Agile Learning from Agile 2009

Learning is key to agile success
building a learning culture on your agile team
Declan Whelan

Overview

Agile Manifesto
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.
Kent Beck, Mike Beedle, Arie van Bennekum, Alistair Cockburn, Ward Cunningham, Martin Fowler, James Grenning, Jim Highsmith, Andrew Hunt, Ron Jeffries, Jon Kern, Brian Marick, Robert C. Martin, Steve Mellor, Ken Schwaber, Jeff Sutherland. Dave Thomas
© 2001, the above authors this declaration may be freely copied in any form, but only in its entirety through this notice.

Satir Change Model
Learning
Source: http://www.stevenmsmith.com/my-articles/article/the-satir-change-model.html

Continuous Learning

Learning
Value

Learning
study
accumulate
knowledge
bird leaving
nest
child in
doorway
youth
practice continuously

Culture
Language
Arts & sciences
Thought
Spirituality
Social activity
Interaction

Learning Culture
“ … where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to learntogether”
Peter Senge
The Fifth Discipline

Why do We Learn?
Maslow's
Hierarchy
of Needs
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow

What do We Need to Learn?

How do We Learn?
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Visual

How Do We Learn?

L Brain R Brain
Logical
Sequential
Rational
Analytical
Objective
Looks at parts
Random
Intuitive
Holistic
Synthesizing
Subjective
Looks at wholes

When Do We Learn?
Standups
Project Chartering
Retrospectives
Daily
Work
Planning Meetings
Demos

Dreyfus Skill’s Acquisition
Expert
Proficient
Competent
Advanced
Beginner
Novice
Source: Andy Hunt (2008), Pragmatic Thinking & Learning: Refactor Your Wetware

Skills Distribution

Shu Ha Ri
Following
Breaking Away
Fluent
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuhari

Beginner’s Mind
“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.”
Shunryu Suzuki

The Learning Organization

Competence & skills
Personal growth & learning
Commitment to truth
Commitment to the whole
Compassion
Continually:
Clarifying what is important
Learning how to see reality more clearly
Personal Mastery

The Cave

Team Learning

Discussion
Dialog

Defensiveness
Current understandingand behaviour
Perceived needfor new understandingand behaviour
Defensiveroutine
Learning gap
Delay
Need for inquiry
and change
Threat

Domain of Action
Guiding ideas
Organizational structure
Theory, methods & tools
Innovations in infrastructure

Domain of Enduring Change
Skills & capabilities
Awareness & sensibilities
Deep learning cycle
Attitudes & beliefs

Guiding Ideas
Starts with
Vision
Value
Purpose
Not “maximizing shareholder value”
Ongoing process …
Three key ideas
Primacy of the whole
Community nature of the self
Generative power of language

Theory, Methods & Tools
Theories
Agile, lean principles, 5 disciplines
Methods & Tools
Agile, lean practices & tools
Applies self-referentially to 5 disciplines

Innovations in Infrastructure
Team structures
Whole team
Colocation etc.
Scrum of scrums
HR evaluation and compensation
Explicit infrastructure to support learning
Practice fields

Results
Guiding ideas
Skills & capabilities
Awareness & sensibilities
Organizational structure
Deep learning cycle
Theory, methods & tools
Innovations in infrastructure
Attitudes & beliefs
Implicit order

Curiosity
Wonder
Experimentalism

Learning Culture Map
Intentional
Incremental
accumulate
knowledge
bird leaving
nest
child in
doorway
youth
Infrastructure
Individual Safety

Learning Culture Map

Intentional

Retrospectives

Prime Directive
“Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.”

Retrospective Format
Set the stage
Gather data
Generate insights
Decide what to do
Close

Exercise the R Brain
Inspired by Mike Russell @ Agile2009 "Face Culture or Face Failure"

Coach
Source: (2009) Rachel Davies, Liz Sedley

Teach
“Teachers are architects building concepts and ideas into the minds of their listeners”
Phil Geldart, Eagles Flight
Source: Phil Geldhart, “In Your Hands”

Infrastructure

Integrate Learning and Working
Pairing
Planning Sessions
Standups
Demos

Create Practice Fields
Initial training
Simulations
Games

Create Learning Sessions
Brown bags
Study groups
Etudes
Road trips

Create Learning Workspace
Big Visible Charts
Information Radiators
In Your Space
e-Forum

Accommodate Learning Styles
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Visual

Incremental

Individual Safety

“Gleeful calamity”
"Success is in the doing and failures are celebrated and analyzed. Problems become puzzles and obstacles disappear“
"Nothing ever turns out as planned ... ever“
"Decoration of the unfinished project is a kind of conceptual incubation. From these interludes come deep insights and amazing new approaches"
GeverTulley video on tinkering school:
Chaordic Learning: Tinkering
http://www.ted.com/talks/gever_tulley_s_tinkering_school_in_action.html

Individual Safety

Virginia Satir
“Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible - the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family.”

Building Safety and Trust
competence, reliability, forthrightness, mutual regard
context sensitive
self-disclosure
time
Source: George Dinwiddie: http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/2008/12/03/aye-2008-the-magic-chemistry-of-teams

Personal History Exercise

Summary

“Our tendency is to be interested in something that is growing in the garden, not in the bare soil itself.
But if you want to have a good harvest, the most important thing is to make the soil rich and cultivate it well.”
Shunryu Suzuki

Thanks!
What did you like best?
What suggestions do you have?
What questions do you have?
Declan Whelan
dpwhelan@dpwhelan.com
Twitter: dwhelan
http://www.dpwhelan.com/blog

Agile Learning from Agile 2009

by Declan Whelan on Sep 02, 2009

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Agile Learning from Agile 2009 — Presentation Transcript