More in Agile & Scrum — page 13
Use AI to Fix Your OKRs, Not Write Them
Use AI to refine your OKRs by creating a custom 'coach' prompt based on expert advice. This avoids leaking company strategy to public LLMs and makes even secure, weaker enterprise models useful for strategic alignment.
Scrum.org's 8-Step Plan for AI-Native Teams
Scrum.org has outlined an 8-step framework to guide teams in becoming 'AI-native.' This structured approach aims to embed AI into all aspects of Scrum, shifting focus from production to evaluation and from 'Definition of Done' to 'Definition of Value'.
Make Agile Planning a Shared Problem
Chaotic sprints and messy backlogs often result from planning being treated as a solo task. This siloed approach leads to overcommitment and erodes stakeholder trust, making agile feel unreliable.
Mountain Goat Software Ends Public Agile, Scrum Classes
Mountain Goat Software is ending its public Agile/Scrum courses to focus on private team training. This removes a key option for individual certification, forcing engineers to find alternatives or convince managers to book a more costly private session for…
Basecamp 5 Overhauls UI, Debuts New Rails Editor
Basecamp 5 ships a new "Lexxy" editor with tables and markdown, a permanent sidebar, and full keyboard navigation. The editor, built on Meta's Lexical, will become the default for Action Text in Rails, making this a preview for Rails developers.
DHH Slams 'Luddite' AI Bans in Open Source
Open source projects like Zig and NetBSD are banning AI-assisted code. DHH calls this a 'modern Luddite movement' that betrays the core OSS mission of democratizing software, arguing it's about protecting status, not ensuring quality.
DHH: Rails & Kamal Came From Solving 'Interesting Problems'
DHH credits 37signals' success for the freedom to solve 'interesting problems,' which led to Ruby on Rails and Kamal. This founder-led R&D model shows how personal motivation can create strategic tools, bypassing committee-driven roadmaps for high-leverage…
Jira's Rovo AI Aims to Deflect 60% of Tickets
Atlassian's Rovo agents in Jira Service Management aim to deflect up to 60% of repetitive service tickets. The agents intercept requests in Slack or the help portal, providing instant answers from your docs, freeing up support staff for complex engineering…
Study: Disclosing AI use makes you seem 10x lazier
A study of ~1,000 workers found disclosing AI use makes you seem 10x lazier. Even with identical output, peers were 24% less likely to recommend you for key projects. While 94% use AI, the stigma means silence is often the safest career strategy.
Atlassian Details its ML Studio Platform Design
Atlassian's ML Studio platform powers thousands of daily workflows for millions of Rovo users. It solves enterprise scaling issues with reusable modules, column-level data governance, and unified orchestration, offering a blueprint for building compliant…
What is a Community of Practice or Guild?
Tests understanding of cross-team knowledge sharing. Define CoPs as voluntary groups for a shared craft, explain their purpose (sharing best practices, standardizing tools), and give an example like a 'Frontend Guild.'
What is a cross-functional team in Agile?
This tests your grasp of how team structure impacts velocity. A great answer defines it as a team with all skills to ship value, explains how it reduces handoffs and boosts ownership, and links it to faster cycle times.
How do you escalate a blocking external dependency?
Tests your ability to quantify impact, show ownership, and empower leaders. A great answer details the business cost, documents your due diligence, and defines a clear 'ask' for the leader.
Using Flow Metrics to Coach for Predictability
Tests if you use data for coaching, not coercion. Define Lead/Cycle Time, explain how stable times (p85) create predictability, and contrast this with Velocity's flaws. The red flag is treating any metric as a target instead of a diagnostic tool for the team.
Servant Leadership in Scrum: Meaning and Examples
Tests your ability to apply agile theory. Define servant leadership as enabling team success, not managing tasks. Give concrete examples like shielding the team from distractions or facilitating technical decisions.
Scrum Master vs. Project Manager: How do they direct teams?
This tests your understanding of servant-leadership vs. command-and-control. A good answer contrasts their core goals (process vs. project), team interaction (coaching vs. directing), and how they handle change. Red flag: saying an SM is just an 'agile PM.'
Nexus Integration Team vs. Traditional Integration Teams
Tests your grasp of scaled Agile's shift from phase-gate integration to shared ownership. Contrast the NIT as a coach for continuous integration with a traditional team's gatekeeper role.
How do you resolve a cross-team dependency in scaled agile?
This tests your ability to navigate organizational complexity and take ownership. First, validate the blocker and try direct peer contact. Then, escalate via Scrum of Scrums or PM syncs, proposing technical solutions like API contracts.
How do you build a Monte Carlo project forecast?
Tests your ability to model uncertainty and communicate probabilistic outcomes. A good answer covers gathering cycle time data, running thousands of simulations, and presenting results as a probability distribution (e.g., "85% confidence by X date"), not a…
How do you use a cycle time scatterplot to set an SLE?
This tests your ability to use data, not feelings, to manage stakeholder expectations. Explain the scatterplot, identify the outlier, calculate the 85th percentile, and propose a data-backed Service Level Expectation (SLE).