🚨 Struggling to implement Agile because you can't get dedicated cross-functional teams? You're not alone.

In this episode, Dave Sharrock and Peter Maddison tackle one of the BIGGEST challenges facing late-adopter organizations: how to increase productivity and deliver value when dedicated teams just aren't in the cards.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why the "dedicated team first" approach often crashes in traditional organizations
• The hidden dysfunctions and perverse incentives that keep teams fragmented (spoiler: it's about promotions and funding)
• The famous "Sock Factory Parable" explains cross-functional alignment perfectly
• How context switching kills productivity with scarce specialists like DBAs
• Three essential steps to make real progress WITHOUT restructuring your entire organization

The Three Critical Steps:

1. Understand WHY dedicated teams work before forcing the structure
2. Get leadership aligned on real prioritization and trade-offs (not everything can be Priority 1)
3. Create genuine work transparency without status report theater

Whether you're an Agile Coach, Scrum Master, Product Manager, or Engineering Leader dealing with organizational resistance, this episode gives you practical strategies to move forward when structural change isn't an option.

Resources Mentioned:

• Peter's LinkedIn Learning Course on Value Stream Management

About Definitely Maybe Agile: Join Peter Maddison (XodiacInc) and Dave Sharrock (IncrementOne) as they discuss the complexities of adopting new ways of working at scale. Real conversations about digital transformation, agile, and DevOps challenges, no sugar-coating, just practical insights.

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In this episode, hosts Peter Maddison and Dave Sharrock sit down with Nick Cawthon to explore how generative AI is revolutionizing the relationship between UX, design, and agile development.

Key Topics:

• Embedding UX research into agile sprints, balancing short-term feedback loops with long-term strategic insights
• The "electric bicycle" analogy: How AI gives teams superpowers but can also accelerate you in the wrong direction
• Why Nick believes he'll never use Figma again, shifting from design tools to code-native prototyping
• Building functional prototypes using company design systems and generative AI tools
• The evolution of team size: From 6-8 person cross-functional teams to powerful 2-3 person teams leveraging AI
• The architect's mindset: Understanding the technical foundation before designing the interface

Three Key Takeaways:

1. What an incredible opportunity we have; it feels like the year 2000 again, with the excitement and disruption ahead
2. Small teams (2-3 people) with diverse perspectives can now move incredibly fast using modern tools
3. Speed is powerful, but you still need feedback loops to ensure you're building the right thing and not racing in the wrong direction

Connect with us: Website: https://definitelymaybeagile.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/definitely-maybe-agile-podcast Email: feedback@definitelymaybeagile.com

Customer journey maps have been the standard for years. But what if they're built for a world that no longer exists?

Dave and Peter challenge the linear, step-by-step approach to understanding customer experience. From showers on Emirates flights to adaptive payment systems, they explore why our traditional mapping tools might be keeping us from seeing breakthrough opportunities.

What We Cover:

• Why traditional journey maps focus on the "critical path" and miss everything else
• The shift from cohorts and personas to individualized experiences
• The privacy paradox of hyper-personalization
• How decreasing costs make adaptive systems possible

Key Takeaways:

✅ Traditional customer journey mapping optimizes a narrow, linear experience when customers want many different paths

✅ Privacy and ethics matter more as experiences become hyper-personalized

✅ What was too costly before is now feasible, changing the game for customer experience

Perfect for product managers, CX professionals, and digital transformation leaders.

Connect: definitelymaybeagile.com | feedback@definitelymaybeagile.com