Agile Games Playful approaches to agile principles

2nd int. CTO Conference | Berlin | Nov. 7th 2013

Robert'Misch'Agile''Coach'

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Agile Enthusiast since 2007

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Agile Leadership !

Agile Enterprise !

Scrum, Kanban, Lean Startup

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Speaker + Facilitator !

!

too ?complicated

Benjamin Franklin

Well done is better than well said.“

„

One does not learn architecture from classrooms and libraries as much as one does by doing it and reflecting on the outcomes and their effects on others. “

„

Russell Ackoff, Re-Creating the Corporation

Warm-Up

The Table Game

Build groups of 10 people

1 person to stand out of each group

Each team: form a circle (facing in)

Each player: hold the rope in your right hand

Each player: pass the other end to a person across from you

Project Mgr: direct team so that it is untangled and standing side by side in a circle

Team: follow PM’s instructions

Project Mgr: observe and do not say anything

Team: Untangle yourself

When to play the Rope Game?

What can we learn from this exercise?

In a nutshell

What can we learn from this?

This exercise demonstrates the power of a team’s ability to solve complex problems when they collaborate. !

It resonates with Agile in that you encourage the team to be self-organising to get the full benefit of their abilities.

faster, proper solution (is there a ’best solution’?) !

more fun

Benjamin Franklin

All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.“

„

Sir Ken Robinson, alphabet, by Erwin Wagenhofer

People are at their best, when they do what they love.“

„

Moving Motivators (by Jurgen Appelo, Management 3.0)

1st Step: Important to You

unimportant important

2nd Step: Effects of Change

positive change

negative change

Your turn (25 mins)

1. Pair up w/s.o. you haven't talked to today

2. Do the following one-by-one (play / observe)

A. Find out what’s important to you

!

B. Consider a change in your work life and determine how this affects your motivators

3rd Step: Reflection on Motivation

positive change

negative change

unimportant important

When to play Moving Motivators?

What can we learn from this exercise?

In a nutshell

reveals the effect of (organisational) change on your/your team’s motivators interesting for teams to find out what motivates their team members can be performed with people in (private) one-on-one situations helps you realize that you may have some work to do on your own motivation …

helpful resources on Moving Motivators

http://www.noop.nl/2011/09/moving-motivators-free-exercise.html

!http://www.management30.com/product/moving-motivators/

Key Characteristics of Games

StartEnding

Focus&

Challenge

Context

safe-­‐to-­‐fail

Debriefing transforming fun to real learning

20 sticks of spaghetti one yard tape one yard string one marshmallow+ + +

ChallengeThe

©"h$p://marshmallowchallenge.com/Instruc7ons.html""

Your turn (18 mins)

1. Split into groups of 10 players

2. Each team grab 20 sticks of spaghetti, 1 mtr of string, 1 mtr of tape, 1 marshmallow, scissors

3. W/the material at hand tinker a „building“/„skeleton“ as tall as possible w/Marshallow on top within 18 mins

must be stable enough to stand upright for at least 15 secs w/o touching it

measure + write down the hight of your „building“ / „skeleton“

Start

Typical Progress

18Minutes

Orient0 18

Minutes

Orient0 18

PlanMinutes

Orient0 18

Plan BuildMinutes

Orient0 18

Plan Ta-Da!Minutes

Build

Orient0 18

Plan Oh-Oh!Minutes

Build

Recent Kindergarten School Graduates

When to play Marshmallow Challenge?

What can we learn from this exercise?

In a nutshell

incremental*intera+ve*

fun, playful approaches

repetitive exercises => training

productive work => transfer learnings to work life

pushes unconventional approaches

boosts creativity & imagination

helps form new teams

Why Games?

Want to learn more about

Play4Agile Unconferencehttp://p4a13.wordpress.com/

Agile Games Conference, Boston, MAhttp://www.agilegames2013.com/

http://tastycupcakes.org/category/games/

Agile Games?

play games!Do it again:

Feedback Door

Robert'Misch!Agile'Coach'Robert.Misch@gutefrage.net'

My'slides'will'be'available'for'download'from'tomorrow,'Friday'Nov.'8th'

''''''''''www.speakerdeck.com/robertmisch'