In this deep dive into Agile Principle #9, we are going to explore not only the historical principle under traditional development processes but also how the principle applies in the world of AI-enabled development work.

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The goal of this session is to show how to use AI to build real software without losing your mental model of the system.

This is a live demo starting from a problem domain chosen on the spot.

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Retrospectives can be the powerhouse of continual improvement for your team, but too often they become complaint sessions about things outside the team's control, and nothing truly actionable is decided. In this talk we are going look at the purpose of retrospectives and a few ways to facilitate them productively. We'll also present (and email all the attendees) an AI workflow that you can use to increase your retrospective skills.

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Cumulative Flow Diagrams give your team instant X-ray vision into how work is being started and completed. By making WIP and cycle-time issues clearly visible, CFDs create real predictability and forecasting without “percent done” guessing. This visibility helps smooth out lumpy delivery, drives reduced batch size, and highlights the flow of code delivery. The result is a shared picture of reality that leads to better conversations and better decisions.

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Most teams use some combinations of Features, Stories, and Tasks to manage their work, but while some teams use this hierachy to laser focus the delivery of awesome software to their users, other teams struggle to deliver anything their customer want. In working with a large number of teams, I've identified some common patterns in how successful teams manage their work along with pitfalls that can trip up even the best intentions. In this sessions we'll explore these patterns and discuss ways that you can guide your team toward better results through more intentional story management practices.

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Leveraging Communication is the key to the Collaboration that makes Teams excel at higher levels. Whatever your team style, these tips will help you to know yourself and your communication strengths to be a better asset when you work with others whether you are lead ing the charge or working within a team. When what we’re transmitting is received incorrectly, communication breaks down and there is very little collaboration - We can all learn to communicate more effectively.

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Small user stories are a key enabler of agility, but many teams dutifully break down stories without seeing any benefit. Why is this? In this talk, we are going to introduce the Pedal Principle to show how some of the practices that increase agility have to be paired with other practices. The trailing pedal on a bike is not going to be very useful until you apply work to the leading pedal. Small independent stories aren't going to feel very helpful unless you first invest in enough delivery flow to take advantage of the smaller stories.

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Is your team or project supposed to “be agile?” You might not feel that way if you have a years-long backlog, standups are individual status reports, and everyone is still multitasking. The people on the project want to do great work. But how you work feels a lot like an “agile” death march. There’s a reason you feel that way. You’re using fake agility—a waterfall lifecycle masquerading as an agile approach. No one has to work that way.

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In giving hundreds of online talks, I have a vast amount expertise in things that I'd prefer not to ever do again. I have a small amount of experience in things that seem to usually work pretty well or at least don't fail as terribly when things go wrong. If you are looking for some tips for making your presentations more engaging, curious about the technical setup behind the lunch and learn series, or just want to hear embarrassing stories of my mistakes, this session is for you.

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There is a fundamental disconnect in delivering software. Software developers are often proud of their innovations, and businesses are eager to ship them. But users are increasingly exhausted by the constant technological churn disrupting daily lives and workflows. In Zimman's new book, Progressive Delivery: Build The Right Thing For The Right People At The Right Time, he and his co-authors James Governor, Kim Harrison, and Heidi Waterhouse call this phenomenon technological jerk.

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