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Founder and CEO Mike Cottmeyer joins Dave to explore the ways in which Executive Leadership plays the role of Product Owner in an organization. During the conversation, Mike reflects back on how his understanding of what it means to be an organizational product owner has evolved as LeadingAgile has grown over the last ten years. Mike shares some of the ways he copes with the challenges of being the Product Owner of an organization that continues to evolve, how he responds to the successes and failures along the way, and his take on one of the most critical things a leader must do in order to be ready for what comes next.

Contacting Mike Cottmeyer

If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer
Email: mike@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Epics, Features, and Stories, Oh My! w/ Scott Sehlhorst Jan 23, 2020

Show notes

If you're confused about the difference between Epics, Features, and Stories—you're not alone. Most of us use these terms to describe different types of items we’d put into a Product Backlog. The challenge is that each organization defines them differently and uses them to mean different things.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile SVP and Senior Consultant Scott Sehlhorst joins Dave Prior to talk about the difference between Epics, Features, and Stories, how the three of them are related, and the value that each brings to the table.

If you have questions about the purpose each serves, how they complement each other, and why people often get them confused, you’ll find answers in this podcast.

Contacting Scott Sehlhorst

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/scott-sehlhorst/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sehlhorst
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sehlhorst/
Blog: http://tynerblain.com/blog/

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Impact Mapping w/ Will Evans Jan 16, 2020

Show notes

It can be easy to get swept up in discussions centered around making sure that the work being done by development teams is in sync with what the stakeholders identified as the highest priority. While this is definitely an important factor to consider, it is also critical to make sure that we have identified and prioritized the issues and problems we need to solve to achieve the organization’s strategic goals. Impact Mapping is a tool that can be used to create a conversation between stakeholders and teams to understanding which problems need to be addressed first to ensure we are having the greatest possible impact on delivering different outcomes for our customers and for the business.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Managing Consultant, Will Evans spends time with Dave Prior discussing Impact Mapping.

During the podcast you will learn:

What Impact Mapping Is
Why it works
How it can help your organization make informed decisions about which problems to solve first in order to reach your strategic goals
How you can get started using Impact Mapping within your organization

Resources to Get You Started

The Art of Impact Mapping Video https://youtu.be/y4Rj05YVg_E
Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein https://amzn.to/2tiwZby

Contacting Will

Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/will-evans/
Email: will.evans@leadingagile.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/semanticwill

Contacting Dave

Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
LeadingAgile: http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrsungo
Personal blog: http://drunkenpm.net

We Need Reviews

Feedback/Questions

LeadingAgile CSM and CSPO Classes

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

Work Bifurcation and Change Control w/ Ross Buermann Jan 09, 2020

Show notes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In this episode, LeadingAgile Senior Consultant, Ross Buermann shares an approach that involves bifurcating the work of creating the documentation so that we can create and deliver in smaller increments. Those smaller pieces can be modified and maintained in a more efficient manner than they would be in a traditional approach. In the same way that we want to break development work down into small increments, we can also break down the documentation. Ross and Dave also discuss an approach to storing the documentation which allows for an easier approach to change control and maintenance.

Ross has a background in highly regulated environments where the documentation is often treated as being more valuable than the product itself. During the interview, Ross explains how, and why, this approach is so valuable to teams and organizations adopting an Agile approach.

The Iliad

If you’d like to check out The Iliad, Ross recommends the translation by Richmond Lattimore https://amzn.to/37EDfZE

Contacting Ross

Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/ross-beurmann/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbeurmannzcea/
Email: Ross.Beurmann@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave

Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
LeadingAgile: http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrsungo
Personal blog: http://drunkenpm.net

We Need Reviews

Feedback/Questions

LeadingAgile CSM and CSPO Classes

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

Creating Safety for Leadership w/ Tim Wise Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

Safety is a popular topic in the Agile space that comes up when we have conversations about what it takes to create an environment where Agile can take root and thrive.

When we talk about transforming organizations, we talk about things like creating a safe environment where people feel that they have the agency and support to run experiments in order to get better at working together and delivering value for the customer. This conversation often centers around teams and the individual team members, but rarely do we take the time to consider what safety looks like for leadership. Aren’t they at risk as well?

There may be leaders in your organization who are supporting or sponsoring the transformation effort, but what if it doesn’t take? What impact will it have on them? When it comes to organizational change, we know leadership has to adjust their approach as well, but this conversation often focuses on how the things they learned to do under a traditional model will get in the way of a successful Agile Transformation. We tell them what not to do: we tell them to leave the teams alone to figure out how to self-organize, we tell them to be supportive and let go of many of the practices that helped them reach their leadership position. It may come across as though we are simply taking things away from them, and this language of loss is unlikely to leave them feeling like they are operating from a place where they have the agency they need and the support they need to begin running experiments that will help them learn to grow into the Agile leaders we want and need them to be.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Senior Consultant, Tim Wise, and Dave Prior explore:

What it means to create safety for leadership
What Agile Transformation asks of leaders and the risks they face
How leaders can begin moving toward an approach that demonstrates adopting an Agile mindset
What types of behavior are needed to foster a safe environment for the teams and team members to employ Agile practice to deliver value for their customers

Links From This Podcast

Turn the Ship Around - David Marquet
Team of Teams - General Stanley McChrystal
7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
Speed of Trust - Stephen M.R. Covey
Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink
The Responsibility Process - Christopher Avery
Jordan Peterson
Agile Day Atlanta

Contacting Tim

Email: tim@leadingagile.com
LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/tim-wise/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwise/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/timswise

Contacting Dave

Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
LeadingAgile: http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrsungo
Personal blog: http://drunkenpm.net

We Need Reviews

Feedback/Questions

LeadingAgile CSM and CSPO Classes

For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.

Understanding The Impact Of Your Investment in Agile Transformation w/ Doug Spencer Dec 05, 2019

Show notes

When large enterprises make the decision to invest in Agile Transformation they often do so with the expectation that it will have some positive impact on their ability to deliver. In theory, if we can deliver more of the right things in shorter time frames at a higher quality level, that should provide some kind of quantifiable return on investment.

When the conversation turns to the question of “How is the transformation going?” it is common to focus on metrics that center around how many teams or groups within the organization have begun adopting Agile practices, where they are in the journey towards Agile, how individual teams are performing, etc. But what is often harder to understand is what is the benefit, or return on the investment it is making in Agile Transformation.

To put it simply, we’re spending money, we’re doing the things… but what kind of financial (or other) impact is that money having on the organization and on our system of delivery?

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Principal Consultant, Doug Spencer joins Dave for a conversation about some of the ways you can begin to measure and quantify the impact of an Agile Transformation on your organization at the portfolio level.

Contacting Doug Spencer

Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/doug-spencer/
Email: doug.spencer@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

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