Skip to content

consulting

The practice of consulting a client to provide advice on a specific topic, as opposed to professional services

Drawing of a box labeled "The Thing" with The Myth of Commoditized Excellence written above it

The Myth of Commoditized Excellence

When we learn new things from grappling with problems, it is natural for us to want to share those learnings with others, in hopes that they will face similar challenges with less of a struggle.

How do those well-intended new ideas so often evolve into movements that seem to lose their way, and at times do more harm than good?

In the course of observing and at times being involved in this phenomenon, I sought to understand what I saw happening time and again. Almost a decade ago, I arrived at an explanation that I named The Myth of Commoditized Excellence. What follows are the steps that can lead down this unfortunate path.

The Discipline Deficit

I consult with all sorts of companies looking to adopt elements of process and practice from the Agile/Lean offerings. Whether it’s Scrum, Test-Driven Development, User Stories, Test Automation, Continuous Integration, Agile Estimation and Planning, Sprint Planning, or Sprint Retrospective facilitation, one challenge pervades across most… Read More »The Discipline Deficit