Equality, Freedom and Trust in Harmony Choruses

using techniques from the world of

Agile Software Development

I dreamed a dream…

I want to sing in a group where

everyone is equal…

I dreamed a dream…

…and everyone can contribute to creating

the music…

I dreamed a dream…

…and everyone shares in the

decisions

It should be easy to belong…

…even if you have other commitments

I imagined three core principles:

But I had a lot of questions…

How can this possibly work?

?

??

?

? ?

? ?

? ??It'll never work!

…so I did a LOT of thinking…

…and found some answers at ThoughtWorks

Fast Feedback

Gamifi

catio

nDesign Charrettes

Card Walls

Retrospectives

Lean Coffee

How can we learn to trust each other?

• through leading by example

• by showing our members they are trusted

• by being transparent

How can we ensure we're all on the same page?

By creating Our Vision and Our Values together

Charre

tte

How can we make sure we all have an equal opportunity to be heard?

• We can discuss things first online.• We can have management meetings on

demand, • with an agenda set by the participants,• who can attend in person or online, • with decisions made by voting• after time-boxed discussions.

Lean

Coff

ee

How can we structure our creativity?

We can provide a structure for song proposals

Charre

tte

Card

Wal

l

How can we structure our creativity?

We can collaborate on song interpretation

Charre

tte

Charre

tte

How can we drive the work required to run our group?

Card

Wal

l

How can we drive the work required to run our group?

We can motivate

our members

with awards

Gamifi

catio

n

How can we make it easy to join our group?

How can we ensure our quality improves?

We can teach good feedback by analogy Fa

st Fe

edba

ck

How can we ensure our quality improves?

we can recognise members who give and receive feedback well

Gamifi

catio

n

How can we ensure our quality improves?

We can record our

songs so its easy for

members to practice at

home against the

latest interpretatio

nFa

st Fe

edba

ck

What if it doesn't work?

we can review our process

regularly

Retro

spec

tive

sWhat

can

we

impro

ve?

What w

ent

well?

What

are

we

confu

sed

abou

t?

So where are we now?

• We have a website• We have a Facebook page• We have a Meetup• We have some Trello boards• We have some singers!• 7 other choruses are

interested in our practices• We're kicking off on February 9• Come join us!

I have another dream…

• there are thousands of choruses around the world

• many belong to large umbrella organisations like Sweet Adelines International and the Barbershop Harmony Society

• I want democracy to spread within these groups…

• …and outside them, to other kinds of non-profit organisations

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A question for you…

Do you think this can work for companies?

Thank You!

Thank you ThoughtWorks, for having faith in me, giving me wonderful opportunities, and funding our inception venue

Thank you Matt, for introducing me to Trello and Design Charrettes, and helping with our logo

Thank you Scott, for helping solve some technical issues with our website

Thank you Kelly, for planting the seed in my brain

Thank you David, Josie and Tim for being eternally loving and supportive

About Me

• I have 20 years experience in the software industry, working for 10 different organisations

• I have 10 years experience as a singer, singing with 10 different groups (up to 5 simultaneously!)

• I am currently working with ThoughtWorks Australia in Sydney

• Contact me regarding software development practices

• Contact me regarding Our Chorus

References

• Fast Feedback• Lean Coffee• Card Walls• Retrospectives• Design Charrettes• Gamification