A few weeks ago Don Kim put up a blog post challenging the value of certifications. I reached out to Don in hopes of doing an interview about it and found out he’s also written a new book “I think Therefore I Plan”. In this interview we discuss the pros and cons of different certifications, taking an artisan approach to managing projects as well as Don’s new book.
Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Certified Agile Leadership Training with Olaf
Categories:
Temenos,
Olaf Lewitz,
Product Owner,
TrustTemenos,
Certified Agile Leadership,
CAL,
Showing Up,
Christine Neidhardt,
Safety,
Scrum,
Agile
Categories: Temenos, Olaf Lewitz, Product Owner, TrustTemenos, Certified Agile Leadership, CAL, Showing Up, Christine Neidhardt, Safety, Scrum, Agile
| The Trust Artist, Olaf Lewitz, along with his partner, Christine Neidhardt, are gearing ready for their upcoming TrustTemenos Certified Agile Leadership trainings. Certified Agile Leadership trainings are a new, advanced level of training classes being offered through the Scrum Alliance. In this interview Olaf and I discuss the reason for his TrustTemenos CAL class, how it can help people become better Agile leaders, and the value of Certified Agile Leadership. Safety is a very hot topic in the Agile space right now. During our conversation about safety, Olaf shared one of the most powerful things I have heard during an interview this year: “When you talk to people about trust, it rises. When you talk to people about safety, they get scared.” Every conversation I have with Olaf leaves me more aware and (I hope) a bit smarter than I was when it began. I hope you will get as much value from listening to this as I did from recording the conversation. And you can find links to Olaf’s upcoming classes and events, as well as his contact info, below the show notes.
Show Notes00:07 Podcast Intro 01:27 Begins 01:57 An overview of Agile Leadership Training 04:48 A skeptical response to the idea of Agile Leadership Training and Olaf’s response 07:16 Developing a thinking model to understand what we need and how that drives our actions 09:11 The power of metaphor in leadership and Dave’s aversion to boats 11:03 Giving people tools to grow their awareness of how they show up 11:34 These classes cover advanced leadership topics - not the basics 12:16 “If you trust in yourself… you will still get beaten by people” 13:05 Skepticism is an important part of any class and any transition 13:32 It’s about being intentional and aware 15:23 There is a specific type of learning that involves being uncomfortable because what you believe is challenged 15:57 Extending the question of leadership beyond work and helping them understand more about their awareness and intention 17:00 Olaf shares a story about his first experience working as a boss 21:29 The advice Olaf about give his 29 year-old self about being a boss for the firs time 22:23 It’s okay to ask for help 24:05 A question about safety and what it means to create a safe space 25:42 When you talk to people about trust, it rises, when you talk to people about safety, they get scared 27:22 What is Certified Agile Leadership Training? What level of knowledge experience do you need to attend? 28:08 What will CAL training do for a leader/manager in an Agile organization? 29:28 Where to learn more about Olaf’s upcoming classes, where you can see him speak and how to get in touch with him if you have questions.
Links from the PodcastShowing Up - the book written by Olaf and Christine https://leanpub.com/showingup TrustTemenos Leadership Academy: https://trusttemenos.de Upcoming CAL Trainings - https://trusttemenos.de/certified-agile-leadership-cal1/ Olaf’s session at the 2017 Scrum Gathering San Diego is called: Product Owner: Mapping Dramas and Dreams and it will be held in the Harbor Island 1 room on Monday, April 10 from 1 PM until 2:15 PM For more info on the Scrum Gathering: https://www.scrumalliance.org/sgcal Contacting OlafLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olaflewitz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/OlafLewitz Website: http://trustartist.com |
Posted on: April 09, 2017 01:55 PM
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Comments (12)
Don Kim - I Think, Therefore I Plan
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You can find Don’s book here: http://amzn.to/2n7VEHu You can find Don’s blog post about certifications here: http://bit.ly/2okDUZA
Show Notes:00:07 Interview Start 00:30 What is a Human APEE 03:38 What is an Artisan approach to Project Management 05:15 Don’s Philosophy of Project Management 07:22 Trying to slow down and do less 08:21 Don explains his way of approaching project work and the reason for the book 10:56 How has the traditional vs. Agile debate changed over the past few years 12:53 Seeing the value in every project you work on - regardless of how you got it 16:15 The downside of certifications 17:29 The positive aspects of certifications 18:03 There is more to project management training than just PMP certification 19:48 Making the case for the value certifications can provide and how it can be misunderstood 23:22 Does it make sense for people to want to have a way of gauging their professional achievement? 23:55 What Don expected from PMP certification and how he went deep with the Kerzner to get the most learning out of it (instead of just passing the test) 26:41 Is it the certification that is an issue, or the way people interpret it as an end point rather than a beginning 27:50 An overview of the approach Don’s book takes towards the art of Project Management 30:56 Where you can find Don’s book and how you can reach him with follow up questions 31:54 Podcast Ends You can reach Don Kim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donkim/ Feedback/Comments: [email protected] |
Posted on: March 31, 2017 11:55 AM
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Agile Coach to Agile Gamer - Peter Saddington
Categories:
drunkenpm,
Dave Prior,
AgileScout,
Peter Saddington First15,
agile transformation,
Agile
Categories: drunkenpm, Dave Prior, AgileScout, Peter Saddington First15, agile transformation, Agile
| Peter Saddington, the founder of AgileScout.com, is an Agile Coach, Certified Scrum Trainer, Author, Entrepreneur and Scientist. On March 4, 2017 he put up a blog post on AgileScout.com announcing a new experiment he is running... on himself. Taking a step back from helping others adopt Agile, Peter is now using Agile to transform his life, and he's starting with his career. He's going from being a full time Agile Consultant to a full time professional video game player. It might sound a bit insane, but his reasoning and research are sound. In this interview I got the chance to talk with Peter about his new experiment, why he's doing it and how he approaching transforming his life. Click here to read Peter's manifesto: http://agilescout.com/time-for-change/ |
Posted on: March 26, 2017 06:54 PM
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Comments (7)
Scrum in School - A Case Study of Grandview Prep's Transformation
Categories:
Scrum Alliance,
Mike Vizdos,
eduscrum,
john miller,
Grandview Prep,
Scrum in Schools,
AgileClassroom,
Agile Classroom,
Scrum,
Agile
Categories: Scrum Alliance, Mike Vizdos, eduscrum, john miller, Grandview Prep, Scrum in Schools, AgileClassroom, Agile Classroom, Scrum, Agile
| This podcast features an interview with two educators from Grandview Prep in Boca Raton, FL. Aileen Palmer and Susan Rose have been working with the Scrum Alliance, John Miller and Mike Vizdos to help the school implement Scrum for both the students and school administration. The interview explains how Scrum got started at Grandview, the impact it has had on the students, as well as the benefits and challenges they’ve experienced along the way.
Show Notes01:16 Interview Begins 02:01 How Grandview Prep got interested in Scrum 04:59 Agile can be a lot easier for kids than adults 05:52 How Scrum has changed the way the students at Grandview collaborate 06:32 How the kids self-organize to make sure everyone is participating in the work 06:59 How teaching Scrum to a junior in high school impacts their ability to get work done and prepare for college 07:54 How visualizing the work is helping the students understand how to break work down into manageable pieces 08:35 Teaching students and teachers about how to break down the work and plan things out 10:20 Differences between how 1st graders and older kids are using Scrum at Grandview 11:17 The hardest parts of getting started with Scrum in school 13:17 Sometimes the transparency and seeing how much you have to do is overwhelming for adults 14:03 The struggle between Trello and Post-its 14:59 Student rankings and grading at Grandview - and how it has been impacted by Scrum 17:14 How using Scrum has improved the students and teachers ability to give and receive feedback 17:45 The reaction from parents/stakeholders to the introduction of Scrum at Grandview Prep 20:28 What Scrum means for the quiet kids who like to sit back and let others lead and drive the work 21:30 How will Grandview measure success to determine if/how Scrum is helping 22:33 The support Grandview Prep received from the Scrum Alliance 23:14 Advice for educators who are interested in learning more or trying to implement it at their school 24:39 How to get in touch with Susan and Aileen to learn more about Scrum at Grandview Prep 26:10 Wrap up 26:48 Podcast End
For more information:
Grandview Prep Info and ContactsGrandview Prep Aileen Palmer Susan Rose
Scrum Alliance Info and ContactsScrum Alliance John Miller Mike Vizdos Heather Leigh |
Posted on: March 06, 2017 08:15 PM
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drunkenpm radio Ep. 1 - Interviews with Shane Hastie, Troy Magennis and John D. Cook.
Categories:
troy magennis,
organizational agility,
Shane Hastie,
John D Cook,
drunkenpm radio,
hybrid,
metrics,
data,
business agility,
Agile
Categories: troy magennis, organizational agility, Shane Hastie, John D Cook, drunkenpm radio, hybrid, metrics, data, business agility, Agile
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I've changed the way I am doing the interviews and putting the podcasts together. So, this is a bit of a test and any feedback would be greatly appreciated...
Following a suggestion from Derek Huether, I'm including some notes (below) to moments in the interviews you may find of interest. Shane Hastie Interview Podcast Overview 00:44 Shane Interview Start 02:14 Opening question on hybrids, organizational agility, and bimodal 02:32 Will Hybrid models continue to exist 03:31 Letting Infrastructure off the hook 03:50 Why knowledge workers aren’t off the hook 04:25 Infrastructure example to explain where you need traditional and where you need agile 05:00 Where you need incremental roll out without iterative change 06:05 The PMP / Architect Happy Dance 07:00 The Agile people are all spitting on themselves 07:24 Launching a new product example 07:50 Learning is everything - you want Lean Startup 08:10 Knowing when to stop pivoting 08:50 Agile is spot on - Learning and Adapting 09:10 The goal is not agile, the goal is learning 09:30 Are we making progress 09:58 Throwing down the Agile banner 10:21 Agile is just a set of tools and a nice brand 10:40 We are still addicted to waterfall 11:00 People have been successful in the old way or working 11:25 There are not many pathological managers out there. 12:05 Helping them see that the global paradigm of business has changed 12:20 Finding the right combination of techniques and practices12:35 Packing agile brands 12:50 Can you design a new insurance product with TDD 13:19 What about the people who do not recognize that the business paradigm has changed 13:41 The pace of change is increasing 14:30 Cultural Change Officer 14:43 People don’t resist change unless they can’t see the benefits 15:00 Finding the personal win 15:40 Defining (Organizational) Business Agility 16:40 Bimodal 17:45 Leveraging skill and knowledge of people in your organization 18:33 Practices designed to fill the gaps in Agile 18:50 Shane’s favorites from the Agile 2015 19:40 Defining value for organizations 12:08 Teaching the organization 21:00 If we could all be Sweden… 21:50 Wrap up 22:00
John Cook and Troy Magennis Interview Intro 22:35 Are we data literate enough? 24:05 experiments and lean startup 24:34 Using legacy charts we don’t understand 15:00 Bing addicted to bad data in legacy charts 25:20 How do we help them see the right data 25:50 What should we measure and look at 26:23 Working on multiple projects 26:35 How much work are we doing 27:00 When they ignore what the data tells them 27:30 The chronic problem of multitasking 28:00 Extreme examples from academia and leveling 29:22 Tools fostering dysfunction 29:50 How do we teach them to ask for better stuff 30:25 We knew this stuff and we threw it all away 31:00 Agile and the laws of physics 31:15 Probability in the future 31:30 A predictable environment vs rolling dice 32:15 How long will things take 32:40 Creating / Defining a stable team 33:00 Tracking interruptions per week: 33:23 Helping hem understand why interrupts are bad by visualizing it 34:20 Understanding the difference between what you do and what the tool says you do 35:25 Interrupting managers v interrupting programmers 35:40 Tracking positive interruptions 36:00 A level playing field - they all suck so it worked well 37:15 The managers that will breed 38:00 Finding the multiplying factors 38:35 Technical Debt 39:10 Figuring out if we are looking at something meaningful 39:45 What is the mission with respect to data? 40:10 Trying to find the best course of action 40:45 We’re more about removing metrics and detail 41:10 Closing 41:40 |
Posted on: January 05, 2016 02:14 AM
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