tech·nic·al·ly agile class·i·fic·at·ion

Competence

Building professional effectiveness through continuous skill development and mastery for quality outcomes and trust.

Competence is a first principle that demands continuous development and demonstrable capability. It is the foundation of professionalism—without it, there can be no trust, no quality, and no real progress.

Image
https://nkdagility.com/resources/competence/

Overview

Competence is the foundation for professional effectiveness. It requires individuals and organisations to actively develop, demonstrate, and apply the skills, knowledge, and judgement necessary to deliver quality outcomes. Without competence, no framework, process, or tool can succeed.

Competence as a first principle demands continuous learning, deliberate practice, and a commitment to mastery. It is not assumed. It must be earned, inspected, and adapted over time. It’s what separates performative activity from real progress.

If you can’t execute with competence, you’re gambling with quality, trust, and value delivery. Every decision, every action, every commitment must be grounded in the capability to follow through with professionalism and expertise.

Learn More about Competence

Tags

Definition of Done

Getting Started with the Definition of Done (DoD). Every team should define what is required, what criteria must be met, for a product increment to be considered releasable.
Blog

There Is No Such Thing as a "Junior" Scrum Master

Argues that the Scrum Master role requires proven mastery and real-world experience, not entry-level skills or certifications, and should be earned within the team, not assigned.
Videos

Where Agile Went Wrong: Understanding the Competence Crisis

Explores how early assumptions about competence led to Agile’s current skills gap, highlighting the need for continuous learning, better hiring, and deeper expertise in teams.
Videos

The Competence Crisis in Scrum Master Roles: A Call for Excellence

Many Scrum Masters lack essential skills and experience, leading to poor agile outcomes. True competence requires deep knowledge, practical experience, and ongoing learning.
Videos

Focusing Beyond "Agile": Building True Capability in Organizations

Explores why building organisational capability, competence, and continuous learning is more effective than focusing solely on Agile roles, frameworks, or labels.
Videos

The Importance of Competence in Organizations: Building a Culture of Learning and Growth

Explores how fostering competence, continuous learning, and well-being in organisations leads to happier teams, better products, and sustainable growth.
Blog

Great Scrum Masters Need Technical, Business, and Organisational Mastery

Scrum Masters are most effective when they combine leadership skills with technical, business, and organisational mastery to support teams, Product Owners, and change.
Blog

Why Most Scrum Masters Are Failing and What They Should Know

Many Scrum Masters lack core Scrum knowledge and technical skills, leading to poor team support. Learn key competencies needed for effective, measurable impact.
Videos

The Problem with Incompetent Scrum Masters: Why Lack of Skills in Team Context Results in Poor ROI

Incompetent Scrum Masters reduce team performance and ROI by lacking key skills. Learn how to measure their impact using innovation, usage, and delivery metrics.
Videos

The Crucial Role of Competence: How Knowledgeable Scrum Masters Drive Team Success

Scrum Masters with deep knowledge and competence enable teams to deliver better products, drive business outcomes, and foster real improvement in software development.
Videos

Building a High-Performance Delivery Engine: Unlocking Success Through Competence and Collaboration

Explores how competence, collaboration, and agile philosophies drive high-performance software delivery, focusing on business value, continuous improvement, and team empowerment.
Videos

Training: A Bridge to Knowledge and Growth

Explores how effective training, continuous learning, and a supportive culture help teams grow, adapt to change, and overcome skill gaps in modern organisations.
Videos

Agile is Not New: A Journey Back to the Basics

Explores Agile’s historical roots, the loss of human connection in business, the impact of competence gaps, and why a return to core Agile principles is needed today.
Videos

How big is the gap between an average developer and a great Agile Developer?

Explores the key differences between average and great Agile developers, highlighting engagement, continuous learning, practice, and self-directed growth in Agile environments.
Videos

Why the Concept of a "Junior Scrum Master" is a Misguided Myth

Explains why the Scrum Master role requires experience and competence, debunking the myth of a “junior” Scrum Master and highlighting the need for proven skills in Agile teams.
Videos

Empowering Your Team: Why Quick Fixes in Agile and DevOps Are a Myth

Explains why lasting Agile and DevOps success requires empowering teams and building internal capability, not relying on quick fixes or external consultants for solutions.
Videos

Why Every Scrum Master Needs an Immersive Training Experience

Immersive training helps experienced Scrum Masters deepen practical skills, boost team effectiveness, and develop leadership through hands-on, real-world learning.
Videos

Is a PSM II certification validation of your skills, or does it develop your skill and capability as a Scrum Master?

Explains how the PSM II course focuses on developing advanced Scrum Master skills, facilitation techniques, and accountability, rather than just validating knowledge.
Videos

The Power of Continuous Learning for Product Owners

Explains why continuous learning is essential for product owners, highlighting key tools, practical advice, and strategies to stay effective and ahead in a changing industry.
Videos

Transform Your Career: How to Become a Confident Scrum Master Through Real-World Learning and Community Support

Learn how practical training, real-world application, and community support help you build confidence and skills to succeed as a Scrum Master in Agile environments.
Videos

Embracing Hierarchies of Competence: How Respect and Expertise Transform Workplaces

Explores how valuing expertise and respect over authority fosters collaboration, continuous learning, and better outcomes in modern workplaces through competence-based hierarchies.
Videos

The Power of Immersive Learning: Elevating Scrum Mastery in Your Organization

Explains how immersive learning helps Scrum Masters apply knowledge through real-world practice, feedback, and collaboration, leading to lasting skills and team improvement.
Videos

Before You Call Yourself an Agile Coach: The Importance of Real Experience

Real-world experience with teams is essential for Agile coaches, providing credibility, empathy, and practical insight needed to effectively guide and earn team trust.
Videos

Why I love heirarchies of competence

Explores how competence-based hierarchies foster effective leadership and decision-making by valuing expertise over authority, leading to more informed, holistic outcomes.
Videos

Immersive Learning in Scrum: Why Theory and Experience Must Go Hand in Hand

Explores how combining theory and hands-on experience in Scrum training leads to deeper understanding, critical thinking, and continuous improvement for Agile teams.
Videos

Unlocking the Power of Immersive Learning in Agile: Overcoming Cognitive Bias

Explores how immersive learning in Agile and Scrum helps overcome cognitive bias, promotes hands-on practice, and supports continuous improvement for practitioners.
Videos

Stay Ahead of the Curve: How Continuous Learning Keeps You in the Top 10%

Explains how continuous learning helps you stay relevant, seize new opportunities, and grow personally and professionally through reading, community, and experimentation.
Videos

The Power of Technical Excellence in Agile Development

Explores how technical excellence in Agile development reduces risk, prevents technical debt, and boosts product quality and delivery speed through strong engineering standards.
Videos

The Crucible of Learning: Transforming Organizational Effectiveness Through DevOps

Explores how DevOps transformation, refactoring, and ownership reduce technical debt, streamline development, and boost efficiency, team satisfaction, and business value.
Blog

Professional Scrum teams build software that works

Professional Scrum Teams prioritise software quality, accountability, and continuous improvement, ensuring each release is reliable, defect-free, and delivers real value.
Blog

Definition of Done - Objective vs Subjective

Explains the difference between subjective goals and the objective Definition of Done in Scrum, highlighting how clear, measurable criteria ensure consistent product quality.
Videos

Cultivating a Culture of Engineering Excellence: The Essential Role of Technical Leadership

Explores how technical leadership shapes a culture of engineering excellence through clear standards, continuous learning, collaboration, and ongoing improvement in organisations.
Blog

You are doing it wrong if you are not using test first

Explains how adopting test-first practices in software development improves quality, reduces bugs, and enables confident continuous delivery by validating requirements early.
Blog

Are technical skills required to be a Scrum Master?

Technical skills are not required to be a Scrum Master, but understanding technical, business, and organisational contexts helps Scrum Masters better support their teams.
Videos

The Overlooked Virtue of Agility: Diligence

Explores why diligence—consistent attention to quality and standards—is vital in Agile teams, how it’s often overlooked, and practical steps to foster it for lasting success.
Newsletters

July 2023 NKDAgility: Introducing NKD Agility's Next Generation of Agile Practitioners: Transforming Work, Building Success, and Achieving Greatness in the 21st Century!

NKD Agility offers immersive, multi-week agile training to build practical skills in Scrum, leadership, and continuous improvement for modern workplace success.
Videos

How does Naked Agility select associate Scrum Trainers?

Naked Agility selects associate Scrum Trainers based on real-world agile experience, co-training, and proven ability to teach, coach, and solve complex team challenges.
Videos

Hiring an Agile Coach: What You Need to Know

Learn what to look for when hiring an Agile coach, including key qualities like teaching, mentoring, and inspiring teams to adopt Agile practices and drive transformation.
Videos

Transforming Training: The Power of Immersive Learning in Scrum

Explores how immersive, hands-on learning in Scrum boosts knowledge retention, practical skills, and continuous improvement compared to traditional training methods.
Videos

Agile Leadership: Empowering Managers with the Right Skills

Explores how agile leadership and evidence-based management training help managers develop servant leadership skills, delegate effectively, and make data-driven decisions.
Videos

Mastering Scrum: Essential Insights for New Teams from a Scrum Master's Journey

Guidance for new Scrum teams on building strong foundations, embracing empiricism, Scrum values, continuous learning, and the Scrum Master’s role in fostering team growth.
Videos

How Immersive Learning Transforms Aspiring Agile Leaders

Immersive learning helps aspiring agile leaders overcome cultural barriers by providing time, practical experiments, and peer feedback to drive real organisational change.
Videos

Unpacking the Scrum Master Role: Moving Beyond Misconceptions to True Accountability

Explores common misconceptions about Scrum Masters, clarifies their true accountabilities, and highlights the importance of principles, competence, and organisational impact.
Videos

7 Harbingers of the Agile Apocalypse - Plague

Explores the widespread issue of incompetent Agile coaches and Scrum Masters, its impact on teams and organisations, and practical steps to restore true Agile values.
Videos

Transform Your Leadership: The Power of Evidence-Based Management in Agile

Discover how evidence-based management empowers Agile leaders to make data-driven decisions, foster continuous improvement, and boost team performance and collaboration.
Videos

The Power of Community: Becoming an Awesome Agile Coach

Explores how Agile coaches grow by engaging with diverse communities, embracing feedback, and challenging assumptions to deliver greater value to teams and customers.
Videos

Unlocking Your Potential: Transformative Training for Aspiring Scrum Masters

Comprehensive Scrum Master training offering interactive workshops, practical activities, community support, and assessment to build Agile skills and foster continuous improvement.
Videos

Unlocking the True Potential of Scrum: Why Professionalism Matters in Agile Teams

Explores how true professionalism in Scrum enables Agile teams to deliver production-ready products, highlighting the importance of transparency, standards, and work ethic.
Videos

Why Pursuing Agile Certifications is Your Key to Career Advancement

Explains how Agile certifications validate knowledge, support continuous learning, and help employers assess candidates, while emphasising real skills for career growth.
Videos

The Power of Immersive Learning: Bridging Theory and Experience

Explains how immersive learning combines Agile and Scrum theory with hands-on practice, real-world scenarios, and expert guidance to boost skills, confidence, and teamwork.
Videos

The Power of Immersive Learning in Agile Training

Explores how immersive, hands-on learning in Agile training fosters real-world application, continuous improvement, and lasting organisational change through feedback and adaptation.
Videos

Beware the Fake Agilists: How to Protect Your Team from the Agile Apocalypse

Learn how to identify and prevent the harm caused by unqualified Agile leaders, protect team trust, and ensure genuine Agile practices drive software development success.
Videos

3 reasons why you should level up your knowledge and skills?

Discover how continuous learning, embracing trial and error, and caring deeply about your craft drive professional growth, resilience, and lasting industry success.
Videos

Hardest part of becoming a professional Scrum Master?

Explores why embracing true professionalism is the hardest part of becoming a Scrum Master, highlighting the importance of deep understanding, mastery, and continuous learning.
Videos

How will the Immersive Learning experience change the game for people with a couple of years experience in the field?

Discover how immersive learning empowers experienced Agile professionals to deepen skills, tackle real-world challenges, and accelerate growth through hands-on practice.
Videos

What are the hierarchies of competence vs control? Why does this matter?

Explains the differences between competence-based and control-based hierarchies, their impact on decision-making, and why competence-driven models suit today’s fast-changing markets.
Course

Applying Professional Kanban (APK) Course with Certification

Revolutionize Your Team’s Performance with Kanban: Join our Immersion Training Course for a deep, practical dive into Kanban principles, designed to seamlessly integrate into your work life and foster continuous improvement and real-world application. Transform the way you deliver value today!

Connect with Martin Hinshelwood

If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.

Concepts


Categories


Tags

GitHub (3)
MVP (2)
Scaling (15)
Windows (96)

Our Happy Clients​

We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.​

Trayport Logo
Microsoft Logo
Schlumberger Logo
Epic Games Logo
Lockheed Martin Logo
ALS Life Sciences Logo
Boeing Logo
DFDS Logo
Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company) Logo
Ericson Logo
Alignment Healthcare Logo
Philips Logo
Healthgrades Logo
Genus Breeding Ltd Logo
Capita Secure Information Solutions Ltd Logo

CR2

Jack Links Logo
Higher Education Statistics Agency Logo
Washington Department of Transport Logo
Royal Air Force Logo
Nottingham County Council Logo
Department of Work and Pensions (UK) Logo
New Hampshire Supreme Court Logo
Washington Department of Enterprise Services Logo
Alignment Healthcare Logo
Qualco Logo
Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company) Logo
YearUp.org Logo
Slaughter and May Logo
Sage Logo