Conversational Transformation

Squirrel tells the story of a client who was asked an impossible question about agile team productivity, and we explore why such impossible questions are actually valuable and worth investigating with curiosity.

A listener asks us to explain the link between "normalisation of deviance" and fear. Using examples like an agile team dropping its retrospectives, or NASA launching the Space Shuttle in too-cold conditions, we illustrate how being afraid can drive a group away from its espoused norms and toward dangerous alternatives, and conversely how you can use examples of "normalised deviance" to find and mitigate hidden fears

Squirrel tells the story of an agile team faced with seemingly irresistible demands, and describes how switching to the "Yes, And" stance (originating from improvisational theatre) helped them find a solution that worked for everyone.

We look at two elements - Collaboration and Reflection - of the Heart of Agile approach developed by our friend Alistair Cockburn, and illustrate how conscious and attentive listening and reflection on emotions make a big difference for agile teams.

We look at two elements - Collaboration and Reflection - of the Heart of Agile approach developed by our friend Alistair Cockburn

We are joined by the wise and thoughtful Misha Glouberman, who organises Internet cocktail parties and better, more human-friendly meetings for organisations and teams—and the two turn out to have a lot in common.

Squirrel is gobsmacked by user stories that appear to be about aliens.

Jessica Katz is an agile coach who uses curiosity and conversational skills to help agile teams perform better. She explains why you need to liberate the elephant in the room and how you can do that.

Jeffrey is inspired by Jon Smart and the DOES Virtual conference to discuss homeostasis as a source of resistance to change, and Squirrel tells a client story about curiosity as a way to help a complex system adapt.

This week we look at a similar revolution in democratising innovation and creating a learning organisation.

Frederick Taylor gets a bad rap - even from us, but in the right circumstances, we believe his ideas have a lot of value.

Both of us learned to improve our conversations through regular practise with others - and today we describe how you can do that too.