023 Jeff Dalton––Being "Agile!"

5 Apr 2018 · 36 min
35:35

In this episode of the Walking the Walk podcast, host Jim Bouchard interviews Jeff Dalton, President and Founder of Broadsword Solutions and author of Agile CMMI. The conversation frames Agile as a global, self‑organization movement that challenges traditional, command‑and‑control software development. Dalton argues that true agility requires strong, trust‑based leadership and an infrastructure that empowers teams to make decisions. He contrasts incremental, iterative work with massive upfront planning, using anecdotes such as a GPS manual and the failed Healthcare.gov rollout to illustrate why small, frequent deliveries and “fail‑fast” learning are essential. The dialogue introduces the Agile Performance Hierarchy—a blend of CMMI and Agile values—and a roles‑and‑accountabilities model that lets individuals self‑subscribe to authority. They discuss “type mismatches” between organizational values and Agile practices, the quantifiable impact of soft skills like trust and compassion, and parallels with martial arts, military leadership, and Holacracy. Practical resources are shared (2018agile.org, broadsword‑solutions.com) for further research and training. The episode emphasizes that leaders must build and manage the infrastructure for self‑organization rather than merely proclaim it, and that cultural change, not just process change, drives successful Agile transformation.

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