Category Archives: games and simulations

One of the most popular exercises for teaching Scrum concepts (empiricism, self-organizing, etc.) is the Ball Point Game (BPG), and most Scrum trainers I ask say they’ve used it. If you’ve taken a Scrum class or two, you’re likely to have played it, too. (Here’s a link to a video I recorded in 2012 of a large team playing BPG.) When playing the Ball Point Game, a team will organize themselves around the goal of getting as many balls as possible passed through the system within a defined period of time. There are a few specific rules / constraints, and groups will typically undergo…

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Vic (@AgileCoffee) and Larry (@LarryLawhead) had a nice chat… in front of cameras and lights. (We’re on YouTube!!) We talked about: TBR for the ScrumMaster Top 10 Assumptions About Agile 21st Century Management What does “Bringing Humanity to the Workplace” mean to you? Books and resources mentioned in this episode: Top 10 Assumptions About Agile – post by Scott Dunn What’s New in SAFe 5.0? – post by Scott Dunn Most Leaders Don’t Even Know The Game They’re In – video by Simon Sinek Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity –…

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Recorded in April 2018, Vic (@AgileCoffee) was joined by his good friends Lorraine Aguilar (@Working_Harmony), Ben Rodilitz (@BenRodilitz), and Paul Wynia (@workagile) for some serious Lego Serious Play in Carlsbad, CA. Upcoming events: Agile Open SoCal – September 9 & 10, 2019 – Irvine, CA – more info Looking for Agile/Scrum/Kanban training in Southern California? Rocket Nine has got you covered. Visit RocketNineSolutions.com today.

Recorded in April 2018, Vic (@AgileCoffee) was joined by his good friend and fellow #SGCAL co-chair Kim Brainard (@agilebrain1) to catch up since last year’s global Scrum gathering. Upcoming events: Training from the BACK of the Room! – August 4 & 5, 2018 – San Diego, CA – more info Agile2018 – August 6 – 10, 2018 (Vic is presenting on Thurs • 10:45 – 12:00) – San Diego, CA – more info Agile Fluency Game Game Runner workshop – August 10 – 11, 2018 – San Diego, CA – more info Agile Open SoCal – September 13 & 14, 2018 –…

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Here in the USA, the summer travel season is heating up. Before you head off to exotic destinations, I want to let you know about a special opportunity right here in our area.  Esther Derby and Don Gray are offering their outstanding workshop, Coaching Beyond the Team, in Costa Mesa, Sept 13 & 14.  I feel this course will be invaluable for those of you in a scrum master or coaching role. The early bird price ends July 1. Details on the course below from Esther. Have a great summer, Vic Learn how to coach beyond the team Agile coaches and Scrum…

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If you’re looking for a way to randomize a group and match them with scenarios for role play, I suggest trying dominoes.

I’ve recently been speaking on the topic of pair-coaching, and in developing my workshop, I’ve been tinkering with using double-nine wooden dominoes. The face of a domino tile is divided into two ends, each with a number of pips (dots)… or no pips at all. In the case of double-nines, the values range from 0-0 to 9-9.

Set of 55 "double nine" dominoes by Pressman
Set of 55 “Double Nine” dominoes by Pressman
a set of Double Nines will contain a total of 495 pips (dots) across all 55 tiles
a set of Double Nines contains a total of 495 pips (dots) across all 55 tiles

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In the days leading up to the Global Scrum Gathering (Orlando, FL), the Braintrust Consulting Group organized a two-day “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) workshop just up the road from the Loews Royal Pacific Resort. It was a fast-paced, high-energy two days with Sharon Bowman and 32 attendees, set in a large, comfortable room perfectly suited for a unique train-the-trainer experience. I hadn’t previously met Sharon, but a year or so earlier I’d bought her book (Training From the Back of the Room!: 65 Ways to Step Aside and Let Them Learn), and I’d since begun dabbling…

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A very special guest introduces episode 37, and you can see her on video at Kickstarter. On this episode Vic is joined by Curtis Gilbert, Larry Lawhead (@LarryLawhead) & Brett Palmer (@brett_palmer) to discuss topics from volume II of the Agile Coffee Conversation Starters. We dove into: Personal Kanban in Daily Life Thomas Leonard’s The Nine Environments of You Trello (online kanban tool) Can PMs be Good SMs? How does Agile Change People? Liftoff by Diana Larsen and Ainsley Nies Power of the SM Our Professional Development books on audio / book summaries: Audible, Safari, Scribd, Blinkest What are these Agile Coffee decks? We’ve…

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On July 25th, another successful 5Saturdays program wrapped up at Estancia HS in Costa Mesa, CA, and twelve students shared their takeaways with me on the podcast. These high-school-aged participants talked about the lessons learned over their five weekend sessions, focusing on job readiness and effective communications. Topics discussed include: applications of creative thinking tools for critical thinking facets of agility using Scrum resume-building and interviewing skills One central theme that students spoke of was their interest in using personal kanban in their everyday lives, having recognized its ease and usefulness in planning. I was happy to have met and talked with these…

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UPDATE: They’re done! More info here. – – – – I’ve been talking up my Lean Coffee Conversation Starters since the early part of this year, mostly in face-to-face discussions. The decks I have been envisioning would each contain the best and most popular topics from my over three years of hosting local meetups, as well as a number of sessions up and down the West coast and throughout the Midwest. Once summer hit, I poured much of my time into producing these decks: cultivating the right questions, getting the design and layout right, and running tests with printers and…

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