Marie Kondo goes Agile

At its heart, the philosophy of International Tidying Expert and author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is simple: Only keep that which brings joy.

It’s a philosophy that works well for the Agile product owner. To really make a difference, you need a vision of the way your product will bring joy to your customers, and you need to rigorously prioritise only the work that will achieve this vision.

How to discover the product that will spark joy 

(If you haven’t heard of Marie Kondo, that’s quite an achievement. Here’s a handy summary of the Gospel of KonMari from the NZ Herald.)

Let’s leave the last word to Soufflé Girl commenting on YouTube: “I gave her book to my mom so she can learn from it and get rid of the crap she has lying around... she got rid of the book.”

Get value sooner by splitting user stories

Reducing batch size reduces the risk you’ll miss time, budget and quality targets. It gives you working software sooner which means you can make sure it works the way your customers need it to.

Boost founder Nathan Donaldson has produced a case study that shows how one team was able to manage risk by splitting stories into small slices of valuable functionality.

Reducing batch size to manage risk: Story splitting case study

Making the most of moving to Agile: a case study

Have you made the move to Agile but still feel you have a way to go? That was just what Victoria University’s Applications Group found.

“We were clearly aware of some things that we were coming up short on,” says Applications Analysis Manager Des Kelly.

Having made the move to Agile in 2016, they realised they needed an independent view of their Agile practice and the ways it could be improved. That’s where Boost’s Agile Accelerator came in. They got an assessment of their Agile practice and an action plan with simple steps for immediate improvement.

This case study looks at the process, the findings, the changes they made and the results. Spoiler alert: The Applications Group are now knocking it out of the park.

Lifting Agile practice for a world-leading university — case study (PDF)

Get global project management certification

Looking for professional certification as an Agile project manager? Even though it runs here in little old Wellington, New Zealand, Boost’s two-day Agile Professional Foundation gives you career recognition all over the globe.

Accredited with the Project Management Institute, the course lets you claim 16 professional development units towards becoming a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP). On top of that, you get certification with the International Consortium for Agile as an ICAgile Certified Professional.

This practical, interactive training gives the skills to deliver better projects faster.

Learn more or book the Agile Professional Foundation

Preview the course on YouTube

After more ideas to boost your impact?

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