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Thank you so much for posting about this topic, Harrison!<br>
<br>
And I'm so grateful for hearing Birgitt's tale. It has opened my
mind, and heart.<br>
<br>
If you didn't hear this story from Daniel, I'll offer it here. It is
my own *PAINFUL* experience with Capital A "Agile" in software
development. There is a huge amount of discontent in the Agile
space, even as it continues to grow and obtain mind share. Part of
the way that Daniel phrases it (and I do too) is that Mandated Agile
is very bad. Deadly. It crushes engagement. I think it has also been
crushing the true spirit of Agile.<br>
<br>
And what Birgitt is offering from her experience is amazing. I feel
humbled to have not recognized how applicable her story has been to
what I've been trying to work on with helping organizations. But
perhaps it has been my own journey especially the last month that
has awakened me so much more to Birgitt's phenomenal work. I have
ordered her book from Amazon (The Genuine Contact Way: Nourishing a
Culture of Leadership). And I hope to get to one of these workshops
soon as well.<br>
<br>
For me - "Open Space Technology" - the tool - is amazing. Resilient.
But the "Tool" is not the point. The point is "open space". Our
innate humanity is what is opened in a good OS event. That's why
it's true - the biggest Axiom of all in this work - "it's all open
space"!<br>
<br>
While I'm offering praise and thanks - I'd like to add Diana Larsen
to the mix. Her work at finding the real connection to the Spirit of
Agile - in connecting Agile to Open Space - has been a huge
influence on me. The AgileOpen program as supported by the Agile
Alliance has brought Agile coaches, practitioners, and learners
together in Open Space in cities around the world for 10 years now.
It was only at two Agile Open events this year - one in Seattle and
one in San Diego - that I've started to understand at an even deeper
the powerful people element at the heart of Agile. It's right there
in the manifesto - but it continues to be taken to greater lengths
by practitioners and explorers in the Agile space.<br>
<br>
Perhaps a couple elements in the Agile space that resonate deeply
(beyond of course the wonderful OpenSpace Agility) are the work
around "Mob Programming" and "#NoEstimates". Explaining these two
things are way beyond the scope of this thread - but returning what
Birgitt speaks to - it is how important are the holistic elements of
our connection to each other take us beyond any particular process.
Encouraging leadership in our community - not just the formal
management - is what makes things like "Mobbing" (multiple people
working together at one computer and one keyboard), and
"#NoEstimates" (which is never promising what we don't really
understand but instead focus on continuous delivery of value).<br>
<br>
These newer evolutions of Agility - do indeed maybe make "Scrumming"
working too hard. Though I do think Scrum can be helpful, the
process was never what made Agile truly Agile. "Individuals and
Interactions over Processes and Tools"!!!<br>
<br>
Warm regards,<br>
Harold<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/8/16 1:03 PM, Harrison Owen via
OSList wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:004201d17975$98234d80$c869e880$@net"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">the middle of all that... but I do have some thoughts about Agile and Open Space.
I get that Dan and many others understand Open Space to be a useful tool/mechanism/means for "Agile Introduction." Agile Introduction, is of course, magic words for the initiated and obscure for some of the rest of us... Be that as it may... I agree. It works. AND....
Just to be a little provocative.... I might suggest that Open Space is not the tool (means, mechanism), but the context. Of course I should probably remove the capitals and just do "os" -- pointing to what for me is "the magic sauce." That would be the process of Self Organization. Or as I said (sort of) in some other place: Real Agility is the fully conscious and intentional realization of the power of self organization. So open space (small o, s) is simply the context in which everything happens. And things work much better (agile, effective, efficient, etc) when we cheerfully align ourselves with the way things are -- as opposed to "fighting the system" to make it the way we think it should be.
Could it then be that SCRUMMING is working much too hard? Might it be better to carefully note and study what we can do naturally before trying to improve it? We could then take all that as a "base" -- and who knows where we might end up?
Harrison
Winter Address
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Harold Shinsato<br>
<a href="mailto:harold@shinsato.com">harold@shinsato.com</a><br>
<a href="http://shinsato.com">http://shinsato.com</a><br>
twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/hajush">@hajush</a></div>
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