Michael K. Levine and Tales of Agility in the News
The best books if you want to lead software delivery teams. Shepard.com is a new book discover site - kind of like wandering around a well-curated book store. I was asked to put together a list of best books, and here it is. Starting with Microsoft and Toyota, ending with Team Topologies and my own Leadership for Agility. Interesting site!
US Bank Named # 1 in Digital Mortgage. Very proud of the US Bank team and our partners (including Blend, Black Knight, & Wipro Gallagher) of this recognition. Over a few years went from “okay” to the best.
People Over Process video, presentation to Enterprise Agile Meetup San Francisco, October 29, 2020. 80 minute zoom video. I present the basics of the leadership model and the story from the book, along with my friend Michael Jee from Blend (SF tech firm). Here is another video of same material done for the Midwest Architecture Collaboration Consortium a week later.
Review of People Over Process by Henny Portman, July 26, 2020. “A pragmatic, down to earth book when using agile ways of working and the case makes clear that scrum is not the magic bean or silver bullet for all projects. The book offers the facilitative leadership model for agility based on rigor, alignment and efficiency around major meetings or events like architecture simulation, project planning and team configuration to support you in having more successful projects. …. I would say this book is definitely worth reading!” Thanks to Henny for developing a handy 1-page summary of the book as well.
Leadership For Agility, Modern Leadership Podcast with Jake Carlson. July 16, 2020. Jake Carlson hosts the premier podcast for today’s leaders, and is a prominent speaker, writer, and mentor. He has a passion for the new challenges presented by technology, globalization, and the rise of the knowledge economy. In this context we explore my own career progression, how lean and agile ideas apply to many leadership contexts, and how my books can help leaders gain the knowledge they need to succeed.
The Agile Narrative, Schmidt List Podcast, May 26, 2020. Kurt Schmidt is a software technology industry leader, company builder (Nerdery, Foundry), speaker and podcaster. In this half-hour we discuss how agile transformations happens at the cultural level before any process overhauls can succeed. Kurt has become a fan on of People Over Process: Leadership for Agility, so we discuss some of the key takeaways from the book. We also extrapolate some of the book’s lessons, written before the pandemic made the Agile Manifesto’s emphasis on in-person communication a bit of a fond memory, to the current socially-distanced environments.
Mastering Business Analysis Podcast: Leadership for Agility with Dave Saboe, March 18, 2020. Although Scrum doesn't have a specific role for business/systems analysts, I am a big believer in the value of these (and other) specialized skills integrated properly onto delivery teams. Dave Saboe hosts this brief (25 minutes) Mastering Business Analysis podcast in which we cover this topic and others surrounding leadership for agility. How can we lead from any role on a delivery team?
Leading While Green Podcast: People Over Process with Pierre Quinn, March 6, 2020. (On Youtube) (Short excerpt on Linkedin) Pierre Quinn hosts a podcast for new and aspiring leaders. We had a great conversation about leadership for agility. We started with the Manifesto for Agile Software Development principles, which were not high on the role of organizational leadership (think Dilbert's boss). We then move into a discussion of the obligations of leaders to facilitate agility, including such actions as helping to establish useful roles, configuring teams, dealing with personnel issues, connecting teams to each other and the larger organization, and making a small number of frameworks part of the culture. Some good thoughts for new and experienced leaders!
Moving Forward Leadership Podcast with Scott McCarthy, February 23, 2020. Scott focuses on leadership development. We talked about how I got interested in leadership and Agile, the role of the organizational leader, and three great frameworks that support agility.
People Over Process: Leadership Agility Podcast with Jay Iszo, February 19, 2020. Jay is an engaging interviewer, and read the book with great attention prior to our discussion. Next best thing to audiobook, which I haven’t done (yet, anyhow). We talk about leadership for agility, and how it applies well beyond technology to a wide variety of leadership demands.
School for Startups Radio Podcast, February 17, 2020. (Starts at 24 minutes 30 seconds). Aimed at small businesses and entrepreneurs. We cover the roots of lean and agile software, the facilitative leadership model and how it applies to many enterprises, and some useful frameworks and tools. Interesting dialog on how leadership for agility applies more broadly than just large-scale software initiatives.
Five Reasons to Cancel That Meeting, Businessknowhow.com, January 15, 2020. Meetings can be a terrific leadership leverage points. People Over Process gives great tips and examples on how to make them successful. But our focus on efficiency compels us to ask: when should we NOT have a meeting? The best way to avoid a bad meeting is just not call it!
People Driven or Drive People: Choosing the Right Approach to Increase Your Company’s Agility, Businessingmag.com, January 15, 2020. Organizations are constantly faced with the changes being wrought by our new digital world: everything connected, enormous amounts of data, and practically unlimited computing power. How to change your organization to cope? Michael’s two models from his second book, Tale of Two Transformations, are explained.
How to Create the Best Frameworks for Your Team’s Ideas, Complete Connection, January 2020. Frameworks are a core part of leadership for agility. They help us achieve rigor, alignment and efficiency, from the Toyota-derived lean A3 to the Amazon memo. This article discusses the idea and provides some ideas for teams.
Combining Silos and Bridges to Organize for Agility, IT Business Net, January 2020. We know that teams are how complex software gets done, and that multiple teams are needed for many large initiatives. We also know that enterprises have many large initiatives progressing simultaneously with a variety of connections and dependencies. This article provides ideas on how to keep teams optimally separated (in silos) and connected (with bridges).
People Over Process Podcast, Interview on A Geek Leader with John Rouda, January 19, 2020. Geek Leader is aimed at up and coming IT leaders. Forty minute conversation with IT Leader & Professor John Rouda covering wide range of topics, including lean and agile, career development, and favorite frameworks such as Amazon’s memos and Toyota’s A3. Available at this link and at usual podcast locations.
Leadership Role in Adding Test Automation to Existing Environments, Devops.com, January 3, 2020. Test automation is key to devops. Implementing it takes leadership. In this post, Michael describes a recent success through the lens of the leadership for agility model. The project team rigorously used facts and considered options, gained alignment, did so efficiently. A great example for others!
When Banks Partner with Fintechs: Six Keys to Success, BankingCIOOutlook.com, January 2, 2020. Banks have always partnered with technology providers. Since products and regulations are quite standard in the US, it is a fertile ground for shared systems. Fintechs present some new opportunities and concerns. Michael gives some tips from his broad experience partnering with technology firms, from “be careful” to “help your partner succeed beyond your own deal.”
The Secret to Leading Agile Teams Podcast, Interview with Eric Dye on Entrepreneur Podcast Network, December 28, 2019. Why did Michael write these books, how goes the agile movement, what does lean have to do with this? Why are meetings valuable, what are frameworks, and why is leadership for agility different and a good fit for large scale software development?
The Insider Secret to Successfully Leading Teams on Agile Software Development, Information-Management.com, December 16, 2019. Introductory chapter from People over Process. The basic leadership for agility model presented.
Agile Project Management: Four Lessons Learned This Year, The Enterprisers Project, December 10, 2019. Eighteen years after the publishing of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, how its principles hold up? Pretty well, but we’ve also learned some new lessons for agile teams.
Roles on Agile Teams: 6 Tips for Making Sense of the Swirl, Real Leaders, December 4, 2019, and Thrive Global, December 19, 2019. A People Over Process set of tips to help leaders and team members. Includes “Scrum roles are too simple,” “Missions, not task,” and “Many teams need a formal engineering leader,” among others.
To Drive Digital Transformation, Focus on People, Strategy Driven, December 3, 2019. Explains the unique challenges of digital transformation and the People Over Process leadership model that best supports success. Three actionable tips are given: use of frameworks, leadership behavior, training/teaching leadership skills.
Movers and Shakers Interview, by Dillon Kivo, November 22, 2019. Q&A about my background, influences on my career, advice I’d give others.
9 Pitfalls to Scaling Innovation from Pilot to Production, Stephanie Pratt, CIO.com, November 20, 2019. Some pointers, including some from me. “If you’re going to do an innovation, it has to scale.”
Leadership for Agility: Responsibilities of Organizational Leaders, 45-minute video from Agile Day Twin Cities, November 20, 2019. Introducing the model of leadership for agility and applying it to organizational leaders. Agile doesn’t speak much to this topic, but as a long-time CIO it is near and dear to me. Managers are not just useless figureheads to be ignored; we can help, and in this talk I explain how.
Change Management: 10 Ways to Up Your Game, Stephanie Overby, November 11, 2019, The Enterprises Project Community. “‘There are two basic approaches to making significant change: people-driven and driving people,’ says Levine. The former bottom-up approach emphasizes people and relationships and encourages leaders to make changes at the right pace for their organization. That works well in well-performing organizations with solid leadership, or in cases where drastic shifts are too risky.”
Interview on Young Upstarts, by Daniel Goh, 11/07/19. Why I wrote books, what is leadership for agility, does it apply beyond software (yes!) . “Almost as therapy, I undertook to write a book that would be accessible to business leaders dependent on large-scale technology to help them avoid … devastating failure.” “People Over Process grew out of seeing problems in practice, this time the problems of mistakenly thinking that implementing scrum is the same as becoming agile.”
Book review on MobYorkCity by Nicole Killian, November 5, 2019. “Levine harnesses a deep tool kit to construct a vision for effective leadership under agile principles and the internal consistency of his structure reflects the analytical yet intensely human heart of his personal methodology. Levine marries a rigorous intellectual approach with people-first ethos throughout the book and maintains an impressive balance between the two. It is no small accomplishment.
Book review on Independent Music and Arts by Clay Burton, October 30, 2019. “"The final word on the Agile Movement..in the area of software technology. However, not a book for tech wonks alone. You could divorce any mention of technology and it would still stand as an authoritative account about maximizing your leadership potential.” “One of the most notable entries you’ll encounter on the subject and an entertaining reading experience as well.”
Book review on the Indie Source by Anne Hollister, October 16, 2019. “Its fusion of creative writing, objectivity, innate understanding of human character, and command over complex concepts overlapping assorted disciplines sets it apart from many non-fiction texts.” “Painted readers a vibrant and fully visualized portrait of what ideal leadership under the auspices of agility looks like in 2019, and presents it in such a way that this text will stand as a definitive word on the subject for many years to come.”
“The Facilitative Leader: A Model for Agile Success", CEO World, October 16, 2019. Executive Insider column explaining need for leadership to sustain agility and introducing the key concepts of rigor, alignment, efficiency, and frameworks. Similar article on Thrive Global, November 20, 2019.
Book review on Goodreads by Jason Hillenburg, October 15, 2019. Four stars. “Michael Levine is one of the prime voices championing the Agile Movement in computing and software development. His latest book on the subject People Over Process: Leadership for Agility is a dense and layered work reflecting on those working the front lines of software development and how business and organizational leadership can foster creativity.”
US Bank Revolutionizes Home Borrowing Experience, May 15, 2019. Press Release on the US Bank home loan portal. U.S. Bank was the first lender to go to market with technology which can validate both income and assets (via data aggregation, explicitly permitted by applicant) and determine creditworthiness to make a near-instant approval at the time the mortgage application is submitted, and supports home equity loans and lines, refinances, and purchases. The portal was implemented using many of the lean and agile techniques described in The Tales of Agility.