agile IRL

Change is the new normal,
and we need the ability to adapt.
An agile mindset enables you to
evaluate what you see
and adjust accordingly.

But agile isn’t just for projects, it’s for everyday life too. By applying this same mindset and principles you can adapt aspects of your life more intentionally.

Discover how you can live with an agile minded in your everyday life.

Everyday people practicing Scrum

everyday
scrum

A Guide for Everyday People to Learn Scrum

Scrum is a simple and powerful framework for getting stuff done.  Learning Scrum often intimidates people who are new to it but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Everyday Scrum is a straightforward guide to help everyday people learn the essentials of Scrum and see how it can be applied in various aspects of life and work.

level up your everyday agility

creative scrum

a guide to apply scrum in creative work

Does Scrum work for creative projects? It was March 2019, and that was the critical question.

From 2019 to 2021, I coached the creative department of a large global non-profit to implement agile project management across their creative department.

It was a fun, challenging and rewarding journey. I’ve logged my experience here to extend my learning and share it with those on a similar journey.

You can discover what it looks like to apply the principles of Scrum to creative processes like graphic design, videography and web design.

The guide walks through my personal experience of installing Scrum across multiple distributed creative media teams. I’ll share the nitty-gritty of what it took to get the job done and, along the way, extract some transferable principles you can apply in various contexts.

level up your everyday agility

agile tools

If you don’t have the what and why super clear, then your chances of consistently delivering value go down quickly. That’s why I’ve doubled down on these two agile concepts, which speak to both the why and the what.

User Stories

User Stories are a powerful tool because they answer the why that drives both the what and how things get done.  

It follows a simple pattern of

  • As a… [user]
  • I want to… [goal]
  • So that I can… [motivation]

User stories aren’t just for Scrum. I use them in marketing, web design, and even when trying to figure out how to keep my kids from leaving their shoes on the floor.

Anytime you’re trying to solve a problem or create a solution, user stories are a great tool to have in your toolbox.

Download the User Story Worksheet

Download and print this worksheet out to use with your team as you develop your own user stories.

user story template on a sticky note
Learn to Write
User Stories
in Scrum
Team discussing Story Points
How to use
Story Points
in Scrum
Scrum Velocity - lights of fast cars
Learn to
Forecast Progress
in Scrum

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance Criteria clarifies what must be true for something to be considered done.

It follows a simple pattern of

  • Given that… [ context that allows me to take an action ]
  • When… [ I take the action ]
  • Then…  [ a result occurs indicating success or failure ]

Acceptance Criteria can be used for more than just Scrum but it really flexes its muscles when combined with user stories and the definition of done.


teammates discussing acceptance criteria
How is
Acceptance Criteria
used in Scrum?

Resources

As you begin to apply an agile mindset to your everyday life you’ll discover there are many great tools and resources out there. Here are a few of my favorites

Some of my favorite apps that support an agile mindset

If you want a deeper dive into agile topics, these are books I recommend.

agile posts