Theory of Constraints – Leading Answers

April 14, 2023September 27, 2025Agile Project Management, Books, Exceptions, Leadership, Planning, Risk Management, Tailoring Approaches, Theory of Constraints, Warning Signs

Definition of Broken (DoB): A Tool for Improving Communications and Outcomes

Communicating project issues is challenging. Exactly when should we escalate? Who to, and how much of a chance to correct things should be given first? This is why some projects create control limits around critical parameters and develop escalation plans to communicate exceptions and agree on the next steps. However, on most small to medium size projects, these escalation plans are often missing or left to the project manager's discretion. This creates further problems if the response is too late, not far-reaching enough, or not aligned with sponsor expectations. Also, what are the expectations for communicating delays, risks and issues at the team level? Do we want to hear when something takes a couple of hours longer than planned (probably […]

November 19, 2021Agile Project Management, Books, Lean, Theory of Constraints

Beyond Agile Gratitude #2 – Lean Thinking and the Kanban Method

Now that my Beyond Agile book has been published, I would like to thank people who helped shape its content and ideas. David Anderson has done much to popularize and explain lean and the Theory of Constraints thinking. The Kanban Method can teach agile practitioners many useful ideas about incremental improvement, successful organizational change, and improved team performance. So, rather than considering it an alternative to agile approaches, I like to think of it as a compliment, another source for ideas, tools, and solutions. We have a tendency to get attached to our personal favorite agile approach, whether that is Scrum, XP, or something else, and regard alternative approaches as somehow inferior or derivative. However, the Kanban Method has some […]

May 30, 2021Agile Project Management, Books, Certification, Events, Leadership, Lean, Personal Agility, PMI-ACP, Tailoring Approaches, Teams, Theory of Constraints, Visual Learning

PMI-ACP and My New Book “Beyond Agile: Achieving Success with Situational Knowledge and Skills”

It has been 10 years since the PMI-ACP exam was created, and I published my PMI-ACP Exam Prep book. I recall the Steering Committee meetings where we discussed what we believed was necessary for agile practitioners and team leaders to have experience in and an understanding of. Since then, the exam has been updated a couple of times based on Role Delineation Studies (RDS) and Job Task Analysis (JTA), which is how PMI surveys practitioners and asks what techniques are commonly used. However, the core content has mainly endured unchanged, which is testimony to its usefulness. I remember discussing the scope and goals for the credential among the committee that comprised: Alistair Cockburn, Mike Cottmeyer, Jim Cundiff, Jesse Fewell, Mike […]

July 10, 2020October 27, 2025Agile Project Management, Leadership, Planning, Remote Work, Tailoring Approaches, Teams, Theory of Constraints

Can We Still be Agile?

How does work from home impact our use of agile approaches? If co-location is no longer possible, can we still be agile? Yes, of course we can, and in many ways, now we need to be more agile than ever as we try new approaches, learn and adapt how we work. However, let’s address the co-location question and look at agile practices in remote work situations. The Agile Manifesto and Agile Principles do not mention co-location. They do not say teams have to work together to be agile or effective. Instead, they say, “The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation” and “Business people and developers must work together daily […]

June 29, 2018Agile Project Management, Leadership, Lean, NoProjects, Risk Management, Tailoring Approaches, Teams, Theory of Constraints, Travel, Warning Signs

Agile 2018 Conference – Unraveling Team Dependencies

I am excited to be presenting on the Enterprise Agile track at the Agile 2018 conference in San Diego, August 7. I have worked with several organizations this year that had issues with work dependencies between teams. My session called “Two-Pizza Team Heartburn Relief: Solutions to Team Dependencies” highlights the shift to global rather than local optimization. We will investigate dependency problems through animations and simulations and then explore some candidate solutions. Each brings their own issues – if these problems were solvable they would have been already, but the suggestions do help considerably. Here is the description from the conference program: Small teams are great – until they cause bigger problems than they solve. Small teams can communicate more […]

November 2, 2017Agile Project Management, Books, Leadership, Personal Agility, Planning, Teams, Theory of Constraints, Warning Signs

The Importance of Focus

I have an old-fashioned Edison bulb desk lamp. It’s to remind me to focus (and because I like steampunk, industrial design). A 40-watt incandescent bulb will barely light a room, but a 40-watt laser can cut through aluminium, leather, and wood. It is the same amount of light energy, just focussed instead of being diffused. The same principle applies to our attention, work and teams. Diffused and scattered there is not much impact. Focussed and concentrated that energy is very impactful. Removing distractions and focussing on a single deliverable at a time allows us to complete our work faster with fewer defects. Aligning a team to a common vision and purpose directs their energy towards it. No longer diffused to […]