Agile – Derk-Jan de Grood

The power of dropping practices

In February, I published the article Skilling Up Development Teams on Agile Alliance. In it, I argue for the need to consciously and structurally improve the people who build and maintain software. I explain how adopting the right practices can help bridge the gap between the needs of development teams and broader organizational goals.

By focusing on practices, small containers of knowledge, skills, and mindset that help you perform a specific job well, we can make skilling up more tangible. Instead of vague ambitions like “we need better quality” or “we should innovate more,” we can talk about adopting or improving specific practices, such as continuous integration or organizing innovation sprints.

The article triggered several interesting discussions. One of them was with my colleague Dion Nicolaas, an agile coach and Scrum Master. Dion pointed out that, rather than adopting new practices, there is another option that I overlooked. Sometimes teams improve by doing less. In his article Breaking Eggs, he explores the power of deliberately dropping practices.

You can read the article on the agile alliance site: Breaking Eggs: The Case for Dropping Practices

LSP – Lego Serious Play

Yesterday we had another great InnSpiratie meeting. Peter Latten introduced us to LSP – Lego Serious Play. In addition to members of the Agility Guild, several colleagues from the client were also present. In just one afternoon, we got a great sense of how Lego can be used for things like getting to know each other, identifying and prioritizing improvements, and discussing stakeholder management.

Thank you, Peter, for a truly inspiring workshop!

If you’d like to know more about Lego Coaching — in November I recorded a podcast together with Suzanne Warmerdam, Emiel van Kalken and Nienke Alma: “The Drawing Coach and the Lego Coach”(in Dutch). You can listen to the episode below at or watch the video at InnHetMidden.

Skilling Up Development Teams

I’m pleased to share that my article “Skilling-Up Development Teams” has been published by Agile Alliance.

Skilling Up Development Teams

In it, I argue that skilling-up is not optional. When teams deliberately grow their skills and mindset, they become more resilient, innovative, and less dependent on a few key individuals. When they don’t, risks, stress, and knowledge silos quietly accumulate.

The core idea of the article is simple: make improvement tangible by focusing on practices. Instead of vague goals like “improve quality” or “innovate more,” define and strengthen specific practices that address real operational pain and align with strategic ambitions. Practices connect daily work to long-term direction.

Skilling-up is a shared responsibility between leadership, teams, HR, and product management. When done consciously, it prevents crisis instead of reacting to it. If you care about sustainable delivery and future-ready teams, I invite you to read the article and share your perspective.

Development and operations. Not the same…

Although they work side by side in service of the same business goals, development and operations often experience tension or misunderstanding.

In this article, I deep-dive the differences, that usually isn’t caused by bad intentions, but by fundamentally different responsibilities. Development is about change and new capabilities, while operations is about stability, reliability and risk.

Based on my experience coaching operations teams, I introduce a simple bucket approach that helps teams consciously balance urgent work with long-term improvement. Finally, I reflect on the role of the operations product owner, who must make decisions under pressure, protect team sustainability and clearly communicate invisible but essential value.

Thanks Nieke Roos, for the editing and Bits&Chips for publishing it. You can check it out yourself; Development and operation: different goals and ways to plan their work.

Shaking Agile @ the Agile Consortium Annual Conference

I’m excited to share that on November 26, 2025, I will be speaking at the Agile Consortium Annual Conference 2025—the premier event for agile professionals in the Netherlands. This year’s theme, “Shaking Agility”, promises fresh perspectives and meaningful discussions.

I’m really looking forward to meeting you there, sharing experiences, and exploring how we can truly shake up agility—in the best possible way. You can register via https://jaarcongresnl.agileconsortium.net/

If you’d like to connect or discuss something during the conference or in advance, feel free to reach out.

Waves of Agile: Insights from an Agile Tester

One of the great things about writing a book is that you never really do it alone. When it is finished, there are so many people you want to thank—and so many who are eager to get their hands on a copy.

Today I met with Wendy Bruin on a sunny terrace in Lijnden, where she browsed through the revised second edition of Waves of Agile for the first time. She seemed very pleased.

Wendy is an Agile tester with a real passion for Agile. With her background as a Scrum Master, she read the previous edition in one go, through the eyes of a tester. We enjoyed a good lunch and took some time to catch up.

It also reminded me that four years ago we made a great video based on the first edition of the book. Of all the reader’s view videos we created, this one is my favorite—especially the moment where we play with the surprise of me suddenly ringing her doorbell.

In the video, Wendy enthusiastically explains why she has kept the book on her desk as a reference : The video is in Dutch, but I added subtitles.

Great Catch-Up with an Old Colleague

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of reconnecting with an old colleague, Bas Baas. We’ve collaborated on numerous assignments over the years, and it was great to catch up in person.

During our conversation, I shared my copy of the latest edition of The Waves of Agile. To my surprise (and delight!), Bas was so intrigued by the new version that he didn’t want to give it back!

Bas had already read the first edition and even recorded a video sharing his thoughts on it. If you’re curious about what resonated with him and why he recommends the book, I encourage you to check out the video.

Agile ,Leadership ,TheWavesOfAgile ,ProfessionalGrowth, BookRecommendations

New episode of our podcast ‘Inn het Midden’ is live!

In episode 4, Nienke Alma and Derk-Jan de Grood take you behind the scenes of their experience at ScanAgile – the largest Agile conference in Scandinavia. Together with André Scholten, they reflect on their own talk and discuss some of the most inspiring presentations they attended.

What to expect? An engaging conversation featuring:

Playgrounds, not pipelines – Linda Liukas
Strategic Storytelling in Agile Teams – Osita Ifezue
Agile Coach: The discomfort of a job title – Nienke Alma & Derk-Jan de Grood
Building Resilience – Tricia Broderick
Strategic Alignment and Cross-Team Collaboration with The Solar System – Cansel Sörgens
PeacePlanet Connecting Finland, Japan, and the USA with MobAI – Joe Justice

Get inspired by fresh insights, personal stories, and the international Agile vibes of ScanAgile!

Episode 4 of Inn het Midden is now available on all major podcast platforms. Full video version included in the show notes.

The Discomfort of a Job Title

Have you ever felt trapped? Not literally, but perhaps you know the feeling of being caught in a web of expectations tied to your job title—expectations that don’t necessarily align with who you are as a professional.

Nienke and I are excited to share our experiences on stage. On March 27 and 28, we’ll be speaking at Scan Agile in Helsinki.

Derk-Jan de Grood and Nienke Alma have spent many years working in large organizations undergoing transformation. As passionate agilists, the evolving nature of Agile transformations has always kept them engaged. Recent conversations have made them realize that they share one common experience: the job title “Agile Coach” that they once embraced is increasingly feeling uncomfortable. Even more unsettling: they sense that this discomfort is shared by organizations looking for individuals who can support their transformation efforts.

What kind of support truly adds value in today’s Agile transformations within large organizations? How do we position ourselves to meet this demand? What job title best captures both the value we bring to organizations and what we are willing and able to deliver? And should we be concerned if that title isn’t “Agile Coach”?

Check out our promo video, and if it resonates with you, we hope to see you at our session at Scan Agile! More info and program can be found on the conference website: https://www.scan-agile.org/

Angie and Isaac take it on!

In their new podcast, Angie and Isaac review their favorite publications they have read. In this episode, they review and discuss the article I wrote earlier for the agile alliance.
This article is about the clover model and how you can use it in your scrum master coaching sessions. You can read the original article on the Agile Alliance site.
But now that the podcast is out, you can even learn and listen in your car, while walking or where-ever you like to listen to your podcasts. Relax, enjoy and learn:

Podcast: The Clover Model for Agile Coaching

Article: Effective one-on-one coaching with the Clover Model

Note this podcast is generated with AI. Amazing how easy it is to transform one of my articles into a podcast episode like the one above. I tried a few, and although sometimes AI missed the point, this episode kind of nailed it. Still, when Isaac starts giving his own opinion, I start to become really sceptic – an AI with an opinion? But I smiled a lot while listening to it, so that’s why I decided to share it with you. For you to smile, and maybe learn something as well.

The value of the IAD!

This weekend, I spent time in Florence, Italy, where I gave a talk at the Italian Agile Days.

Italian Agile Days is the main Italian conference aimed at people interested in agile culture and practices. It began in 2004, and this year marks the twenty-first edition. With 600-700 particpants.it is the largest agile event in the country, and also counts as one of the longest-running and most active agile conferences in the world.

Although there were international speakers and the call for papers was open in both English and Italian, many talks were given in Italian. As a result, I was confined to the English track. This was rather unfortunate, as during the networking breaks, I heard enthusiastic stories about some of the Italian talks. Still, I felt welcomed, heard some great new insights, and even made new friends.

I attended interesting talks on visual test strategies ( Shining Chen), The imposter syndrome (Paweł Zajączkowski) the gap between business and developers (Attila Fejér), Platform engineering, team topologies (Giulio Roggero), and failing digital transformations and behavioral engineering (Michele Brissoni). Check out the full program on the conference website

My own presentation was about the Value Framework and how it can be used to make backlog ordering not only more efficient but also more value-focused.

Organizations seeking to enhance value delivery benefit from better planning and prioritization. The Value Framework provides a simple way to rate backlog items based on their value, aligning them with organizational goals and making priority decisions more transparent, including for stakeholders. The framework offers implementation guidelines, fostering awareness and alignment among product owners and enabling faster, more objective value assessment.

Below is a small impression of the conference.

🎙A brand new podcast episode

In this episode, Jurgen Meheus and I dive into the world of Agile transformation. Jurgen is managing partner at M2Q, and invited me to discuss how Agile requires a completely different mindset than traditional software development. We will address the challenges of implementing Agile methodologies in large organizations, the importance of continuous improvement and adaptation to local conditions, and the critical role of documentation in Agile projects, especially in regulated industries…

Listen or watch now:
– Watch the podcast: https://bit.ly/4eAYY7H
– Spotify:https://spoti.fi/3U3a9ho
– M2Q website: M2Q #34 https://m2q.be/podcasts/
– Apple podcasts: https://apple.co/4eLr4gi

You can also read the full article on the M2Q website: https://bit.ly/3ZQpTIc

Speaking @ Italy Agile Days Florence

In early November, the 21st edition of the Italian Agile Days (IAD) will take place, making it the premier conference for those interested in agile culture and practices in Italy. This journey began in 2004, and IAD has grown to become one of the longest-running and most active agile conferences in the world.

The Italian Agile Days 2024 will be held in Florence, Italy, on Saturday, November 8. The program was recently published, and you can find all the details about the speakers and sessions on the IAD2024 Conference website: IAD2024 Conference.

I’m excited to share that I’ll be speaking on how the Value Frame can help you effectively sort your backlog. My session is titled :

“Impactful Backlog Ordering with the Value Frame.”
Organizations looking to enhance their value delivery need to focus on better planning and predictability. Equally important is ensuring that work is directed toward the right items, as any effort spent on the wrong tasks is simply waste. The Value Frame offers a straightforward approach to evaluate backlog items based on their value, improving alignment with organizational strategy and goals while making priority decisions more transparent.

I’m truly honored to have the opportunity to speak at this amazing conference, especially knowing that the number of submissions far exceeded the available slots.

Agile Technical Practices – If only you knew them!

In Agile Technical Practices, authors Pedro Moreira Santos, Marco Consolaro, and Alessandro Di Gioia advocate for practices like Pair Programming and Test-Driven Development (TDD). Their comprehensive guide navigates through intricate design and refactoring methodologies, fostering code readability and resilience. The book describes a limited yet crucial set of practices. However, the deep dive and the insights provided in the book make them applicable for developers.

Besides the three key practices that Pedro, Marco, and Alessandro distill and describe, there are other practices worth knowing as well.

In Agile Technical Practices – If only you knew them !, my latest article that I wrote for Agile Connection, I tell more about the book and explain why I think it matters: books like this make organizations aware that effective value delivery is most likely obtained by proficient developers who know, talk about, and apply these practices. I am truly glad that I am not alone in this important vision. I wonder if you know of more books like this.

Podcast –Are we selling out Agile!

Podcast – Selling out Agile!

This week, I was invited to record a podcast again. This time with Bartwin van der Pols and Marcella Koopman. We sat down to discuss how current trends in the world influence the way organizations look at agile.

If that sounds too big and fluffy to you, I can guarantee the podcast was not. We talked about what makes organizations in New Zealand and the Netherlands care more for output than perhaps they do for business agility. What would happen if we selected some agile practices and presented them as cost-saving measures? Would that help to sell agile, or would we then be selling out agile?

I enjoyed the session a lot and can’t wait until it becomes available online. The podcast will be part of a new series of podcasts by Defiant, an organisation in New Zealand specialising in revolutionising change.

If you are interested in the podcasts, I have to disappoint you; it is not yet available. But I’ll keep you posted. If you are interested in the topic, you can always connect with Marcella, Bart, or me.