Creativity: best done alone?
Common knowledge these days seems to be that creativity is best achieved in groups. We organize brainstorms, workshops and week long design sprints. But is this the most effective way to create creative solutions?
Now and Then
A sporadically updated blog of thoughts and opinions
24 Articles
Introverts and extroverts: meeting each other in conflict
Introverts and extroverts in conflict, a flammable recipe. Are you considering how introverted or extroverted people are when you are trying to resolve a conflict? Those two ends of the spectrum have very different needs, especially in a conflict.
Stuck in your creative task? Step back and read a book
You are working on a creative task, like writing a blog or creating some code. You find yourself stuck, with no inspiration. Step back, take a break and read a book. This will get your creative juices flowing again.
Why do devs still make less than managers?
Many developers moved to a non-development position because it pays more and gives them more freedom. Even though they love being a developer more. Time to turn this around!
There’s no one right way
When answering the question “what is the right way” I often refer to the Cynefin framework. Does it relate to the obvious quadrant (simple, straightforward work)? If so, there is a best practice, a right way to go. Does it relate to one of the other quadrants? Then the answer is: there is no one right way.
Are Agile tools your GPS?
Agile tools that help you with visualising your work, with capturing your users‘ needs and with your retrospective are great. Just not an excuse to not have to think anymore.
Tips for digital tools
Don’t know which tools to use to optimally communicate and collaborate? Here are my favourites!
Crazy 8s FTW!
Do you also struggle to come up with novel ideas and solutions? Try this crazy method!
I won’t help you
A nasty little question for those of us that are hired as agile coaches/consultants/change agents: do those you are “helping” really want to be helped? Or are you, as Gerald Weinberg put it, “inflicting help”?
The Productivity Trap
Time spent diverging and exploring seems not productive and a waste? Why do we try to efficiently build the wrong thing?
Nice team? Overrated!
How often as a coach do you see a team that looks like all is well from the outside, but you know could be doing so much better? And how many times do the team members not recognise this? How many times does their manager think: “They’re okay, don’t rock the boat.”? And maybe they are right. What is wrong with getting along nicely and getting some work done? More than you might think.
Measuring Psychological Safety
A while ago I wrote a post about psychological safety. My fellow Scrum Master Aernout van den Burg was inspired by it and came up with the idea of creating a way of measuring it in a Scrum team. We put our heads together and each started experimenting. In this post I will explain how I measured psychological safety in one of the teams I helped.
Scrum Teams are like Special Forces
A while ago I held a talk at the Dutch Railways (NS) in which I compared Scrum Teams to Special Forces. Scrum Teams share a lot of the characteristics of Navy SEALs teams or Delta Force teams. They are small, self-organising teams, with a clear mission and guiding values. I think people in Scrum Teams - and their leaders! - can learn from the way these specialised military teams operate and are led.
Meet with Lean Coffee
You want to have structured meetings. You also want meetings to be effective and to fulfil the needs of the attendants. And last, but not least, you do not want them to drag on. But how do you do this? Simple: use the Lean Coffee format.
Tuckman Game explained
Agile tools that help you with visualising your work, with capturing your users‘ needs and with your retrospective are great. Just not an excuse to not have to think anymore.
Psychological Safe Teams
People are no machines. You can not just swap one person in a team with a comparable person and expect the same result. And what is a comparable person anyway? So, how do you replace someone in a team, or compose a new team for that matter?
Quick Journaling
You know those people who have a diary and write in it every day? I wasn’t one of them. First, I did not see the benefit of recording my day in a journal that I would never read again. So I never tried. But that has changed...
Podcast Mania Continued
Earlier I wrote about the five podcasts about business or lifestyle I like best. Since I also enjoy listening to podcasts about science or entertainment I would like to share those as well.
When focus is bad
We all know focus is good. Focus helps you finish stuff. But it’s not always best.
How to get into Flow
Do you recognize this? You’re working for a while on something you like working on. It’s challenging work, but you know you can do it. You have lost track of time. Weren’t you supposed to eat 2 hours ago? And now that you mention it, you really need to go to the bathroom. You look at the clock and four hours have past since the last time you consciously noticed the time. You have been in flow.
Hear this! Podcast mania
For about a year now I got really into listening podcasts. I sit about 2 to 3 hours in my car everyday, for my commute. Podcasts are an ideal way for me to spend that time in a valuable way. In this post I will list the business/lifestyle podcasts I like the best.
How Scrum motivates people
In a lot of my Scrum trainings I show this great looking video of a talk by Daniel Pink, the author of Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates people. Pink explains there are three intrinsic drivers for motivation: autonomy, mastery and purpose. I think the roles in Scrum all nicely help in stimulating these drivers.
From sheep to wolves
What to do when a team keeps searching for more information and doesn‘t dare to make a decision based on imperfect information.
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