As senior leaders we want to focus on the key conversations to have with ourselves, our leadership team, teams and our organizations around change and AI. What are the essential three conversations to have? We will explore this topic. Martin discusses the role of a leader as a change champion during a time of change, such as the introduction of AI. He emphasizes the importance of retrospection and self-examination in understanding how leaders and organizations respond to new technologies. He suggests that leaders should reevaluate their belief systems around new tech, especially AI, as it may not follow the normal hype cycles of older technologies. He also encourages leaders to create a culture of engagement and safe spaces for open, growth-based conversations.In response to a question about whether it's correct to approach AI with a system geared towards yesterday's enterprise, Martin asserts that yesterday's enterprises need to update themselves to stay competitive and take advantage of new opportunities.Martin then discusses the importance of an organization's culture in challenging leaders. He emphasizes the need for an environment open to challenging and being challenged, and for leaders to model being challenged. He also highlights the importance of having a diverse set of perspectives and developing narratives through storytelling and reflective listening.Martin also talks about the role of leaders in guiding decisions based on context, understanding, and responsibilities for outcomes. He stresses the importance of supporting people through the losses that come with change and offering opportunities for relearning to those who show the capacity to adapt.In the third conversation, Martin talks about the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in the face of AI's potential to change current and future paradigms. He suggests promoting experimentation and scaling successful insights to deliver more significant, holistic solutions.Finally, Martin discusses how to get started with these conversations and the leader's role as the champion of adaptive change. He offers various tools, workshops, and techniques to support leaders in this role.

About this event - LinkedIn Audio Event - (link)As a leader, what are some of the complex challenges you face? Is there a mindset or practice change that would make a fundamental shift in the value your team delivers? Do you want to evolve the quality of the holding space with your team? Would you benefit together from more meaningful and challenging conversations?In an era marked by rapid change and growing complexity, the role of teams is more pivotal than ever. But what does it mean for a team to be adaptive and conscious? How can leaders guide their teams to evolve in a way that not only meets the demands of today but fosters resilience, creativity, and innovation for the future?Join Martin West, a guide to evolving adaptive conscious teams, in this live audio event, as we explore the essence of adaptive conscious teams and what we can learn as part of this journey.What You'll Discover:Understanding Adaptive Conscious Teams: Delve into what it means for teams to be adaptive and conscious and why such a shift could benefit your teamThe Evolutionary Process: Explore the steps that leaders and teams must take to evolve consciously, adapt to changes, and co-create solutions.Practical Insights: Learn actionable strategies to foster a culture that emphasizes empathy, collaboration, continuous learning, and innovation.Real-world Examples: Benefit from case studies and insights from research and Martin’s experience with various organizations, highlighting successes, challenges, and lessons learned.The structure of Martin’s 20 minute talk:- The Need for Adaptive Conscious Teams (ACTs)- The Principles of Adaptive Conscious Teams- The Role of Leadership in culture change- Cultivating Quality Holding Spaces for AdaptabilityWho Should Attend?Leaders and Managers: Those who are steering teams and looking for innovative ways to enhance collaboration, creativity, and adaptability.HR Professionals: Individuals involved in people development and looking to create a supportive environment for growth and transformation.Team Members: Anyone who is part of a team and wants to understand how to contribute to an adaptive and conscious working environment.Entrepreneurs and Business Owners: Those leading their organizations and keen to implement strategies that foster agile, resilient, and engaged teams.Why Attend?Join this discussion to deepen meaningful conversations within your team, share your insights, and explore the benefits of co-evolving together. You'll gain valuable insights and practical tools to evolve your team's dynamics. Whether you're a seasoned leader or an emerging talent, this session will inspire you to think differently about team collaboration and leadership, equipping you to start your journey towards adaptive conscious teams.Registration: Secure your spot today. Be part of the movement towards adaptive conscious leadership, and start your learning journey today. See you there!

We are pleased to welcome Charly Cox of Climate Change Coaches to the Agility Narratives, where she joins us to talk about her personal journey as an advocate of climate coaching, and her book - a first on Climate Coaching in the world - “Climate Change Coaching: The Power of Connection to Create Climate Action”.Charly is impassioned by storytelling and the desire to help others reposition their narratives. Today, she leads by holding space for coaching conversations on climate grounded in social justice, which is now building a global movement. Those involved help people see a different story about Climate Change, a human problem with a human solution, and not just something to do with trees, polar bears, deserts, and other beings in the natural environment that we care for. Charly’s narrative started with working for a global organization. This led to seven years of work in West Africa, where she started the first Photography business. In this podcast, we learn that Scarcity was a key element in her awakening to climate issues, as it was the core issue in the conflict at hand. In her work, she learnt that Scarcity has a cousin, Overwhelm; both are, and always have been, clearly present in individual and team conversations on climate.We found this conversation heartfelt and very timely in light of the natural disasters that are increasingly being experienced around the world. It sparks curiosity about being in the present moment, opening oneself up to love about the planet, and being given the opportunity to reflect on what we might begin to feel as the climate crisis is deepening. This makes for an hour of awe. Enjoy!Find out more about Charly and Climate Change Coaches at About Us - Climate Change Coaches. Want to learn more about the co-hosts - Martin's LinkedIn Profile and Janet's LinkedIn profileSee full notes at https://theagilitynarratives.buzzsprout.com/ 1:38 - Charly's journey to Sierra Leone, retraining as a photographer, story-telling and becoming a social entrepreneur9:31 - Scarcity has a cousin, overwhelm. Together they create inertia.12:34 - The challenge with people feeling disempowered, and therefore not taking action.13:44 - How does individual action contribute to systems change?14:42 - We need to have a good relationship with the problem.15:32 - Not sounding guilty or angry, but rather owning how worried we are15:48 - We can move like a shoal of fish; we can shift systems.18:30 - If you don't listen to voices of dissent, people break things in the change process.21:49 - Being with uncertainty.23:44 - One of the challenges for organizations is not slowing down enough.25:13 - Feeling safe.26:14 - Listening brings magic. 28:17 - Spirit of the magic of collaboration, rather than control. 32:46 - We have no idea of the impact of our actions.35:16 - Culture Shift - an imaginative leap is involved.36:36 - There is an arc that teams go through… and then the ideas come... 41:39 - Bridge building42:07 - The role of love 44:05 - Sitting in the grief 46:53 - It is very easy to be angry. 47:40 - It's not a niche thing over there.53:06 - Villianising is not the solution.54:17 - Humanity is at risk.59:43 - Charly’s call to action.

Thanks Liz. In this podcast, you helped us embrace a world that is changing. You've introduced us to a tool, the Enneagram, a very ancient tool that helps us develop personal insight to our defenses and our essential selves. It is a slow burn which takes time, as people doing personal work create deeper connections and relationships with themselves as well as others.You led us into a secret, which is yes, we can also learn about and empathize with others' natural patterns. While it is discouraged to type others, people learning the enneagram sometimes see things about another, great things not known before, and some of the things that have been bugging them for a while. And when they understand the natural defense mechanism behind those behaviours, they are more able to understand and empathize. Liz describes the journey of discovering that the Enneagram is a portal to learning more about oneself, to learn about one’s internal self. In this journey, there are all kinds of ways to approach that. It's a circle, with a nine point perspective on the world. And there are all kinds of lines that connect us all together. As we dive deeper into it, we can each reach our full potential, which is important for individual and organizational agility. Dive into the Enneagram - seek out the Enneagram Narrative - Learn more about Liz West at https://enneagramtraining.co.uk/who-we-are/. If you are looking for a book, search for Beatrice Chestnut. Check out her channel and the type panels on youtube.com.Want to learn more about the co-hosts? Visit Martin's LinkedIn Profile and Janet's LinkedIn profile to know more about them, and what they do. 00 - Welcome to The Agility Narratives Podcast0:42 - Liz's personal journey - was introduced to the Enneagram during a personal tragedy and it provides an anchor for navigation02:59 - Earlier leadership work05:47 - What is the Enneagram?08:15 - What is it about the Enneagram that links us into learning about our inner part of ourselves?09:45 - What is it that aligns the Enneagram to be an agent of change?13:10 - So in your application of the Enneagram, as you work with organizations and change, who is the protagonist?16:23 - You've chosen the narrative tradition of the Enneagram. Why that choice?19:10 - Liz's journey with personal growth with the Enneagram22:11 - A description of a client situation with the earlier stages of a journey24:26 - The challenge with adopting the Enneagram in organizations26:27 - The inner work - the journey to become your true self - to live from your essential self - understanding the head, the heart, and the gut37:45 - What does it take to move beyond where we are today?38:42 - Excited to see how this knowledge can help them with relationships39:37 - Some types find it difficult to take it on41:34 - The Enneagram is a three-fold journey - the psychological, the somatic, and the spiritual. Liz outlines working with these three elements44:00 - Building awareness and commitment to overcoming traits and behaviours that hurt others and themselves. They work on their relationships... and see its impacts44:40 - What is lost if this challenge is not taken up? Emotional intelligence - why not invest in personal development?47:03 - Liz's call to action - get involved with Enneagram, see how it benefits you.50:25 - Developing relationships, and a community - of trust, understanding, sharing each other's joys and struggles52:55 - About the learning journey of the enneagram and thank you

Kai Mosebach of Integral Works' personal journey starts with shadow work. He introduces:03:44 the modules of Integral life practice: Shadow (unconscious), Mind (cognitive & trust), Body (emotions, life happens in your body), Spirit (mediation, observing your own system, states)06:42 Integral theory - Ken Wilber initial story - All quadrants All lines (AQAL) of development08:48 The Journey from shadow work to integral theory helped develop practices that changed his world view. He gained empathy to understand different types of people. 11:00 The Enneagram helped with a vertical shift in understanding. 12:32 Showing up. A good willed but probably a somewhat painful missionary. 14:17 understanding vertical versus horizontal development. 15:38 Kai started to lead - own shadow groups and experiments in leadership. 19:11 reflecting on his first experience of scrum/agile in terms of integral colors and structures. 23:35 vertical or mindset shifts can't be taught, you have to experience it. 26:46 What is the right methodology for the team? Get dragged v hold spacing. 31:06 Bring people into understanding - working with the heart, body and spirit. 35:21 Breakthrough moments - trust & opening and the team wanting it. 37:55 Who is the protagonist? Person who sees the pain and realizes the opportunity of development and is prepared to take that step - "It hurts more but it bothers you less" (Wilber)39:51 The world is not the best world we can have. 41:49 You realize your theme over time - purpose - integral assessments and making development visible. 45:49 Measuring vertical development is an important step in building more effective happy teams. 46:58 Villains identified include i) Integral scene is cognitive and theoretical - it is meant to be lived ii) limited focus on shadow practice iii) perceptive on what is better...49:17 Change and immunity - Robert Keagan - shadow work for business50:46 Teal - bringing wholeness - structure and unconscious. 51:42 Is the framework holding space for itself or for the people? Gives ideas and structure Yet people are outside. 53:07 - Deliberately development organization DBO focuses on i) creating space, ii) shadow work and iii) it is centered on people54:48 What is at stake here for your clients and for the industry to not take action? 56:21 Cultures and mindsets get built and our role in that. 59:13 What would be your call to action to a leadership team that feels stuck? 1:02:23 Integration of the five elements and Kai’s hope for the future, an unfolding universal v fights of conscious levels. Kai hopes that we realize the next steps. 1:04:23 The reality is each person, team, organizations and the world has to go through all development stages. All stages are good. 1:05:42 Three things to consider about vertical development. 1) explore it and out of this take action ii) Shadow - taking care of these is important (understand projection); iii) express emotion - such as understanding anger as a need for better system1:08:22 Reflection on vertical development, what it means for agile implementation and this podcast. 1:11:22 - Substance & form - to see what has not been seen - placing people at the centre of development1:12:08 Authenticity, a key message. 1:12:55 Structure has limited space for people. 1:15:00 Agility master (coach) & scrum master roles. 1:16:10 Wrap up & thanksKai - https://www.integralworks.ch/en/About-us.htmlhttps://www.integralworks.ch/en/The-Modulator.html (view of methods across integral colours)Theory of Everything Integral Business Spirituality - Ken WilberImmunity for change - Robert KeganWant to learn more about the co-hosts - Martin's LinkedIn Profile and Janet's LinkedIn profile

Klaus Nielson talks about his personal journey as a product manager, his passion for writing based on his need to understand. How scaling of Agile, and hybrid models of portfolio management is challenging. He talks about how he uses knowledge to solve these challenges. He sees agile portfolio management and the value management office as the next frontier. Be believes that the commercial methodologies will solve the missing element in the next 5 plus years. As hosts, we engaged in a more spirited way in hosting Klaus's and the telling of his agility narrative. This may be a pattern that will evolve for future podcasts. Enjoy - Klaus has great knowledge of this topic whether working at team, portfolio or organization level. I wonder whether it is the commercial engines of these methodologies that will solve the scaling challenge or will it be the customers?Check out Klaus's book at Amazon or LinkedIn profile or company website. Want to learn more about the co-hosts - Martin's LinkedIn Profile and Janet's LinkedIn profile0:00 Welcome0:48 Early part of Klaus journey3:11 Klaus's experience with predictive product management4:18 Introduction to Agile methods as part of predictive projects5:16 Approach to Agile - Mindset, Lean, Foundational writing, tools, artifacts... trace it back to Agile Manifesto, Lean...7:08 Initially it was Agile at team level, now it is about many teams, portfolios & transformation8:03 Is it the structure or the mindset? Challenging of mindset change9:22 Best practice, adoption of methods including portfolio management and going full hearted11:02 What in SAFe is not having Agile portfolio management11:56 Who is the protagonist in your agility narrative? Leaders as part of a top down implementation13:21 Having the type of conversations prior to buying and adopting a methodology14:24 Does Agile allow for experimentation at team levels? Or is it the structure?15:54 Do you see Xscale as descaling or as another form of scaling?16:33 Adopting pattern as an approach to adopting a methodology. Xscale and Disciplined Agile18:30 Working with people and type of dialogues or the type of conversation that support the scale processes19:50 Does the type of dialogue impact the end goal?20:33 Acceptance of constraints outside a team's control22:08 What needs to happen in the team to leadership conversations for that relationship to be more effective?23:18 Klaus's theme of agility narrative24:46 What is your calling in the agile world? A new one every day25:50 What are the constraints to being able to respond effectively in your responsive adaptive approach?26:47 What are the constraints that people in the value management office are facing?28:06 How to manage leads us to key capabilities? And Attention to how we listen?30:06 Professional judgement - tailoring of frameworks31:22 What is at stake here? Life and death for an organization.33:30 What is Klaus's call to action to our group of leaders?35:12 Summary of Klaus's approach. From where you stand, what are the threats and opportunities you see?37:53 How do you see us progressing over the next five years?39:19 End and the Thank You's39:35 Chatting about various topics

For more about Christopher Avery. Click here for The Responsibility Process® A good place to connect with us is LinkedIn with Janet, and Martin Thanks Please see chapter headings;00:01:27 Driving question, why so many smart people are unhappy at work?00:04:25 Back to studying, then working in consulting firm - creativity, entrepreneurship, culture building and worked working with IBM to build a team building program00:06:17 The search for integrity00:07:44 Christopher settled on shared responsibility as the space where individuals make this organic shift and come together as a team00:09:38 The search for personal responsibility started... found research project with Christopher's mentor, Bill McCauley, and his mentor, Marshall Thurber.00:10:37 Listening to narratives on why they were stuck and why they couldn't have what they wanted - They created the responsibility process00:11:04 Team work is an individual skill00:12:18 Many responsibility definitions - Capital R - Responsibility and its meaning - is owning your ability and power to create, choose and attract.00:13:50 Agility's definition from responsibility is the "ability to change (adapt) without changing" (your identity)00:15:33 The protagonist is the 3 or 5 year Christopher who wants to feel good and to be loved00:16:29 Aspects of of the protagonist - a proposal of living life in reverse00:18:25 Teaching on how fast can you get past good, bad, right, wrong as learned position abilities00:20:15 Practical responsibility or extreme responsibility - levels of owning your ability and power to create, choose and attract00:21:21 Profound role of the Law of Attraction and attraction patterns00:23:06 Various thoughts have different vibrational frequencies, meta physical (beyond the physical) and biocentric design00:24:59 The villain of ego, the upper and lower mind, Being anxiety driven versus freedom driven 00:26:54 The three keys to responsibility are intention, awareness and confront, which are all big aspects of consciousness00:27:49 Letting go - identify the fear, blockage, even the pain, the symptom, and you can work to release it00:29:05 The Sedona method - Can you welcome it? The frustration, the pain.... Could you let it go? Would you let it go? When00:30:36 The responsibility processhttps://responsibility.com/the-responsibility-process-poster/00:33:52 What is at stake for people to not take any action - For people to live at cause rather than at affect in their lives00:34:18 Coping is overrated - I'd rather grow than cope00:34:51 We learned to reward intellectualism and not how to put the human psyche and consciousness first00:35:10 COVID 19 experience - free mentoring with people who had high anxiety - the reason I can't have what I want is because of this pandemic00:37:20 Covid had me in fear for 36 hours00:39:09 People are stuck, what would be your call to action00:39:42 Dealing with the real problem is rare, we generally solve to treat our anxiety00:40:27 I love best practices are great as ideas, I don't love them as solutions.00:41:39 The angst cause by should, good, right or wrong... It is your responsibility on whether you want to adopt this advice or not.00:42:42 Solve problems by sitting in our anxiety and use curiosity to look at how we got here, at our thinking, at our assumptions, at our beliefs00:45:47 Thank you, Socrates, practical program, at effect in our life and are stuck or are in charge of our life and we're moving forward in responsibility.

0:44 The early part of Ken's journey with conflict, parents relationship, a shared heritage, and being close to Latino and Anglo communities.1:42 Going to Berkeley, becoming an activist initially in the civil rights non-violent movement and working in the south2:29 Part of the antiwar movement trying to stop the war in Vietnam and represented GIs2:48 Legal approaches could not complete the journey4:00 Legal path - civil rights, law professor, judge led to a point of personal crisis4:33 A lecture on mediation changed Ken's life. The solution he saw conflict resolution to be.5:59 Reflecting on last 42 years as a conflict resolver7:11 The first few steps post that neighborhood meeting... 8:35 Understanding protest as a law making process and evolving towards collaborative problem solving9:53 The law is inherently adversarial - a zero sum game10:33 What mediating dangerously is about - as said by Gerta "the dangers is in life are infinite, and among them is safety"11:50 Connecting mediation and systems design 13:18 Organizational conflicts as indicators of what is not working14:42 Inside us, between us and around us. Conflict is required for paradigm shift16:28 Conflict is a dance of opposites - inviting the other to a new dance with new music18:02 Respect and disrespect - Will Smith and Chris Rock19:59 Mechanisms of conflict operate at all scales21:30 We can solve problems collaboratively with one another21:58 Key tenets of Ken's Agility Narrative - An agile response - be present, deeply listen, and help the other person reach their point of vulnerability24:15 What tools do you bring to the mediation? The tools of inner awareness, mindfulness25:13 Empathy - A platform to find out what is true for the other. Relational empathy - experience energy flow between people26:22 Approaching systemic conflicts is multifaceted needing a different set of skills28:27 Three generations of systems design 29:31 2nd Gen - Design leadership systems (that reduce conflict resolution)31:15 3rd Gen - higher order conflicts once we learn to resolve existing conflicts33:27 In your agility narrative, who/what is the protagonist? Each of us.34:37 What is your theme for your agility narrative?35:25 The artful power of questions37:12 The magic in mediation38:17 Asking pivot questions as part of an organization40:38 In your agility narrative, who or what are the villains? Your own worst self41:18 The reality of being a protagonist and a villain - The dance of Opposites in Narrative structure of conflict stories42:39 Destabilizing the conflict story (victim, perpetrator and rescuer)43:48 Another two looks at conflict stories45:39 What is at stake if people don't learn these techniques. Jean-Paul Sartre "Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you"46:38 Call to action to a group of key organizational stakeholders who feel stuck - Multiple Truths 48:01 The power of a planning process... may be constrained49:49 Discussion of different forms of conversation51:24 The value of dialogue rather than monologue AND Making Bread53:02 The facilitator of dialogue plays a number of roles - including teasing out diversity53:51 Threat, opportunities and mediation without borders54:47 Ukraine and Russian war - the large scale organization of small scale hatreds - the power of the methodology that leads to war56:19 What do you lose in your capacity to prevent war by making that assumption?57:50 Our task as conflict resolvers is really simple. And we need a political system capable of mediation.58:25 My brief wrap up and thank you to Ken for his agility narrativeLearn more about Ken Clokehttps://www.kencloke.com/https://www.kencloke.com/bookshttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ken+cloke+and+vikram+mediator

We are really pleased to welcome Peter Pula to the Agility Narratives to talk about his personal journey as an advocate of generative dialogue and journalism that supports the art of collective conversations as a transformation tool.Peter leads by  holding space for and challenging changemakers, organizations and individuals with generative dialogue and connection found in relational presencing in the hosting of mini or community conversations.Practicing dialogue with a generative approach, using appreciative inquiry, asset based community development and the power of asking launches the possibility of an experience of aliveness,  delight and creativity and  being welcomed and received in community.    Peter's story started with a start-up venture in generative journalism, the Grassroots Review, based in Peterborough, Ontario, with the belief that everything one needs is already present in our communities: all that is needed to be done is ask the right questions and tell the stories that result.  This belief in the power of community presence led to 18 months of Peterborough Dialogues, the launch of diverse Community Conversations globally, both teaching and hosting, including Cultivating Community Conversation that has reached its two year anniversary.We found the talk illuminating, sparking levels of curiosity about the power of listening v.s. the power of distractions, being in the present moment, origins of inquiry one has, definition of community, my role as host in holding podcast space, and the benefits on changemakers and organizations that are navigating complexity with agility. This makes for an hour of awe. Enjoy!0:00  Welcome to The Agility Narratives Podcast1:06 Early part of your journey towards the work that you do - Desktop Publishing Revolution2:14 The journey from publishing to dialogue4:43 How do you harvest from a large group dialogue? Peter's exploring new approaches like Found poems7:08 Are found poems meaningful for people who weren't at the meeting that day?8:26 What shifted for you that rose from your curiosity in these practices?9:47 The flow of meaning - Peter's passion and curiosity about the root of dialogue14:10 Tenets of my agility narrative - Peter aims starts with the realization of every person's potentiality and act of mutuality - in relation15:59 Exploring the practice of relational presencing18:43 The community member is the protagonist19:55 Emergence in community dialogue and the idea of being open to surprise23:45 The power of being present27:39 notion of living wholeness, a journey or generative wholeness? (the theme)29:08 notion of living wholeness, a journey or generative wholeness?30:34 Applying these techniques to organizations - To discover and explore a next step in social evolution or the way we are organized36:40 Villains - abstraction, dissociation, co-dependency, consumption, homogeneity, deference to experts and maybe consensus, collectivism,38:58 Moving beyond these villains40:28 The theme behind your villians - how do we see separation and alienation in conversations42:27 What's at stake here? Living Life44:41 Advice to stakeholders that feel stuck - What's Peter's call to action?47:49 Defining the meaning of democracy as a way of life - conditions for each person's potentiality50:52 I ask 4 questions. If if you, Martin, want to step in and move, create, initiate something52:28 Threats - Despair, hollowness... powerlessness, loneliness...54:58 Opportunities - A live life - An encounter with life in all its forms is the possibility56:07 What other languages would you like to introduce?56:50 Thank you Peter for flow of meaning you have engaged us in- lots to get to knowJanet is Founder of Taproot.jem.Systems is an integral coach  Martin is Founder of Neutral Advocate.

We are really pleased to welcome Kerry Woodcock to the Agility narratives to talk about her personal journey as an advocate of change and the challenges she sees for organizations in being responsive to opportunity and change.Kerry leads by holding and challenging leaders, organizations and social systems to amplify the power of relationshipWeaving together innovations from change leadership, adult development and systems coaching, she coaches leaders and teams to develop collective leadership capacity. Kerry is a great story teller - how curiosity, connectedness and separation was a core experience growing up in a market town in Northern part of UK. How it was built upon living in a village in the Eastern Arc mountains, Tanzania  for four years in forestry reservation.  How change makers are people embracing introspection, and reflection. How she feels the villains are the things that get in the way of introspection and reflection and awareness...I found the talk challenging, thoughtful with deep gut level concepts like a time for pause, space in between, fascination, curiosity, connectiveness, being separate, introspection and reflection, relational systems... ".  Enjoy!0:00 - Welcome to The Agility Narratives Podcast and first question1:42 - Kerry's personal story - early reflections on influences that developed her curiousity4:09 - Being a lightsprite! Being fascinated by ourselves and the space in between. That is where the possibilities come from.5:33 - Living in one village in the Eastern Arc mountains, Tanzania for four and a half years (Forest Reservation)8:19 - Being alone, separate and connected - Travels between Tanzania, UK and then to Canada and coaching11:23 - Exploring and finding the right match for coaching approach "the space in between"12:38 - Context for the Agility Narratives on Social intelligence and the third relationship systems intelligence - this is about tapping into what is trying to happen14:15 - Tools to make the invisible visible and developing those skills within leaders15:29 - The Agility Narratives - the protoganist is The HR & OD leader / change maker18:23 - The relational dynamics of conflict with people coming from different positions and responding to change20:20 - Change leaders are those that are willing to look inside themselves, their systems and teams... and are working with others in the organization21:55 - The Agility Narrative Theme - The dance of Separate and connected at the same time AND being introspective and reflective at the same time22:55 - The dance - your impact as a leader. - systems depend on people playing internal & external roles and understanding their power24:55 - Role confusion - Competitive roles .v. collaborative roles25:14 - Experience with environments that have different levels of separateness and connectiveness27:20 - The villains are the things that get in the way of introspection, reflection and awareness of yourself and the systems28:23 - Fear and exploring the low dream30:00 - What is the antidote to fear? Stepping into purpose and meaning31:18 - If clients can't get past fear, what is at stake for clients and the industry?33:11 - role of ecosystems in moving towards a stronger relational systems approach?35:01 - Advice to leaders who feel stuck - Starting with their fears - allowing them to get curious about them37:09 - The call to action is to do the introspective and reflective work38:46 - A time for pause - From the pandemic, people are considering how do they want to connect with the world, social justice and climate...40:40 - Introspective - can't just stay with us as individuals but needs to expand to us as a collective42:12 - Thank you Kerry for getting to think about some themes of the conversation - pause, fascination, curiosity, relational systems and ecosystems.

Larry's shares his agility narrative, tells us a story of many aha! moments where he learned the power and impact of innovation in terms of:technology work processfocus on the why? and targeting impactspeoplehaving real conversations. Enjoy!  Larry Thank you Janet for being the co-host on this event and for your highly insightful questions. 0:00Welcome to The Agility Narratives Podcast2:18The first time Larry moved away from how projects were done And the Ice service in CANADA3:55Speed of delivery through early version of service orientated architecture5:29Learned that innovation delivered great results, this time changing how people work together7:32More Aha! moments - the importance of why and impact9:02Training on Agility and Value management, working with PMI and Prince2 on Agile - Too early10:41Cognitive diversity and putting people at the centre of transformation11:23The system is the villain and the people are the protagonist11:49Change is about engaging with people and creating the environment for it to happen12:34The Theme of Larry's Agility Narrative13:54Optimizing contribution - Intuitively knowing how best to contribute and the invite15:06Constrained innovation and Covid-19. If you are not willing to look at the fundamentals, then you are not serious about change18:24What is at stake for government and commerce if they don't take change seriously19:28How do you address your villain i.e. "the system"? A fundamental change in how leaders think.20:46Learning to be comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity as they have weaned on predictive planning21:10Thinking/behaviour patterns, and real conversations23:32Call to action - Start small, invite people and see how it works25:27We just need to understand how to have a conversation27:41Acknowledging the conversation we have had and going full circle.28:02Thank you and opportunity to take the threads of this conversation forward.

Peter Merel, founder of xScale Alliance, in his Agility Narrative talks through the xScale's approach to agility, and enabling organizations build capability to respond to market conditions. He talks through how learning flow in an organization is key to responding to market change. This is something that 95% of agile transformations do not achieve effectively, according to the longest and largest survey in the Agile world, "The state of Agile Report". Peter is highly entertaining, with great stories of the birth of Agile and XP.  Enjoy... 0:01 Welcome & Intro1:21 Peter's early engagement with XP3:49 The birth of Agile (before the manifesto)5:01 then Snowbird happened and I was busy...5:21 The story of to xScale8:35 Why is learning flow so critical?11:00 How to improve learning flow by looking at constraints?12:14 Learning flows as a product13:03 Importance of market constraints13:51 Onboarding people15:33 "The Progressives"17:00 using trust to scale teams19:04 Responding to market conditions21:01 Changing market conditions, design and patterns24:32 "How do teams make decisions?"29:19 Villains are also heroes30:33 Changing the game - game theoretics to reward mutual benefit32:28 What at stake for us?35:22 Noble intent and the wrong track37:04 Call to action - key learning constraint, starting with an open space40:39 Pattern language used to have a conversation42:21 Ongoing process, 3 month change increment44:40 The threats and opportunities are often same47:31 Getting ahead - pirate canvas48:11 As business agilists, who are our clients?49:08 xScale Alliance offering's50:50 The importance of these conversations

Mike's journey has been driven through curiosity. As an agilist with IT software delivery background,  he brings organizational & relational systems coach and mediator to leadership coaching. He uses a broad set of tools he integrates to great effect to help leaders as a coach. His protagonists in his agility narrative are leaders seeking change. The theme is meaningful connection with showing how fear, the villain of the narrative, breaks trust and connection. He also discusses resolution processes where interests compete and trust is in place. His call to action is to work with neutral third parties to help lay out your thoughts, similar to how executive coaches are used today, but for relational issues. He sees great opportunity in the movement towards the engaged workforce, people oriented cultures, purpose driven organizations. We really enjoyed this conversation and seeing how Mike integrates mediation into his coaching practice with leaders.  We hope you will enjoy this conversation and find it insightful. We did.00:00:00Welcome to The Agility Narratives Podcast 00:00:13Mike's Introduction 00:00:46Mike's Agile Origin Story 00:02:19Mike's journey to the organizational-leadership aspects of Agile 00:05:02Mike's experience with conflict 00:06:28Context to Mike's agility narrative - How he integrates coaching, relational techniques and mediation 00:08:49Martin's experience with integrating different relational approaches 00:09:47Mike's protagonist - Leaders wanting to make an impact 00:10:00Mike's theme is connection to self, others and the ecosystem 00:10:58We are hardwired to be in connection 00:14:18Discussing the "villain" - Fear breaks connection 00:17:32Fear, conversations, assumptions, experiments and challenging assumptions 00:19:20Exploring interests in context of trust and shared interests 00:21:04Exploring competing and underlying interests are 00:24:23What's at stake of not having these types of conversation that make connection meaningful 00:25:52The call to action - Understand the value of a neutral third party 00:28:01The opportunity in movement towards the engaged workforce, people oriented cultures, purpose driven organizations 00:29:10Threats to human connection 00:29:55Thank you - Sharing about how we enjoyed "geeking out" as agilists and mediators

I really enjoyed hearing about Francois' transition from an early idealistic young agile evangelist to an independent coach and trainer. And how a crucial conversation with a wise mentor helped him make the decision to transition. The context of his Agility Narrative is leadership in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) world. Key insights he shared are about sensing reality, being open about our models’ limitations, connecting through conversations and iteratively taking adaptive action. He cites examples such as COVID-19 and Climate change. He talks about types of leaders we need in a VUCA world and we discussed how aspiration or fear impacts how we respond and take adaptive action.In his Agility Narrative, he identifies that this journey starts with ourselves doing personal work to create a culture of conversation, referencing gardening and permaculture. With his narrative theme, he invites us to improve how we have conversations, how we listen/hear ourselves, our teams and organizations, and the broader world including Mother Earth. Francois wants for his clients to venture into deeper conversations and explore the many dimensions of working together. He talks about the value of clarity, learning from antagonists, learning to let go, and the importance of generative conversations to face our future. Thanks Francois. 0:00Welcome to The Agility Narratives Podcast1:11Francois's introduction to Agile3:11Francois's story of the young evangelist comes home.4:57Francois's leap into being an independent coach and trainer for scrum teams5:59Agile in 2008-2010 - Speaking at conferences, training and helping establish new teams in a diverse set of mandates8:16Francois's career at 2015-2016 - Big frameworks competing, certifications, lipstick on the pig!10:04Context for The Agility Narrative - VUCA World - who is suitable to lead in a world with Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity? i.e. during COVID-19 and Climate Change13:47Impact of aspiration and fear as a driver of adaptive action. We need the type of creativity that comes from safety16:59One of the protagonists in Francois' Agility narrative - Your soul searching, your heart, your guts, your thinking and way of looking at the world18:00The WE quadrant - culture eats strategy for breakfast AND comes from gardening19:29The "Learning to be in conversation" is the theme of Francois' agility narrative22:00Listening to ourselves23:41Relating the power of listening for Agile and Organizations25:37Francois struggles with naming constraints as Villains - they are reasons for our adaptive action! How can we make this interplay between protagonist and antagonist as fruitful as possible.29:01Clarity in conversations around constraints enable the protagonist to refine the journey31:27What's at stake? My turning point in Francois's Agility Narrative journey came when I realized it is about people32:34What is the value of your narrative? Have I been able to deepen the conservation?34:31The monkey trap and what do you feel you need to let go?36:01Conversations, neutrality, and Switzerland - commit to be part of the conversation and a catalyst for a generative conversation39:30Thank you

We started this conversation with Steve Tendon talking about the theory of constraints and doing a deep dive into how Steve has taken the theory of constraints and applied it to knowledge work. It's fascinating. It's interesting. We didn't end up getting to the agility narrative until 25 minutes in. Feel free to skip around this interview. Steve has applied the theory of constraints to a service based business. The big challenge when searching for the core constraint in the system is the high variance in knowledge work. i.e. The wandering constraints symptomHe explains that he instruments for work execution signals studying how work moves across the organization. Logging when work starts and finishes provides the core data to manage operational flow.Steve introduces Herbie as the constraint that limits the performance of a system. How can we find Herbie? Finding the constraint in each team i.e. the constraints in the work process. And the constraint that limits performance of the entire system - The constraint in the workflow. And finally the constraint in the work executionAnd much more…. Steve talks about the value of agility and who is his protagonist in his agility narrative. Steve's theme for the Agility Narrative? 3 Foundational Patterns - Inspired leadership, Unity of Purpose and Community of Trust. And he identifies the more important question is to connect intent with "what I should not do today?"More about Steve and his work can be found on https://tameflow.com/

Ardi learned Agile & fell in love with products working with small teams in a startup and a 3D product company. After this, she became an Agile coach, exploring agile in government, through consulting assignments and in large financial services.  She has impacted many in the Toronto area as a community leader, supporting and running meetups. For Ardi, Agile is like bamboo - a living organism, flexible and strong. It's sustainable and green. It grows and evolves.  In her agility narrative, the protagonist is the organization that needs to fully adopt  agile. She sees herself as an advisor helping this happen, understanding how hard structural change is, especially when it involves adapting governance. The theme of the narrative is continuous delivery with sustainability and a strong focus on customer.  She reminds us to know frameworks but apply as it makes sense. To learn from challengers.  And to take the opportunity with agile as survival, and/or growth could be at stake. For leaders and coaches, she calls for more courage to do what it is right and consider the human side to increase employee engagement.

Michelle shared her story of going behind the iron curtain visiting East Germany as a 16 year old and wanting to become a spy. Disillusioned by a CIA job fair decided to be a management consultant and worked with PwC and E&Y in Russia. Her protagonist for her agility narrative is a caring leader that sought for the team high performance and high well being. The theme was about breaking through the iron curtain  of oppressive technology that seemed to eat attention and oppressive leadership to recover from stress.   The villain was largely tech that focused on stealing our attention. Her hope for the future is that we will be the masters of our tools again and that we as humans will continue to be as creative, as innovative and as magnificent as we are able to be without compromising our own well-being. Learn about Michelle's perspective on  the battle for attention.

Enjoy Alok's personal story as a change maker, his patterns for success delivery of agility, organizational constraints, and his call to action... (a list of 5). There is no cookie cutter...  Yet Alok outlines key principles and lights the path towards success. Alok, Thank you for sharing Your Agility Narrative.  ENJOY!   4:04Alok's origin story with Agile5:55Alok's first experience with iterative process (DSDM) - Early Agile6:52Back to India and a process role - how this connected for him7:54Learnings from advising on effectiveness and efficiency9:18Balancing internal controls with external delivery - still as part of the mid-career journey11:30Starting Alok's agility narrative for today - Change maker or Agile leader?12:35Alok introduces the protagonist in his Agility narrative13:56When Agile is working well, what does that feel like?16:10Alok outlines patterns for success16:41Pattern #1 - Leadership through sense of purpose - The Why18:38Pattern #2 - Establishing The Agility Why19:14Pattern #3 - Know your customer19:31Pattern #4 - Adapt Agile to your core agility requirements20:00Pattern #5 - information radiators - Data, data, data20:28Pattern #6 - Equipping people to co-create the Culture Change21:19Intro to exploring underlying constraints22:18Organization structure as a constraint23:32Constraint created by lack of clarity for Middle management24:47Hard"er" constraints25:39The unspoken "internally-held" constraints28:41Alok, what is your theme for this Agility Narrative?29:51Villians! "impediments" - who are they?31:02What's at stake if these impediments aren't addressed?33:14In talking to a leadership who aren't where they want to be, what is your call to action?33:45Action #1 - go and meet organizations who have been on this journey34:28Action #2 - Articulate the need for change - The Why as well as the Upside & downside - real open discussion - Have guard rails35:10Action #3 - Based on that - agree on certain guard rails35:38Action #4 - Leadership create a safety net35:56Action #5 - Use an iterative approach to do transformation - And build in inspect and adapt36:53Exploring a practice shift to Product thinking37:42Exploring site reliability engineering38:17Alok, Thank you for sharing Your Agility NarrativeEpisode is LivePublished: Nov. 19, 2021 @11PM Edit