4 Mindset Changes to Become a More Productive Leader

Alex Brown

August 1, 2014

Boosting productivity always starts at the top. Discover why Scrum Inc. COO Alex Brown believes there are four ways leaders need to adjust their thinking if they want their organizations to be more efficient.

 
Traditional leadership approaches and project management practices tend to favor top-down command and control, upfront planning, limited deviation, and executive-controlled visibility. In Scrum, the opposite is true for each of those things, which is why Scrum Inc. COO Alex Brown says software company executives must make a few big changes before ever implementing the methodology.
Checkout the video below to learn about the four changes Brown says executives must make if they hope to move smoothly into an Agile mindset.

4 Essential Mindset Changes to Become a More Productive Leader

 

 

Key Takeaways

Can you answer these three questions?

1) What is leadership’s role in Scrum?

Importantly, it’s not hierarchical. Instead, Brown says Agile demands that executives communicate a clear vision, provide encouragement, and facilitate productivity by removing impediments.

2) How should a Scrum project be planned?

Instead of doing all of the planning up front when you know the least about the process, Brown says Scrum is all about planning in parallel to development. You might do more planning this way, but it also allows you to make faster, more-informed decisions.

3) What is the role of visibility?

In the world of Agile, radical transparency is critical. Everyone (including front line employees) should have access to information in as close to real-time as possible because it allows them to make better, more informed decisions.

Did Alex miss any mindset shifts? What are other key changes for Scrum success?

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Photo by: John

Partner

<strong>Alex Brown</strong> is a partner at <a href="http://reconstrategy.com/">Recon Strategy</a>. Prior to this role, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Scrum Inc., a firm specializing in agile strategy and rapid new product innovation. Before that Alex spent 6 years at BCG, where he was a leader in the healthcare and consumer strategy practice areas. His engagements included re-envisioning high performance network design for a major national PBM; and designing a "nudge unit" leveraging consumer psychology to improve patient outcomes for a leading retail pharmacy. Prior to BCG, Alex led demand forecasting of complex transportation networks for major public investments. Alex graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. and Masters in Engineering, and earned an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.