
568.1K
Downloads
329
Episodes
LeadingAgile's resident Scrum trainer Dave Prior, hosts a weekly podcast that covers all sorts of topics about Agile, Scrum, Organizational Transformation and Leadership. No matter if you're new to Agile development or an Agile veteran, Dave and his guest are sure to make you think about Agile in a whole new way! Alexa knows us as Leading Agile Sound Notes.
Episodes

Wednesday Nov 09, 2022
Maximizing the Value of Agile Metrics
Wednesday Nov 09, 2022
Wednesday Nov 09, 2022
During Transformation, we need a way to measure its performance and improvements to the organization so that leaders continue to support the initiative. Metrics need to be used to help teams get better over time and drive the right kinds of outcomes that leadership is looking for.
In this episode, Mike Cottmeyer shares his insights into different Agile metrics and what are the right ones that give leaders what they need to make the necessary changes to the system and improve overall performance.
Contacting Mike Cottmeyer
If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at:
LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer
Email: mike@leadingagile.com
Contacting Dave Prior
If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:
LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com
Interested in CSM or CSPO Training?
You can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
Emotional Systems Theory and Leadership
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
In this episode of SoundNotes, Len Greski joins Dave to discuss leadership and emotional systems. Len is a Principal Consultant at LeadingAgile and he has a background in sociology. As Len explains, “The most difficult challenge in delivering great products is getting people to work together." During the interview, we explore emotional systems theory and how that can be applied within our organizations and teams to create sustainable change and deliver great products.
The Bowen Family Systems Theory was developed by Dr. Murray Bowen. It is rooted in taking a systems view in studying families and the relationship patterns that develop between family members. Bowen’s theory and the eight concepts that came out of it can also be applied to the workplace and the emotional systems we create and participate in day to day. The better you are able to understand these systems, the more able you will be to foster systems that lead to a positive outcome for your team, your organization, and your customer.
Links from the Podcast
- Bowen Family Systems Theory: https://www.thebowencenter.org
- Johari Window: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johari_window
- A Failure of Nerve by Edwin Friedman https://amzn.to/3Cxc6dD
Contacting Len Greski
If you’d like to contact Len, you can reach him at:
- LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/len-greski/
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/leonardgreski
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lgreski
- GitHub: https://github.com/lgreski
- Email: Leonard.greski@leadingagile.com
Contacting Dave Prior
If you’d like to contact Dave, you can reach him at:
- LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
- Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to Dave.

Friday Oct 07, 2022
Getting Your Leaders on Board With Agile Transformation
Friday Oct 07, 2022
Friday Oct 07, 2022
This week’s podcast was created as a response to a question we were recently asked by some of our CSM/CSPO course students. This one is for all the team members and Scrum Masters, the people on the ground who see why Agile could make a huge difference in their entire organization but just don’t have the title or agency to sign the contracts to make it happen.
What they wanted to know is: How does someone who isn’t at contract-signing level create a conversation where they can get the leaders above them to be open to Agile Transformation?
Dave and Mike will unpack the answer, including discussion on how to hone in on what executives care about and value, and some important questions to ask yourself about the organization and its goals before you start the conversation. They’ll share tips on how to craft the right kind of conversation to get leaders to understand why Agile Transformation is worth doing.
Contacting Mike Cottmeyer
If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at:
LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/mike-cottmeyer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcottmeyer
Email: mike@leadingagile.com
Contacting Dave Prior
If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:
LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com
And if you’re interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

Thursday Oct 06, 2022
An Executive walks into a Daily Scrum
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
So an Executive walks into a Daily Scrum and demands Team Member X who must immediately begin work on something that is not part of the Scrum Team’s commitment for the Sprint.
If you are a Scrum Master, this has either happened to you, or it is going to… soon.
What do you do?
You know this is not ok. The Executive, who may have the power to fired you on the spot. should know better too, but apparently, they are “extra-agile”.
Your job is to protect the team from interruptions just like this. But your job is also not to get fired. In the heat of this moment, you may not have time to work on developing and evaluating different theories.
What do you do?
In this episode of SoundNotes, Vic Bonacci joins me to talk through some of the options a Scrum Master has in this situation. We explore different choices available to the SM and the potential impact of each option. And, Vic and I both came at this challenge from different angles, so it gave us an excellent opportunity to talk through how we see it through different lenses.

Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
When the Team Doesn’t Want to Do Agile
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
This week in SoundNotes, Chris Barton joins me to talk through a problem that shows up one way or another in every single CSM class I teach…
How do I get my team to want to do Agile when they don’t want to do Agile?
During the interview, Chris and I talk through different lenses you can employ to get a better understanding of what is driving the resistance and strategies for overcoming it.
We also spend some time near the end of the conversation on how to influence when you have no sway. This one came from someone on a team who is earlier in their career and is paired with an older Tech Lead that seems to view her primary role as Team Meeting Scheduler.
Whether you are the one trying to influence, or you are the recipient of someone’s efforts to influence, there is a lot here that you’ll find valuable.

Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
Leading in Ambiguity
Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
In this week’s episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Senior Consultant, Matthew Oatts joins me to talk about what to do when you are placed in a leadership role, but not given a lot of clarity on what you are specifically supposed to do or how you are supposed to do it. How do you lead people when you don’t have clear boundaries or you don’t have clarity on what your leadership is looking for.
Oftentimes, this guidance is lacking because the people you report to don’t actually know and are just waiting for you to figure it out. How can you be successful in your role when success is not clearly defined for you?
If you’ve ever found yourself in that situation, Matthew Oatts and I talk through different ways to respond when you find yourself in this situation.
Matthew's 3 albums to listen to while working
Contacting Matthew Oatts
If you’d like to contact Matthew you can reach him at:
- LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/matthew-oatts/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmoatts/
- Email: matthew.oatts@leadingagile.com
Contacting Dave Prior
If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:
- LeadingAgile: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsungo
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsungo
- Email: dave.prior@leadingagile.com
If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
Industrializing the Agile Transformation Process
Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
Agile Transformation is more than just installing Agile processes or Agile principles. It’s more than simply training your team on Agile methodology. But if that’s the case, then what is the actual path to becoming an Agile organization?
You must create the conditions where Agile processes can be deployed and exploited for better outcomes than you had before—so you can get more value, better ROI, more predictability, and more. But to create this foundation, you need a way to move the organization incrementally and iteratively through Transformation that operates with certain characteristics. LeadingAgile has found a way to do this with what we call a Systems-first approach to Agile Transformation.
In this podcast, LeadingAgile CEO Mike Cottmeyer and host Dave Prior candidly explore and discuss the details of the LeadingAgile Systems-first approach, including how it started, why it has become a proven and tested way to successfully enable any organization to Transform, and how each part of the system works.

Thursday Jun 30, 2022
Creating win-win opportunities for Junior Talent Regan Jenkins & Lien Nguyen
Thursday Jun 30, 2022
Thursday Jun 30, 2022
Finding, supporting, and retaining people with skills and talent is never easy. Over the past few years, between the pandemic and the great resignation, it has become even more challenging. What attracts the next generation of talented change agents? How can you help them grow into the skilled transformation ninjas you need them to be? If you are part of one of the older generations, how can you become more aware of your blind spots and take steps to improve the way you engage with the people who will lead us into the future?
This week in SoundNotes, Dave is joined by Lien Nguyen and Regan Jenkins who both work as staff consultants at LeadingAgile. During the interview, they discuss what LeadingAgile was able to offer that they could not find elsewhere, the different ways they are supported by the folks they work with, and they also offer Dave some tips on how he can show up for in a helpful and supportive way for those who are in the earlier stages of their careers.

Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Understanding Change Management with Melissa Oberg & Dennis Stevens
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
What is PSTIR? PSTIR is an acronym for a change management model we use at LeadingAgile to explain our approach to creating lasting change. It stands for Prepare, Socialize, Tailor, Implement, Reinforce and it is a series of collaboration and implementation activities that enable our clients to be part of the change while leveraging the LeadingAgile reference architecture.
In this episode of SoundNotes, Dave is joined by LeadingAgile Principal Consultant, Melissa Oberg and Dennis Stevens, our Chief Methodologist to discuss what PSTIR is, why it exists and why it is such a crucial part of how we introduce and manage change in an organization.

Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Corporate Communications in Agile with Tim Zack
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
In this episode of SoundNotes, Dave is joined by LeadingAgile Chief Marketing Officer Tim Zack. Tim offers his unique perspective on how to communicate within an organization during an Agile Transformation to influence lasting change. The biggest part of an Agile Transformation is asking people to work differently at a job they might have been doing for years. People are naturally resistant to change, especially when their livelihood is on the line.
Tim discusses the strategies that organizations can use to communicate where they want to go. It's about influencing people over a period of time, not going in and trying to change the culture first. This is why we lead with a systems first approach because they adapt to change faster than people. Making lasting change in an organization is a slow, repetitive process as people become ready to hear it, understand it and apply it.