Xebia Articles

Agile is a buzzword these days. Many organizations work to become “Agile” so they can implement “Scrum,” another buzzword. But what is real agility? Here’s the story of a company that exemplifies it, and it doesn’t mention either buzzword once.

Who or What is Hans Boodt?
Hans Boodt Mannequins (founded by its namesake) manufactures high-quality, custom-made, bespoke mannequins for the show floors and windows of the top clothing and sports brands worldwide. The mannequins’ materials, shapes, and postures are unique to each customer - a tall order in the increasingly fast-paced fashion world. A company like Hans Boodt can only operate in this world by being extremely flexible and listening very carefully to what the customer wants.

As organizational structures flatten, the product owner role becomes increasingly important. But what exactly does this role entail? Is just anyone capable (and willing) to become a mini-CEO?

In a digital world where technology rules almost every aspect of our daily routine, learning is critical to success, personally and professionally. What I’ve learned as an Agile coach is that leadership, mentorship, and coaching are strongly linked to employee happiness, performance, and growth. In even the most complex environments, incredible achievements are possible when people practice the art of personal mastery. 

Robotization has gained the attention of companies and markets across all sectors. According to research on digital customer support, Dutch consumers have high confidence in robo-advice and consider digital advisers as reliable as their human counterparts. As collaborations between artificial intelligence (AI) and Agile teams become the new normal, organizations must embrace a new way of working. Rather than a far-off, sci-fi fantasy, the future is now. Is your organization ready?

Going Beyond the Agile Butterflies

Predicting incidents is the holy grail for modern IT organizations. It is no wonder that we see an increase in the usage of AI for prediction. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. But to what standard should we hold these predictions? When is a prediction important enough to wake you in the middle of the night? What is the level and type of information that ought to accompany a prediction? This blog introduces a new concept that is meant to raise the bar.

The increasingly intense competition for highly-skilled knowledge workers pulls organizations in two, seemingly opposing ways. On one hand, companies want to maintain stability to profit from team learning. On the other hand, they want to offer a dynamic environment to find and bind talented new people. But how do you create a balanced learning environment which appropriately nurtures both the stability to learn and the desire to grow simultaneously? 

Big projects take forever, never get done, and lose relevancy for before anyone uses them. Building things nobody uses is a waste of time, and money, but we spend fortunes doing it, over and over again. There is a better way.

Reputation systems are an essential part of the online world. We buy products, book hotel rooms and hire handymen based on the millions of reviews we find online. What can the blockchain add to the trustworthiness of these reviews? This third and last blog in my 3-part series exploring blockchain in practice attempts to answer this question.

“We know just what they want” is a common statement to come across while working on a project. It is expressed by people who fancy that their experience gives them the knowledge necessary to use substitute thinking. To decide for others what they want. The hope is that this will speed things up. However, it can lead to discovering later in the process that you are going about things the wrong way. Surely this is not a desired scenario. It would be much better to sympathize with your target group as much as possible.