Self-Selection: Start Small, Think Big
Learn how to safely experiment with self-selecting teams in your product organization. Discover practical steps to improve delivery speed and customer value through better team formation.
Beyond Agile Theater: Nurturing Organizational Ecosystems
Explore how viewing organizations as living ecosystems rather than machines can transform organizational change. Learn how to create conditions for sustainable agility and growth.
The Social Brain at Work: Lessons from Natural Grace
Have you ever watched a cat navigate a complex space? No wasted movement. No second-guessing. Just fluid response to the environment.
The most effective leaders I work with share this quality – an almost instinctive ability to read and respond to social dynamics. Not through forced techniques, but through cultivated awareness.
One small practice to develop this: In your next meeting, focus solely on observing energy shifts. Don’t try to change anything. Just notice. Like a cat testing its environment.
Bikeshedding: When Teams Get Stuck on the Small Stuff (And What to Do About It)
Have you ever been part of a planning session where a team spent 45 minutes debating the perfect name for their new feature flag configuration? Meanwhile, the architectural decision about their service mesh implementation got a mere two-minute discussion… If so, you’ve witnessed bikeshedding in action – a phenomenon that’s been haunting teams since before we had bikes to shed.
The Art of Gentle Leadership: Team Dynamics
Leadership paradox of the day: The harder you try to control group dynamics, the more likely they are to crack under pressure.
The art lies in creating space – holding situations firmly enough for safety, loosely enough for collaboration and growth.
Next time you feel tension rising: Take a breath. Loosen your grip. What happens?