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Leadership Tip #13: For Innovation, Remove at Least One Policy or Procedure a Week

Johanna Rothman

Some managers wanted to prevent Bad Things from happening in the organization, so they added policies or procedures. Now, these same managers want business agility. The more we remove, the more agility or improvement we might see. The more we remove, the more agility or improvement we might see.

Policies 130
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Management Rewards: Doing Work vs Creating an Environment

Johanna Rothman

My agile transformation clients struggle with this big question: How do we effectively reward managers? The more the organization wants or needs an agile transformation, the less the current reward structure works. How do you incent the managers? What makes sense for management compensation?

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Where I Think “Agile” is Headed, Part 5: Summary

Johanna Rothman

I started asking if you actually need an agile approach in Part 1 and noted the 4 big problems I see. Part 2 was why we need managers in an agile transformation. Part 4 was about how “Agile” is meaningless and “agile” is an adjective that needs to be applied to something.

Agile 65
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Managers: Are You Responsible “To” or “For” People?

Johanna Rothman

A manager said to me, “I'm responsible for this department of people.” ” He said, “I'm responsible for managing the people. When we ask managers to take responsibility for other people, we increase the possibility that they micromanage. But managers rarely can help with these practices.

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Faster Management Decisions Can Lead to More Ease and Better Results, Part 4

Johanna Rothman

We manage the risks of long-term commitments (decisions) by gaining experience with that person in many circumstances. (I Create a yearly budget as a guideline for our specific goals, but manage that budget every week and month to manage our risks. That's how we manage all our decisions: the Important and the Urgent.

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Minimum Requirements Documentation: A Matter of Context

Johanna Rothman

I use the guideline: If I can't write large enough on the front of the card to see, my story is too large. Note: In From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams , Mark and I recommend any other approach than an agile approach if you don't have enough hours of overlap. See Manage It! I don't use larger cards.

Agile 68
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How Well Do Your Policies Create Desired Outcomes and Trust?

Johanna Rothman

If you don't manage your cash flow, a lack of cash will kill your business. The more we want an agile organization that might be able to bounce forward , the more we need to create an environment of thinking and trust. Your policies create your culture. Your policies create and refine your actual culture.