Agendashift roundup, May 2018
In this edition: ‘Done’ goes viral; Right to left; Reviews for Agendashift; Munich and South Wales; Tools and translations; Upcoming; Top posts
‘Done’ goes viral
I don’t usually start with the blog, but within days of posting, My handy, referenceable Definition of Done jumped to the top of the leader board for 2018, bringing with it a linked post from 2016, Better user stories start with authentic situations of need.
The reaction to this post was striking. Clearly, most people got what I was doing right away, but a few (5% maybe) seemed offended that I had dared to subvert a cherished Agile concept, the definition of done. I have absolutely no regrets on that score, and not just because it provoked a response: it’s a legitimate target that I’d be only too happy taken down and replaced with better things – definitions of ready (the obvious technical alternative), needs, outcomes, goals, validation, and so on.
Right to left
It seems slightly crazy that I’ve started work on a new book (my third) so soon after Agendashift, but I just can’t help myself!
Are you tired of introductions to Agile (and actual implementations, for that matter) that start “on the left” with projects and backlogs and work their way slowly rightwards to where the long-suffering customer patiently waits for something of value actually to happen? Well so am I, and I’m doing something about it.
My best guess is that Right to left will be available sometime in 2019, and hopefully no more than 12 months from now – let’s call it early summer ’19. There’s no landing page for it yet but there is a #right-to-left channel in the Agendashift Slack and some blog posts:
3 Ways to Approach Lean, Agile, and Lean-Agile (a guest post on the Kanbanize blog)
Understanding Lean-Agile, right to left (theme 1 of 3)
Towards the wholehearted organisation, outside in (theme 2 of 3)
For completeness, theme 3 of 3, “upside down”, the supportive organisation, will get its own post in the next few days.
In terms of tone, I’m aiming for “a book you’ll happily give your manager and hope they’ll want to pass on to theirs” – less practitioner-focussed than KFTI and Agendashift then, but plenty for the expert to enjoy too I’m sure.
Word count so far: 2,910 (May 31st, 2018).
Reviews for Agendashift
Fewer than I’d like (to be honest I’m a little frustrated), but the reviews we do have are great, all 5-star so far. See for yourself:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Many thanks to those that have taken the trouble so far, and keep them coming!
Munich, and South Wales
For reasons we don’t fully understand, the Munich workshop didn’t quite get off the ground. There were sales, but not quite enough of them came soon enough for us to be confident of being able to give a good experience. Postponed rather than cancelled, and we may find a client organisation both to host it and to ensure numbers. That’s a model that could work in your city too; do get in touch if you have even just a small core of people interested.
Cardiff though – with DevOpsGuys as both excellent hosts and active participants – was great. Again some fantastic feedback for the 2-day Advanced workshop, and I spoke afterwards at the South Wales Agile Group.
I’ll be in South Wales again in July for Agile Cymru, where no fewer than five Agendashift partners will be speaking: Cat Swetel, Jose Casal, Karl Scotland, Matt Turner, and yours truly. That’s amazing! Clearly, if you want to find good people, you should check out the partner directory, and perhaps decide to join that list yourself 
