Gene

Can LeSS Help Dealing With DOGE Without Painful RIFs?

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Hello USA! How is your organization dealing with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative? On its surface, DOGE represents a well-intentioned drive to streamline federal operations, cut excess spending, and modernize information systems across agencies. By centralizing savings efforts and aiming for measurable performance improvements, DOGE has surfaced long-standing inefficiencies that warrant attention.  However, … Read more

Repercussions of a False Dichotomy Explained

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In the past, professional coaches didn’t have to split hairs when identifying themselves, by their line of work: e.g. being “agile coaches” vs. “product coaches.” While coaching focus areas have always existed—e.g., enterprise, team-level, individual, career, technical, HR, business/product, etc. — seasoned coaches-veterans were expected to be versatile in their capabilities and adaptive in their … Read more

LeSS Talks: Amazon’s Product Operating Model: A Peek Behind The Curtain, with James Gunaca

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  How to Connect with James Gunaca: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesgunaca https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJamesGunaca https://www.jamesgunaca.com AI Companion-Generated Summary Quick recap James Gunaca, a veteran product manager, shared insights into Amazon’s product operating models and emphasized the importance of adapting strategies to context while acknowledging both successes and failures. He discussed common myths about working at Amazon, clarified the company’s approach … Read more

LeSS Works: System Modelling: Understanding PI Planning Shortfalls And Finding Alternatives

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Download Materials  AI Companion Summary Please, note that the transcript below is in its original form and has not been modified, with the exception of removing names of the participants. Please, refer to the transcript, in conjunction with the recording and materials above. Global Scrum PI Planning Discussion Gene welcomed participants to a global, large-scale … Read more

LeSS Talks: Using System Thinking & Modelling to Solve Tough Organizational Problems, with Gene Gendel

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  Graphic Materials Used:        The following challenges were touched upon: In a rush, to become agile, did your organization adopt an “operating model”, by incorrectly copy-pasting something that has been well known in the industry for year but required a much deeper understanding, before implementing? In a rush, to become product-centric … Read more

Avoid False Equivalency In Selecting Your Guides

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Below, are a few BIG questions, for C-level executives that control org. design decisions, budgets, and HR: Why did your agile transformation come to a halt? Why did not your product operating model work, as expected? Why does everything look like an agile theater/circus, with a lot of ‘transactional activities’ but no ROI? In order … Read more

Agile Theater Chaos

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Tweet LinkedIn discussion Welcome to the ‘AGILE THEATHER CHAOS’ meeting! This is a typical situation at a large corporation or government agency that is trying to ‘finish doing agile by EoY, to check the box and claim a victory’:   Lots of conflicting priorities, between people that sit above teams and give teams marching orders. … Read more