How Value Stream Maps Prompt Us to Ask More Questions, Part 4 - Johanna Rothman I said earlier in this series that no one cares about how “agile” your team is. Or the kind of “agile” your team professess to be. Managers do care about agility: the ability to respond quickly to a c...

How Value Stream Maps Prompt Us to Ask More Questions, Part 4
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/04/...
#Agile #Teams #Flow

How to Use Value Stream Maps to Reinforce Agility & Effectiveness, Part 3 (Collaborative Teams) - Johanna Rothman In Part 1, I wrote about what the value stream map looked like for expert-focused “cross-functional” teams. In Part 2, I discussed cooperative teams that have working agreements on when to do code rev...

How to Use Value Stream Maps to Reinforce Agility & Effectiveness, Part 3 (Collaborative Teams)
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#Agile #Teams #Collaboration

The more I use AI tools, the more I have to admit that I'm not that much more productive... I simply FEEL that much more productive.

In reality, the context switching of kicking several things off wipes out my perceived productivity gains. At least in many/most cases!

2026.09 I Write Prototypes, not Drafts - Johanna Rothman This week's podcast is from the Writing Secrets book. While I did collect all the writing secrets, I did not “just” collect them and stuff them into this book. Instead, I cycled, writing forward for m...

My Weekly #WritingWIP: 2026.09 I Write Prototypes, not Drafts
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/04/...
video: youtu.be/5bs8s-xbmhs
#Writing #Nonfiction

How to Use Value Stream Maps to Reinforce Agility & Effectiveness, Part 2 (Cooperative Teams) - Johanna Rothman In Part 1, I wrote about what the value stream map looked like for expert-focused “cross-functional” teams. While those teams are cross-functional, they are not collaborative. However, these expertise...

How to Use Value Stream Maps to Reinforce Agility & Effectiveness, Part 2 (Cooperative Teams)
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/04/...
#Agile #Teams #Planning

What New Thing (Data, Event, Emotion) Surprised You This Week? - Create an Adaptable Life My wrists started to hurt a few weeks ago. At the time, I thought it was all the walking I did outside while I was in Florida. Then, I went to my doctor for a checkup. I lost another inch of height! (...

What New Thing (Data, Event, Emotion) Surprised You This Week?
createadaptablelife.com/2026/04/what...
#QuestionOfTheWeek #Change

How to Use Value Stream Maps to Reinforce Agility & Effectiveness, Part 1 - Johanna Rothman We talk about cross-functional agile “teams” as if they are the norm. That's what I show in this image: some responsible person creates a ranked backlog that the cross-functional, collaborative team w...

How to Use Value Stream Maps to Reinforce Agility & Effectiveness, Part 1
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/03/...
#Teams #planning

Fundamental Flaw of Hustle Culture - Pawel Brodzinski on Leadership in Technology The most recent trend in AI startups, hustle culture, is a productivity myth. It harms companies more than it helps.

If you wonder why Henry Ford introduced a 5-day, 40-hour workweek in 1926, while keeping a 6-day pay, it’s not because he was an altruist. He wanted better overall productivity. And, surprise, surprise, he got what he wanted.

brodzinski.com/2025/08/ai-h...

2026.08 Practice is the Point - Johanna Rothman My podcast this week is from the Writing Secrets book. (I think this is the last secret, but we will see.) Enjoy! Note: If you read these posts in an RSS reader or via my Feedblitz feed, you might not...

My Weekly #WritingWIP: 2026.08 Practice is the Point
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/03/...
video: youtu.be/FKzdnG0BcRw
#WritingSecret #Books

How Can You See Your Adaptability and Resilience as You Make Decisions? - Create an Adaptable Life How do you decide what to do next? Most of us find it quite tempting to continue whatever we have done, up until now. When we continue, we don’t need much adaptability or resilience. But what do you d...

How Can You See Your Adaptability and Resilience as You Make Decisions?
createadaptablelife.com/2026/03/how-...
#QuestionOfTheWeek #Choices #Decisions

How to Use Schedule Advances and Slack to Create New Opportunities - Johanna Rothman This is Johanna Rothman's March 2026 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Most of us have heard of—or suffered through—schedule delays. That's when the pr...

My March 2026 Pragmatic Manager newsletter: How to Use Schedule Advances and Slack to Create New Opportunities
www.jrothman.com/newsletter/2...
video: youtu.be/N6AMG2FjUEI
#Planning #Options

How Can You Create a New Perspective on a Problem? - Create an Adaptable Life This is Johanna Rothman’s March 2026 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this newsletter. I’ve been drinking green tea in the morning since 1998, when a fello...

My March 2026 Create an Adaptable Life newsletter: createadaptablelife.com/2026/03/how-...
createadaptablelife.com/2026/03/how-...
video: youtu.be/MEiDyv48lqo
#Problem-Solving #Change

How Good is Your Backlog? How to Assess Your Team's Thinking Skills, Part 3 - Johanna Rothman Let's assume that your team does have a definition of Ready. And that they (possibly with a product leader) have shaped the work. But the team still says they don't know how to start—they don't have t...

How Good is Your Backlog? How to Assess Your Team's Thinking Skills, Part 3
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/03/...
#agile #Backlog #Planning

2026.06 Continual Planning Introduction Part 1 - Johanna Rothman This week's podcast is an early part of the Continual Planning book. I thought this was the Introduction when I wrote it. Maybe, maybe not. (Insert laughter here.) The Podcast: The Transcript: This is...

My Weekly #WritingWIP: 2026.06 Continual Planning Introduction Part 1
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/03/...
#Planning #Writing

How Good is Your Backlog? How to Shape the Work for Product Success, Part 2 - Johanna Rothman Maybe your team does have Ready criteria for their backlog. But they look at the backlog item, and they say, “Oh, this is way too big. We have no idea how to start.” That “no idea” often means the wor...

How Good is Your Backlog? How to Shape the Work for Product Success, Part 2
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/03/...
#Planning #Agile #Backlog

2026.05 Planning Miracle Happens Here - Johanna Rothman The Writing in Public podcast returns! Life, including many travel changes, etc, interrupted my normal schedule. But I'm back and starting a new nonfiction book about continual planning. Enjoy! The Po...

My Weekly #WritingWIP: 2026.05 Planning Miracle Happens Here
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/03/...
#Writing #Planning

How Can We Stop Waiting to Do What We Say Matters to Us? - Create an Adaptable Life I’ve had several lovely conversations over the past couple of weeks with friends and colleagues of long standing. (They’re not old people, which is why I’m not calling them old friends.) Each of them ...

How Can We Stop Waiting to Do What We Say Matters to Us?
createadaptablelife.com/2026/03/how-...
#QuestionOfTheWeek #Progress #Change

How Good is Your Backlog? Start with Ready Criteria, Part 1 - Johanna Rothman Does your team feel as if they can't really start when they take an item off the backlog? The team says the item feels too big. Or the team realizes they need someone else from some other team to solv...

How Good is Your Backlog? Start with Ready Criteria, Part 1
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/03/...
#StartForSuccess #Deliver #Scrum

I just had to share this video with you all because it has almost 300k views on Instagram and almost 1000 comments from people who are VERY VERY MAD to learn about this. But seriously don’t let them dull your ✨sparkle✨

A Shadow Full of Stars: A Mind-Bending Fantasy Novel The TWILIGHT ZONE meets ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST when a musician is offered a "life transplant" to cure his depression.

"All Eddie Logan had to do was take a step."

That's the opening line of my novel, A SHADOW FULL OF STARS. Which, in case you somehow haven't heard me mention it already, I'm running a Kickstarter to help fund the book's publication. I hope you can check it out!

kck.st/4rTZyne

How Will You Reinvent Yourself and Your Work So You Can Do What Matters? - Create an Adaptable Life Everyone I know wants to do good work with fair compensation. Often, that work gives them purpose and fulfills their need to do something that matters. However, everything is changing. Managers feel p...

How Will You Reinvent Yourself and Your Work So You Can Do What Matters?
createadaptablelife.com/2026/02/how-...
#QuestionOfTheWeek #Human

Yes! I could easily tell which of the answers were wrong. 😀. There was only one correct answer.

I finally found a terrific use for AI: read the (almost 3000) posts on my blog and help me find the one post I was looking for. It did!

This is what I mean when AI can help us access patterns in our (relatively clean) data.

*New* Insight? No. Access what we forgot/did not know we knew? Yes.

I understand why chatbot cheating happens but every time I read about it I want to gently remind everyone that the point of schoolwork is not for the submission to exist. Teachers are not just greedy for more essays or solved equations. The point is to do the work WITH YOUR OWN BRAIN, FOR LEARNING.

Leadership Tip 26: How to Use Critical Thinking to Make Work Better - Johanna Rothman This is Johanna Rothman's February 2026 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Jim, one of my trusted advisor clients, was all gung-ho on AI last year. He t...

My February Pragmatic Manager newsletter: Leadership Tip 26: How to Use Critical Thinking to Make Work Better
www.jrothman.com/newsletter/2...
video: youtu.be/VPib2pYD8Lc
#Thinking

Thank you!

How to Know the Difference Between Plans and Wishes for the Future - Johanna Rothman Several of my clients claim they have plans. But I don't see the elements of a plan in what they do. Instead, I see wishes that the future will unfold in a particular way. I also have wishes. But the ...

How to Know the Difference Between Plans and Wishes for the Future
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/02/...
#Plan

Three Ways to Reduce Your Uncertainty by Reinforcing Your Human Value - Create an Adaptable Life This is Johanna Rothman’s February 2026 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Steve, a long-time colleague, described how he feels about his career:...

My February 2026 Create an Adaptable Life newsletter: Three Ways to Reduce Your Uncertainty by Reinforcing Your Human Value
createadaptablelife.com/2026/02/thre...
video: youtu.be/PC5W_ZrmDuY
#Value #HumanFirst

Thanks.

I don't actually like the idea of shitty first drafts or vomiting words. Because those stink!

However, I am not a fan of perfection of any kind in writing. Perfection is impossible. Pursuing it means you don't publish.

Writing Secret 23: How to Ask for Useful Feedback on Short Writing - Johanna Rothman I'm not fond of feedback for short nonfiction writing, such as blog posts, for several reasons: Too often, the people who offer feedback are not the ideal reader for that piece. These nice people migh...

Writing Secret 23: How to Ask for Useful Feedback on Short Writing
www.jrothman.com/mpd/2026/02/...
#Writing #Feedback