by Esther Derby | Apr 23, 2012 | Systems and Complexity
I don’t doubt that its possible to have an organization with out traditional managers. I’ve read about Semco and Morningstar Farms. I’ve talked to people who work at Gore. My husband works for a less well know firm that doesn’t have traditional...
by Esther Derby | Apr 1, 2012 | Leadership & Management
I have seen situations where both senior level and middle level management saw the value in Agile. Moving towards a team-based organization and iterative incremental delivery brings benefits. In my experience, it’s a little more common for middle managers to...
by Esther Derby | Jan 2, 2012 | Leadership & Management
Command and control isn’t just a mindset and a style of management (though it is both those things). What we don’t often talk about is the power that rests with people in management roles. Traditional managers have power, and that power comes from...
by Esther Derby | Aug 12, 2011 | Collaboration & Teams, Leadership & Management, Systems and Complexity
How can managers support teams to truly support team responsibility? In the early days of Agile, some pundits (and developers) declared, “We don’t need no stinking managers.” They asserted that if teams were self-managed, management work was waste....
by Esther Derby | Jul 28, 2011 | Collaboration & Teams, Leadership & Management
Every team needs leadership, even self-organizing teams. When I make this statement, some people assume I mean that every team needs a designated leader. I can’t blame them, most people are accustomed to thinking of leadership residing in a role or a charismatic...
