Stop Agile Initiatives!
I am sick to death of Agile Initiatives because they usually fail. Sure there are some companies where Agile just fits, but the most common case is a culture conflict. […]
Transformation Case Study Highlights
I was fortunate to act as a catalyst for a transformation of a 100 person departments. Here is an early release of a presentation summarizing my learnings. Transformation Case Study Highlights from Michael Sahota What I did (that made the difference) Uncover what’s really going on Share observations in a loving and caring way.
Goodbye From the Bobs
(This is goodbye letter shared with the department Paul Heidema and I have been working with for the last few months).
“WHY Agile?” Workshop
A key success factor in any Agile transformation is understanding WHY Agile – what do we really want? Here’s how to run a “Why Workshop”.
Don’t Weaponize Agile
I hate “Agile” Initiatives because of the damage they usually cause. The problem is that when people start thinking that “Agile” is the goal they start to weaponize “Agile” and use it as a Whip or a Shield.
Self-Appreciation Game
At Play4Agile, Olaf Lewitz and I hosted an exploratory session on personal growth hacks. Everyone shared ideas and turned into the self-appreciation game. Purpose of the Game The purpose of the game is to give people practice at accepting praise and recognition so that we feel good about our accomplishments and successes.
WholeHearted Manifesto: We Value People
The WholeHearted Manifesto consists on one value statement: We Value People. (Period)
Beyond Roles in Scrum
In this post we will explain how we can move to shared responsibility by focusing away from roles in Scrum.
How to Hard-Wire Happiness to Develop your Leadership Capacity
Would it be useful to learn how to hard-wire you happiness so that you can be a more effective leader? Or just a happy person? Read on as we explore the key ideas in Rick Hanson’s book Hardwiring Happiness. The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence.
Emotional Antidote Map: Identify and Mitigate Negative Emotions
In my last post, The Business Case for an Authentic Workplace, I talked about the economic value in seeing the whole person – including their emotions. But what do we do when people actually have emotions? In this post, I present a model that helps identify our emotions and provides guidance.
The Business Case for an Authentic Workplace
People are messy: they have personalities and emotions. In this post we explore how we can embrace people’s messiness for advantage rather than have it act as a drag. Default Business Model is Mixed Engagement A recent study from Carnegie Mellon Training shows that there are very mixed levels of engagement from workers.
Understanding and Working with Agile Culture (Slides)
Here is my current thinking on how I communicate and consult around Agile. For me, it’s all about understanding the desires and wishes of the organization I am working with and mapping that to an approach to Agile that fits their context. This will be presented at PMI-SOC PDD in Toronto.
