The Agile Compass Matthias Orgler Hello Reader, most of us have heard this: "Our work doesn't fit a fixed sprint!". Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches get this objection regularly from engineering teams. This week's article is about how to reply. And if you want to learn how to slice requirements so they fit any sprint length, check out my new workshop: $99.00 How to Slice Requirements for Agile Teams After this workshop you can: Make any requirement fit even a 1 week sprint Apply 10 splitting...
25 days ago • 4 min read
The Agile Compass Matthias Orgler Hello Reader, this is a premium article only for paying subscribers. It goes into depth on the topic of intrinsic motivation: what it is, why it's important, and how to achieve it. Enjoy! Thanks for supporting my work by being a paying subscriber of The Agile Compass! 🙏 Fostering Intrinsic Motivation in Agile Teams: A Path to Authentic Engagement and Success In our agile profession, where adaptability and speed are often hailed as the keystones of success,...
about 1 month ago • 19 min read
The Agile Compass Matthias Orgler Hello Reader, social media is full of demands for longer work hours. Sergey Brin demanding 60 hour work weeks, other billionaires pushing for even more, and politicians across the globe chiming in demanding to work more. Do they have a point? Let's check several studies today – and see what really boost productivity.But before we dive in, here are a few recent Agile Compass articles you don't want to miss: Why Laughter Is a Better Indicator than Velocity...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
The Agile Compass Matthias Orgler Hello Reader, let's talk metrics today! So many managers ask me for metrics – what about you? Thanks for supporting my work by being a paying subscriber of The Agile Compass! 🙏 Why Laughter Is a Better Indicator than Velocity And Why False Metrics Mislead Us Mutt & Jeff by Bud Fisher, June 3, 1942 Imagine losing your wallet at night and searching under the streetlight—not because you know it's there, but simply because it’s bright. Many companies behave in a...
about 2 months ago • 7 min read
The Agile Compass Matthias Orgler Hello Reader, Does your product manager do what the customers tell them to do? They need to stop! For years I've heard corporations talk about listening to their customers. And while that's not wrong per se, I've seen too many totally misunderstanding this simple concept. That's what we'll look into today. Before we start, here are a few recent articles you might have missed: Forget These 5 Dangerous Best Practices in Agile! Why Limiting Work-in-Progress...
2 months ago • 3 min read
The Agile Compass Matthias Orgler Hello Reader, is your team waiting for key decisions from management? Is progressed slowed by endless approval meetings? Trust me, I've seen enough of this in all the global organizations I coached. Decision making is often slow! It's exhausting. And it threatens to kill so many transformations. The funny thing is: By passing a request for a decisions up the hierarchy, wait, and wait, and then get the decision isn't even leading to better decisions! In fact,...
2 months ago • 5 min read
The Agile Compass Matthias Orgler Hi Reader, connecting people across departments is crucial. Without collaboration there is no productivity, agility, or innovation. Last week we talked about how we can connect experts and teams across silos. But how do we get them to actually collaborate, ask for help, and support each other unconditionally? Well, that's the topic of this week's article. Enter "Wise Crowds"! Thanks for supporting my work by being a paying subscriber of The Agile Compass! 🙏...
3 months ago • 6 min read
The Agile Compass Matthias Orgler Keynote @ Paris, Jens Hilzensauer and Matthias Orgler Hello Reader, let me tell you about my last week before we dive into the latest Agile Compass article. Because last week was a great example of what the article talks about: connecting people. Paris is among the most beautiful places to work on this planet. So I was thrilled to be invited as the keynote speaker for Saint-Gobain's BeAgile 2025 conference at their wonderful headquarter. It was an honor to...
3 months ago • 9 min read
The Agile Compass Matthias Orgler Hello Reader, one aspect of agility is to transition from a command-and-control management style to servant leadership and self-managing teams. But this transition can be hard – for managers as well as workers. Today I want to invite you to explore how we can guide and smoothen this transition in the article below. Thanks for supporting my work by being a paying subscriber of The Agile Compass! 🙏 From Command-and-Control to Self-Management: Transforming Team...
3 months ago • 6 min read