agilethinking.net Blog

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The Agile Thinking blog was terminated in June 2009. Please visit my new blog, Agile Anarchy.  Thanks.
– Tobias

Two days ago I launched a new program which I feel quite excited about: WelfareCSM.  The intention of this initiative is to offer Scrum training (including SA-certified classes) to those who find themselves impacted by the recent economic downturn — either through loss of employment or by working for a company that has slashed its [...]

Today a student from one of my recent CSM classes pointed me towards a recent blog post by Gregory Balestrero, the CEO of the Project Management Institute.  You’ll like this, she said, it’s all about you.  And indeed it is.  Mr Balestrero captured the essence of our conversation at the Orlando Scrum Gathering very effectively [...]

This post is the first in a series of guest articles I have requested from friends and colleagues in the general Agile field, and which will appear on this blog with the prefix ‘Other Voices’.  The general theme of the Agile Thoughts blog is one of challenging assumptions, and sometimes throwing down gauntlets. The guest [...]

Gregory Balestrero’s much-awaited keynote speech at the Scrum Gathering was something of an anti-climax.  It was safe and generic, offering neither resistance nor support for Scrum beyond the usual “let’s all work together” rhetoric.  Even so, it had a little more punch than the earlier talk by CMMI guru Dr. Mark Paulk, which was overly [...]

Oppression: The unjustifiable placing of a burden on someone or some group, by interfering with their powers, interests, or opportunities. Oppression may be deliberate, or an unintended outcome of social arrangements; it may be recognized for what it is, or may go unremarked even by those oppressed. — The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy © 1994, [...]

I recently wrote on the Scrum Trainers discussion group that I felt oppressed by the PMI.  An odd, and rather outrageous statement perhaps, and I was suitably called on this, challenged if you like.  I figured I’d write something here about the nature of oppression to clarify what I meant.  This article will extend across [...]

I recently joined Danube Technologies as a trainer, and will be facilitating Scrum Master training at various locations in Europe and the USA throughout 2009.  I decided to write a travel blog, with the noble goal of creating one entry per course, and continue over the course of the year.  We’ll see.
I have written the [...]

I am in Buenos Aires for ten days, running CSM courses and Games Workshops at the Ágiles 2008 conference.  It is an amazing experience, and a great honor to be here at the first Latin American Agile conference, and I’d love to wax lyrical about everything I feel being here, all the wonderful people I [...]

This entry is the third in a series of three, which describe the workshops I facilitated at Agile 2008.  The full description/original submission of this session can be seen on the Agile 2008 submissions board: Operating on the Creative Edge: Applying Improvisation Techniques in Agile. 
This was the second year at Agile that Jim York [...]