Read on for a load of inspiration. And if you want more inspiration, from the same conference, I also shared my insights about collaborating with different generations in the workplace. In the same article, you can also learn about the science of happiness.

Lead image credits: Photo by Kelly

Peter Hinssen: Living in the Never Normal

Peter Hinssen opened the Amsterdam Business Forum with the same mix of humor, energy, and uncomfortable truth that defines his books. His talk revolved around one core idea: we no longer live in “the new normal.” The world has tipped into the never normal—a permanent state of disruption.

He started by tracing his lifelong obsession with technology, showing how each innovation shifts from strange to ordinary and then to invisible. “They always follow the same pattern,” he said. “The place gets slow and then really fast, and it becomes normal.” He reminded the audience that mobile phones were once rare, then suddenly everywhere. That pattern now repeats with AI, quantum computing, and automation—only much faster.

“Innovations always follow the same pattern. The place gets slow and then really fast, and it becomes normal.”

In other words, we overestimate the rate of change at first, then correct our estimations and underestimate the rate of change.

“How did I go bankrupt? Two ways: gradually, and then suddenly.” – Ernest Hemingway

That, he said, is how disruption happens—not in slow motion, but all at once. These “Hemingway patterns” explain everything from collapsing business models to geopolitical upheavals.

To illustrate, he recalled working with economist Carlota Perez, who mapped industrial revolutions through history. Each one took decades to unfold. Now, Hinssen said, “the waves just get bigger and bigger.” Peter illustrated this with the pace of protein research:

“Before DeepMind, researchers found 75,000 protein structures in 30 years. After DeepMind, they found 2 million more in 18 months.”

Hinssen called it a moment of “data outpacing expertise.” People who understand systems, he argued, will outperform deep specialists. In his words:

“Welcome to the new world. We’re going to see people who understand data outperform deep specialists in their field.”

But the biggest danger, he said, isn’t AI itself—it’s our inability to adapt fast enough. “We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology.” That imbalance is his definition of the never normal: a world of constant instability, yet overflowing with opportunity for those who dare to reinvent themselves early.

“You have to innovate when you can, not when you need, because if you wait until you need, you’re going to be too late.”

He warned that most companies act with “yesterday’s logic” in a world moving at tomorrow’s speed. Drucker’s insight still holds: “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence itself, but to act with yesterday’s logic.”

“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position; certainty is an absurdity.” – Voltaire

He quoted Voltaire, linking 18th-century philosophy to modern leadership. Uncertainty, he argued, isn’t something to eliminate. It’s something to weaponize. It’s the central skill for leaders in the never normal: turning volatility into advantage. He challenged the audience not to retreat into fear or risk aversion but to leverage uncertainty. You can say, ‘This is scary, I’ll protect myself,’ or you can say, ‘Can we leverage uncertainty and use the never normal as an advantage?’”

Hinssen ended with a call to action. The never normal isn’t a phase—it’s our new habitat. The pandemic didn’t pause it; it accelerated it. The goal now is not stability, but adaptability. His closing argument landed like a challenge: stop pretending the chaos will end. “What if this is not a transition? What if this is the new planet?” he asked. If that’s true, the most dangerous mindset is nostalgia—clinging to how things used to be. Sadly, that is what many populist leaders are promoting.

Sanna Marin: Optimism as a Leadership Strategy

The former Finnish prime minister didn’t talk about power or politics first. She talked about optimism. “Optimistic leadership,” she said, “couldn’t be more topical.” Her message wasn’t abstract. It came from leading a small Nordic country through global crises—a pandemic, a war next door, and a historic NATO accession—all before turning 35.

“Optimism is the fuel of any successful leader.”

That line set the tone. She defined optimism not as wishful thinking but as belief backed by action. “Without profound belief that this product, idea, or political reform will make a difference,” she said, “that change is not going to happen.” She insisted that optimism only has value when it touches reality. A leader must first look truth in the eye—no denial, no sugarcoating. “I’m not speaking about optimism that rests on false beliefs or high hopes. I’m speaking of an optimism grounded in prudent reality and deep understanding.”

She reminded us that optimism doesn’t mean looking away from horror. It means refusing to surrender hope in the face of it.

“We have very clear reason to be pessimistic,” she admitted, “but we have no other choice but to remain optimistic.”

She said that the required energy and stability for optimism and action comes from strong values:

“Because compromising your core values will only cost you your integrity—and without your integrity, you will eventually lose your ability to lead.”

From there, Marin went global. She mapped her leadership lessons onto Europe’s current crises—from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to rising authoritarianism. Her analysis cut through comfort. “International rules-based order is being challenged systematically, with determination and impunity,” and “What we need now is not hesitation, but decisive action that is firmly grounded in the new realities.”

“If we are willing to compromise the rules-based international order just for one minute, we will eventually end up in a more difficult and costly situation.”

And she warned of what happens when values turn negotiable: “We would openly admit that our principles were not so important for us after all.” What makes Marin’s perspective powerful is her refusal to separate politics from ethics or leadership from emotion. She discussed integrity as stamina—the ability to stay true even when compromise looks easier. It’s what kept her moving through sleepless nights and impossible decisions during Finland’s NATO negotiations.

Her approach also matched the Amsterdam Business Forum’s theme of “Optimistic Leadership.” In a world described by Hinssen as “never normal,” Marin’s answer was not control but conviction. For her, optimism is both leadership strategy and survival mechanism.

Marin’s optimism feels radical because it’s disciplined. It isn’t the shiny, LinkedIn version. It’s the kind that exists because the world is burning, not despite it. Her talk balanced the urgency of war and climate crisis with the humanity of hope.

The Cost of Courage

Sanna Marin wasn’t re-elected. Despite leading Finland through COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and the fastest NATO accession in history, and despite pushing through 98% of her government’s promised reforms, Marin lost her seat of power.

That paradox says a lot about leadership today. She did almost everything a democratic leader is supposed to do—deliver results, maintain stability, and protect values—yet voters wanted something else.

Her loss was a reflection of how modern politics punishes emotional honesty. Marin led with conviction and transparency. The result shows how hard it is to be a hopeful leader in cynical times. The more open she became, the more critics labeled her naïve. Yet she proved that principled optimism can coexist with performance. Few leaders can say they achieved nearly every goal while facing simultaneous global shocks.

In a world obsessed with polling and short-term gains, Marin’s story is a reminder that integrity doesn’t always win elections—but it does build legacy. She left office with her head high, still young, still outspoken, and still deeply respected abroad.

Simon Sinek: The Courage to Be Available

Simon Sinek walked on stage with his usual calm warmth. He zoomed in on human leadership—no need to be a template of perfection—just your human self.

“Many leaders are afraid to say, ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I made a mistake.’ What distinguishes the great leaders from the good leaders is their ability to say, I made a mistake.”

He described how admitting uncertainty rekindles the thrill of early careers—that mix of fear and excitement when you’re doing something new. “We’re choosing to do this, and I have no idea what to do,” he said. That honesty, far from weakness, becomes a magnet for collaboration. “Make yourself available—be available to admit when you make a mistake. Be available to admit that you need help or ask for help.”

“We don’t build trust by offering help,” he said, “we build trust by asking for it.”

It’s a kind of vulnerability; however, Sinek pointed out that this can sound weak. Last year at ABF 2024, Brené Brown promoted vulnerability, but Sinek proposed the word “availability”—a simple, practical openness that builds trust.

Next, Sinek compared corporate teams to the military units he studied, where psychological safety isn’t a slogan but a survival rule. “We don’t even like to give credit to somebody else. Yet in the military, people will give their lives for each other. I wanted to understand that.”

Trust is love in practice—the willingness to be both open and supportive.

He suggested leaders could learn from that—not to blur professional boundaries, but to remember that attention is oxygen. Most employees don’t need endless feedback or perks; they need to feel seen. “Courage is external. The trapeze artist has the courage to try because of the net. The skydiver has courage because of the parachute. All we need is one person who says, ‘I believe in you.’”

People don’t need certainty—they need belief.

That is the essence of leadership: creating nets for others. When leaders show up as human beings who care, teams find the courage to experiment, fail, and grow.

“Optimism is the undying belief that the future is bright. But it’s not naïve—it can accept darkness.”

Optimism, to Sinek, is emotional realism. You can tell your team, “This is the hardest thing we’ve ever done,” and still lead with hope. What poisons teams is not fear but false positivity—pretending everything is fine when everyone knows it isn’t. “Toxic positivity is when you don’t even believe yourself. You’re putting on an act.”

Finally, Sinek turned to the heart of his new obsession: friendship.

“Friendship is the ultimate biohack. It fixes anxiety, depression, even loneliness—but very few of us are actually good at being friends.”

That’s not sentimentalism. It’s biology. Friendship releases oxytocin, a bonding hormone. Sinek illustrated this with a story about a friend who texted him, ‘Do you have 8 minutes?’

He challenged the audience: Would you cancel a meeting because a friend needs you? Or would you cancel on a friend because of a meeting? Most people choose the latter. “We’re pretty shitty friends,” he said, half-smiling.

He and his friend created this “8-minute rule” as a code for real connection. When one of them sends that text, the other drops everything to give undivided attention. No meetings, no multitasking. Just presence.

In a time when technology accelerates faster than our emotions, Sinek argued that the most revolutionary act might be slowing down long enough to listen: being available.

Adaptability, integrity, and availability for agile growth

As the lights dimmed at the Amsterdam Business Forum, the takeaway was that we can’t control the future—but we can design our response to it.

Hinssen reminded everyone that the future doesn’t arrive gradually anymore; it “happens suddenly.” Marin proved that optimism isn’t a luxury but a discipline. And it is best grounded in values. Sinek showed that leadership starts, quite literally, with friendship. In short:

1. Adapt like an engineer.
   See patterns, anticipate change, and “innovate when you can, not when you need.”
2. Decide like a stateswoman.
   Face reality honestly, act decisively, and anchor choices in values that outlive elections.
3. Connect like a friend.
   Make yourself available. Build trust through honesty and attention.

This triad—adaptability, integrity, and availability—defines what Agile Growth (Wendbaar Groeien) literally stands for. Growth that bends without breaking, moves without losing meaning, and connects without control.

I had great fun at the conference, inspired by the speakers and the group of Bright6 people I was with. I already have a ticket for next year!

The post 16 Leadership Insights to Survive the Fastest Decade in Human History appeared first on Wendbaar Groeien.

How to look the Dragon in the Eyes?

Imagine fear as a dragon guarding a treasure chest of potential and growth. By confronting this dragon, you can unlock new opportunities. Mario Andretti, a legendary race car driver, once said, “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” This means that true progress typically lies beyond comfort zones. Moving beyond your comfort zone is daring, and armor helps. But not all armor works well. Read on to discover how to suit up!

What is good Armor to deal with Product Owner fears?

Some weeks ago, I was at an interview with Brené Brown. She spoke of dealing with fear and the kind of armor you put on. Some armor isolates us, while others empower us to take risks together. Here are some pieces of armor I recognized from my practice as a Product Owner coach.

Knower vs. Learner armor

The armored knower prioritizes being right over learning. But this can lead to rigidity and missed opportunities. I met Product Owners who were so convinced they had to know everything that it totally stressed them out. They were unable to ask for help, for fear they might be unmasked as a not all-knowing. With coaching, we could transition into a ‘daring learner’ armor. We worked on embracing curiosity, and daring to ask for help. The new armor worked well in their Agile team. It engages the intellect and helpfulness of the whole team. One of these Product Owners remarked: “I discovered that the right questions are more important than the right answers.”

Us-Them armor vs. multi-truth armor

An ‘us-them’ armor creates safety by putting people with difficult opinions in an inferior group. This divides teams. I encountered people who would avoid colleagues that were too different. They focused on personal tasks to avoid difficult conversations. For instance, one person I coached, avoided her team by claiming all layout work. She armored up by staking her domain. She hoped to prove to ‘the hard-working people’ that she was delivering great work, and she was not one of the ‘slackers.’ The growing resentment, however, was driving the team into High Conflict. It stressed out everyone. Here, too, I worked with the team on an armor change. We built new armor by disconnecting truth and opinion from identity. The new room for complexity allowed different truths to coexist harmoniously.

Shame and Blame vs. Shared Responsibility

Relying on shame and blame armor is an effective way to ensure mistakes are not yours. However, it stifles creativity and innovation within teams. In my LEGO Scrum Simulations, for instance, teams tend to make mistakes the first time. Often someone looks at me and asks me, as their teacher, to point out who was to blame for the mistake. They intend well, and they are eager to learn new accountabilities. The blame question allows me to show the ‘shared responsibility’ armor in practice: I point out that we were all there when the thing went wrong. Shaming and blaming is pointless. What matters is correcting the mistake and ensuring it does not happen again. I hope Product Owners in my course learn from this experience. I wish all team leaders would cultivate compassion and accountability, creating an environment where risk-taking is encouraged without fear of blame.

How to be a fearless Product Owner?

To thrive as a Product Owner means choosing your armor wisely—embrace learning, lean into conflict with openness, and shared responsibility within your team. It’s OK to feel fear because your new armor protects you. It allows you to face the dragon of fear as a team.

If you’re ready to transform your approach as a Product Owner into one filled with confidence and daring leadership, consider a few coaching sessions with Anton.

The post It’s OK to be afraid as a Product Owner appeared first on Wendbaar Groeien.

Steering the Agile Submarine

Expressing Goals, Not Solutions in your backlog refinement process

Captain Marquet’s approach was groundbreaking. He refused to give orders and limited himself to expressing the end goal, refraining from dictating solutions. This shift empowered his crew, fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility. How does this apply to backlog refinement in Agile? Like a submarine captain, a Product Owner should articulate the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of backlog items, leaving the ‘how’ to the development team. This approach encourages a vibrant, solution-focused discussion among developers, unleashing their creativity and expertise.

“Don’t Brief, Certify” Technique

In “Turn the Ship Around,” Marquet introduces the “Don’t Brief, Certify” technique. Instead of giving detailed briefings, he certified the crew’s understanding and readiness. Applying this to Agile, during backlog refinement sessions, the Product Owner ensures that the team comprehensively understands each item. It’s not about instructing; it’s about confirming that the team is equipped with the knowledge to proceed.

The Power of Engaging Conversations during Backlog Refinement

Backlog refinement then becomes a platform for engaging conversations about solutions. The team collaboratively discusses and dissects each backlog item, offering diverse perspectives. This process not only ensures a deeper understanding but also enhances commitment to the solutions devised.

Maintaining Grip: Short Early Conversations

Captain Marquet’s technique of “short early conversations” right before execution is another gem. In Agile, this translates to the Product Owner having brief, focused discussions with the team just before they start working on backlog items. These conversations serve as a final check-in, ensuring alignment and clarity.

Curiosity instead of questioning

For Product Owners, it’s crucial to approach these conversations with curiosity, not interrogation. Asking open-ended questions and listening actively demonstrates trust in the team’s capabilities. It’s about seeking to understand, not to question their competence.

Conclusion: let the team figure it out

Implementing these techniques in backlog refinement can significantly enhance team dynamics and efficiency. By adopting a goal-focused approach, encouraging engaging solution discussions, and maintaining alignment through short, early conversations, Product Owners can lead their teams to greater depths of success.

Dive Deeper with Expert Guidance

If these strategies don’t resolve your backlog refinement challenges, the issue may lie deeper. Don’t navigate these waters alone. Contact Anton Vanhoucke, an expert in Agile and Scrum practices, to explore tailored solutions for your team’s unique needs. With Anton’s guidance, you can turn your Agile submarine into a powerhouse of productivity and innovation.

The post The Backlog Refinement process of a Submarine Captain appeared first on Wendbaar Groeien.

I’m sharing secrets that work, from my personal experience. Do you know what’s so special about these secrets? I can openly share them and still influence you! Hold my beer.

1. The Art of creating Engaging Openers

To hook your audience from the very beginning, start with an open-ended question that introduces your topic. Make a promise using a comparative adjective—easier, faster, better—setting expectations for what’s to come. Reinforce these points throughout your speech to maintain engagement, especially when transitioning between different themes or ideas. Do you want an example? Reread the title and the introduction to this blog. Then take a break and feel how the power of this format engages you. Then read on for the next secret.

2. The Power of ‘Who’ Questions

A special case of the opening question is the who question. Begin with a compelling ‘who’ question and raise your own hand while posing it. This simple gesture immediately establishes a connection and makes your audience feel involved. For example, “Who here has ever felt the excitement of impressing someone? (Raises hand) The feeling is awesome, isn’t it?”

3. Weaving Anecdotes into the Narrative

Anecdotes are a speaker’s secret weapon. Share stories with enthusiasm, authenticity, and humor, ensuring they resonate with your audience. These anecdotes create relatable touchpoints, forging a deeper connection between you and your listeners.

For instance, I’m passionate about leadership and autonomous teams. In an explorative workshop with a new client, I was invited to share some ideas for improving that client’s innovation process. Instead of sharing ideas, I told stories of other clients. I shared anecdotes of their initial question, how that question evolved, what interventions we organized, and what the value was. I was in the explorative workshop with a colleague, and on the way back he commented: “Wow they were really clinging to your lips!” His comment totally surprised me. I felt like the only thing I did was share some stories. But these stories turned out to be more powerful than I knew. I didn’t even use the second biggest engagement hack:

4. Catering to Diverse Speed Preferences

Audiences come with varying speed preferences. Some are introverted and prefer a slower pace, while others are extroverted and thrive on faster delivery. To keep everyone engaged, alternate your speaking pace. Moreover, tailor your language and support materials to cater to these preferences. Visual aids for fast-paced individuals, audio cues for the moderate-paced, and emotional appeals for those who prefer a slower pace.

5. Pace and Space: A Dynamic Duo:

Your presence encompasses more than just your voice. Combine pacing with spatial dynamics for an even more impactful delivery. Imagine how engaging it could be if you take more distance and tell a high-energy anecdote. Then you move closer to the audience, lower your voice, start speaking slowly for emphasis, and deliver the punchline. How powerful is that?

You can also you left and right movements. Position yourself at specific points to reinforce ideas, creating a mental map for your audience. Designate specific spots on the stage for each major point, returning to these spots to reinforce your ideas.

Want to know another underused mode of communication? Hand gestures! Try using consistent hand gestures for specific ideas. For instance, every time you mention the attention of the audience in your speech, you lean forward in a pensive motion, squinting your eyes and rubbing your chin.

6. Commanding Attention with Imperatives

Speaking is not only about sharing information and ideas. You can actually ask your audience to do things. And they’ll like it because your imperatives will activate them. Phrases like “Pay close attention,” “Take a deep breath,” or “Imagine this scenario” prompt engagement and maintain focus. Imagine how these directives could keep your audience actively participating in your next discourse. And now reread the previous sentence and appreciate the power of imperatives! Then read on, because the best is yet to come…

7. Pre-Pump to pique curiosity

The next hack is a double whammy. Wonder what it is? It is opening with statements like “The next hack I’m about to share is really special…”, “Honestly, have you ever wondered…”, “What amazed me is…”, or “Here’s something hardly anyone knows…” These introductions focus and refocus your audience’s attention and prepare them for upcoming insights. You create intrigue by using attention-grabbing openings. Why is that a double whammy? Because it also changes the pace. You can slow down a bit when pre-pumping and still keep everyone’s attention! Now that you have their attention, how can you imprint something in their memory? Read on!

8. Crafting Lasting Impressions

As you wrap up your speech, remember that people retain a single emotion and a single message. Decide in advance what emotion and message you want to leave your audience with. Conclude with an action-driven moment, giving a clear directive for what they should do, avoid, or remember. The directive should be empowering. This means it should give the audience ideas or tools to resolve problems they have. What a great gift to give! But wait… how do you know what problems are relevant to your audience? That brings us to the last point.

9. Listening: The Bedrock of Effective Speaking

Listening is the cornerstone of exceptional speaking. It’s not just about understanding your audience but demonstrating genuine interest. As the saying goes, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Discovering their passions and interests allows you to tailor your message for maximum impact.

Conclusion

In essence, the art of public speaking is a delicate dance between captivating your audience’s attention, maintaining engagement, and leaving a memorable imprint. By incorporating these techniques—crafting powerful openers, utilizing engaging questions, weaving relatable anecdotes, adapting to varied pace preferences, mastering movement, using imperatives, pre-pumping key points, creating lasting impressions, and genuinely connecting through listening—you can transform into a masterful speaker who effortlessly leaves a mark on every audience. Remember, the journey to becoming a remarkable speaker begins with a willingness to truly listen and connect.

Feel free to connect with me if you want to discuss more ideas about speaking. And maybe I can engage your audience around the topics of teamwork, leadership, objectives, and a happy workplace!

The post How anyone can be a Keynote Speaker: 9 quick hacks for more engagement. appeared first on Wendbaar Groeien.

Disclaimer

I’m not a fan of violence. Most military personnel will tell you that the best solutions to crises are the ones where no shots are fired. When violence happens, however, we can learn from it. I believe these extreme situations have lessons that also apply in daily life.

The 6-step process of military planning

The actual military planning process is unlike the movies. It’s much more inclusive and does not revolve around individual heroism. Instead of heroism, it’s about leadership on all levels. 

The military process has 6 phases: define the end state, situation analysis, develop the plan, execute, reprioritize, and evaluate. They loosely map on the Scrum events you know: product goal, sprint review, sprint planning, sprint, daily Scrum, and sprint retrospective.

STEP 1: Defining the End State

The first phase of military planning involves clearly defining the desired outcome or the “end state” of the mission. Similarly, in Scrum, it is essential to establish a shared understanding of the objectives. The military call this the “commander’s intent.” 

In Scrum, the end state is called the “Product Goal.” In practice, however, I see many Scrum teams skip this step. They collect a list of tasks from the organization and start executing them. We can learn from the military that a clear commander’s intent allows team members to make informed decisions and adapt their approach as needed. That’s more agile than just executing a bunch of tasks. And it’s more fun and creative too.

In larger military operations, the end state is cascading. It is broken up into a hierarchy of mission areas, and the detailed plans are relegated to the respective units.

STEP 2. Situation Analysis

In the military planning process, conducting a thorough situation analysis is vital. This involves gathering relevant facts and assumptions about the mission: resources, risks, and opportunities. 

The analysis should also establish the scope and boundaries of the project, ensuring that everyone is aligned and aware of their responsibilities and constraints.

Likewise, in Scrum, collecting and analyzing the necessary information to make informed decisions is crucial. By conducting more analysis, Scrum teams can gain valuable insights into the project’s context, identify potential challenges, and develop appropriate strategies. Analysis doesn’t necessarily take much time. It is often a matter of asking the right questions and inviting the perspectives of experts. 

Sadly, teams often avoid confronting questions or analyzing facts relevant to their mission. Frustrating misunderstandings with the leadership are the result. On the other hand, defining a clear end-state and cooperating on the analysis builds trust.

STEP 3. Develop a plan

Once the situation has been analyzed, the military planning process moves on to developing a plan. Scrum teams do this by creating a product backlog and sprint backlog that outlines the necessary tasks, deliverables, and intermediate goals. 

A great Scrum Master will guide the process by showing the team how to collect options, prioritize decisions, define actions, and commit to these actions. By making the plan goal-based, it is easily adaptable, and thus more agile.

STEP 4. Execute

Execution is where the military planning process transitions into action. Similarly, in Scrum, this phase corresponds to the work in the sprint. During the execution phase, the Scrum team focuses on reaching the sprint goal, fostering collaboration, and effectively utilizing available resources. Complexity, external chaos, and the ‘fog of war’ ensure things rarely go as planned. More work than you can possibly do clogs up your sprint. Should you freeze? Delay the planning? No! That brings us to step 5.

STEP 5. Re-prioritize Actions

Adapting and responding to changing circumstances is essential in the military planning process. Scrum teams can apply this principle by regularly reassessing their progress toward the sprint goal. The military call this: remember the end state.

With the end state in mind, in the chaos of the battlefield, there are many things you can do. But some actions contribute more to the end state than others. The military credo is: ‘Prioritize and execute.’

In business, we have the Daily Scrum to re-prioritize tasks and adjust the approach when necessary. Having Daily Scrums with the end state in mind allows Scrum teams to remain agile, responsive, and better equipped to deal with unforeseen challenges.

STEP 6. Evaluate

The final phase of the military planning process involves evaluating the mission’s outcomes and learning from the experience. The military cultivates a culture of openness, ownership, and growth. Don’t judge; just learn. To me, it sounds a lot like the Growth Mindset. 

In Scrum, evaluation is done in the Sprint Retrospective. That’s when the team reflects on their performance, identifies areas for improvement, and applies lessons learned to future iterations or projects. By fostering a culture of learning and ownership, Scrum teams can continuously refine their processes and enhance their overall performance.

Conclusion

The military planning process offers valuable insights and practices that Scrum teams can leverage to improve their planning, execution, and adaptability. Scrum teams can enhance their collaboration, decision-making, and project outcomes by adopting ideas from the military planning process: defining and remembering the end state, cascading goals, clear scope, mission boundaries, contributing actions, leadership, ownership, and re-prioritizing. Incorporating these elements will enable Scrum teams to thrive in dynamic project environments, delivering successful outcomes with greater efficiency and agility. 

Want more? I found the works of Stan McChrystal and Jocko Willink very inspiring. They contain great insights into leadership, communication, and organization. Many thanks to Rob IJsseldijk, for kindly explaining the process to me and making this article possible.

The post Learning from the Military Planning Process: What Agile Teams Can Adopt appeared first on Wendbaar Groeien.

The basic idea is simple: having a growth mindset is believing you can improve at anything with effort. The opposite belief is the fixed mindset. It means you feel that talent is innate: it’s a trait that defines your status. These mindsets seem straightforward. Nigel Holmes’ diagram below explains it pretty well. You’ve probably seen it before.

In the bottom right corner, we see: “Higher levels of achievement and a greater sense of free will.” And all of that just by changing your mind. Sounds good, doesn’t it? If only it was as easy as this diagram.

Let’s go through the pitfalls of the Growth Mindset, starting with one of my weak points: blaming. I tend to blame myself mostly, and I thought it was ok with the Growth Mindset. I was owning my mistakes. Or was I?

A growth mindset means you blame nobody, not even yourself.

The legendary basketball coach John Wooden says you aren’t a failure until you start to blame. He means that you can learn from your mistakes until you deny them or until you pin them on others. Even the successful Jack Welch made multi-million dollar mistakes, admitted them, and owned the results. Instead of blaming, he apologized personally, fixed the problem immediately, and learned to prevent something similar from happening again.

You aren’t a failure until you start to blame.

John Wooden

Did Welch blame himself? In words, he did. But not in action. He cleaned up. There is a subtle difference between blaming oneself and owning your mistakes. Owning the mistake means you don’t fret, but you double down, improving the process and increasing the effort. If the milk spills, you don’t say: “I’m clumsy,” or: “I should have paid attention.” You say: “The milk spilled. Let’s clean it up. And let’s ensure it happens less.”

Owning your mistakes is a careful balance between humility and self-confidence. You have to be humble enough to admit problems and confident enough to clean up. But How humble should you be?

Humility will tell you to put in the extra effort, not to feel superior, and not to blame others. 

Too humble, and nobody sees you. Too humble, and your ambitions will shrink. Not humble enough, and you become arrogant, overbearing, and dismissive of mistakes.

In his autobiography, Jack Welch has an entire chapter titled ‘Too Full of Myself.’ He says there is only a razor’s edge between self-confidence and hubris. And true self-confidence is the courage to be open and to welcome change and new ideas regardless of their source. Genuine self-confidence is your readiness to grow.

From that mindset, Welch rewarded teamwork rather than individual genius: “Leaders were encouraged to share the credit for ideas with their teams rather than take full credit themselves. It made a huge difference in how we all related to one another.”

Internal relations are more valuable than you’d think. It’s not only nice. Science proves that inclusion and diversity are great drivers for team performance. Why? When you solve complex problems, having more perspectives leads to better solutions. The problem is people do not always feel confident enough to voice their perspectives. Stereotyping could be in the way.

Stereotypes stifle the growth mindset.

Stereotyping can be subtle and insidious. Experiments show that when women do work that is not traditionally associated with their gender, their growth mindset is very fragile. A careless remark, reminding them of their gender, just before a task can fill women with self-doubt and put them in a fixed mindset. 

I haven’t read experiments with other stereotypes or ethnicities, but I suppose the same thing will happen, maybe even worse. So you’d better avoid stereotypes if you want your team to learn and achieve great things. 

Avoiding stereotypes helps performance as well as diversity in thinking and perspectives. This diversity prevents groupthink and signals issues early. It helps you work smarter.

Working smarter is part of the growth mindset too. It is not only about putting in the effort. That brings us to another growth mindset myth.

Myth: with enough hard work, you can achieve anything

Hard-work-only is a brute-force approach. Some people think that if brute force doesn’t work, you’re just not using enough. Dweck – and I – disagree. A growth mindset is also about analyzing mistakes and improving the process. Say you have dyslexia. Working harder at reading texts is probably not the best solution for you. Improving the process means experimenting with different fonts or with audio material. 

You hear people say: “I foster a Growth Mindset. I tell my kids they can achieve anything.” It sounds growth-minded, but you could be misleading your kid.

It is more growth-minded and realistic to say. “You can improve at anything if you put in the work and develop the process. Want to be an astronaut? Great! Let’s find out what it takes and have fun trying to become one. Maybe it works out.”

Moonshots are great. They drive curiosity and ambition. But you also need to enjoy the journey for two reasons: not reaching the goal is less of a disappointment, and enjoyable journeys are easier to maintain.

Look for joy in the process.

When my kids pick up a hobby, I put serious effort into selecting a teacher. I need a teacher who masters the process and can transmit the joy of playing on every level—otherwise, these hobbies never last.

For myself, I often make the mistake of giving internal feedback all the time. It may seem like a growth mindset, but it takes away my enjoyment. More and more, I try to also simply enjoy my abilities. Enjoying the moment is especially important when I perform, like in a tennis match or a presentation. The constant internal feedback is detracting.

When I practice tennis or my kids practice music, we do it for the joy of playing. The joy ensures we keep putting in the effort. And we keep things interesting by having a plan. If all the playing goes nowhere, we are sure to lose interest and joy.

So joy helps us to put in the effort. However, some people are so fixed that they fear making an effort will prove they are not exceptional. Why can success be such a blocker for the growth mindset? Let’s find out.

Myth: if you need effort, you don’t have talent.

We grow up with more fixed mindset stories than you’d think. Take, for instance, the hare and the tortoise. The tortoise wins the race through sheer focus and effort. But honestly? I want to be the hare, winning anyway, with a little effort. 

There is a stubborn myth that effort is for those who don’t have the ability. The myth is fueled by many YouTube videos where people do extraordinary things as if it’s easy for them. You never see videos about how long they practiced.

The movie Amadeus portrays Mozart as a born genius, thwarted by the jealous Antonio Salieri. Historians will tell you that this is utter nonsense. Mozart worked hard from an early age, supported by Salieri, to develop his talent. He wrote mediocre music too. But again, that is a less sensational story.

When you think of it, that makes sense. The problem is you don’t often think of it. You have emotions before you think. Your rational brain knows geniuses must have practiced, but your emotional brain remembers amazing YouTube videos or the Amadeus movie. The feeling you get is: I have no talent. Why bother?

Myth: lowering standards boosts self-esteem.

We’re having a self-esteem pandemic with YouTube, TikTok, ADHD, ADD, Dyslexia, and challenging economic times. Self-esteem and self-confidence are essential for success. But science shows that lowering the bar does not work. It’s insincere and smothers ambition. 

The self-confidence we need is not about meeting expectations, even lower ones. We need the confidence that we can improve with process and application. It’s the confidence that you can make mistakes and progress. It’s not about what you are. Clinging to what you are fosters the fixed mindset.

Even when things go well, low standards can halt the learning process. If someone picks up something quickly and flawlessly, praise is risky. A better reaction is: “Whoops, I guess that was too easy. Sorry for wasting your time. Let’s do something you can learn from.”

The magic word for self-confidence is: ‘yet.’ Instead of saying: “I’m not a level 5 tennis player,” you say: “I’m no level 5 tennis player yet.” I have another blog post with tips to make people feel confident through psychological safety.

Let’s finish this paragraph with John Wooden: “Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The right question is: Did I make my best effort? If so, you may be outscored but never lose.” 

Praise the process by tieing it to the outcome.

Ok, science tells us setting high standards and praising the process fosters learning. But we still have a pitfall to avoid: praising the effort when it’s not there. Praise is not a consolation when people are not learning. People could be making no effort or the wrong effort.

If working harder doesn’t solve it, you need different strategies. You need to tie the process to the outcome when you praise the process. Set high standards and make sure people reach them.

Everyone has both mindsets, fixed and growth.

I firmly believed I had a 100% growth mindset. After reading ‘Mindset,’ I understand everyone has both mindsets. It’s not either-or. You can cultivate the growth mindset and ensure it takes the wheel more often. Your fixed mindset is there for good reasons: it wants to protect you from failure and ridicule. I called my fixed mindset Mr. I-knew-it. In Flemish, that’s Mr. Kwistet. 

Accepting both mindsets made it easier for me to prefer the growth mindset. It also showed me my Mr. I-knew-it triggers. 

Whenever I see people make impressive moves on YouTube, Mr. I-knew-it quietly tells me I don’t have talent. He knew it! The video is proof. So why bother practicing? Much better to go on doomscrolling.

Now that I’m conscious of Mr. I-knew-it, I can laugh at his suggestion and start practicing anyway. I also know this:

Just because some people can do something with little or no training doesn’t mean that others can’t do it.

When I was 16, my girlfriend had just started playing flute and was struggling. I asked if I could try. Surprisingly, I could play 4-5 songs from her book immediately. She broke up with me and never played flute again.

What happened? I had reasonable Saxophone playing skills at the time, having practiced for four years. The fingering and lip tension is very similar for the flute and saxophone. 

Was I talented? Not at all. I was applying something I learned in a different context. That, and my ex-girlfriend had a rather loud fixed mindset. I apologized for this embarrassment much later, and she said it still hurt. Luckily, she also never praised my talent. 

Never ever praise people’s talent (unless you want them to fail).

People say that praise fuels learning and development. And you’d think that criticism hurts self-confidence. But the truth is not that simple. Dweck experimented with praise and came to some stunning conclusions. She gave the same assignment to two groups of students. One group was praised for the process and effort. The other for their talent. What happened? The students who were praised for their talent:

• Preferred easier follow-up challenges over harder ones. They risked losing their ‘talented’ status.
• The students lost interest sooner because they felt like they had reached success.
• The students Lied about their test results to other students for fear of being unmasked as not talented!

Just praising kids for their talent turned them into liars! Praising intelligence and talent makes their confidence and motivation more fragile. I’m pretty sure this also happens with the grown-up kids at work. 

Praising talent may make people feel like they made it. But there is no such thing as having made it. Here’s why.

When you achieve success, there is no happy ever after

Through fairy tales and cowboy stories, we have come to believe that all is well that ends well. In reality, that doesn’t happen. Wouldn’t that be utterly boring?

If you reach the top, you must keep working and training to stay there. Here’s where the fixed mindset fails spectacularly. You cannot win a sports competition and expect to keep winning without training just as hard. You cannot launch a successful product and expect to keep market share without developing it further. It goes for marriages too. You work hard to find a partner, and it’s an illusion that you can stop when the relationship is on.

Change is not automatically maintained when people change their mindset to further their careers, heal from a loss, help their children thrive, lose weight, or control their anger. It’s astounding – once a problem improves, people stop doing what caused it to improve. Once you feel better, you stop taking your medicine. But change doesn’t work that way.

You can help others maintain change with the right kind of praise. We have seen the wrong kind, but what is the right kind?

Reacting to success and failure with the right kind of praise

Ok, praise and feedback are a minefield. We discussed all the wrong things to say. What about the right kind of feedback? When things go well, show interest and admiration for the process:

• “That drawing has so many beautiful colors. Tell me about them.”
• “That homework was long and involved. I admire the way you concentrated and finished it. How did you stick to it?”
• “When you play that song, it gives me a real feeling of joy. How do you feel when you play it?”

When things don’t go as expected, try to work from the partial successes and develop experiments to improve:

• “Everyone learns differently. Let’s keep trying to find the way that works for you.”
• “You didn’t win because the others practiced more. They’ve been at it longer. You’ve come a long way, and if you want, you could train more and stand another chance.”
• “Son, this looks like a boring assignment. You have my sympathy. Can you think of a way to make it more interesting?”
• “Son, I feel sad seeing you missing a chance to learn. Can you think of a way to do this that would help you learn more?”

In summary: I’ve learned much about what the growth mindset is not.

1. A growth mindset is not only about being open-minded and flexible. You can be ‘open-minded’ about ‘losers,’ but you would be blaming and judging. The growth mindset means you cultivate talent. Cultivating talent means no blame. 
2. A growth mindset is not only about effort. No, it is also about continuous improvement and the smarts. It’s the process: Wax-on, wax-off.
3. A growth mindset is not about building false self-confidence by lowering standards. You risk praising the effort when it’s not there. The growth mindset is about high standards and having fun trying to get there. The magic word for self-confidence is: ‘yet.’ Instead of saying: “I’m not a level 5 tennis player,” you say: “I’m no level 5 tennis player yet.”
4. A growth mindset is not believing you can do anything. While setting goals is an integral part of the growth mindset, you can’t have these goals without resources and strategies to achieve them. Also, be careful with the goals. Having a talent is not a goal. Winning is not a goal. It’s about finding success in learning. I will read more biographies of my heroes and get inspiration from their goals and efforts.
5. A growth mindset is not blaming others for having a fixed mindset. “I can’t teach this person. He has a fixed mindset.” Who’s blaming who? Try to figure out what learning strategies these people are missing.
6. You don’t need a pure Growth Mindset. I will embrace my fixed mindset for what it is and ensure it doesn’t take the wheel at inconvenient times. I’ve named him. What’s the name of your fixed mindset?
7. A Growth Mindset is not automatically contagious. Even with a growth mindset, you can react to the setbacks of others with anxiety. Or you could inadvertently praise talent or ability. To truly build the growth mindset of those around you, you must embrace setbacks as learning opportunities. Be interested in the process and the effort. I’ll start by keeping a log of the constructive criticism and process praise I’ve given to others. It probably won’t be much in the beginning.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Consider following this blog or following me on LinkedIn. In my next article, I will write about the Growth Mindset in a Business context.

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this subject. 

The post I gravely misunderstood the Growth Mindset. Here’s what I learned. appeared first on Wendbaar Groeien.

Why transparency? And what is it really?

I value transparency in my energy supplier. Is their pricing fair? Do they really only buy clean energy? I also value transparency in my colleagues. Do they run into issues? Can I help them? Do we understand each other? So transparency is simply the amount to which people and organizations open up. It’s how safe they feel to share facts. These psychological safety tips will help others open up.

5 practical ideas to increase psychological safety and transparency

Progress with results is a practical book, and I share five practical suggestions to improve psychological safety. When you put them into practice, carefully monitor how people respond. You should see them relax and contribute more.

Tip 1: Show involvement

Be present and focus on conversations in your team. Show that you’re listening. Close your laptop, put your phone away and take your time. Trying to multitask in a conversation hurts psychological safety. The quality of the conversation will suffer. 

Presence and focus do not mean you let others ramble on. Instead, you refocus the conversation when necessary. Honesty and clarity are better than secretly multitasking during boring conversations.

In a larger group, it is more challenging to show genuine involvement with everyone. So, for touchy subjects, reduce the group size.

Tip 2: Show understanding

Most people act with positive intentions. Remember the last time you tried to do good, but you caused a problem instead? You probably felt ashamed, stressed, frustrated, or regretful. And you didn’t need someone to point out your mistake. What you needed was understanding. 

That goes for almost everyone. So if someone makes a mistake, you don’t ask: “Why did you do this?” Asking “why” comes across as accusing, and the answer is seldomly honest.

So what’s the alternative? Focus on understanding and solutions. It’s more psychologically safe to say something like: “You look unhappy. How can we make sure this goes better next time?”

You can show understanding by acknowledging the unpleasant feeling. For example, “Am I right that you’re frustrated with how that turned out?” You can show more understanding by praising the effort. “I’m glad you worked hard trying to fix it.”

Tip 3: Be inclusive

Appreciate people that are different. Do not just tolerate the differences, but value the differences: that’s inclusivity. More diversity in your team will improve your decision-making. The more perspectives you have before making a choice, the better that choice will be. 

Appreciating differences is tricky, however. It can take quite some mental energy to work with the idiosyncracies of others. Before you know it, you will exhibit disapproving body language. Or worse: you share your discomfort by making a ‘joke’ about their behavior. Jokes like that quickly turn into sarcastic, stereotyping remarks. A half-joke like “I should have expected that from a woman” can be very painful.

Inclusivity means no sarcasm, no sneering, or personal attacks. And above all: don’t gossip, no matter how tempting. If you are critical of someone, without that person being present, it creates an unsafe environment for everyone. People who hear this will expect to be secretly criticized too. So they will pretend to be better than they are, and that reduces transparency.

Do not only avoid gossip yourself but also avert it around you. If you hear team members gossiping about another team member, speak up. Point out to them that they wouldn’t like it if people talked behind their backs.  

Tip 4: Make everyone co-owner of decisions

When you make a decision, ask for input, opinions, and feedback from everyone affected. The choice won’t always be unanimous. If a minority disagrees, ask: “What do you need to go with this decision?”

With their answer, you can tweak the implementation of the decision. Usually, some contingency measures or safeguards will get people on board. Including the minority in the decision does not only increase support but also creates better implementations.

Tip 5: Show trust and dedication

Who is the first person you should convince of the objectives of your team and your organization? It’s yourself! When you don’t feel committed, it’s tough to get others on board.

You can build personal commitment by talking to your superiors until you feel convinced of the objectives. Unless you do, people won’t believe they can rely on you for worthwhile goals.

When you onboard others, discussing an expiry date on the objectives is good practice. New facts and insights might emerge. Having objectives with an expiry date – say in three months – helps you remain agile. Furthermore, it shows that you are open to new perspectives. 

Actively increase transparency with these psychological safety tips

Transparency is a verb. When people lie or twist facts, it’s rarely because they are evil, pathetic liars. Most people have the best intentions but don’t feel safe sharing the truth about themselves. So when you want to hear the truth, judging people or criticizing them rarely helps. It’s much more effective to build their self-confidence in a safe relationship.

If you’re working with a team, you may like the Scrum Academy psychological safety survey. It’s a tool you can use to measure psychological safety in the team anonymously. The results will kickstart the conversation in the team.

Did you like this blog? Connect with me on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear about your successes in this area.

The post Psychological Safety tips: 5 ideas to help people open up appeared first on Wendbaar Groeien.

To give you a sense of how Scrum works, I will first introduce the cast and their Scrum roles. After the roles, we’ll look at the recurring Scrum events. Finally, we’ll discuss how they organize their work with User Stories and Epics.

The cast and their Scrum roles

Maximizing the value out of the small rebel team

We’ll start this Scrum Guide with Leia. Princess Leia sees the bigger picture. She has a keen sense of what is right and what is wrong. She knows what is valuable to living beings across the galaxy. That’s why the rebels value her leadership. Her political savviness was of key importance for uniting all rebel factions. In Scrum, Leia is our (Chief) Product Owner. 

It’s her responsibility to make the most of the few resources the rebels have. This involves a lot of talking, stakeholder management, and decision-making. When necessary, Leia fires her blaster, but she’s by no means a soldier.

Representing the larger organization and their concerns

Next, we have the leaders of all rebel factions. They have a huge stake in the rebellion: their peoples depend on it. The rebel leaders are Stakeholders because they are only involved, not committed to the action. So they support the effort, but they don’t fly X-wings or swing lightsabers.

Delivering a great outcome

Contrary to the rebel leaders, Luke is committed. He’s in the middle of it. He gets things done. He’s a good shot and an expert at lightsabers. Han, Chewie, the X-Wing pilots, and the droids are committed too. Together they are a multidisciplinary team: the Development Team. They are self-organizing too. Han, for instance, performs best when you convince him of the value of the mission. He does not respond well to direct orders. Just let Han figure out the details with Chewie and the droids.

Continuous improvement

Finally, there’s Obi-Wan and Yoda. They are the mentors, the masters. They don’t swing their lightsaber often. Their mission is to teach, mentor and coach the team into performing the best they can. They know they’re not going to be around at all times. That’s why they aim to make themselves redundant from the start. In Scrum, we’d call Yoda and Obi-Wan Scrum Masters. Even when the Scrum Masters are gone, their wisdom (and ghosts) continue to guide the team.

Neither Yoda nor Obi-Wan ever update the Burn Down chart.

Pushing sticky notes around Scrum Boards is something the Development Team does. That team is self-organizing, so it’s up to them to track their progress.

The Evil Empire

The Evil Empire tries to be Agile too. They make some big mistakes, though: in Star Wars, the emperor is both the Chief Product Owner and Scrum Master. Combining both roles in one person hampers Agility. The combined role reduces the effectiveness with which the Empire can inspect and adapt. If they’d adapt, they wouldn’t keep building Death Stars. Surely, each Death Star is better and larger. But the empire never seems to learn that pooling all your resources into one superweapon is risky.

The recurring Scrum events, according to the Star Wars Scrum Guide

Sprint planning

Star Wars, A New Hope kicks off with Leia in a tight spot. Darth Vader is boarding her ship and she has to figure out what to do. She does a quick Scrum Sprint Planning. It’s a timeboxed event – Darth Vader is coming! – where she gets together with her team and makes an action plan. They decide the most valuable thing they can do is warn Obi-Wan Kenobi. They quickly discuss the overall objectives and the steps required and get to work.

Daily Scrum

The droids are self-organizing: once they are off in their escape pod, it’s up to them to figure out how to best achieve the mission goals. They self-organize with frequent funny exchanges in which they make day short-term plans. In Scrum, we’d call that Daily Scrums.
As they are captured by Jawas, their original plan derails completely. It’s a good thing, however, that the droids are Agile: they aren’t programmed with strict tasks. They have a good sense of their mission. And despite being captured and sold, they manage to get help from Luke and Obi-Wan.

The team grows with more expertise. This allows them to deal with the stormtroopers at Mos Eisley spaceport and escape Tatooine. Obin-Wan – the newfound Scrum Master – gets to work in the Millennium Falcon and starts teaching the team about the force and the Empire. The team’s performance rapidly improves. Who would have thought they could free Leia and get the Death Star plans to Yavin IV?

At this point, our Rebel Scrum Development Organisation has grown to multiple teams. They are Scaling Scrum. Leia is the Chief Product Owner, and she ensures team alignment by discussing the mission with the team leader and some representatives. Han leads the smugglers; Gold Leader leads the X-Wing squadron.  

Sprint Review

At Yavin IV, we meet our heroes in a war room, overseeing some holograms with stars, ships, and planets. The heroes are looking at their progress – found the Death Star schematics! – and figuring out what to do next. In Scrum, we call this the Sprint Review. There’s usually a rich assembly of representatives from different rebel factions. For these stakeholders, it’s important to ensure the overall plan – the Product Backlog – works for them and their people. Leia keeps them focused on the bigger picture. What are the broad steps toward a peaceful and inclusive galaxy? They conclude that destroying the Death Star is the obvious first step. The stakeholders agree on the resources and the risks. Now the teams are ready to do their detailed planning. 

Sprint Retrospective in Star Wars Scrum

Finally, before the next sprint, there’s some quiet time for introspection and retrospection. In Scrum, we call this the Sprint Retrospective. The teams review their capabilities and what they have learned. They align on goals and values. They reinforce their bonds and evaluate their commitment. In Star Wars — like in many movies — this is an emotional moment, the silence before the storm.

At this point in the movie, the retrospective focuses on Han’s lack of commitment. Will he come around? Will he really join the team as a full member? The end of the first Sprint Retrospective, it’s also the end of the first Sprint.

Backlog refinement

Alas for the rebels, after Episode IV, the Empire strikes back. They will have to adapt their plans for an inclusive Galaxy as they go. In Scrum, this is Backlog Refinement. They cannot foresee that the Jedi will return in episode VI. This means they have to continuously update their plan with what they know. They only need a plan that is good enough to make the next step.

Themes, Epics, Users Stories, and Tasks in Star Wars Scrum

Many real-world Scrum Teams organize their plan – their Product Backlog – in Themes, Epics, Users Stories, and Tasks. This organizational style is a way to bundle portions of the work in different sizes to keep the oversight.

In Star Wars, the cast didn’t do that explicitly. The writers of the movies did, however. The theme of the Star Wars movies is ‘Space opera.’ It consists of several epics: escape with the Death Star plans, the attack on the first Death Star, Luke’s Jedi training, and the battle of Hoth,…

The epics consist of several (user) stories. Take the epic ‘attack of the first Death Star’: It has the following stories: divert Death Star defenses, destroy gun turrets, and trench run.

The ‘trench run’ story can again be split into several actions: enter the trench, cover Luke, shoot Darth Vader, lock on the target with the Force, and fire a photon torpedo. This vocabulary helps teams connect their smallest actions to the overall mission. 

Conclusion: Scrum focuses teams for great impact

The ideas behind scrum are nothing new: they have been around since a long time ago in galaxies far, far away. What’s new about Scrum is that it formalizes many smart ways to organize effective teams. Star Wars is an epic telling of how small and focused teams can have a huge impact against all odds.

Much like the Evil Empire, some organizations force development teams to do ever more mindless work in ever less time. These organizations combine the Scrum Master and Product Owner roles in one person. Because of that, their stormtroopers will burn out eventually.

I would advise you to follow this Star Wars Scrum Guide and do it right. You can also hire a coach or participate in training. The focused and self-propelled team always wins!

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