Agile2009? Me too

Summer is here and Agile2009 approaches, so I thought I’d do a little self-promotion for the three workshops I’ll be facilitating this year in Chicago.  I am excited to be working with two of my dearest friends and colleagues in the Agile world, Alan Cyment and Lyssa Adkins.  The three of us continually seek ways to weave or work lives together despite the separation of continents.  This conference is a chance for us to take this collaboration another step forward, and I am happy that of the many submissions I made, these ones were chosen.  It is always an honor to present at Agile, amidst so many passionate and edge-embracing people.

If you are planning to be in Chicago for the conference, please twitter a #Agile2009me2 tag so we can all begin to make plans to meet up and create havoc.  I am excited to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones.

Here is a summary of the three sessions I’ll be facilitating.  Full details are on the Agile2009 site, directly accessible through the links here.

The Agile Playground
Monday 11:00-12:30

Agility in Action… This session will introduce five interactive games that a facilitator can add to their toolkit for team and management training. The games all illustrate the principles and dynamics that support Agility. The rationale for this session is that people learn best by embodying the learning, rather than just receiving knowledge at a head level. All participants will be immersed in the games; there are no observers. At the end of the session the participants will have a set of games they can introduce into their own organization to enhance their own Agile adoption process.

Help me to see… corporate culture
co-presenter: Alan Cyment Lyssa Adkins
Wednesday 11:00–12:30

Changing the way individuals and teams work is one thing. Changing organizational culture is quite another, especially when so many of us (yes, even us at this conference) have little idea that the assumptions we make, the language we use, the structures we are bound by are the direct antithesis of Agile. Our thinking is locked by the patterns of years and needs to be unleashed in order to make inroads towards cultural change. Using a simple yet effective collaboration game from the Improv tradition this session will challenge our assumptions and open up new neural pathways. It is a beginning.

Powerful Questions: Human-centric coaching
co-presenter: Lyssa Adkins
Thursday 16:00-17:30

Human relationships are at the center of the Agile manifesto. Anything we do as coaches to allow humanity expression in our teams directly affects the individuals’ ability to live the manifesto more fully. This immediately translates into better, more astonishing, creation-ability in teams, and a greater sense of accomplishment and fulfillment for the team members. In this session, experienced coaches/trainers Lyssa Adkins and Tobias Mayer will introduce ‘Powerful Questions’ and share their personal experiences of coaching teams and individuals towards a more human-centric way of working.

See you in Chicago.