Top Ten Blog Posts for 2015

January 18, 20163 min

Last weekend I was reviewing the traffic on the website and here are the top ten articles that people were clicking on in 2015.  This list is really interesting, so take a moment to review the best of 2015 and enjoy!  Happy New Year!

  1. What is Teamicide? – last year I reviewed the book, Peopleware, and this article about all the stupid things businesses do to kill teams was the most popular in 2015.  Peopleware was first published in 1987, so I wonder what that says about teams and businesses in 2015?
  2. The Retrospective Prime Directive is Kinda Silly – one of my goals is to be as authentic and genuine as possible in my interactions with others (this is a little hard since one of my traits is to be a people pleaser), so when I saw postings around the Retrospective Prime Directive it initiated this post.  It definitely generated a lot of discussion and interest.
  3. Fixing Weak Retrospective Action Items – nothing worse than to suffer through another boring Retrospective where nothing gets done.  This post helps you correct that problem with a real simple tool from GamestormingWho? What? and When? Matrix.
  4. Escape from Waterfall Island (Part 1 of 2) – #4 for 2015 was based on a great lightning talk from the Scrum Gathering Phoenix by Peter Stevens on how to help people leave their old patterns of behavior for a more Agile way of working.  Be sure to read the second part for the complete checklist form Peter.
  5. I Know How Lonely It Can Be Out Front – this entry was the first of my practitioner interviews to break the top ten.  I am so glad that all of you responded to Deb’s story and hopefully a few people contacted her for some coaching.
  6. Have You Lost Hope With Scrum? – apparently this topic resonated with people in 2015 since it came in at #6 on the site.  This entry, which discussed the mechanics of the Fearless Journey game, was the second part of two part series (#7 for 2015 was the first part) on how to drive out old patterns of behavior that are no longer useful.
  7. Can Scrum Really Work Miracles? – a lot of Scrum practitioners can only influence adoption of Scrum and Agile.  If that is the case, how do we support transformative change that creates human-centered organizations?  I would suggest by playing the Fearless Journey game.  This post describes the promise of Fearless Journey.
  8. Five Levels of Involvement for a Meeting – you know you have written a good article when your younger brother (who knows nothing about software or Scrum) reads this article and likes it on LinkedIn.  Consider reviewing this article the next you are about to call a meeting so you may think over how you want people to participate.  Also, be sure to review the article on the seven types of meetings.  While it did not make the tope ten of 2015, it is the must read companion to our #8 entry of 2015.
  9. Mastering the Agile Mindset – this year was my 10th anniversary of being part of the Scrum community.  As part of my “10 Years of Scrum” campaign, I wanted to reflect on what I envisioned as the future of Scrum and Agile in 2025.  I wonder if I will be right or not?
  10. Why Should I Care About Agile Chartering? – if you want to create better outcomes for your Teams, then take time to launch the Team correctly.  This short article from the start of 2015 lays out the need to consider Purpose, Alignment and Context before undertaking any significant effort.