A blog for people in organisations.

What microservices architecture does Uber use? And what is the connection between DevOps principles, autonomous teams and microservices?

What is project politics, what influences it in real company life and how can companies gradually develop “healthy” project politics?

What can companies do if they find that their agile transformation is stagnating? What challenges do they need to overcome?

What is an adaptive organisation (#AdaptiveOrg)? How is the core process designed and what are the tasks of catalysts?

How can differences of opinion be resolved before they escalate into emotional conflicts? Three tasks and Inspector Columbo can help.

Self-employed people often struggle with positioning their service. What question should they answer to initiate sales

How can cooperation in workshops and meetings be designed to create a spirit of togetherness at eye level? A field report.

Why is it a good idea to do software development in an agile way, but not a good idea to offer agile software development as a service?

What is problem thinking and how can we free ourselves from situations where negative thoughts are triggered by problems?

What is the truth of the saying “A fool with a tool is still a fool”? What influence do tools, features or perspectives have in the assessment?

Self-organisation is an important topic in many companies. How is it promoted and how important are structures, processes and roles?

A list of abbreviations that are frequently used on the internet. JTLYK, probably TL;DR, AFAIC useful and an alternative to STW.

There are at least 5 major misconceptions when discussing quantum computers and quantum technology. An attempt at explanation.

A collection of quotes about paths, planning, future, knowledge, ideas, risks, courage, mistakes, changes, successes, motivation, leadership and happiness.

What can companies learn from Maori culture and what concepts can be found that are also addressed in New Work?

What is behind New Leadership? What is new about it, why are companies no longer able to avoid it and how do you become a New Leader?

Almost 29 million people in Germany are involved in voluntary work. What role do leadership and agility play in volunteering?

In times of high market dynamics, many companies want to be as agile as start-ups. Resilience is the key factor for sustainable agility.

Basic features are not perceived by many customers, but their absence causes dissatisfaction. Why is their importance increasing nowadays?

A “no” to something can be a “yes” to one’s own needs. How do employees in organisations succeed in saying “no” more often?

There are projects in which humour is a survival strategy. Laughing together does not solve problems, but it has a liberating effect.

Agility could help you achieve better health, as appropriate practices can also be effective outside the familiar context.

As a quiet, introverted person in the noisy business world, it is not always easy to become visible. What superpowers can you use to change that?

It is time for a look at the psychological consequences of virtual collaboration and home office beyond subjective opinions.

Agile working is often associated with five values (openness, commitment, focus, courage and respect). How meaningful is this in reality?

In many companies, teams are becoming more involved in personnel selection. This makes sense, but should not replace aptitude diagnostics.

It is not the features but the outcomes that determine the success of a product. These outcomes should also reflect the roadmap of a product.

How can colleagues communicate effectively with each other when everyone believes that their personal opinion is important and correct?

What is important when dealing with notes? How can typical challenges be overcome and which tool helps in practice?

It is not always possible to avoid mistakes. It’s good that there are a number of ways to improve the way we deal with mistakes.

Budgets reflect a belief in predictability. This has always been difficult, but is almost anachronistic in a world of change.

How can the thinking and decision-making logic of effectuation help with the issue of sustainability? A look at practical examples and important principles.

The lack of an agile mindset in transformations is often discussed. Why does this fall short and what really matters in transformations?

Dealing with Google rankings is an ongoing task. What “truths” often remain unspoken in the task and what insights do they yield?

Digitalisation is both a challenge and a solution. Which five levers help to make digitalisation more of an opportunity than a challenge?

What influence does the hybrid office have on stress, satisfaction and motivation of employees and how should a hyrid office be designed?

Many companies are practised in dealing with users, yet there are often situations in which the user does not play a role. Time for an analysis.

Which components do you use to enable people to work together in a new remote team in an appreciative and value-creating way? A field report.

Reducing CO₂ waste is also becoming increasingly important for IT companies. The time is right for DevGreenOps.

Introverts often prefer to generate ideas quietly. How can this work in a brainstorming session?

Companies are increasingly talking about disruption. What is a disruption anyway and what relevance does it have internally and externally?

How do people learn best, what do (LMS) learning management systems offer and why is the time right for LXP (learning experience platforms)?

Career changers are no longer a rarity in today’s professional world. How does a lateral entry into the UX industry work? A field report.

What is the importance of alignment when working with Objectives and Key Results and what is addressed by it?

The call for authentic communication is getting louder and louder. Why should authenticity nevertheless not become a leitmotif of your organisation?

Moderation and leadership have some things in common. How can leadership be trained through facilitation and what are the resulting tips?

Many people shy away from dealing with themselves. What steps help with Inner Work and why is it worth the effort?

Product recalls are anything but rare. What should companies keep in mind, what is the process and why is communication so important?

Many artists have approached the motif of the Easter Bunny in their paintings. A surreal excursion into an art history and a homage to Easter.

Those who discuss trust in an organisation also promote communication about mistrust. How can this paradox be solved?

What is the idea behind #NoEstimates? Why can effort estimates be an antipattern and what is the key to more predictability?

Es ist Zeit für neue wunderbare Buchempfehlungen. Und es ist Zeit für drei spezifische Fragen an wunderbare Buchautor:innen.

There are many reasons why agility does not work in companies. The final part of the series is about utilisation, scaling and feedback.

Social selling is considered the new magic wand of successful selling. With the right people in focus, this may even be true.

The activities in requirements engineering are based on nine principles. What are they and how does the interaction work?

There are over 180 different unconscious biases. What are the advantages and disadvantages, and what can be done against one’s own unconscious bias?

What is mindfulness, what expectations are associated with it, who is the antagonist and can it be abused? An assessment.

Agile coaching has to decide: does it want to contribute to feel-good management for employees or to binding product development?

A conversation about rhetoric, the writing of reflections and the importance of the voice in the wake of numerous digital formats.

Authenticity and authentic leadership are considered popular and desirable. Why is this nonsense and what does science have to say on the subject?

Many organisations try to create a culture of error in which mistakes are seen as learning opportunities. Time for reflection.

Even in agile teams there is a need to define roles. How does this happen, when can roles be useful and when do they rather harm?

In mathematics lessons, we often look for an X. It is a placeholder, much like agility is a placeholder in companies.

What does leadership mean in a complex and dynamic world? And what can and should companies learn from aviation in this respect?

The potential of offboarding is not realised in many organisations. How can everyone involved make the most of a parting?

When conversations in organisations are superficial, changes of perspective can help to improve the culture of conversation. How does it work?

In an ideal world, we conduct role clarification workshops in every project. What techniques help in the real world?

What is the significance of values for work in and with organisations? And how does cooperation succeed when values are not congruent?

“Those who can read have a clear advantage” – says a popular wisdom. And which books are particularly worth reading? These recommended works are.

The transformation of IT organisations is not easy. How can it succeed and what helps when the transformation falters? A field report.

What influence do haptics have on our perception? How is media literacy developing in society? And how can the two be combined?

There is much discussion about women in leadership positions. How can the Storylistening method help in this context within companies?

How does FOR-DEC work as a decision-making technique for self-organised project teams? What is the process, what tips exist and what are advantages?

Design thinking seems to be losing some of its importance. Is this impression deceptive and what is important when applying it in practice?

Microfrontends are considered the logical continuation of distributed systems in the frontend. What is the basic idea and how can an implementation succeed?

Many system vendors want to be and work in an agile way and are developing adapted approaches. What might an agile maturity model look like?

How can team communication be improved with LEGO Serious Play? What is the process of a workshop and what is important in practice?

Christmas is associated with many expectations that often do not (or cannot) come true. How could it work better?

Heroes are respected in companies and in our society. But for lasting change, something else is needed: normal people! A wake-up call!

The ability to behave resiliently is becoming increasingly important in a dynamic working world. How can individual resilience be promoted?

The image of annual appraisals is negative. This is due to many mistakes that organisations make when conducting them. What tips help?

A Christmas story to make you smile and think. A tale about beliefs and opportunities, about the present and the future.

Anyone who deals with personnel marketing should have clarity. Clarity about target groups and recruiting goals, about potentials and programmes, about …

“Do you read, do you know”. But which books are well worth reading? A new list with 12 book recommendations answers this question.

How do patterns emerge in organisations, what functions do they have and what are the consequences for the selection of methods?

Many companies use frameworks and tools for their agile development, but negate the basis for agility. This cannot work.

At the end of the year, the budget battles often begin in companies. What could an alternative approach look like and what is needed for it?

The Sprint is the heart of Scrum. How long does it last, how is it planned and which topics help with the planning? An introduction.

What to do when a team wants to stay as it is and resists change? A practical report with impulses and group dynamic phenomena.

The shape of an organisational culture can be vividly described with the water lily model. But how does an organisation succeed in change?

Dependencies in Scrum are a challenge. What causes them, how can they be identified and what tips help to eliminate them?

Those who want to agree find ways, those who want to argue find topics! What is the challenge of arguing and how can conflicts be resolved?

The search for compromises based on solutions of different interest groups is not effective. There is a need for KO criteria.

Good leadership can be observed in many places. What makes it good and what effect does it have on employees? What can be learned from it individually?

In a service society, services become products. How does that work? With the PARIS Model and its 5 building blocks.

What does a proxy product owner do? In which scenarios is he used and what are the challenges?

Voltaire said that “reading strengthens the soul”. But which books, among others, are worth reading? A list of book recommendations answers this question.

Micro frontends make it possible to have parts of the frontend of a web application developed by independent teams. How does this work in practice?

Customer retention is important. Yet there are often situations where companies almost sabotage their customer relationships. A field report.

What is a requirements specification and what is it not? What contents belong in it and how can it be created in a pragmatic, agile way?

What does the everyday life of a programmer look like? What principles help with programming, how important is testing and what tips exist?

Culture determines how work is done in companies. How can cultural hacking change a corporate culture in real terms? What works and what doesn’t?

There are many reasons why agility does not work in companies. Part 6 of the series is about new roles, status reports and old structures.

Please keep going! There is nothing to see here! Except goldfish and tips for communicating benefits and call to actions.

Online workshops and meetings pose challenges for everyone involved. Which principles are particularly helpful in conducting them?

What can you do to actively work on team culture in the home office? This is where the digitally adapted Lego Serious Play method comes in.

What is UX writing, what is Voice & Tone design and why are both points so important for companies and communication with users?

What aspects besides the response behaviour are to be considered in the performance of a system and how can these be tested? A report from the field.

How can lean thinking be established in sales and marketing? What is the value of customer benefit and how can it be determined?

Software developers often try to solve problems in the code. Why does a performance analysis beyond code make sense and what tips are there for it?

The Systemic Questionnaire Technique is a method for qualitatively recording expectations of an initiative. How does it work?

How can Inspector Columbo’s questioning techniques improve communication and cooperation in organisations and solve problems?

Many agile transformations fail. How important are procedure, communication, trust, mistakes and security for the success of a transformation?

The Flight Levels Model is a communication tool for organisations. How can it be successfully introduced and applied? A field report.

Productivity is considered a natural goal of successful companies. What does this mean for cooperation and what are the consequences?

Often, OKR do not deliver what organisations expect from them. Why is this and what can organisations do better?

A task critique examines which tasks will be carried out in the future and in what way. How does a remote, agile task critique work?

What is the purpose of the Sprint Review in Scrum and how could a Sprint Review in Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) with multiple remote teams be facilitated?

What is the importance of interfaces in the design of mechatronic systems? And what tips exist for interface design?