From Kat Matfield’s session “User Research in an irrational world”: 1) If at all possible, look at records of what people actually did in the real-world situation, (screen recordings, chat logs, …) instead of putting them into a research situation (in which they will always pay more attention) or asking them to remember (memory is… Continue reading 5 more things I learned at Agile on the Beach 2016

As you know, I’m a sucker for a good metaphor be they coconuts or hosting. I’ve got a great new one for you: Baby Elephants! Fantastic, right? Well, yes, it’s promising. Baby elephants – What’s not to like. But what are they a metaphor for, pray tell? Judith Andresen introduced baby elephants as a metaphor… Continue reading Of Baby Elephants and MVPs

All my sketchnotes from AotB 2016:    

One of the topics in Darci Dutcher’s session “Running Killer Workshops Without Killing Yourself” at Agile on the Beach was promisingly called ‘Sticky note party tricks’. “Don’t really use them at a party. Other people do not get excited about sticky notes.” – Darci Dutcher Well, I’m the kind of person who does get excited… Continue reading Bonus shape for sticky notes

Do you know this inner debate when you’re facilitating and somebody keeps monologuing: “Is this still relevant? Should I stop him? Do the others look bored? I should cut him off …” That makes me judge and jury about whether something is still relevant to the whole group. I don’t like to make that call.… Continue reading Self-Regulating Discussions with Jeff Patton’s Cups

At the beginning of September I was at Agile on the Beach 2016. It was just as good as I expected, which says a lot given that I had really high expectations! Fantastic talks, learned tons, in beautiful sunny Cornwall – what’s not to like? Well, one thing. It’s a pet peeve of mine: Despite… Continue reading Can you repeat the question?

[English summary: We wrote a book at work (in German) and it turned out amazing!!! It’s a cross between coffee table and business book. Watch out for “24 Work Hacks“! If you’d be interested in an English version, tell me so that I can make a case for translating it 🙂 ] Endlich, endlich, darf… Continue reading 24 Work Hacks – Das Buch

Once, on our way to the movies our tram stopped at “Heinrich-Heine-Alley”. It’s a popular tram stop in Düsseldorf, especially for tourists. One such (German!) tourist exited there with his family and remarked: “Ah, Heinrich-Heine-Alley, he was mayor here once.” That tourist was making sense of his surroundings and “previous mayor” seemed like a reasonable… Continue reading Sense-Making Machines

Whenever someone mentions “Servant Leadership” it triggers an almost Pavlovian reflex in me to say: “Have you heard of ‘Host Leadership’? IMHO it’s the much better metaphor for Scrum Master work.” Part of SM work is enforcing rules. How can you do that as a servant? The metaphor breaks. As a host it makes perfect… Continue reading Host Leadership is the better metaphor

Last year I shared Reframing advice from Esther Derby, about how you can change your own thinking about “difficult” people. This year it’s advice from Veronika Kotrba and Ralph Miarka about how to open up solution space in other people’s thinking: When someone says “My boss never listens to me” this is a very definite… Continue reading Open Up Solution Space by Reframing