[OSList] Open Space- A little too open for "Agile enablement" firms?

Tue Jul 28 06:51:39 PDT 2015

Daniel,

I think you are onto something. Agile consultancy firms make their money
from large enterprise long term engagements. It's no secret.

Ron Jeffries (Signatory to the manifesto)  talks about this in his latest
book -
The Nature of Software Development: Keep It Simple, Make It Valuable, Build
It Piece by Piece by Ron Jeffries

Chapter 21 is entitled "Scaling Agile" and is quite damning to the process
and the consultancy industry for encouraging it. Ron calls it $caling.

Ron and I have been butting heads on twitter recently over my public
announcement that I do not believe in agile certification. But that is for
another thread...

Ron Quartel

fast-agile.com

On Sun, Jul 26, 2015 at 10:12 AM, Francois Knuchel via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Many thanks, Harold and Dan, for this video reference, and the light bulb
> reference.  Great documentary.  I had never heard the term ‘planned
> obsolescence’, though in the 60’s we used to talk of the “throw-away
> society”.  For all the benefits and good of agile, I have sometimes
> wondered whether agile itself, with it constant striving for more
> productivity in code production (eg software upgrades), isn’t itself a form
> of planned obsolescence.  Or maybe, as you say, it’s the (mis-)use of
> agile.  Yet another role for Open Space to “sort out”.  Thank you for
> sharing.
>
> Francois
>
>
>
> *From:* OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf
> Of *Harold Shinsato via OSList
> *Sent:* 25 July 2015 16:10
> *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Open Space- A little too open for "Agile
> enablement" firms?
>
>
>
> Yes! I first learned about the light bulb conspiracy from Paul Wheaton (a
> renowned Permaculture promoter) at an Open Space event, the one I organize
> in Montana, Missoula Barcamp 2013.
>
>
> Highly recommend this 2010 documentary about it - "The Light Bulb
> Conspiracy: The Untold Story of Planned Obsolenscence" -
> https://vimeo.com/109014324 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfbbF3oxf-E>
>
> It is a case study of a specific planned obsolescence conspiracy, and a
> successful one. But the movie is really about how it's everywhere. Planned
> obsolescence is standard practice everywhere, especially in computing. And
> agile is being destructively used to produce more and faster to be thrown
> away - including coaching transactions.
>
> Open Space can play a critical role in reversing this unsustainable soul
> polluting trend that is consuming and destroying the planet for some
> temporary profits for a small minority. And doing it in agile adoptions is
> a leading edge for Open Space directly into the heart of this destructive
> and recent (less than 100 year old) practice. This quote from an African in
> the movie is very telling - and challenging.
>
> "Posterity will never forgive us. Posterity will suddenly find out about
> the throw away lifestyles of people in the advanced countries."
>
>     Harold
>
> On 7/25/15 7:31 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList wrote:
>
> Most all Agile adoptions do not (repeat) do not begin in Open Space.
> Curious, isn't it? I mean, why not?
>
> Something about having to explain about engagement, invitation, opt-in
> participation, and self-organization to executives.
>
> When selling, simple is better. The less said- the better. Sell them what
> they are buying! And be quiet about everything else.
>
> Open Space is super-efficient. It encourages self-organization. At scale.
>
> This efficiency reduces the number of Agile coaching & Agile consulting
> days that can effectively be sold.
>
>
>
> When Agile adoptions start in Open Space and then periodic OST events are
> scheduled periodically, something curious happens: genuine agility sprouts.
> Authentic self-organization and self-management ensues, little by little...
> more and more.
>
> Once this happens, business-as-usual (for the consultant) usually includes
> vacating the premises.
>
> OST optimizes on transformations, not transactions.
>
> Perhaps OST is a little too efficient? Kind of like the original design
> for the light bulb?
>
> 'The Light Bulb Cartel and Planned Obsolescence'
> <http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2014/10/the-light-bulb-cartel-and-planned-obsolescence.html>
>
> Busy day today -- a couple of quick ones for now. This is Tim Taylor:
>
> The Light Bulb Cartel and Planned Obsolescence
> <http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-light-bulb-cartel-and-planned.html>:
> The old 1951 movie "The Man in the White Suit,"
> <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044876/> starring Alec Guinness, is both an
> entertaining adventure/comedy and a meditation on technology and planned
> obsolescence. The Alec Guinness character invents a wonderful new fabric
> that will never get dirty and never wear out. He sees a future where
> ordinary people will save money on clothes and cleaning expenses. People
> marvel at the invention at first, but soon everyone is against him: the
> textile and clothing companies fear his cloth will put them out of
> business, the workers in those companies fear losing their jobs, and those
> who do the washing fear losing work, too. Near the end of the movie, one
> character notes wryly that markets won't function if the products work too
> well. He says: “What do you think happened to all the other things? The
> razor blade that doesn’t get blunt? The car that runs on water with a pinch
> of something else?”
>
> It's harder to come up with clear-cut real-world example of where
> companies sought to reduce the quality of a product in order to boost
> sales. But in the October 2014 issue of IEEE Spectrum, Markus Krajewski
> tells the story of "The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy: The Phoebus cartel
> engineered a shorter-lived lightbulb and gave birth to planned
> obsolescence."
> <http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/history/the-great-lightbulb-conspiracy>
> ...
>
>
>
> --
>
> 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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>
>
> --
> Harold Shinsato
> harold at shinsato.com
> http://shinsato.com
> twitter: @hajush <http://twitter.com/hajush>
>
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