Most of what passes for “Agile for Hardware” is really Scrum for Hardware: organize work into sprints, manage tasks with backlogs, and perform the “ceremonies” of Agile: daily scrums, etc. Or they impose another Agile method, asking the hardware teams to conform to a process built for software. And I get that, because in 2010, that’s where I started, too. But when it was clear that it didn’t work, I asked “why?” The answers to those questions were transformative . . .
Start Here: Rapid Learning Cycles 101
Knowledge Gaps: The “Known Unknowns” In Your Innovation Program
I live in the Pacific Northwest, the home of Starbucks and many small craft coffee roasters. I like my coffee strong and dark. When I travel, I bring my own coffee and mini coffee maker so that I can enjoy my first cup of the morning just the way that I like it. Yet this […]
The Path Through the Wilderness
The Elements of Project Management for Rapid Learning Cycles
Teams adopting the Rapid Learning Cycles framework for the first time often stumble over the basics of how to manage a program that has such an unconventional structure. Rapid Learning Cycles are, by definition, fast and cyclical. I’ve written elsewhere about how traditional project management tools, like Gantt charts are not designed to handle programs […]
Agile for Physical Products
What Agile Experts Still Get Wrong About Hardware Development
Last week I had a frustrating conversation with an Agile Software Development expert, focusing on Agile for Hardware, who shall remain nameless. In that conversation, the person argued that organizations didn’t need — and didn’t want — more than one framework for program management. They should Just. Use. Agile. The conversation felt all too familiar.
The Agile Roots of the Rapid Learning Cycles Framework
Different Language For Different Work
When people with Agile experience see the Rapid Learning Cycles framework, it looks familiar. That’s not an accident. Our first attempts with Rapid Learning Cycles used Scrum. We knew that some people in the Scrum world, including some well-known consultants, were zealous in encouraging teams to adopt every element of Scrum exactly as written or “it’s not really Scrum.”
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Announcing: The Accelerate Net Zero Podcast
Accelerate Net Zero explores how we can accelerate the development and implementation of the technologies we need to address climate change and limit global warming. The podcast launches on November 2. Learn more and subscribe for an early visitor bonus here: Accelerate Net Zero
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Your Innovation Teams Need You
Five Ways Executive Sponsors Foster Innovations in Corporate Environments
Florence, Italy is known throughout the world for the quality of its art, architecture and craftsmanship. Florentines owe much of their present glory to the powerful merchant families that emerged in the 13th and 14th centuries. Those families sponsored artists, funded building projects and created a market for beautifully-crafted luxury goods that made Florence a cultural powerhouse during the Renaissance.
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Rapid Learning Cycle Events Don’t Move:
Three Ways the Rapid Learning Cycles Framework Reinforces Project Timeline
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every team that I work with, in some way. My own staff left the office one Friday afternoon with laptops in mid-March, and I haven’t seen them in person since that day. The temptation in times like these is to put things on hold, to delay, to push things later in order to give the team time to adjust to the new realities.
Health Monitors for Rapid Learning Cycles
Indicators to Assess the Strength of Your Rapid Learning Cycles Program
I celebrated a major milestone in the project to write my second book by purchasing a small desktop fountain. It makes a nice gurgling sound that helps my concentration. Every time I empty it out to put in fresh water, I need to remove the rocks that decorate it, and then rearrange them until the fountain sounds right. If it’s too loud, it’s distracting and if it’s too soft, it does no good. When it’s just right, the room brightens up with its cheerful song.
I can tell when a Rapid Learning Cycles program is going well.
Three Ways to Replan When Your Learning Cycles Plan Needs Updating
How to Adjust Your Learning Cycles Plan
When I went in search of a tool to support virtual Rapid Learning Cycles kickoff events, the main requirement was that it duplicate the experience of working with sticky notes as closely as possible.