Possibilities through communities in agility

1. John Coleman 12th June 2020
Communities
Possibilities

2. What is a community?

3. Why does community matter?

4. Cake
A metaphor of value

5. A metaphor for no value yet
• Requires imagination to figure
out what the cake might look like
in the end
• Do the layers fit each other?
• Is it hard to imagine a team or
team-of-teams that relies on so
many other people it cannot
deliver value easily to the
markets?
Layer of cake

6. New New Product Development Game
https://hbr.org/1986/01/the-new-new-product-development-game
… holistic approach has six characteristics:
• built-in instability
• self-organizing … teams
• overlapping … phases,
• “multilearning,”
• subtle control, and
• organizational transfer of learning.
The six pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, forming a fast flexible process for new product
development. Just as important, the new approach can act as a change agent: it is a vehicle for
introducing creative, market-driven ideas and processes into an old, rigid organization.

7. A metaphor for a slice of value
• Imagine a team or team-of-
teams that can deliver value
every month
• Sometimes the cake is not so
nice and we give feedback to the
chef
Slice of cake

8. Some teams use “sprints”
Slice of cake teams are multi-learning, self-organizing teams
1 day
2-4 week
Sprint
Sprint
Retrospective
Sprint
Review
Joint
Retro-
spective
Product Backlog
Refinement
Potentially
Shippable
Product
Increment
Sprint
Planning
Part 2
Sprint
Planning
Part 1
(2-4 h)
(15 min)
Product
Backlog
Product
Owner
(2-4 h)
(2-4 h)
(5-10% of Sprint)
(1.5-3h)
(Feature)
Team
+
ScrumMaster
Sprint
Backlog
Daily
Scrum
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9. characteristics
purposeful over random
invitation & welcome over mandate
possibilities over problem solving
ownership over blame
dissent over lip service
middle over extremes

10. typical themes
reading
mentorship
sharing knowledge
sharing stories
interview a thought leader
making improvements together
…

11. considerations
large group facilitation skills
should be a creative outlet
should capture passion, focus & energy
budget, space, time-boxes
internal events and/or external events
online and/or f2f

12. examples
book club
market specific
brand specific
role specific
work type specific
…
..
.

13. ― Peter Block, Community: The Structure of Belonging
“We are a community of possibilities, not a community of problems. Community exists for
the sake of belonging and takes its identity from the gifts, generosity, and accountability of
its citizens. It is not defined by its fears, its isolation, or its penchant for retribution.
We currently have all the capacity, expertise, programs, leaders, regulations, and wealth
required to end unnecessary suffering and create an alternative future.”

14. Design is important
What do you notice?

33. Liberating Structures - segway for another nugget:)
liberatingstructures.com also a free mobile app

34. Useful books