SPCs Unleashed S2E2 - Guiding Without Giving Answers - Redefining Coaching as a Skill Jan 02, 2025

“Coaching isn’t about being the answering machine; it’s about giving space for people to find their own answers..”
Niko Kaintantzis.


 

In this episode of SPCs Unleashed, Nikolaos Kaintantzis, Mark Richards, and Stephan Neck explore coaching—its essence, techniques, and the subtle distinction...

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SPCs Unleashed S2E1 - "How to avoid leadership satire": Effective onboarding of leaders into SAFe Dec 27, 2024

“Leadership is 'the art of getting people to want to do what must be done' - and this means not just the people who report to them but their peers and those they report to.”
Mark Richards.


 

In this episode of SPCs Unleashed, Nikolaos Kaintantzis, Mark Richards, and Stephan Neck explore Effec...

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SPCs Unleashed E22 - The Art of Strategy Agility: How to Sense, Adapt, and Lead in a Dynamic World Oct 04, 2024

“Strategy agility isn't about waiting for a crisis. It's about building the muscle to stop, pivot, and adapt before disaster strikes.”

Mark Richards


 

This episode sees hosts Nikolaos Kaintantzis, Stephan Neck, Mark Richards, and Ali Hajou conclude their exploration of SAFe’s competency fra...

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SPCs Unleashed E21 - Lean Business Operations - Dancing Across Silos Sep 28, 2024

“You will cross some silos, stretch some rules, but in the end, you work together, have joy, and achieve greatness.”

Nikolaos Kaintantzis


 

In this penultimate episode of the SPCs Unleashed Competency journey, hosts Mark Richards, Nikolaos (Niko) Kaintantzis, and Stephan Neck dive into the...

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SPCs Unleashed E20: The Candyman can - find the balance between "sugar" and sustainability Sep 12, 2024

“Without consistency and standards none of this works. With too much consistency nothing changes. You have to steer and constantly sense and course-correct.”
Mark Richards


 

Mark Richards and Niko Kaintantzis join Stephan Neck in this episode with Agile Portfolio Operations from Lean Portfol...

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SPCs Unleashed E19: In control of complexity with Lean Governance Aug 27, 2024

"If you can start talking to audit, you can find solutions that they will help you reach that nobody else would have thought about"

Mark Richards


 

In Episode 19, hosted by Stephan Neck, Nikolaos Kaintantzis, Ali Hajou, and Mark Richards, the focus is on Lean Portfolio Management (LPM), sp...

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SPCs Unleashed E18: Strategy and Investment Funding - Start with what's real and work from there Aug 15, 2024

“As an SPC on the Portfolio Level: The first time just be an assistant, not the head coach. Learn about how companies work, how they speak, how they behave.”

Nikolaos Kaintantzis


 

Hosts Nikolaos Kaintantzis, Stephan Neck, and Mark Richards take a deep dive into Lean Portfolio Management (L...

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SPCs Unleashed E17: Overcoming the challenges of continuously evolving Cyber-Physical Systems Jul 19, 2024

“Design for easy repairability, especially in complex systems that must evolve over time.”

Ali Hajou


 

In this episode, the SPCs Unleashed team tackles the complex dimension of continually evolving live systems, with a particular focus on large, cyber-physical systems. Mark Richards, Ali Ha...

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SPCs Unleashed E16: Building large, complex, interlinked, cyber-physical systems the lean way Jul 05, 2024

"Experiment like a scientist, not a mad scientist"

Mark Richards


 

Have you ever pondered, "How can a lean approach work wonders for massive systems?" That’s exactly where we dive into this episode of SPCs Unleashed. Hosted by Swiss SPCTs Stephan and Niko, Dutch SPCT Ali, and Aussie SAFE Fe...

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SPCs Unleashed E15: Effective Collaboration is the Backbone of Large Solution success Jun 28, 2024

“It's a wonderful toolbox, but you don't have to stand up a large solution to start using the toolbox.”

Mark Richards


 

In this engaging episode of SPCs Unleashed, hosts Nikolaos Kaintantzis, Mark Richards, Stephan Neck, and Ali Hajou dive deep into the complexities of enterprise solution ...

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SPCs Unleashed E6 Reprise: Leadership in Change - From one stable state to the next May 31, 2024

“Show up. Keep up. Shut up.”

(Change agent’s creed, borrowed from golf pro caddy creed)

Stephan Neck


 

Mark Richards, Ali Hajou, and Niko Kaintantzis join Stephan Neck in this ‘reprise’ episode with Leading Change from the Lean-Agile Leadership competency.

We start by sharing our passion...

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SPCs Unleashed E5 Reprise: Authentic Leadership - Inspiring Future Leaders Through Coaching and Example May 17, 2024

“the drummer sets the beat and the rhythm that the band shines against… a good leader sets the beat, and they create the backdrop against which great performances happen from their people.”

Mark Richards


 

In this enlightening podcast episode about Leading by Example, Mark, Stephan, and Nik...

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