TheAgileStartup

Thule Rules! - B2B eCommerce Channel Conflict Update

Last week I posted on a problem that I had uncovered with the Thule Distribution Channel.  I was desperately in need of finding a replacement key for my car top carrier before the long Memorial Day holiday weekend.  What I found was that Thule had set up an intermediary service called Shopatron that in the name of preserving the integrity of their distribution channel, was actually standing in the way of a timely delivery of that key. 

Today I want to update my experience and give a very loud shout out to Steve D. who is Thule's Internet Manager!  He not only found, and professionally responded to my blog post, but he personally expedited my key order.  I hope Thule knows how wonderful an employee Steve D. is.  In my experience, he is a rare find and Thule is truly lucky to have him in their employ!

Transparency, Agility and Accountability

My wife and I have been remodeling our kitchen this summer.  After 7 weeks of washing dishes in the bathtub, I was excited to finally be able to wash the breakfast dishes in the new stainless steel sink, with the touch activated faucet, looking through the enlarged double casement windows, onto the...weed infested raised bed garden?#@#$?

Agile (Un)Moments - Beware of Shortcuts

Beware of shortcuts because they seldom are, especially when it comes to talking to your customers! 

It is so tempting to follow the lead of a "savvy surrogate" when it comes to steering a software project.  After all, it's so much easier to present her a demonstration of the application and get positive feedback than it is to deal with all of the logistics, and anxiety, of recruiting real customers to a customer focus group.  Not to mention having to listen to them and analyze and interpret their feedback!

Agile is Like Pornography - You'll Know It When You See It

In 1964, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, issued the following opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio, one of the early challenges of pornography to the First Amendment of the Constitution:

"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that."

The 7,800,000 Google search results for "What is Agile?" not withstanding, based on my many conversations with Agile teams and their coaches and consultants, I believe that Justice Stewart's sentiment is as applicable to Agile as it is to pornography.  You can try as hard as you'd like to define or test for Agile, until you see it, you can never truly know it. 

In order to help us see Agile, I would like to introduce the concept of an Agile Moment, and with today's post, to begin sharing some of b2b2dot0's.