Posts by Dave Cornelius

Pain: Team Toxin – Blaming Team toxins are a natural part of team dynamics.  It is a natural human condition that requires intentional actions to reduce the effect on the team.  One toxin that affect team dynamic is blaming. There will be people who will blame other people or the organization for their own failures.…

Pain: Poor Quality I remember taking over a project and listening to a customer say, “this is the worst software product I have ever used, and no one will do anything about making it better.  It is so bad that I will not even bother telling you about it anymore.” Poor quality is a systemic quality…

Pain: Over Commitment / Opportunistic Thinking Why is it that we commit to so much work at the beginning of each Sprint and we are never finished by the end of the Sprint? Gain: Iteration and Increments Some teams are very optimistic about committed work.  Doing work in small batches provide the team with the…

Pain Point: Deficit Mindset. The deficit mindset is a zero-sum focus in life.  Leaders who compare themselves to members on their team at a certain point in their career is demonstrating a deficit mindset.  He or she is saying to that person, I am the only one with capabilities to solve the current issue at…

Pain Point: People Engagement Gap. One of the most common challenges all teams face is their managers do not create an environment for emergent leadership. This can produce several negative results including: Unproductive culture Unhappy employees and team members Decreased productivity Lack of new ideas Less team work Impact: Lost Time, Money and Resources. The result…