Category: Books

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

One-year anniversary of The Virtual Coffee Experience

Last week marked the one-year anniversary of launching The Virtual Coffee Experience at the Agile Consortium Congress. Time truly flies! To celebrate this milestone, we held a special on-site session where we reconnected, shared stories, and reflected on how we’ve been using the book in our own work.

It was wonderful to see everyone again, and we also took time to look ahead. Our discussions sparked exciting new ideas on how we can continue achieving our goal of connecting more people working in virtual teams. We’re looking forward to bringing some of these ideas to life soon!

In the meantime, we’re still enjoying the success and impact of our book: The virtual Coffee Experience

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.

How virtual coffees help build strong online teams 

When I worked as an Agile Coach for ING Bank, I was part of a team of Agile Coaches. Together we experimented with virtual coffees. These are short informal moments that improve the connection and collaboration in your team. We liked it so much that we teamed up to write the book ‘THE VIRTUAL COFFEE EXPERIENCE – 52 formats for meaningful connections in teams’. The book contains a nice collection of working formats that help you to organize your own virtual coffee sessions. 

We proudly present the book during the Agile Consortium Annual Conference that will be held on 16 November. Until then the book will be shrouded by mystery, as it is not yet available yet.

But, If you want to know more about the book, you can also read: How virtual coffees help build strong online teams. This article, that I wrote for Bits&Chips, already provides a glimpse of the mystery. Read it on the Bits&Chips website and discover how you can use the working methods from the book to form close-knit teams.

Thanks go to Nieke Roos for the editing and  Justin Lopez for creating the matching illustration where the squirrel already is reading the book

Our journey of connection – from virtual coffees to a book

At ING I was part of a group of Agile Coaches. As a team we were starting to organize weekly virtual coffees – a team tradition that began in the spring of 2020. We held short informal session were we exchanged ideas, experiences and personal stories. Our experience with virtual coffees taught us that in today’s hybrid work environments, social cohesion is crucial. It is the key to smooth collaboration and deep commitment, both to the team and the company. Building cohesion is all about creating giving space for individuals and stimulating interaction.

Although most of us work at different locations, we still kept collaborating with the aim the to share our experiences and interaction formats. Over the last year we have been working to write a book, called the virtual coffee experience.

We are thrilled to announce that our book will be launched at the Agile Consortium Annual Conference 2023. Every author knows that writing a book is an almost infinite loop of continuously rewriting. Being ready in time for the Annual Conference 2023 has kept us on track as an author collective.

We invite you to join us at our booth in the drinks room after the launch. Here, you can explore and purchase the book. You can also meet the authors who have established a foundation to promote the concept of Virtual Coffee. We look forward to connecting with you.

Annemarie Koelewijn, Annette HeijinkElgert Verhoef, Syed Ameenuddin Syed Niaz, Arno Delhij 웃, Fried Broekhof, Bob Kastje, Catharina Adriaans, Derk-Jan de Grood, Ronald Schouten, Paul Van Wijk, Marcel de Groot, Marielle Roozemond

Moving the work or the People?

Agile principles advocate for stable teams, but real-world challenges can necessitate team changes. Stable teams foster collaboration and efficiency, but obstacles can arise due to dependencies or local optimizations. To optimize value flow, organizations may need to restructure teams or form autonomous clusters. This reteaming can promote professional growth and knowledge sharing. It’s also possible to move entire teams to other department to high-priority projects or profit centers. However, these moves require careful evaluation to prevent disruptions. In summary, while Agile values stable teams, adapting team structures can be crucial for addressing challenges and enhancing collaboration, provided it aligns with organizational goals.

In his new article that I wrote for bits&chips, I explore when reteaming is something to consider. Read the full article on the Bits&Chips site: Move the people or the work?

Thanks Nieke Roos for the effective editing and of course Justin Lopez for creating the matching Squirrel illustration where the nuts and the players are exchanged between the two teams.

Podcast Technology Leads

Dutch: In de podcast serie “Technology Leads” praten Tom van de Ven, Rik Marselis en Daniel Laskewitz je bij over nieuwe technologie. Regelmatig nodigen zij gasten uit om hun visie op nieuwe technologie te delen. Ik was te gast bij de heren in hun virtuele studio en we hadden een leuk gesprek over mijn Boek “the waves of Agile”.

Naast het boek bespreken we Introverte vs Extraverte teams, de kennis die je opdoet tijdens het schrijven van een boek en het beland van dingen transparant en bespreekbaar maken. Verder hebben Tom van de Ven , Daniel Laskewitz en Rik Marselis tech nieuwtjes over de James Webb telescoop, Agile for dummies en “maskeraid”.

Dank je wel Tom, Rik en Daniel voor het leuke gesprek! De tijd vloog om. Wil je deze podcast beluisteren, dat kan op spotify of apple podcast, of gebruik deze link om te luisteren:
https://lnkd.in/dz4iXHi

English: In the podcast series “Technology Leads” Tom van de Ven, Rik Marselis and Daniel Laskewitz talk to you about new technology. They regularly invite guests to share their vision of new technology. I was a guest of the gentlemen in their virtual studio and we had a nice conversation about my book “the waves of Agile”.

In addition to the book, we discuss Introverted vs Extroverted teams, the knowledge you gain while writing a book and the value of making things transparent and open to discussion. Furthermore,  Tom van de Ven , Daniel Laskewitz en Rik Marselis share tech news about the James Webb telescope, Agile for dummies and “masquerade aid”.

Thank you Tom, Rik and Daniel for the nice conversation! Time flew by. If you want to listen to this podcast (in Dutch) , you can do that on spotify or apple podcast, or use this link to listen:

It’s a recognition bonanza

In this video I have a conversation with a very open and enthusiastic Wendy Bruin. We talk about my book “The waves of Agile”.

“I read quite a lot about agile and encounter a lot of agile practises but, this is the first book that properly explains what you can do and how you can implement agile.”

Wendy is an Agile tester with a passion for Agile. She has experience as a scrum master, but read my book through the eyes of a tester. I visited her at her home and she enthusiastically told me why she has the book on her desk as a reference work. Reading “The waves of Agile” through the eyes of a tester is a recognition bonanza.

The video is in Dutch, but I added a subtitles.

The waves of Agile – Full registration of the book launch webinar

On 5 July we launched my new book: “The waves of Agile, Value delivery in medium and large organizations”.

In a 50-minute webinar I explain what the book is about, and we show the interview Vincent Verloop had with Wilco Dona, who wrote one of the two prefaces. Nils van Schaik shares his thoughts on embracing change, and we have a live QA.

The webinar was visited by nearly 100 people, from US, Korea, Uruguay, Canada, Denmark and of course the Netherlands. Thank you all for attending and thanks Denise Garcia for hosting it with me.

Ordering can e.g. be done at: bol.com or the publisher

Unboxing my new book: The waves of agile

Today my new book was delivered at the office. Although it was quiet and everyone was rather busy, we did our best to celebrate it. I made a short video impression of the unboxing and our first impression of the book.

More info on: https://techwatchbooks.nl/waves-of-agile.

Launching my new book: The waves of Agile

On 5 July I will be presenting my new book: The waves of agile, Value delivery in medium and large organizations. In a free webinar we will celebrate that the book is finished. Join me in this event and I’ll explain what the book is about and we’ll have nice contributions from Nils van Schaik and Wilco Dona.

We’ll have the following program:

How to deal with change? – Nils van Schaik (Director at Squerist)

The customer in the driver seat – An interview by Vincent Verloop (Agile Consultant at Squerist) with Wilco Dona (Head of products at RTL)

Introduction to ‘The Waves of Agile’ – Derk-Jan de Grood (Agile Coach at Squerist )

More information about the book can be found in the book session on this blog.
Please join us on Monday July 5 between 16:00 and 17:00. You can reserve your seat by registering on the event page

The Relevance of Built in Quality

With Valori we published a new eBook in the series on Digital transformation.

This publication is a follow up on the trend report that was released earlier this year. In this previous ebook we described disruptive trends and explained why organisations need to become adaptive.  In this second edition we focus on the development practises that companies embrace to do so.  In the first part we describe how Agile, DevOps,  CI/CD  and Scaling contribute to business agility. I believe it is a nice introduction for managers, stakeholders and  professionals that are not entirely familiar with these development practises.

The second part of the eBook deals with Built in Quality. We state that the concept of creating fast feedback loops crumbles when you cannot release frequently.  Without confidence in system quality, we cannot make quick adjustments and receive no feedback on the impact of implemented improvements. Built in Quality provides the confidence in the quality of the systems so that we dare to change them frequently and take them into production.   In the eBook we introduce the built in quality circle. It provides an overview of the steps in the development cycle and where errors can be prevented.

I am proud of my contribution to this eBook and hope you find it useful. You can download your free copy of Hoe word je wendbaar als organisatie? – Het belang van built in quality from the Valori site.

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