DragonsArm - Agile Coaching and Training

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My videos talk about team leadership in everything from small teams to multiple teams in corporates, and boosting income for small to medium businesses

From Boss to Leader in 5 words (Leadership Lessons) Want to take your management skills to the next level and become a true leader? It starts with a mindset shift and a deeper understanding of what drives orga...

Please like on YouTube and, if you get something out of this, also subscribe.

My videos talk about team leadership in everything from small teams to multiple teams in corporates, and boosting income for small to medium businesses

How to Fix a Toxic Team (Leadership Lessons) In this video, we explore the challenges of leading teams plagued by toxicity and how fostering trust can be a powerful antidote. Learn how to navigate confl...

What Prison Taught Me About Leadership

No, I was not incarcerated, but I did spend about two years regularly talking to the lifers from the maximum secure block in New Zealand's maximum security prison and here's what I learned.

Please like it on YouTube, and if you get something out of it, subscribe.

My videos talk about team leadership in everything from small teams to multiple teams in corporates and boosting income for small to medium businesses

What Prison Taught Me About Leadership I spent two intense years engaging with the Lifers in New Zealand's toughest prison, and what I discovered about team leadership in extreme situations is min...

is very proud to present a couple of 3-hour training sessions at our Upper Hutt Retreat.

Steve Peacocke, Author of the best seller "Agile Coach to Chief Agility Officer", will present two separate morning sessions during November. Each will only accept up to 6 people. Light morning tea will be provided.

Choose your session:
🔸The Agile Stakeholder. Learn how to work with an agile team as a stakeholder. What to expect, and how to get the best results for what your needs.
🔸The Agile Business Analyst. Learn what changes are required to become an effective Business Analyst with an Agile team.

All for just a special introductory price of just $300 per person. Book now for November, date to be confirmed.

Message me directly or register your interest here https://zcu.io/lZ3J

The latest podcast on my best-selling book "Agile Coach to Chief Agility Officer".
https://zcu.io/4DxS

Today I talk about the need for a tenth coaching stance. Have a listen; get the book https://zcu.io/bW0m

Lancer Kind is an experienced Agile Podcaster and coach plus an author himself of science fiction books. The first of the series of podcasts for "Agile Coach to Chief Agility Officer" starts right here: https://zcu.io/TIZr

It has been a day of contemplation today to look at where I am taking DragonsArm - Agile Coaching and Training over this next year. My book "Agile Coach to Chief Agility Officer" https://zcu.io/3mDS has gained in popularity, and I am presenting a few copies to The University of Waikato next month.

This weekend has been the first fully fine and summery weekend we've finally had for many months, so the morning working in the garden has seen me now sitting on my deck with a glass of wine, basking in the sun and drinking in those views while I think and consider on the last ten years and what lies in store for the next ten.

I look to the left to see the edges of a few neighbour houses about 800 meters away. Then as I look around, I see a single street from the edges of Upper Hutt about 5-8 km away. As I look westward around to the North, there are the ranges where we can see the relatively new subdivision of 1-3 hectare blocks way over on the other side of the river.

The Hutt River cuts a winding path down below, making its way around the golf course where I ca just see some people getting in those last few holes before retiring to the clubhouse. Then more ranges upon ranges, to where the twin lakes make themselves prominent as we start to look from North to east.

The main highway heading to Featherstone and the Wairarapa is starting to build with people returning to Wellington after the weekend. I can continue towards the South when looking up beside the house and our native trees attempting to hide the imposing ranges in that direction. Turning back to the North again, overlooking our small lawn and gardens and winding rock garden walls where the Tuis and other birds fly from one side to the other.

This truly is a wonderful place. I start to compare to darker days where I struggled to find a place to sleep at times and the only possession I had was my motorbike - not too long ago, but decided not to spoil the day. It has been a very hard journey, it's not over yet. It is the companionship of my wife that has made that journey achievable.

Last month I got to Number One for best new release. Today I reached Best Seller in the "Business Information Management" section.

https://zcu.io/ONYX Agile Coach to Chief Agility Officer is now classed as a Best Seller in Business Information Management.

Get yours today

Wow - my book "Agile Coach to Chief Agility Officer: Placing the agile coach on the leadership team" has reached NUMBER ONE for new releases https://zcu.io/JjXD

Thank you all for the great support, this has obviously been a subject that has been causing some discussion and that is great to see. Buy the book and read it to see what all the fuss is about. It's an easy read and has some great thoughts.

Number One #1 and a 5-star rating by Amazon.

https://zcu.io/7TnO

My first book is out in Kindle format. It will take another couple of days before it's out in print.

The book places the argument that it is time for the Chief Information Officer to give strategic direction to systems, information, and digital, while the real innovation and agility come from the people themselves and the strategic focus should be held by, not CIO's who are trained in Agile, but real agile coaches who have real experience in inspiring and creating high-performance teams.

Who better then to inspire people to become their greatest than a coach? Who better then to focus that inspiration on outcomes rather than output than an agile coach? And finally, who better to inspire change in teams who may find change difficult than an agile coach with the authority to say to those teams, “This is the way we are going to be doing things, and this is why, discuss this together as teams and tell me how it will be best to do this with your unique team, and which framework or way of working will you choose that best delivers the outcomes for your team”?

This has been an interesting trial lasting a while. The first few chapters I wrote took months. I put it away for a while, added more chapters, and finally thought I was ready. Then I decided I needed more. I added a chapter at the front, and 4 more chapters at the end in just the last 2 weeks.

I realize that this book might be an emotional argument for some, but I have proven its worth in my own, not inconsiderable experience.

The 12 Principles of the Agile Manifesto talks about "Self-Organized Teams" ...

Principle 11: "The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams"

Note it says "self-organizing", not "self-management", which is an entirely different thing that I'm not necessarily in agreement with as it is often misunderstood with disastrous results.

A self-organizing team is a wonderful thing to behold, but what exactly is a self-organizing team?

Perhaps this is best answered with an example:

I was watching an international football game many, many years ago. Let's call this soccer for our friends in the USA who think football is something entirely different.

I was watching an international soccer game many, many years ago. So long ago in fact that I have no idea what teams were even playing, but it was an international game where two teams from different countries were playing each other.

What surprised me was when the goalie caught the ball as normal to save the opposition from scoring. When scanning the field for someone to pass to, he realised that the field was open for him. He quickly dropped the ball and started kicking the ball up the field acting as a midfielder.

Immediately, two of the team covered their goal to make sure the opposition was unable to score if this went wrong. Other team members automatically supported the goalie's run to ensure he was covered. The goalie eventually kicked the ball to a forward player who scored the goal.

This is a self-organized team in action.

Note that the play did not stop at any time in order for the manager to come in and organize everyone as there was no need. The players automatically knew what was needed of them. The team had a single focus in mind - to score a goal and win the game.

No one said, "covering our goal is not my job, that's the goalkeeper's job", no-one cried out when the goalie became a midfielder that someone else was doing their job. No one told any of these players what to do, they just did it and supported others who were achieving the team's focus. They self-organized around the need at the time.

An agile team needs to be able to become self-organizing in order to deliver the best results towards the agreed outcome.