A blog for people in organisations.
With useful, first-hand tips from experts.
Leadership in uncertain times
How does leadership work in a global crisis? How does security arise in times of uncertainty and what are the do’s and don’ts of leadership?
Unique Selling What?
Companies are often asked to find their differentiator and define a Unique Selling Proposition. But does this USP even exist?
Burnout, digitalisation and the hamster wheel
Some people suffer from burnout. What influence does digitalisation have, what role does the familiar hamster wheel play and what help is available?
Why I ended up with Godot
Why is Godot Engine a very good engine for game development? A personal journey report from löve2D, MonoGame, Unity, Unreal Engine to Godot.
Systemic thinking and acting at the workplace
The systemic approach is appreciated as a coaching and therapy tool for individuals, couples or groups. How can it also help in the workplace?
Oh my dear tender
Tenders cause great effort. What can contracting authorities do to improve the work with tenders? And why not only contractors benefit from this?
Quo vadis, meeting culture?
Employees spend a lot of time in meetings. And many of these meetings are inefficient. Which tips and rules help to improve the meeting culture?
Welcome, Digital Natives
What should employees be prepared for when they encounter digital natives in their organisations? How can good cooperation be achieved?
Learning is not a sexy subject. Or: Learning from Scotty.
Do you want to improve your actions in unexpected situations? Then you should train your learning by doing. A look at starship Enterprise will help.
Do you believe in agility?
Agility is about mindset, values and best practices. It’s not about wording, and the agile manifesto is not a sacred scripture. An opinion.
Communication in small and large companies
Is there a change in communication “in business”? Does the same apply to communication, rules and channels for both small and large companies?
5 myths about the agile target system OKR
There are many myths surrounding Objectives and Key Results (OKR). Time for a look at the target system and the strategy, cascading and method.
The Viable System Model and responsible leadership
Responsible leadership means securing, promoting and developing the viability of companies, teams and individuals. How does the Viable System Model help?
The secret superpower for project managers
There is a superpower that many people neither know nor perceive. Which superpower is that and why is it more important than the quality of the project work?
Modern Agile Principles: Agile work made easy
What do we have left if we set aside the methods, processes, frameworks and certifications and really focus on agility? 4 modern agile principles!
The Candidate Journey
Companies find it hard to recruit new employees. Applicants find it tricky to identify suitable positions. Time for a look at the Candidate Journey.
An alternative to Scrum for contract projects
Not all IT managers have had positive experiences with Scrum in contract projects. How could an alternative look like in the context of low-code developments?
Hybrid organisations – solution or problem?
The transformation from traditional to agile organisations inevitably leads to hybrid organisations. Is this a problem or maybe even a permanent solution?
Agility? We tried it! Does not work! – Part 3
There are many reasons why agility does not work in companies. Part 3 of the series deals with career paths, bonuses, privileges and images of people.
Shifting Mindsets – is that even possible?
Many initiatives for change in companies fail because systematic errors in thinking are made. Why do these errors occur and how can change succeed?
Mobile-free zone – detox totales
Ten years ago the first smartphones came onto the market, today they are everywhere. Time for a digital detox. Time for a self-experiment and a list of findings.
Why management consultants should be Servant Leaders
Servant Leadership is a value-based attitude. What are the characteristics and success factors and how can Servant Leadership be implemented?
The fairy tale of the eye level
Acting at eye level is a modern imperative. But what does reality look like? A fairy tale with a king, subjects, sleeping beauty and musketeers.
Create smartphone applications with Flutter
With Flutter, mobile applications can be developed for both Android and iOS. An example including implementation of a data layer and calling a service.
Psychological AI – Via language to motives
People’s motives are expressed in language, but capturing motives from language is costly and time-consuming. Artificial intelligence can help.
From the idea to the prototype
The rapid testing of product ideas is very important. How can prototypes and especially click dummies help? And which procedure is the right one?
Free the world from boring lectures! Provotain!
An experience says more than thousand pictures. How does Provotainment succeed in conveying provocative, friendly and entertaining content?
The three most common misconceptions about vision
Why do corporate visions often not have the desired effect? Because organisations fail and make mistakes when creating visions.
My New Year’s resolution is the same every year
Intuition is helpful in many situations, but how important is it compared to intellect, reason and reflexion? A New Year’s resolution.
WebApps in the address bar of the browser
How to program a WebApp that is small enough to fit into the browser’s address bar? A technical gimmick with a concrete use case.
Managing change and transformation successfully – a misunderstanding?
Can change processes be managed? How meaningful are most change management studies? And how could a transformation perhaps succeed? A statement.
The selection of management consultants
Small and medium-sized enterprises are often reluctant to engage with management consultants. What process helps to select the right ones?
Agility? We tried it! Does not work! – Part 2
There are many reasons why agility does not work in companies. Part 2 of the series deals with typical problems in introducing and implementing agility.
Be more courageous about user testing!
There are many excuses why organisations do without user testing. Why is user testing important and how can it be done with little effort?
Tooling in hybrid project management
The integration of classic project management and agile elements is a success factor for many companies. What is essential when it comes to tooling?
Do we need a digital mindset?
In many companies, digitisation leads to numerous adjustments. How important is a digital mindset and what is the basic requirement?
5 Strategies to build inner strength
Permanent changes unsettle many employees in companies. Inner strength is needed here. How can you build it up? Which strategies can help you?
The one talent we need in the digital future
The demands to teach children programming at an early age are becoming louder. But how meaningful is this and which talent will be more important?
Who needs long-term goals?
How important are long-term goals for companies in agile times? How exactly are goals defined in organisations and when do they offer benefits?
Agility? We tried it! Does not work! – Part 1
There are many reasons why agility does not work in companies. Part 1 of a series about misunderstandings, real problems and big obstacles.
The destructive path to requirements
Products and systems are often misused. What are the reasons and why are such Misuse Cases suitable for determining requirements?
What computer manufacturers can learn from farmers
Can you imagine milk and petrol being transported in the same tank? In a figurative sense, computer manufacturers do just that, and that has consequences.
The cover letter – duty or freestyle?
The cover letter is not popular with many companies and also with applicants. Why does it make sense, however, and what tips help writing it?
What if? – A call to thought experiments
“What if” is a questioning technique to question mental and self-imposed boundaries – e.g. in organisations. A field report.
Lean Kanban in Change Management
Many change management methods do not deliver what companies expect from them. Why is Lean Kanban a better approach to initiate lasting change?
The development of skills
The development of competences is very important for companies. What learning formats exist and how do employees learn specialist knowledge?
Strategic Scope Management
The scope is a central factor in project management. How can it be structured, how important are dependencies and how does scope management work?
From Monolith to Microservices
How can you develop a monolith into a microservice technology? A field report on stability, performance, automation, testability, maintainability.
The Product Owner Team
When does it make sense to use a product owner team instead of a single product owner? A report on projects, tasks, responsibilities and conflicts.
Deficits of the computer architecture
Hackers consistently exploit deficits in the computer architecture. What are the deficits and what could a computer architecture of the future look like?
How can I avoid uncertainty?
Many people associate uncertainty with a loss of control, which they really want to avoid. What is an alternative for dealing with uncertainty?
The agile organisation of work in the craft sector
A baker organises himself agilely – sounds funny, but that’ s how it is. How can he improve the organisation of work, which is not yet perfect?
The discovery of sustainability
Sustainability is becoming more important for many companies. What is sustainability, what concepts and approaches are there for organisations?
The implementation of clean code
The principles and practices of professional software development are not enough to implement clean code. How can clean code be developed?
10 Characteristics of a Digital Mindset
What mindset is needed in the digital world and how do we educate our children so that they can survive and succeed the day after tomorrow?
Google Ranking Factors
What are the main Google ranking factors? Read backgrounds and a classification of important aspects and often repeated statements.
VUCA, so what?!
We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. What does it mean for companies and how can they succeed in the VUCA world?
I spy with my little eye: stakeholder
Although dealing with stakeholders is important for the success of organisations, it is often neglected. How does good stakeholder management work?
Cultural differences in projects
In international projects, cultural differences often have to be moderated. What does this mean for project implementation?
Jobs to be done …
“Jobs to be done” refers to the needs that a user really wants to meet with a product. How can the needs be determined in a workshop?
Perfectionism and Procrastination
Are you a perfectionist or prone to procrastination? What are the differences between the two tendencies and what can you do when in doubt?
Train soft skills by computer simulation
Personal and social competencies are becoming important for organisations. How can these soft skills be trained in a team using computer simulation?
With SCARF towards a more agile organisation
What is the SCARF model, on which principle is it based and how does it help in managing employees in the course of organisational change processes?
Agility begins with the heart
Many organisations try to become more agile, but the “Excellarator”, “Statusrititis” and “General” have something against it. Heart are needed here.
Argue – but do it right
Businesses waste valuable resources in conflicts when they focus on problems rather than solutions. How do you resolve conflicts?
Work agile or be agile
Agile living can be stressful for organisations because complex challenges require complex and original solutions. What should organizations do?
Advantages of Remote Work
Remote work offers several advantages for companies. What are these? How does Remote Work get started in organisations and does it work permanently?
Digital collaboration of distributed teams
When distributed teams work together, it is often difficult to know who is doing what, when, why and how. It’s time for a different approach.
Liberating Structures – Freedom for Better Communication
What is behind Liberating Structures (LS)? What is the benefit of LS, which mindset is necessary, which principles exist and what are advantages?
Digital Transformation – A Plea for Quality
The IT world is turning slower than expected. What is the reason for this, what awareness is important for companies and what should they value? A plea.
The agile label fraud
Many organisations call the project manager the Scrum Master, the product manager the Product Owner. Why isn’t that a good idea?
Conway’s one-way street
If a software architecture created in an organisation reproduces its structure, how does an adaptation of the organisation affect existing architectures?
Please don’t Uber yourself
Uber is a synonym for disruptive business models. Who can learn from it? How does benchmarking work and why does a comparison often make no sense?
Use Working Out Loud to develop competencies for agile work
What is Working Out Loud (WOL)? What are the core principles, what are WOL’s goals, and how can WOL be used to develop competencies for agile work?
Health as a strategic success factor in companies
How can companies operate in times with increasing demands for performance while paying real attention to the health of their employees?
The superfluous Scrum Master
The roles of Scrum Master and Product Owner are increasingly being merged in organisations. What are the reasons for this and what are the consequences?
Agile administration and local politics
Agility in public administration is gaining importance. How can agile methods enhance interaction between administration and politics? An impulse.
Agile requirements engineering
Does agile requirements engineering replace traditional RE? Where are the limits and where does the use of conventional techniques still make sense?
Recruiting competencies
The recruiting of many companies is biased and subjective. How can modern recruiting be successful and what competencies are important?
Is the world getting more complex?
There is a feeling that complexity is increasing in many areas. What impact does this have on decisions, project planning and the use of models?
Communication at work
There are many tips for communication in the workplace. However, there are many situations where attitudes and perspectives influence communication.
Fear and courage – two unequal siblings?
What are organisations afraid of? Do changes automatically trigger fears? And how can fear be overcome in both private and professional contexts?
Artificial intelligence and our future
Is artificial intelligence merely the continuation of a known development or will it revolutionise life as such? An opinion.
Learning coaching, but agile
Learning is individual, depending on prior knowledge, interest, and learning goals. This is where the agile learning coach and coaching come in.
Requirements Management with Jira and Confluence
How can Jira and Confluence be used for integrated requirements management? Which tool should be used for which tasks and what are the limits?
My wish list to Scrum Master
The Scrum Master is an important role in many organizations and projects. If you could wish for something from a Scrum Master, what would it be?
Allrounder executive
What should executives be like? How important are they for the success of companies and what can organisations do to best support executives?
The interactive beacon
Interactive beacons could revolutionize communication between people and with machines. Which technologies and which application scenarios already exist?
Communication trends
What does nudging mean? How does communication change in companies? What trends are there in podcasting and what beliefs can be observed?
The Design Emergency
Design Emergency is a phenomenon in which the design of a software gets worse overt time. What can you do to eliminate this state of emergency?
Change needs time
Change processes in companies often take a long time and are difficult. Why is this so? What is the magic of change and how important is a vision?
Courage, the miracle cure for the future?!
How important is courage in professional life and for corporate innovation? How is it encouraged in organisations and how can courage be trained?
Is agility the solution to all problems?
Putting the focus on the customer, working together better and deciding faster – such statements are omnipresent. Can agility be the solution to such demands?
Modern personnel selection vs. skilled worker shortage
Many industries face a shortage of skilled workers. How can companies refine their personell selection process to better win applicants over?
Developer 2019 – Facts and Figures
88,883 developers participated in Stack Overflow’s annual survey of methods, technologies and their working environment. A selection of the results.
The Groundhog says hello
A corporation doesn’t use color printouts in order to reduce costs. Sounds good, but new processes, rules, roles and precautions are needed. A gloss.
Digital Awareness
The development of digital awareness is becoming increasingly important for both individuals and businesses. What are the challenges and opportunities?
Misunderstandings in requirements engineering
When working with specialist departments, there are often misunderstandings. What are the causes and how can they be avoided in practice?
Do you still manage processes?
Meaningful process definitions help companies to succeed in business. But from time to time rethinking of process management becomes necessary.
Project Marketing – Do good and talk about it
Project marketing tries to increase the acceptance of projects. When does project marketing take place, who is the centre of attention and what tips are there?
Agile documentation in software development
The code is sufficient as documentation – this is not always a correct statement from developers. How does agile documentation work in practice?
Prototyping vs. Walking Skeleton
Prototyping and Walking Skeleton are two methods to specify requirements and avoid mistakes. When does which option make more sense in practice?
Error Handling in Angular Applications
How can errors be logged and persisted in angular applications, how does an error message occur, and how does the export of the error list work?
On the way to an independent employment
In many areas independent work is becoming more important. Which factors are essential for this, and how can you tell if you meet these factors?
Mind Change in Project Management
The mindset and mind change in project management have a great influence on the success of a project. What if much more is possible than we can imagine?
Corporate culture in digital change
When developing digital organisations the corporate culture is very important. What dimensions should be taken into account in the change process?
Conflicts at work
Conflicts at the workplace are normal. What can participants do in order to contribute to the solution and which perspective helps in the field?
CI/CD pipeline on a Raspberry Pi – Part 4
How can you set up a CI/CD pipeline on a Raspberry Pi? Part 4 of the experiment deals with the deployment, the test of the pipeline and a conclusion.
Democracy in strategic decisions
The development of corporate strategies is a complex challenge. Why does it make sense to include the diverse perspectives of employees?
Get out of the lab – into real life!
Innovation Labs are trendy. When is working in a lab setting useful, and what challenges must companies overcome to make them successful?
CI/CD pipeline on a Raspberry Pi – Part 3
How can you set up a CI/CD pipeline on a Raspberry Pi? Part 3 of the experiment deals with the preparation of the Jenkins server and a first build client project.
With Scrum through the crisis?
Do you know the five “R’s” in Scrum? They characterise the agile approach and – if applied correctly – can help organisations to overcome possible crisis.
Central IT versus Shadow IT
Shadow IT is growing continuously in numerous companies. This offers challenges and opportunities for central IT. How can optimal cooperation be achieved?
CI/CD pipeline on a Raspberry Pi – Part 2
How can you set up a CI/CD pipeline on a Raspberry Pi? Part 2 of the experiment is about setting up a build server.
New learning in projects
The topic of personnel development must be thought of differently in order to master challenges in projects. Why does “new learning” make sense?
UX Design in an agile environment
User-centred design of solutions does not automatically produce good results. What practical role can User Experience (UX) Design play here?
CI/CD pipeline on a Raspberry Pi – Part 1
Can a Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline be set up on a Raspberry Pi? Which steps are necessary in which order? An experiment.
The agile speed lie
Agile methods are designed to bring speed to slow organisations. This is misleading and has little to do with agile motives. What is Scrum & Co. really about?
The expectation management
Dealing with our own expectations influences our relationship with ourselves and with our customers. How does good expectation management work?
From “dismissed” to error culture?
A culture of error is easily required, but simply using a buzzword cannot be the right way for companies. How can mistakes be handled correctly?