Mandated Agile, Part 2
I have a lot of heat around how Agile gets implemented in typical organizations. I've been ranting about the evils and oxymoronic nature of mandated collaboration [1]. Let me explain. When I say mandated collaboration, I mean the prescription of both Agile adoption and specific practices. I am clarifying my messaging here: naming a clear Agile direction is OK. However, stop right ...
Principle 4: Apply Self-regulation & Accept feedback
This is one is a series of post on the application of the 12 principles of Permaculture [2] to organizations, and other social systems. The posts are being generated by members of the Organizational Permaculture [1] group on Facebook. If you like this post, consider joining the group and adding to the conversation with your own blog post on 1 ...
Perfect Agile Coaching
Imagine if it was possible to for an organization to reach a state of self-sustaining, freestanding agility after just 5 coaching days. Just FIVE. What might that mean for the spread of agility throughout the world? I met Chris Rufer, Paul Green and Doug Kirkpatrick last May when I presented a session on Gaming Happiness At ...
OFFICE HOURS concall for Q&A on The Culture Game Book
Starting in May 2013, you can get direct real-time answers to your questions about implementing the patterns and practices in THE CULTURE GAME book. Every week, you can now hop on a 'Office Hours' conference call where I will take questions, provide guidance, and help you use the book in a bigger way. Perhaps most importantly, you'll also hear directly ...
Safety, Engagement and Productivity
There's a Gallup poll out there that says disengaged workers are costing the US economy 300 BILLION DOLLARS per year. Now let's get clear on what is happening. Productivity is being lost. Productivity is correlated with engagement. Engagement is nil. Engagement is associated with a space where it is safe to say when you think, want, feel, etc. What we have here is ...
Agile Coaching: Core Values & Supporting Principles
The idea of hammering out a set of guiding Values and Principles for Agile Coaches is an idea whose time has come. Increasing reports of problems in Agile Coaching are tarnishing our profession and diluting our effectiveness as change agents. This is a very serious problem. A set of community-built, open-source Values and Principles is one solution we can all act ...
Engagement & Disengagement Part2: Perceived Progress
In the previous post, I explained how when we are denied a sense of control over our space or environment, we check out, aka "disengage." When taken to extremes, we might even disassociate. This can happen for example when we experience a trauma. Knowledge workers need to have a sense of autonomy. Mandates ...
Engagement & Disengagement, Part1: Sense of Control
Everyone knows what engagement is, even if it is hard to define precisely in words. We know when we are experiencing it. It has to do with immersion and focus and "being there". Engagement rarely has negative connotation. It's almost always associated with good feelings. While the exact recipe for generating engagement at work may be subject to debate, we know ...
Culture Hacking, Organizational Permaculture & Kanban
I explained to you in a previous post how Kanban supports 12 of the 16 Tribal (team) Learning Patterns [1] found in The Culture Game Book [2]. That post also contains a link to an interesting post that connects Kanban to the Agile Manifesto's 12 Principles. Culture Hacking, Permaculture and Kanban This post identifies an agricultural technique (actually an agricultural-sustainability hack) ...
Agile Coaching Values
Agile Coaches are familiar with the patterns of naive and vulnerable client organizations that are new to Agile. In my view, Agile Coaching pros have an obligation to help clients understand what is best for them. This always includes helping the client take 100% responsibility for their own learning. This usually means the coach must refuse opportunities to play a ...
