The Agile CULTURE Conference: Managing in the 21st Century

 

 

Jim and Michele’s AM Keynote Session:

MAGNIFICENCE:

CULTURE HACKING, THE COMMON PLATFORM AND THE COMING GOLDEN ERA

 

Dan Mezick’s AM Breakout Session: HOW TO MAKE YOUR MEETINGS PRODUCTIVE AND FUN

Question: Are the meetings you attend at work often “soul sucking death marches from hell”? If so, this is your session.

Attend this session to discover how to make your meetings productive and fun through the intentional design and implementation of good-game mechanics.

Meetings provide a unique opportunity to engage in some cultural design and implementation. You’ll learn how specific, very small changes in the way you structure your meetings can increase levels of engagement, productivity, learning and fun. A framework for action with specific steps and guidance from The Culture Game book will be presented. You exit this session with a specific action plan for taking your meetings to the next level by injecting some culture design and implementation inside your meetings. What you will learn:

• How to structure your meeting for higher engagement, fun and productivity
• How to influence the culture of your organization by influencing how meetings are conducted
• Why you must inject good-game mechanics into every meeting you convene
• A-B-C guidance on how to employ gaming and happiness mechanics to make your meetings great

 

 

 

Robert Richman is a culture architect and author of The Culture Blueprint. Previously he launched and built Zappos Insights, the Zappos Family company dedicated to helping businesses with their cultures. As an intrapreneur within Zappos.com, Robert built the business model from a proof of a concept web site, to a thriving multi-million dollar business helping over 1000 people every month.  Business leaders, managers and entrepreneurs now take the Zappos Insights training to discover how a workplace can help people grow, inspire amazing service, and ultimately drive revenue. Previous to joining Zappos, Robert developed digital marketing strategies for brands including Tony Robbins, Sony, Billboard, and best-selling business authors. Robert co-founded the Affinity Lab, a collaborative workspace for entrepreneurs that continues to graduate over 150 businesses in Washington, DC. He is also a Georgetown-trained leadership coach, delivers keynote speeches on company culture, and advises leaders how to create self-sustaining cultures in their own organizations.

 

Robert Richman’s AM Breakout Session: The Culture Blueprint

Everyone talks about “engagement” in the workplace. But what is it? And how does it work?  After spending three years studying Zappos.com and working with hundreds of companies looking to replicate their model, Robert developed the Culture Blueprint to explain how the best cultures in the world retain top talent, even when they pay less than competitors.  Come learn how the model works, as well as specific techniques you can use immediately.

 

Michael Margolis teaches change-makers how to tell a bigger story. As the founder of Get Storied, he leads a global education platform with 11,000 members who care about transformational storytelling and game-changing innovation. The son of an inventor and artist, Michael is obsessed with culture, communications, and human behavior. Michael began his career as a social entrepreneur, co-founding two nonprofits before the age 23. He works with a range of clients including Audubon, NASA, Ernst & Young, and Zappos. His work and ideas have also been featured in Fast Company, Brandweek, and Storytelling Magazine. A frequent writer, Michael’s latest book Believe Me: a Storytelling Manifesto for Change-Makers and Innovators, has been read by 10,000 people. Michael is left handed, color-blind, and eats more chocolate than the average human. His TV guilty pleasures are Celebrity Rehab, Millionaire Matchmaker, and Ancient Aliens. You can learn more at www.getstoried.com or follow him @getstoried.

 

Michael Margolis’ AM Breakout Session: Storytelling as an Organizational Capability

Doug Kirkpatrick is a leader of the Self Management Institute sponsored by MorningStarCo. Morning Star was recently the subject of a study on self-organization that appeared in the HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW. Doug is a management consultant and delivers coaching, training, and business consulting services.  He lives in Northern California with his family, where he also educates, writes, interviews, speaks and blogs with the Morning Star Self-Management Institute.  He is the author of Beyond Empowerment: The Age of the Self-Managed Organization, published in 2011 and available on Amazon at http://amzn.to/nznCAz.

 

PAUL GREEN

Paul Green Jr. as colleague at MorningStarCo, a company that implements freedom at work through implementing self-management practices. Paul also directs research, training, program development and  strategy at the Self-Management Institute of Sacramento, CA.

Paul developed a deep interest in management and organizations while building a business that he founded with a partner in Central California.  He realized that a few subtle tweaks to the rules of organizing can bring about unbelievable benefits within a business, and he set out to build a business that epitomized the effective organization.

Doug and Paul’s AM Breakout Session:

Self-Management: Rocket Fuel for an Organizational Learning; Part 1

An industrial manufacturing company rises to the top of its industry with no human bosses, no designated managers, no titles, no hierarchy, no visible structure, and no unilateral right to fire anyone.  What’s its secret?  The Morning Star Company of Sacramento, California became the world’s largest tomato processor by employing a philosophy of radical self-management.  In an organizational ecosystem devoid of positional authority, self-management demands engagement around a mission, vision and set of principles.  Individuals who become a part of this peer-based network organization step into a world where they must rigorously balance freedom with responsibility, leadership with teamwork, and innovation with execution.  Focused and sustained organizational learning is not optional: the demands of fast-evolving technology require it.  In this session, learn how self-management catalyzes natural leadership, actionable feedback, and distributed learning to drive excellence.

Doug and Paul’s Afternoon Open Space sessions:

Self-Management: Rocket Fuel for an Organizational Learning; Part 2

An organization is merely a concept—a way of thinking about a set of individual human beings who have voluntarily associated with one another around a common purpose.  Organizations are also vehicles that allow people to accomplish far more together than they possibly could on their own.  When people voluntarily associate around a mission, it is imperative that they declare their individual contribution to that mission and set expectations for others regarding that contribution.  The Morning Star Colleague Letter of Understanding (CLOU) defines those expectations while creating a network through which organization learning freely flows.  This session builds on the foundation established in Self-Management Part 1 and explores the territory of the CLOU itself: its purpose, elements and profound benefits for both the enterprise and the people in it.

Self-Management: Accountability, Not Discipline

What does the workplace look like when no one has any command authority—where no one has the power to trigger a process of progressive discipline or a termination?  In a truly self-managed enterprise, no one has any authority to discipline anyone—force is not an option.  In this session, learn how The Morning Star Company created and maintains a system of self-management accountability

 

STANLEY POLLACK– www.MovingBeyondIceBreakers.org

Stanley grew up in New Jersey and received his B.A. from Rider University in Trenton. His youth work career began in the early 1970’s at a residential facility for delinquent boys in that city. He then worked for the Youth Services Department in Somerville, MA, for eight years, becoming the director of the department in 1978. During this time, he developed innovative methods for engaging youth in a process of changing their communities for the better–the basis for the current Teen Empowerment Model(R). From 1982 to 1991, Stanley provided consultation in the model to over 35 youth-serving organizations throughout Massachusetts and in Louisville, KY, and Houston, TX. In 1992, he established The Center for Teen Empowerment, Inc. as a nonprofit organization in Boston’s South End/Lower Roxbury.

 

(NOTE: This book is based on the work of www.TEENEMPOWERMENT.ORG in the inner city of Boston. The book’s “interactives” are social and cultural technology that is proven to bring transformational results to teams, organizations and communities.)

Click here to order the book MOVING BEYOND ICEBREAKERS from TEENEMPOWERMENT.ORG (Ordering here helps www.TeenEmpowerment.org!! PLEASE ORDER here, instead of AMAZON !!) This book is arguably one of the greatest resources for culture hackers looking to develop intention cultural designs in teams, organizations and communities.

 

 

HEANG LY– www.TeenEmpowerment.org

Heang Ly has over Thirteen years of experience leading both youth and adult groups in a variety of settings. She has organized and led teams in schools, non-profits, community groups, and universities. As Director of Consulting and Training at The Center for Teen Empowerment, Heang provides trainings as well as short term and long term technical support to any organization or company interested in using Teen Empowerment’s Moving Beyond Icebreakers interactive approach to leading meetings, facilitating, and managing groups. For more information about the organization’s powerful work in the community, visit teenempowerment.org. Ms. Ly has been with the Center for Teen Empowerment for seven years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, in Psychology and Education as well as a Master’s degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy.

 

Stanley & Heang’s AM Breakout Session:

MOVING BEYOND ICEBREAKERS Part 1

To change you culture, you have to get your people learning and interacting.

In this breakout session you’ll experience a few interactives from the book “Moving Beyond Icebreakers” which includes over 300 interactives and how to use them effectively LEVERAGE THEM to achieve group goals, build teams, address difficult issues, and engage communities. Learn how seemingly simple activities can have the power to transform your meetings and your teams. Visit movingbeyondicebreakers.org to learn more about the book and the model that we have used for over 25 years in our work to effectively change communities.

NOTE: Stanley & Heang are planning to extend the breakout session into the Open Space in the afternoon, convening sessions that extend your learning of their proven transformational  techniques.

 

OPEN SPACE SESSIONS AT THE CONFERENCE

Open Space is a meeting format. It starts with a large circle, where the meeting agenda is created with the help of an expert Facilitator. The Facilitator is authorized by the event  organizer (in this case, Agile Boston) and is a servant of the entire group. This person is responsible for creating an atmosphere of freedom and responsibility. During the opening circle, the agenda for the meeting is formed dynamically by everyone present, with guidance from the Facilitator. (See the picture below).

From there, the sessions are executed by session conveners in small groups. During this conference, you will “meet your tribe”  in small sessions throughout the afternoon. The meeting ends with the Closing Circle and a “soft-landing” in the form of an after-event reception follows!

The presenters listed below are planning to convene Open Space sessions in the afternoon. These sessions are ‘unplugged’, and consist of small groups of less than 30 people for about 1 hour. The convener is responsible for facilitating the conversation, instead of being the only one teaching. Open Space is about collaboration, freedom, responsibility, and inclusion.

Conveners are responsible for seeing to it that proceeding-notes are collected and added to the conference PDF. When you arrive home after the event, s a participant, your email may contain a link to download the Open Space proceedings in PDF format. Your proceedings contain all the notes from all the sessions conducted during the Open Space.

You can learn more about Open Space sessions via this link. Here is a set of links to get you ready for Open Space !

• Open Space Explained
• Open Space entry on Wikipedia
• Pictures of what Open Space looks like
• Comprehensive & authoritative Guide to Open Space

 

 

 

Here is an actual picture of what an Opening Circle of an Open Space looks like: This is the Agile Boston Agile Day in September of 2011:

 

 

 

 

OPEN SPACE SESSION: JOHN E SMITH of www.sparcedge.com

John Smith has started several different technology-focused companies, ranging from a consulting services company, which created the world’s first international credit reporting system, to Internet development companies, serving major corporations. John is currently the CTO and Chief Evangelist at SPARC, LLC in Charleston, SC, where he helps guide the company’s technology direction and corporate culture. SPARC won the Best Place to Work in SC in 2011. In June of 2006, John received the honor of being chosen as one of the nation’s top 25 CTO’s by InfoWorld magazine.

OPEN SPACE SESSION: CULTURE AS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Over the last century, the United States has made a switch. Our major competitive advantage is now innovation. This innovation starts with a bet. Companies must be willing to place a bet on culture, and the belief that shifting time, resources, and money into team member happiness and engagement will, ultimately, deliver higher revenue and increase overall profitability. Employee engagement can be the biggest competitive advantage for company success. This session focuses on how culture and engagement can drive the success of your organization. This Engagement Effect can amount to a 20% or more gain in all facets of a business. The presentations demonstrates:

• How this Engagement Effect can unleash an unprecedented potential for growth,
• What differentiates the top 100 companies from the others on the Forbes list, and
• What the return on cultural investment can do for the bottom-line.

 

OPEN SPACE: PAUL INGALLS
Paul Ingalls is recently the founder and CEO of FANZO, Inc. where he is building a company of people with intention, who together will change the way people connect around sports. Prior to FANZO, Paul helped found and was CTO of Smilebox, spreading love through photos. At Smilebox, Paul conceived and raised a culture, which grew a team from disparate individuals, which then built a product people love. Prior to Smilebox, Paul built and ran the Extreme Programming team at RealNetworks that created the casual games market with RealArcade. Paul graduated top of his class in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame. Paul lives in Kirkland, WA with his wife and 3 daughters, whom he serenades to sleep with the Notre Dame fight song.

 

 

 

OPEN SPACE SESSION from Paul Ingalls: THE PROBLEM WITH TEAMS

The Agile Manifesto changed the course of software history. It forced a lot of people to take a look at how they were doing their jobs, and change team culture for the better. Yet, most agile implementations and rollouts fail. The success rates of agile projects may be better than those before, but they are still dismal. What is missing? This talk will cover the elements that are missing from the Agile Manifesto, and will provide real protocols you can use to fill in the gaps missing from agile processes. These protocols can be used regardless of which process you use, because they are about “Individuals & Interactions” not “Processes & Tools”.
OPEN SPACE: KATHRYN ALEXANDER

Kathryn Alexander is a culture coach / futurist who shows business leaders how to develop and sustain authentic, creative cultures. Kathryn designed the Birds of a Feather and Strategic Values assessments to help executives better understand the hidden dynamics in culture. Kathryn is: a relationship wizard, seminar leader and, Living from the Heart of Nature: Why Sustainable Values Matter author, is on a quest to guide values-driven leaders to release the wisdom of nature into their organizations. Whether they seek to enter the first stage of sustainability through a wise use of resources, or are moving up and down the value chain in the second stage, or have progressed to the third stage of actually healing the Earth, Kathryn’s insight and expertise helps them create the resilience they need. Selected as Organization of the Year in 2012 by the Boulder Business Women and seen as a Woman to Watch in Sustainable Business by the Boulder Weekly, she works with Fortune 50 and start ups.

OPEN SPACE SESSION from Kathryn Alexander:

CULTURE DESIGN: How hidden beliefs and values impact culture

In this experiential session participants will explore: their own belief and value systems and, in discussion, examine the impact these have on their underlying preferences for order, the kinds of ethics preferred, and leadership style they find most comfortable. Then we will explore how to work with various types of leaders to create a flexible and authentic culture.

The proprietary assessments used in this session have been used for over 15 years, with a new addition recently added to address the shifting needs of companies moving into sustainable business practices. The Birds of a Feather assessment provides insight into world-views that impact leadership and the Strategic Values assessment opens a window into three systems of values that impact leadership style and culture.

Some time is needed to take these assessments and score them using paper and pen or they can be done beforehand (by arrangement) online.

STEPHEN SHAPIRO

Stephen Shapiro is one of the foremost authorities on innovation culture and collaboration. Over the past twenty years, his message to hundreds of thousands of people in 43 countries has focused on how to enable innovation by bringing together divergent points of view in an efficient manner.  During a 15-year tenure with the consulting Accenture, he led a 20,000-person innovation practice.  Since branching out on his own in 2001, he has authored five books.  His latest, “Best Practices Are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out-Innovate the Competition,” was named the best innovation and creativity book of 2011 and was the #1 best selling business book in all of Canada. He is the creator of “Personality Poker,” a card-based system that has been used by tens of thousands of individuals in organizations around the world to create high-performing innovation teams.  He has been featured in Newsweek, Entrepreneur Magazine, O-The Oprah Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and on ABC News.

 

OPEN SPACE SESSION from Stephen Shapiro:

ON CREATING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION

Creating a culture of innovation requires us to go against everything our brain is wired to do.  We will discuss how to embrace change even when it goes against our biological and neurological survival instincts (hint: change is bad from a survival perspective).

How do we work with people who are different ? (contrary to conventional wisdom, opposites actually repel)

How do we overcome the “expertise is the enemy of innovation” syndrome ? (we are wired to find already known solutions)

How do we slow down to speed up ? (paradoxically, the more we focus on our goals the less likely we are to achieve them)

How do we ask better questions ? (we are wired to quickly jump to solutions)

In this enlightening conversation we will explore how your organization can make innovation a reality by making what is biologically unnatural a natural act.

 

 

 

ERIC S RAYMOND
Eric Steven Raymond, often referred to as ESR, is an American computer programmr, author and open source software advocate. After the 1997 publication of The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Raymond was for a number of years frequently quoted as an unofficial spokesman for the open source movement. In the Fall 1998 he received and published a Microsoft-internal document expressing worry about the quality of rival open-source software. This along with other documents became known as the “Halloween documents”. He became a prominent voice in the Open Source movement and co-founded the Open Source Initiative in 1998.

 

 

 

OPEN SPACE SESSION from Eric Raymond:

CULTURE HACKING THE OPEN SOURCE MOVEMENT

The open-source movement is what Dan Mezick calls a “good game”. And didn’t get that way by accident. Eric Raymond, one of its founders, will convene a session about the culture-hacking he had to do and the materials he had to work from to do this.

There may be lessons for would-be culture hackers in other contexts.

 

The AGILE CULTURE CONFERENCE Story

This conference is held in the two cities most associated with freedom and democracy in the United States: Philadelphia and Boston. These are tightly coupled events. Both cities share the same theme and many of the same speakers.

Why the AGILE CULTURE CONFERENCE now?

The main reason is the tremendous pace of change in business. This change is mandating more agile, more open and more democratic ways of working. People in organizations need new tools to navigate the ever-changing world of work. Centrally planned work structures are giving way to more open and adaptive ways of working. This is the place to pick up the concepts, tools and techniques you can put to work immediately to create a more adaptive, productive, engaged and humane workplace.  This is the conference to attend if you are looking to learn and network with employees of all kinds that are seeking new ways to address change and more deeply engage with others at work in pursuit of profits, passion and purpose.

Morning Keynote and Sessions from Noted Authorities!

We have a fantastic line-up of speakers. You enjoy wonderful keynotes and breakout sessions from noted authorities on self-management, teamwork, and employee engagement. You can expect excellent sessions and deep learning from excellent, authoritative speakers. From them you will learn new ways of thinking and working as you learn more about how culture works.

Lunch

Lunch is included. But not just any lunch. This is a first-class buffet. Expect to be surprised!

Afternoon Open Space

The afternoon features the OPEN SPACE event. This event is the place to connect with your peers and colleagues around the subjects of deepest interest to you. The Open Space event is both a learning event and a sampler of a wonderful meeting format you can use at work to engage people, ignite passion, and develop entirely new relationships at work.

After-Event Reception !

Stay and socialize with friends and colleagues upon conclusion of the event !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The AGILE CULTURE CONFERENCE is your one stop for identifying tools and techniques you can use today to raise levels of engagement, generate innovation, and develop more productivity and FREEDOM AT WORK. You exit this conference with everything you need to know and understand the forces shaping the next century of leadership, management and work.

 

Please consider the generous sponsors of the [agile CULTURE Conference]: