What gets measured gets managed. But setting OKRs isn't enough. The flow and traction of OKRs need to be managed as well - otherwise, you'll find yourself in the OKR swamp.Using an OKR Kanban can help you both see the swamp and improve the flow and traction of OKRs. Here's an example - Here are some of my favorite patterns for managing OKR flow using Kanban: Use One OKR Kanban board. It's okay and preferable to see OKRs from multiple departments/teams/groups on the same board. It reinforces...
3 days ago • 1 min read
Hi there. I thought I'd share what is going on behind the scenes ... January started with a flurry of deep work with clients and I'm still trying to figure out how to weave writing on a consistent schedule into these periods. In the future I might use these opportunities to share some classics/reruns. In addition, I've been focused on developing an email course. It's about how to improve organizational traction and outcomes using familiar agility principles and techniques. I've been working...
6 days ago • 2 min read
Most organizations wait way too long to adopt some portfolio-level agility practices. They’ve been told, “You can’t scale what’s broken,” so they wait until they nail agile at the team and product group level. What if fixing what’s broken REQUIRES focusing on the upstream operating models shaping the work and context of these teams? Back in 2012 or so, I met an SVP responsible for a 1000-person delivery organization that was working in a traditional waterfall. Critical Chain optimized...
17 days ago • 1 min read
How can we leverage GenAI to help us build better products? Operate more efficiently? Close more deals? Reduce customer churn? A Company’s GenAI transformation is a classic example of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity – and the need to try things out, inspect, and adapt, by multi-disciplinary teams. In other words, it’s the classic use case for an agile, product-oriented approach. Not for building a Product. But for building/evolving your Company. Instead of spraying and...
23 days ago • 1 min read
Product-Oriented Portfolio Leaders... Model agile leadership by fostering collaboration, decentralized decision-making, and servant leadership to inspire trust and empower teams. Align portfolio objectives, vision, and strategies with organizational goals, ensuring they are outcome-oriented, measurable, and continuously updated to reflect strategic needs. Organize value streams and teams around products and strategic themes in a way that empowers them to run fast with minimal dependencies and...
24 days ago • 1 min read
You’re actively managing the flow of your most significant investments. You’ve started conversations about how to descale by organizing around products. What’s next? It depends. Where do you want to improve? Outcome orientation? Aligned Autonomy? Sustainable Pace? Predictability? Empiricism? The principles of agility apply at the portfolio level as well. A principle-based assessment can help you see where you are and support a structured conversation about where to go next. Focus on WHY you...
28 days ago • 1 min read
They tell us a story of slow, centralized decision-making, often related to classic program management culture combined with an iron spaghetti portfolio where delivering product outcomes often requires wide collaboration across teams and even teams of teams. An agile, product-oriented portfolio relies mainly on providing strategic guidance and alignment, not managing every Portfolio Kanban board investment. This is why, once you establish a Portfolio Kanban board to see the investments you’re...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
I’ve been exploring the new frontiers of agile/agility over the last couple of months. Thank you for being here for the ride. I enjoy the interactions and feedback, so keep those replies coming! I plan to host a few free talks exploring these frontiers to take the interaction to the next level. Which frontier would you want me to focus on? How to upgrade your Business to an Agile Operating System without joining a cult (navigating the landscape of EOS, OKRs, Scaling-up, Scrum for the company)...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
So you identified a meeting people won’t miss one bit in your organization. Let’s say it’s a daily check-in. Standup. Scrum. The name doesn’t change the fact that this is an often-mentioned issue people have with approaches such as Scrum, EOS, Scaling-up, SAFe. Want to improve this event? You can try increasing focus via visualization. Reviewing team structure to ensure people actually need to collaborate. Making sure the purpose and flow of the meeting are about issue identification and...
2 months ago • 1 min read
