Dan:
Congratulations for your fine work promoting OST in the Agile Community
and enlarging the scope of agile not only to "agile software
development" but to "Agile (and spirited) companies".
And, yes, Christine, this is a small world.
I can remember some breakout sessions on "Agile and/or Scrum and OST" at
last WOSonOS's, including one or two convened by Harold Shinsato in
London-2012, which I have attended. So the terrain was already prepared
for Dan's initiative.
In what concerns Portugal, in my past life, I presented a paper, in a
Portuguese Information Systems Conference, in 1980, where I created a
"recursive life cycle", that was later considered, in Portugal, a
precursor of agile methodologies.
But the Agile movement is not yet very strong in Portugal even if there
is a community that met often (http://agilept.org/) and a page at
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/agilept), with only 407 members.
Generally Portuguese Universities only talk about agile marginally in
the "Software Engineering" subject.
In what concerns the future, I am preparing to stay only part time at
the University, since the 14th September 2013, and be back to the
consulting activities where OST will be an important part, but mainly as
a facilitator for "profound changes" and collaborative learning
(Communities of Practice, Organizational learning, Innovation,
Resilience, etc.).
Anyhow I will not probably be able to go to Paris in September, so
please keep me both posted on the outcomes of the Paris meeting.
Looking forward to work more closed with both of you (and some others
out there) in the near future.
Regards
Artur
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* christine koehler <[email protected]>
*To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
<[email protected]>
*Sent:* Tuesday, August 20, 2013 11:07 AM
*Subject:* Re: [OSList] The Open Agile Adoption story
Hi Dan
Congratulations for your lovely buddha grand-daughter !
Thank you for your story. As a French Open Space practitioner who heard
for so many years that French and Open Space were not made to get
together, I am always happy to hear exactely opposite stories ;-)
Today as Michael Pannwitz says, we are the most fast growing community
in the Open Space World.
Now I can tell you the story of Open Space and Agile in France.. Indeed
it's an old love story :
In 2004, a small and diverse group of people launched the Open Space
Institute of France. One of them was an engineer, and had already
adopted agility : Raphael Pierquin. So, the first Open Space event in
the IT community in France was held for Orange Business Services, a
subsidiary of our historical telecommunication corporation France
Telecom, after Raphael introduced there Agility. This happened in 2005
I think.
Since that he organizes each year the Agile Open gathering using Open
Space and the software company he co-founded is run with Open Space
principles.
When in 2009 I co-organized with Luc Bizeul the first European Open
Space on Open Space, half of the participants were agile folks.
My guess is that this explains why the core members of the French Agile
community are quite familiar with Open Space and that you got retweeted
from over here :-).
These days as I personaly want to understand more about agility, but if
possible concretely and not from books (and also not from software
development as I am not a tech lady), I joined a group of a dozen Agile
people who are wondering why agile principles don't go further and
transform organizations : they/we form the Stoos movement. One of the
organizer of your French training on OpenAgileAdoption after the Scrum
gathering in Paris is Oana Juncu, who belongs to this group. We live in
a small world.
I'd be happy to connect the Agile/Scrum/OpenSpace communities from
France and abroad on Sunday, sept 22, just before the Scrum Gathering
starts.
Invitation is on its way, and it looks I need to find a bigger place
already.. Thank you Suzanne for encouraging me to do that.
I'll post more details soon.
Hope to meet you there
Christine
On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 6:38 PM, Daniel Mezick <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Good morning OST-List!____
__ __
I am Daniel Mezick, probably someone you never heard of.
I’m an executive & Agile coach that seeks (and occasionally obtains)
work in that section of the USA between NYC and Boston. I live in
CT. I have a story to tell you…and an invitation…
Open and Agile
____
__ __
…about 4 years ago I start experimenting with Open Space, using it
inside public www.AgileBoston.org <http://www.agileboston.org/>
conference events. I study OST more. In 2010 we at Agile Boston
innovate by getting the 80-page proceeding from a large public OST
event rendered to a PDF and shipped to all participants in less than
24 hours. (We employ a rapid transcription service to render the
per-session outputs to text and images, then create a WORD doc and
PDF.)____
__ __
I actually did not know what the hell I was doing. I just knew it
was a generally good idea to socialize Open Space in Boston. ____
__ __
Little do I know…____
__ __
In late 2010, by Googling around I discover the free-download PDF of
the SPIRIT book by HO. Reading that changes everything for me. I
realize that OST is really about development and transformation in
organizations, NOT simply for public conferences and general
education. (This is how the “Agile community” currently uses Open
Space.)____
__ __
As a consultant to organizations, I realize that the SPIRIT book for
some reason is completely overlooked by the Agile community, and
that this book had the seeds of success in it. The “secret sauce”. I
begin experimenting with bringing Open Space meetings into my Agile
coaching engagements. The basic hypothesis is that the introduction
of change (Agile in this case) creates alarming levels of anxiety
and worry. And, that Open Space might actually help reduce worry and
fear.____
__ __
From late 2010 to the present day, I begin experimenting with using
Open Space in service to rapid and lasting Agile adoptions. By
diving into this work with willing clients, I begin to realize the
power of Open Space… with them. We find that we can reduce the
anxiety of change via the power and mystery of “invitation.” I begin
to study and build upon work from Ed Seykota (“testing for
willingness”), Michael Herman (“invitation”), Harrison Owen (the
SPIRIT book), others. ____
__ __
In 2011 I do a few more experiments and begin pulling ideas from
cultural anthropology (Victor Turner), from positive psychology
(Tony Hsieh’s application of Martin Seligman’s work) and from the
art and science of game design (Jane McGonigal).____
__ __
In 2012 I write THE CULTURE GAME (www.TheCultureGame.com
<http://www.theculturegame.com/>), a book about how to help your
organization get smarter. At this point I have worked with OST in
more than a few organizations. In that book I write a chapter,
chapter 21, and give it the title “Open The Space”. That chapter
contains several “easter eggs” which a few astute readers find and
begin using. I start to get emails from around the world about that
chapter. In that chapter I reference many of Harrison’s works, I
disclose some of the Open Agile Adoption technique.In that chapter,
I specifically provide the link to the SPIRIT book. ____
__ __
By late 2012, I have confirmation of several hypotheses. The first
is that without engagement, we have nothing. That seems very
obvious, yet the current Agile literature has little or nothing to
say about the role of engagement in effective Agile adoptions.
Second is that there is no engagement without /psychological safety/
sufficient /_to_/ engage. Third, safety (and a general sense of
well-being) is a largely a function of creating an “inviting
structure”. By structure I mean: a clear goal, or purpose…and a
clear set of rules…and a great, always-on feedback system and the
big one…”opt-in participation”. ____
__ __
I started ranting on Twitter and on my blog about how “mandated
collaboration” in Agile adoptions is at best misguided. How mandated
practices may be...harmful. Remember by this point I have my
experience and case data. I am speaking from some experience. ____
__ __
At first, no one seemed to hear me. But after a while, I start
getting ReTweets a lot. And people started talking back to me from
around the world and there is conversation. Questions. Insights. I
start connecting with all kinds of people around this idea. Some of
the ReTweets are from people with French names who Tweet in French
AND English.
____
So here I am with this more-than-pretty-good technique that
incorporates Open Space. And I am kind of feeding out provocative
questions about Agile coaching, and talking a lot about invitation,
and about the futility of mandates…I also make some radical
assertions. This goes on for a while. ____
__ __
Then I got this interesting invitation. ____
__ __
It’s an invite to come and /keynote/ the Global ScrumGathering in
Paris France in September of 2013. The invite is from some of those
French people who ReTweet my Tweets. They tell me I can talk about
absolutely anything I deem important, and ask me to “come and play”
with them. ____
__ __
It takes me about 2 minutes to make up my mind. As soon as this
happens, I know it is one of these providential-type events that
becomes a defining moment. I gather up all my notes and start
crafting the speech. I also immediately contact Harrison Owen, and
bring all my work and notes up to his place in Camden to talk, and
explain OAA with Open Space to him, and seek his guidance. That was
back in early July. ____
__ __
And so: here we are. I’m going over there to Paris to talk about
Open Agile Adoption with Open Space to six hundred Agile and Scrum
practitioners. Many of them are coaches. The OAA technique
incorporates OST, storytelling, play, and some ancient and proven
tribal patterns for managing change, specifically the /rite of
passage/ pattern. ____
__ __
There is a list of links at the bottom of this note, so you can get
a sense of what I am presenting. Over July and August I am planning
to explain the whole technique to you and everyone else, holding
back the case data and the toolkit until 9/24 in Paris, when I
deliver the actual speech. On that day, the toolkit and all the
tools become free to the world via an open source license and a free
download. The intent is to provide a body of work that others can
immediately use and more importantly, improve upon. ____
__ __
We know that people are only 25 or 30 percent engaged at work. (see
related link below.) Open Space is a profoundly useful way to double
or even triple engagement from there. The hypothesis of Open Agile
Adoption is that /a safe space is required for true group learning/
to take root. And that Open Space is the primary tool for
constructing that kind of place. ____
__ __
The keynote address is designed to resonate before and after the
event. Before the event, INFOQ.com is publishing articles, videos
and interviews on Open Agile Adoption. During the event, the speech
will be transcribed, videotaped and recorded by the Scrum Alliance.
After the event these Scrum Alliance artifacts will be available to
anyone in the world via the Scrum Alliance. Also after the event I
plan to make the case data and Open Agile Adoption toolkit free to
the world, such that anyone with “a good head and a good heart” can
do it and do it well. ____
__ __
I’m taking a page from Harrison’s playbook, and from his ethos,
choosing to make the entire body of know-how free to the world. I’m
hoping that Open Agile Adoption (and derivatives) become the
standard for implementing more rapid and lasting Agile adoptions…____
__ __
…Not everyone is likely to be happy if this comes true. The Open
Space element has the potential to radically reduce the amount of
Agile coaching that is actually needed to get a rapid and lasting
Agile adoption. That reduces billable hours!____
__ __
Further (and of far more interest to you) is the idea that skilled
OST Facilitators are required to execute well with the Open Agile
Adoption technique. This has the potential to open up new demand for
those here with deep OST skills and experience. ____
__ __
There is clear potential for a certain “changing of the guard” in
Agile adoptions worldwide. There is potential for disruption...and
maybe a little bit of chaos. ____
__ __
After the Paris Scrum Gathering, I plan to offer short, plain-talk
seminars in how to do Open Agile Adoption. I do not plan to teach
Open Space facilitation in detail, because others in this community
are already doing this very well, and also because there is more to
Open Agile Adoption that just Open Space. There are elements of
storytelling, elements of a passage rite, elements of gaming, play
and more. I plan to teach the overall OAA technique to people who
want to learn it. In France in September, I am teaching two ½ day
seminars on 9/26 and 9/28 after the Scrum Gathering. When I return I
plan to continue teaching in the United States.____
__ __
I am asking for help. Will you help me socialize the idea that Open
Space is essential for creating rapid and lasting Agile adoptions? ____
__ __
You can help in the following ways:____
__ __
0/ Be playful, and help me refine and improve Open Agile Adoption
with others____
__ __
1/ Learn more about OAA via the provided links below. Then, ask me
questions.____
__ __
2/ Tell me if you offer Open Space training courses, and send me
your info, so I can promote your course to Open Agile Adoption
practitioners. If you are a Facilitator for hire, I want to talk to
you!____
__ __
3/ Examine the work, and provide feedback as I disclose it over the
next month.____
__ __
4/ Sign up for the Facebook group Open Agile Adoption via this link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/204037609756665/____
__ __
__ __
5/ Help me get in front of Agile audiences to the extent you can.
This year I am speaking on Open Agile Adoption with Open Space at
these events (in date order):____
8/7/13: session, Agile2013____
9/24/13: keynote, Global Scrum Gathering, Paris____
11/6/13: keynote, Agile Tour, Quebec City Quebec CA____
__ __
I hope you like this story, ____
and I hope you want it to continue, ____
and I hope want to help write it. ____
__ __
I am inviting you to come and do that. Will you join me with others
in writing the next chapter of the Open Agile Adoption story?
I hope you will consider doing exactly that. ____
__ __
Kind Regards,____
Daniel Mezick____
www.DanielMezick.com <http://www.danielmezick.com/>____
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>____
203 915 7248____
__ __
Related Links:____
__ __
GALLUP Link on (dis) engagement____
/$350 billion per year in lost productivity.____/
http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/247/the-high-cost-of-disengaged-employees.aspx____
__ __
SPIRIT Link (Harrison Owen book)____
http://www.openspaceworld.com/Spirit.pdf____
__ __
Open Agile Adoption Link____
www.OpenAgileAdoption.com <http://www.openagileadoption.com/>____
__ __
Mandated Collaboration Link____
http://newtechusa.net/agile/the-recipe-for-botched-agile-adoptions/____
__ __
__ __
Scrum Gathering Link (click ‘keynotes’ and then click “right arrow”…____
http://www.scrumalliance.org/courses-events/events/global-gatherings/2013/paris-2013____
__ __
__ __
Agile2013 Link____
http://www.agilequebec.ca/nouvelles/agile-tour-2013-keynote/____
__ __
Agile Tour Quebec City keynote Link____
http://www.agilequebec.ca/nouvelles/agile-tour-2013-keynote/____
__ __
Open Agile Adoption Group on Facebook____
https://www.facebook.com/groups/204037609756665/
____
--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter
<http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book:The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the
Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching.
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston
<http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/>Community.
_______________________________________________
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--
Christine Koehler, créatrice d'espace de Dialogue et de Coopération
Executive Coach, Médiateur
www.christine-koehler.fr <http://www.christine-koehler.fr/>
Tel : 06 13 28 71 38
Fax : 09 72 32 36 65
New ! Formation 20/06/2013 De l’évènement au Processus
<http://christine-koehler.fr/2013/formation-de-levenement-au-processus-avril-2013/><http://www.youtube.com/embed/4OBVyB5Z9IU?rel=0>
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