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 Work at the Self-Management Symposium. One of the things I learned was that MORNINGSTARCO uses this concept of stepping-stones. Here are the steps:

  1. For a given task or job, define perfection. For example, at MORNINGSTARCO, for maintaining machinery that processes tomatoes, “perfect” is defined as a maintenance cost of ZERO for processing an INFINITE volume of material.
  2. Next, figure out your current performance numbers. For example, for machinery that processes tomatoes, the current score might be “one dollar of maintenance expense, on average, for  every 10 tons of product processing.”
  3. Now define a stepping-stone goal, in the direction of perfection: How about trying to get the maintenance cost down to 92 cents per 10 tons of processing, instead of 1 dollar?  89 cents maybe? That’s a stepping stone. 89 cents. Its a small, achievable goal, in the direction of improvement…in the direction of perfection.

In golf, “perfect” is eighteen hole-in-ones. That’s it.  “18” is the perfect golf score. Now, no one can actually achieve that. This actually does not matter. What does matter is that the ideal– the perfect—  is very clear.

Every golf pro is thinking about 18 as the ideal– as perfection. And they make small moves to get closer and closer. Thinking about perfection when aiming to improve is a very interesting idea. This idea from MORNINGSTARCO got me thinking about Agile coaching and perfection.

Perfection in Agile Coaching

What constitutes perfection in Agile coaching? How do we apply the MORNINGSTARCO stepping-stone concept to the execution of Agile coaching?

I think it has to do with client organizations reaching a state of self-sustaining, freestanding agility via the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM coaching engagement. What is that minimum exactly? Can a coach help get an org to a state of self-sustaining, freestanding agility with 30 days of coaching? 20 days? 10 days?

How about FIVE days?

I am actively seeking and working with clients who want to  explore this idea with me. We are working from the premise that “perfect” is no more than FIVE TOTAL DAYS  of coaching to reach a goal of org-wide self-sustaining Agility.

Is this definition of perfect even remotely possible to reach? We are finding out.

Currently, we in the Agile community consider it normal for a coach to set up camp at an organization and “embed” or “integrate” there for months on end. Sometimes even years. This makes absolutely no sense to me given the lack of genuine and lasting results these client organizations are actually getting.

So instead, I am working with clients, and doing many small experiments, in service to the idea of absolutely minimizing the number of coaching days required. To do this, radical new techniques have to be identified, developed and completely tested out. The old ways of doing things that are getting poor results have to be thrown out in favor of a all-new and radical approaches that can help get us there.

Current techniques are obviously deficient, because coaches are setting up camp, for YEARS in some cases, supposedly enabling an ‘Agile transformation’. These ‘Agile transformations’ are obviously NOT HAPPENING. Meanwhile, no one is sounding an alarm. Companies seem willing. Money is changing hands. Everyone is happy.

The problem of course is that there is no progress. In some of these organizations, dozens of coaches are working for years with results that are dubious at best. Something obviously has to change here.

Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. That’s what Frank Zappa once said. We need to embody this idea. We need to throw out old assumptions, define perfection for the task of Agile coaching, and define and then achieve stepping stones in the direction of perfect. That’s exactly what I am doing with some of my clients in Boston and it is super-interesting to try out some of these new and radical ideas.

I plan to report the results to you, over the summer, as events unfold.

May 21 Meeting: Live Scrum Exercise

Studying Scrum and DOING Scrum are very different.  Studying is just the first step. There’s much more value to be extracted from doing. In this meeting, you will see what real Scrum looks like. You’ll participate in a complete simulation, building a complex product. You won’t have all the answers at the start of the game….

This meeting is an experiental workshop.  You’ll be one of a team of 4 or 5 people, thrown into the deep end of the pool to explore spikes, story sizing, team dynamics, sprints, pulling the “what”, defining the “how”, conducting Sprint reviews including demos and retros. In the workshop you build a very complex product in a timebox with your team. Each iteration ends in minutes and you must deliver a value when the iterations are over. There are all sorts of surprises in this workshop, including some key learnings about team dynamics, team composition, experimentation, and some mid-course corrections. This is a fast-paced Scrum simulation experience.

Because of the limited space, only THIRTY participants will get in. Your registration is an EXPLICIT commitment to attend. This is first-come, first served. There is no money cost to attend and you are expected to be present if you register. Please do not register casually.

 

About The Presenter:

Daniel Mezick is an Executive and Agile Coach at www.FreeStandingAgility.com, a team of Agile coaches based in New England. Daniel has coached hundreds of teams adopting Agile since 2008. He is a frequent speaker at Agile conferences and a founder of the www.AgileBoston.org user group. His book www.TheCultureGame.com describes 16 patterns and practices derived from Agile that any team can use to bring more learning, engagement and productivity to the world of work. Learn more at www.DanielMezick.com, reach Daniel on Twitter @DanMezick, emailhim at dan@newtechusa.net, or call him at 203 915 7248.

Where:

MICROSOFT CORPORATION

Pondview Corporate Center
74 Batterson Park Rd., #100
Farmington, CT 06032

Need driving directions? Click here for directions

When:

Tuesday evening, MAY 21 2013 from 6:00PM to 8:45PM

NOTE: This is a start time change. Starts at 6:00PM

 

Register HERE:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/378510

 
Meeting Agenda:

6:00 pm Introduction to Workshop; Team formation

6:10 pm Execution of an experiental “spike” with the kit with your team

6:20pm Sprint Planning

6:35pm Iteration 1 with Demo and Retro

6:55pm Iteration 2 with Demo and Retro

7:15pm Iteration 3 with Demo and Retro

7:35pm PAUSE MODE: We get out the simulation & examine it

7:55pm Iteration 4 with Demo and Retro

8:15pm Grand Demo, Retro and Cleanup

8:30pm DONE

8:45pm DONE DONE

 

Meeting Location:

MICROSOFT OFFICE in FARMINGTON CT
74 Batterson Park Rd, Farmington CT 06032 (Directions)

NOTE: The event room is located on the 1st floor. Enter the building. Take the hallway then go left. The door to the event room is on your right.

 

Register HERE:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/378510


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 from other readers who are implementing the 16 Tribal Learning patterns and practices.

Users of the book are having great success testing the hypothesis that all meetings are games, and that these meetings can be improved by tuning up the game mechanics of meetings.  You’ll hear some success stories on these calls, from readers getting real traction using the guidance in the book. You’ll also hear about what is not working, and participate in dialogue around solutions. We are actually implementing these Office Hours calls as a meeting, one that implements many of the very patterns and practices from the book that we are discussing.

Please watch @DanMezick on Twitter and also this blog post for details on the date and time of the next call. Please save the date of Wednesday April 1 at 630PM Eastern Standard Time for the first CULTURE GAME Office Hours conference call. I plan to post the link for signing up here.

The CULTURE GAME Office Hours calls are limited to just 25 participants. Therefore, do not register casually. Registering is an explicit commitment to attend and participate.  We’ll be doing serious work on these calls, and hearing stories of how readers are employing the book at work, and getting questions answered.

I look forward to speaking with you during the 1st Office Hours call on April 1. Check here and on Twitter for the details on how to dial in!

Next Call:

Wednesday, May 1 at 630PM EST

Phone number and credentials:

Learn More Here and REGISTER

 

 

Apr 24 WALTHAM MEETING: Are You Agile/Agile?

Slides from this talk are available: Are You Agile/Agile

Recent surveys show that 20% of those surveyed feel that their organizations are 100% agile, while a whole 50% claim a mature adoption. How do they know? How do they categorize agility, and how do they measure their agility? Have they gained agility over the last six months, and what has been their return on their investment. These are all questions that an organization’s management should be able to answer. Ken will discuss these topics and the underlying issues during his talk.

Register:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/369554

About The Presenter:

Ken Schwaber co-developed the Scrum process with Jeff Sutherland in the early 1990s to help organizations struggling with complex development projects. A 30-year veteran of the software development industry and signatory to the Agile Manifesto, he has written multiple books about Scrum including “Agile Software Development with Scrum”, “Agile Project Management with Scrum”, and “The Enterprise and Scrum”.

Meeting Agenda:

6:30 pm Introduction

7:00 pm Food, beverages, and socializing

7:20 pm Main event

8:20 pm Done

8:30 pm Done Done

Meeting Location:

CORPORATE OFFICE PARK
200 West Street
Waltham, MA 02451

The event room is located on the 1st floor. Enter the building. Take the hallway to the left. Walk past the elevators. The door to the event room will be on your right before the restrooms.

Register:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/369554

Apr 25 DOWNTOWN MEETING: Are You Agile/Agile?

Slides from this talk are available: Are You Agile/Agile

Recent surveys show that 20% of those surveyed feel that their organizations are 100% agile, while a whole 50% claim a mature adoption. How do they know? How do they categorize agility, and how do they measure their agility? Have they gained agility over the last six months, and what has been their return on their investment. These are all questions that an organization’s management should be able to answer. Ken will discuss these topics and the underlying issues during his talk.

NOTE: The downtown event is being held at PayPal in Boston. To accommodate security, registration will be closed at 9:00 PM EST on Tue 4/23. Walk-ins will not be allowed to attend. Please be sure to register in advance for this event and bring a photo ID.

Register:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/369561

About The Presenter:

Ken Schwaber co-developed the Scrum process with Jeff Sutherland in the early 1990s to help organizations struggling with complex development projects. A 30-year veteran of the software development industry and signatory to the Agile Manifesto, he has written multiple books about Scrum including “Agile Software Development with Scrum”, “Agile Project Management with Scrum”, and “The Enterprise and Scrum”.

Meeting Agenda:

6:00 pm Introduction

6:30 pm Beverages and socializing

6:50 pm Main event

7:50 pm Done

8:00 pm Done Done

Meeting Location:

NOTE: The April downtown event is being held at a different location. Use the following address for the event.

PayPal
1 International Place (6th floor)
Boston, MA 02110

Register:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/369561