pabitra khanal

In this episode of The Revenue Cafe Podcast by Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live, Christine Crandell, President at New Business Strategies, discusses the revolutionary concept of Experience-Led Growth (ELG) and its significance in modern business strategies. She explains how integrating experience into an organization's mission, vision, and goals can lead to exceptional outcomes. Using examples from companies like Salesforce and BMW, Christine demonstrates the positive impact of ELG on customer satisfaction and business success. She highlights the importance of understanding stakeholder experiences through trend analysis, co-creation sessions, and qualitative interviews. Christine also addresses indicators of a lack of experience-led growth, such as disconnected customer experiences during onboarding or across different departments. She concludes by encouraging businesses to embrace ELG and offers a 30-minute consultation to help them embark on this transformative journey.
 

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Embracing the Power of Exceptional Experiences - Christine Crandell: "In a world of constant change and uncertainty, relying on outdated strategies and approaches can spell disaster."

Transforming Business Through Experience-Led Growth - Christine Crandell: "ELG empowers us to break free from the shackles of yesterday's logic and embrace new ways of thinking and new ways of thriving."

You can find out more about Christine in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinecrandell/

HOST: Joe Aicher
GUEST: Christine Crandell
Breadcrumbs Podcast

In this episode of The Agile Coach, host Vivek is joined back again with Adam Miner, an experienced Agile Coach with a background as a Scrum Master, to share his journey of breaking into his first Scrum Master role and transitioning into an Agile Coach role. He emphasizes the importance of personal growth and development outside of the nine-to-five job to set oneself apart in interviews. Adam also highlights the significance of understanding the company culture and team dynamics during the interview process. He advises candidates to focus on showcasing their unique experiences and perspectives to stand out from other candidates.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

• "If you can speak to personal growth outside of your nine-to-five in leadership, communications, discipline, success habits, you will probably set yourself apart from eight or nine out of ten other candidates in the process."
• "It's very much about what you are saying that another candidate is not saying."
• "You do not need a degree to succeed in corporate or agile. You don't have to have a technical background."

Get to know Adam and what she’s up to:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-miner-77793129/

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

Vivek’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/

Pabitra’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/

The Agile Coach LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc/

Agile Coach Website: https://theagilecoach.com/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at our website https://theagilecoach.com/

In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek is joined by Priyanka Gyawali, the Chief Technology Officer at Belong Technology. Priyanka digs into her journey in tech from software engineer to CTO and the immense value of upskilling to get there.

She shares her thoughts on what makes a good product owner/manager and the changes ChatGPT is ushering in the way we process work for the better. For agile, Priyanka also champions giving people space to be creative to bring their ideas to reality.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Changing and overlapping roles after going agile - Priyanka: "Things have changed like the number of roles in a project have changed. Previously it was the developer doing the designing as well, doing the QA, doing the BA, and then there was like a product owner. But like over time when things are more agile now, we have several roles, like people wear different hats, especially in my experience in the startup world."

Leaders should take the lead on implementing innovation - Priyanka: "Someone being a leader, they might not think about the things that are in the market, but then a developer who has hands-on experience and who might have already done that in another project, we can utilize their skill on that. So I guess it's about giving space to people in the team."

Get to know Priyanka and what she’s up to:

• LinkedIn

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek is joined by Joe Ziadeh, Chief Story Teller and Innovation Artist at Balanced Agility. They play around with ChatGPT to test if it can think and act like a scrum master in realistic situations.

Vivek and Joe run a few prompts and are definitely impressed by some of the answers. Although some are a bit drawn out, the AI has produced impressive results throughout the session.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

How does ChatGPT produce specific answers? - Joe: "After this is done, I want to try and give it something more generic. Because I feel like it could've picked this up off the web. But if it's coming up with these things, I am in shock."

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• About Joe
• About Balanced Agility
• Balanced Academy  Website

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek sits down with Haley Prestwood, Scrum Master at Kroger Technology & Digital. Haley talks about her early experience in Agile and her transition from planning to go to law school to becoming a scrum master today.

She shares her insights on how to reaffirm yourself and excel in your role even if you don't initially have any background in IT or software development. She highlights the importance of learning and continuing to grow and how essential this can be in the Agile environment.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Don't be afraid to ask questions - Haley: "Don't be afraid to ask questions and get off mute in meetings. When I first started in my first role, I was so scared to come off mute and ask questions but that's really how you're going to improve and grow."

Lean on the Agile coach community - Haley: "That has been so supportive for me is just staying connected. I've been in IT for 3 years now but I still stay in touch with so many people in the program and that's been very beneficial and helps me continuously grow my knowledge and improve."

Get to know Haley and check out the book she recommended:

• LinkedIn
• How to do the Work

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

This episode of The Agile Coach is the second part of our conversation with Mikaylah McCarty, Scrum Master at Universal Parks & Resorts. She shares the best practices when building the resume, improving LinkedIn, and other aspects to focus on when interviewing or applying for an Agile role.

Mikaylah talks about the importance of starting the role right and adopting the right mindset once you start doing what's needed from you. She also highlights the need to continue learning and that you are never confined to just one role as a scrum master.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Understand your story so you don't have to lie - Mikaylah: "You can embellish, you can make something sound bigger, but never lie on your resume because that's cheap. A true scrum master when you're interviewing can see straight through that. I'd know you don't know what you're talking about."

Show up with your best self every day - Mikaylah: "There are thousands of people who want to take my job at Universal and I remind myself that every single day. I am replaceable and I think that is the biggest mentality to note and that stems to everything."

Get to know Mikaylah and what she’s up to:

• LinkedIn

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

The Agile Coach with Vivek and Pabitra sits down with Mikaylah McCarty, Scrum Master at Universal Parks & Resorts. Scrum Masters lead cross-functional and agile teams. They provide the how to the what and deliver realistic outcomes quickly to customers.

She shares her journey to becoming a Scrum Master and how to capitalize on networking opportunities. Mikaylah advises aspiring Scrum Masters to seek out a mentor to guide them and to double down on the skill of communication as creating a safe space but also commanding the room is the role of a Scrum Master. 

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Scrum Masters provide the HOW to the WHAT - Mikaylah: "A Scrum Master's role is to then take whatever they're prioritizing and say, how are we going to get it done? Product owner is the what in the team. The Scrum Masters are the how, that's the value that we provide to the team is okay, they're saying we got to get this done. We have the team members ready to do the work. The scrum master will then say, this is how it's going to work."

Lead from the front and add skills to your tool belt - Mikaylah: "Get down there with your team. If you don't know it, learn it. If all you can do is sit there, sit next to them and rub their back and give them a donut, like do that. Supporting your team. Never saying, it's not my job. Never say you can't do it, and gaining as many skills in your tool belt as you can."

Get to know Mikaylah and what she’s up to:

• LinkedIn

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

In this episode of The Agile Coach Podcast, Vivek talks with Angela Johnson, Chief Change Officer & Certified Scrum Trainer at Collaborative Leadership Team and author of The Scrum Master Files. She talks about working with leadership as an Agile coach and working through resistance Agile transformation in organizations.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

You have to have a handle on what you're trying to measure  - Angela: "People will say things like, 'we have to go faster' or 'we can't keep up with the competition.' But all of those reasons I firmly believe that they're sincere, they're just not measurable."

It's okay to assume some leaders don't have clarity - Angela: "Even leaders who think they have a clear vision of where they're going, they may be assuming that people are doing what they think is the top goal but that's not necessarily the case until they follow up or verify."

Get to know Angela and check out her book:

• About Angela
• The Scrum Master Files

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

In this episode of The Agile Coach Podcast, Vivek talks with Angela Johnson, Chief Change Officer & Certified Scrum Trainer at Collaborative Leadership Team and author of The Scrum Master Files. She talks about the necessary people skills that scrum masters need and how to handle conflict effectively as a scrum master.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Don't shy away from conflict as a scrum master - Angela: "Sometimes when people are just misunderstanding each other or communication is breaking down, a scrum master has got to get in there sometimes with their black and white stripes and their whistle almost like a referee but oftentimes it's just to help."

How to provide better feedback - Angela: "Instead of making it about you and telling them what they're doing wrong, why don't you invite their participation? Why don't you get them to come up with the answer?"

Get to know Angela and check out her book:

• About Angela
• The Scrum Master Files

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

In this episode of The Agile Coach Podcast, Vivek talks with Pabitra about how she got into Agile, the transition from her first job to where she's now today, and if she would have changed her Agile Career today. They share about the different changes in the space and the overall process of starting a career in Agile. 

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Leading a team to become a self-empowering unit - Pabitra: "Really think about how I help them in their personal or professional growth so that they feel like they're valued at work not just what they're producing but also their feeling valued at work because somebody actually cares about their growth."

There are always transferrable skills - Pabitra: "No matter what job that you have, there are a lot of the non-technical side or more of the people side of things and business side of things because, at the end of the day, you work for a business. No matter what your role is, you're helping businesses do better."

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Today, we feature the best moments of our conversation with Richard Seroter, Director of Developer Relations and Outbound Product Management at Google Cloud. He discusses what it means to be a product owner and how to work with engineers, end users, and everyone in between.

Richard shares how to exercise leadership as a product owner and work with stakeholders not as a boss but as a member of the team. He also talks about using data points to prioritize feature decisions, instilling self-governance and accountability, and promoting continuous improvement in the team.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

A product owner leads through influence - Richard: "A good product owner leads through influence. They don't have direct authority. They don't have a management staff of people. The engineers don't report to them. But you are leading often by showing that you have their back. And, for me again, that was a very underrated aspect that if you're a good product owner, the engineers think you are covering for them in a good way."

Don't procrastinate and always ship at the end of each release - Richard: "I don't think you're going to have a good time if you don't force your team to ship after the end of each release, each sprint, because if you don't ship, what's really easy to do? Let's just roll it into the next one. If you have that failsafe, you're going to use it versus like nope, we ship at the end of each release."

Get to know Richard and what he’s up to:

• About Richard
• Twitter
• Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Today, The Agile Coach looks back on our conversation with Banu Raghuraman who is now a Course Instructor with The Agile Coach and Digital Project Manager at EY. In order to lead, you need empathy, and being an emphatic leader has positive implications for how well you resonate with team members and stakeholders alike. 

Banu provides tips on relationship building and digs into the actual ways to communicate with stakeholders. She gives tips on influential leadership which informs how to negotiate with other people, how to open to new ways of thinking to resolve unprecedented problems, and how to be upfront about risk.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Create trust by following through with promises - Banu: "Trust comes from how much of what I say lines up with what I do. It's a massive input of integrity that you have to show because obviously when you're coming in and talking to a person for the first time, we can all be nice. There are plenty of internet articles out there that tell you how to make a good first impression. But after that, how much you follow through is what's important, and that sense of integrity is what people need to understand."

Document when decisions are made so everyone understands the why - Banu: "If you don't understand the why behind a specific decision, then it really becomes a political game. And there are different ways of dealing with the political side of things, but if there was a rational decision that was being made and generally in product management, I've been fortunate enough not to get into the political side of things but really understand why a certain decision was made. Document that and make sure everyone understands the why."

Get to know Banu and what she’s up to:

• About Banu

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Today, we speak again with Joe Ziadeh, the Chief Story Teller and Innovation Artist at Balanced Agility. He discusses the differences between ideas and insights and how to perform a root cause analysis like the 5 Why's. This strategy reveals the insights hidden in the data and opens up possible experiments the team can perform to address the root cause of the issue. 

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• About Joe
• About Balanced Agility
• Balanced Agility Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

What roles does the product manager actually take in the company? Neha believes that, more than the job description, product managers play a huge role in enabling teams in overall processes even if we don't see it directly. In this episode of The Agile Coach, Vivek and Neha dive deep into the skills that are unnecessary and those that are important in order to become an effective product manager.

AGILE HIGHLIGHTS

• Neha's transition from medical school to product manager
• Core skillsets needed in product management
• Things you don't need to become a product manager
• You have to be able to put things into perspective as you progress
• Emotional intelligence is needed to ask the right questions
• Connection before correction

AGILE MOMENTS

On what made Neha choose the path of product management: 

“Ultimately, it all came down to the impact that product managers have on decision-making within the company. You hear a lot of the time “product and CEO of the company” and I don't believe that as true. It's really that product people are enablers for their team.”

Neha's on critical thinking as a core skill:

“I think one skill that's also very important for a product manager is having critical thinking skills. So, really look at what the problem is at hand and work collaboratively with your teams to come up with the solution that balances need of the customer, the business, and why it's technically feasible.”

Neha on how data can best back you up:

“Everything that we mentioned, stakeholder management, all of that I think is basically the cherry on top if you have this to back you up which is data-driven. I think it's really important to use whatever data you have at hand to make the right decisions”

Get to know Neha and what she’s up to:

• About Neha

Connect with Vivek through the links below:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

I

f you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Welcome to another episode of The Agile Coach! We have a special episode for you today as we bring back some of the best moments of our amazing guest, Parth Detroja, Product Manager at Facebook and author of Swipe to Unlock.

Tune in for some of the best insights and highlights in our previous interview with Parth!

HIGHLIGHTS

• Can people become product managers without going to college?
• Being a product manager and the tradeoffs you should make
• Why Facebook bought a VR company

“Showing that you've helped tangibly shape real products is the biggest thing that will open doors for you. Take any elite university, there are thousands of students at that same university so it's kind of hard to stand out in that regard.”-Parth on where the college degree adds value

Get to know Parth and what he’s up to:

• About Parth

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

In this episode of The Agile Coach, Pabitra talks about assessing Agile teams in the sense of a Japanese martial arts concept which is the Su Ha Ri. She dives deep into each of the three stages, how scrum masters can work most effectively in each stage, and how you can also assess yourself and identify which stage you're in.

AGILE HIGHLIGHTS

• Exploring the stages of Su Ha Ri
• Su is the beginning stage where the student follows one master
• Ha is where the student begins to branch out
• Ri is the stage where students learn from their own practice
• How the scrum master can show up in each of these stages
• Assessing yourself through the Su-Ha-Ri

AGILE MOMENTS

Pabitra - When the team reaches the Ri stage:

“This is a beautiful stage to be in and for a coach to see the team get to this stage is amazing to witness. If these are true and your team is at a Ri stage, you really need to let them go in a way.”

Pabitra - Seeing the team become a high-performing team:

“There are always different approaches to get the same results. So at this stage, the team can come up with their own solutions, they just need a coach to help them find different ways to achieve what they need.”

Pabitra - Moving between the three stages as a scrum master:

“Am I showing up as a teacher? A coach? An advisor? And that is what a true coach does is consistently evaluating and uncovering better ways of helping the team at the end of the day.

Get to know Pabitra and what she’s up to:

• About Pabitra

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Welcome to another episode of The Agile Coach! We have a special episode for you today as we bring some of the best moments of our amazing guest, Diana Larsen, President and Leadership Agility Advisor at Eos House Consulting and author of Agile Retrospectives.

Tune in for some of the most notable highlights and learning points in our previous interview with Diana!

HIGHLIGHTS

• The creation of the book Agile Retrospectives and its core points
• How you should use gathered data for learning and generating insight
• Having a shared understanding with your team and deciding what to do after that
• How long should we plan for a retrospective?

“It's not about individual performance. It's about how we work together to create a system where we can make sure that people's best is good enough for what we need. ”

-Diana on being able to push your team to their best

Get to know Diana and what he’s up to:

• About Diana

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

In this episode of The Agile Coach, Pabitra continues the talk about identifying the anti-patterns for the different roles in a scrum team. This time, she discusses specifically about common anti-patterns of a scrum master. Tune in to find out and avoid these anti-patterns early on in your journey as a scrum master or improve if you've already been one for a long time.

AGILE HIGHLIGHTS

• The critical role of the scrum master
• Anti-Pattern #1: Scrum master acting like a project manager
• Anti-Pattern #2: Being a scrum cop
• Anti-Pattern #3: Making everything a teachable moment
• Anti-Pattern #4: Not prioritizing connection
• Anti-Pattern #5: Being a scrum mom
• Better practices for a scrum master to improve

AGILE MOMENTS

Pabitra - Believe in Agile in order to bring the necessary change:

“If somebody is a scrum master or Agile practitioner, I believe that the person has to be passionate about Agile because it's so much about you uncovering yourself. ”

Pabitra - On why prioritizing connection is important:

“As a scrum master or change agent, when you come into an organization you have to understand that change is hard. There is a lot of fear when a lot of changes are happening in an organization.”

Get to know Pabitra and what she’s up to:

• About Pabitra

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Welcome to another episode of The Agile Coach! We have a special episode for you today as we bring some of the best moments of our amazing guest, Adam Miner, Founder of Miner Legacy Group and Agile Coach at Huntington National Bank.

Tune in for some valuable nuggets of insight and information in our past two interviews with Adam!

HIGHLIGHTS

• Adam relates the importance of communication in sports and the corporate world
• Moving around impediments as a Scrum Master
• Building relationships and forming a high-performing team
• Celebrate your team's success and efforts

“Number one is that I have to be the ultimate example of being transparent. Part of this is about not necessarily playing the bureaucratic, political game in organizations. My personality and style with my teams is not to be the stubborn optimist. If something is going wrong and it's on fire, I'll empathize with that and I'll say this is not a good situation to be in.”

-Adam on fostering transparency in teams

Get to know Adam and what he’s up to:

• About Adam

Get to know Pabitra and what she’s up to:

• About Pabitra

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

In this episode of The Agile Coach, Pabitra talks about identifying the anti-patterns for the different roles in a scrum team. She dives deep into the usual anti-patterns observed for anyone in a product owner role so you can identify these and get rid of them as early as you can. Tune in to find out the common signs of these anti-patterns and the most effective solutions you can apply.

AGILE HIGHLIGHTS

• The primary roles of a product owner
• Common anti-patterns for the product owner role
• Having multiple decision-makers for one product
• Not knowing when and how to step away from your role
• Product backlogs not being ready
• The better practices for a product owner

AGILE MOMENTS

Pabitra - When product owners step into the role of a scrum master:

“If they take the role too seriously and don't necessarily understand that a scrum master is not necessarily a project manager or manager for the developers, this can backfire and they mind end up being more controlling and interfering more than helping the team.”

Pabitra - A solution for backlogs not being ready:

“As a product owner, you always want to be thinking ahead. If the development team is working on starting user stories for whatever time box your company may have, you want to be thinking about the next sprint or iteration.”

Get to know Pabitra and what she’s up to:

• About Pabitra

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc