The Mountain Goat Software Blog

Article artwork for How to Get Teams Aligned on What It Means to Be Agile.
How to Get Teams Aligned on What It Means to Be Agile

Discover how to align teams on what it means to be agile, from principles to practices.

Good agile transformation training leads to improved teamwork and better outcomes.
3 Ways to Ensure Agile Training Works to Transform Your Teams

The best agile training leads to real results. Learn how to ensure your investment pays off.

Article artwork for Agile Collaboration: What It Is, How It Feels, and Why It Matters.
Agile Collaboration: What It Is, How It Feels, and Why It Matters

Collaboration on high-performing teams is like a rowing team in perfect sync.

Article artwork for 5 Key Factors for Effective Product Backlog Prioritization.
5 Key Factors for Effective Product Backlog Prioritization

Confused about how to prioritize your backlog? These 5 factors will help to focus your efforts.

Article artwork for Lessons from Barbie for When a Project Absolutely Must Succeed.
Lessons from Barbie for When a Project Absolutely Must Succeed

Discover 4 lessons from Barbie that can help your agile project succeed.

Article artwork for The Surprising Cost of Bad Estimates.
The Surprising Cost of Bad Estimates

Bad plans lead to many well-known problems. Teams deliver later than expected. Or the budget is…

Agile teams learn from spikes: time-boxed research activities
Agile Spikes Deliver Knowledge So Teams Can Deliver Products

Agile projects are, at their heart, undertaken to develop new functionality. In other words, we want…

Mike Cohn is surrounded by questions about agile leaders. He answers the top 3 in this blog. One takeaway for agile leaders is to allow space and time to do the right things.
Short Answers to Big Questions about Agile Leaders

Discover 3 things that define agile leaders and explore their role in change and learning.

Story maps help teams discover user activities or functionality, ensuring the product meets customer needs. Cards placed on the horizontal axis represent user activities. Cards that cascade vertically are alternative ways a user might accomplish a task.
User Stories: How to Create Story Maps

Story maps help to create a shared understanding of the product, visualize user needs, and elicit user story ideas. Discover how to create your own.

A series of arrows, each reading sprint, leads down a highway to a distant sign reading "product goal." One of a product owner's many responsibilities is to set a product goal: that next mile marker for the product.
What Does a Product Owner Do, When, and Why?

Ever wondered what product owners do? Have you scratched your head, wondering when they do it all, and why? If so, this blog is for you.

Two headstones decorated with flowers read Scrum R.I.P and Agile R.I.P, while mourners gather in the distance. But not so fast--what if agile isn't dead, but is instead becoming standard practice.
Are Agile and Scrum Dead?

Have you heard the rumor that agile is dead, and Scrum along with it? Join me as I ponder the truth behind all the chatter.

Ax splitting wood to illustrate splitting user stories.
SPIDR: Five Simple but Powerful Ways to Split User Stories

Splitting user stories is hard. Here are the only five techniques you need to be able to slice any user story into small, manageable chunks of work.