Tag: roundup

Agendashift roundup, April 2024

Posted on by Mike Burrows

In this edition: Books in progress: 2; Two new videos; Upcoming: online, Berlin (SOLD OUT), London, and Southampton; Top posts

Books in progress: 2

I’m putting the final touches on Organising Conversations: Patterns of Dialog for the Transforming Organization and have a decent first draft of the first part (of two) of Wholehearted: Engaging with Complexity in the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation. Needless to say, they’re keeping me busy!

With that workload in mind and the summer approaching, I’m pausing the monthly webinars and experience/practise sessions until the autumn.

Encouragingly, an excerpt from Wholehearted is by a big margin the most-read blog post of the month (shared on LinkedIn here):

Hot on the heels of January’s From Flow to Business Agility it looks set to feature high up in the top 10 for 2024. Like that post, organised on LinkedIn there was some community review of the post prior to publication, and the feedback has benefited the Wholehearted manuscript also. Thank you again Chris Combe, Sarah Whiteley, Kert D. Peterson, CST, AKT, Elle Anderson, FRSA, FBCS, Karen Beck, Daniel Walters, Ricardo Alvarez, Simon JAILLAIS, and Matthew White.

Two new videos

In the last (until the autumn) of our monthly webinars, we were joined this month by Karl Scotland. Here’s the recording of his excellent session, also the PDF of his slides, links, etc:

Related to the still-to-be-written Part II of Wholehearted and with a fun Q&A session (always a good sign) here’s the latest version of one of my ever-evolving keynotes:

Upcoming: online, Berlin (SOLD OUT), London, and Southampton

Yes, Berlin has sold out, but there’s still the online TTT/F and then Leading in a Transforming Organisation (London) at the end of June and another in Southampton in October:

Past (or booked) attendees of TTT/F can re-attend for free and/or attend Leading in a Transforming Organisation for less than half price. There are big discounts in the opposite direction also – ping me for coupon codes. Also significant discounts for government, healthcare, education (a number of university staff have attended in recent months), non-profits, etc. As was the case in Manchester last year, I know that London for one will have participants from outside of technology, which always makes for a more interesting experience.

If you really can’t get to any of those, don’t forget the online self-paced option: Leading with Outcomes.

Top posts

  1. Agile’s Great Rebalancing: My next book’s take on the Agile manifesto (April)
  2. From Flow to Business Agility (January)
  3. My favourite Clean Language question (January 2019)
  4. What Lies Beneath (Spoiler: Constraints) (October)
  5. Venue confirmed for Leading in a Transforming Organisation (London) (April)

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its modules in the recommended order:

  1. Foundation module:
  2. Inside-out Strategy:
  3. Adaptive Organisation:
  4. Outside-in Strategy:

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 £18.40 per month after a 7-day free trial, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors. For bulk subscriptions, ask for our Agendashift for Business brochure.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes training or workshops yourself, see our Authorised Trainer and Authorised Facilitator programmes. See our events calendar for Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and Leading in a Transforming Organisation trainings.

Agendashift™: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Trainer and Facilitator Programmes | Store

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Agendashift roundup, March 2024

Posted on by Mike Burrows

In this edition: The Great Consolidation (featuring the new Obstacles Fast and Slow video); The Great Rebalancing (news on books 4 & 5 and my next keynote); April’s webinar and experience/practice sessions; Leading in a Transforming Organisation; Top posts; Upcoming events

The Great Consolidation

On Tuesday I announced the release of Inside-out Strategy (II): Fit for maximum impact. This is notable for several reasons:

  1. It’s the module that most deeply covers how we handle assessments in general, the classic Agendashift Delivery Assessment in particular, and how the Assessment Debrief workshop design has branched out into other things (the Adaptive Organisation Workshop and Pathway to Kanban to name two)
  2. It has the latest versions of Obstacles Fast and Slow and 15-minute FOTO, two of our most important exercises. So does part I, but Obstacles Fast and Slow is now tweaked specially for the assessment, and with 15-minute FOTO there is always more to explore!
  3. Parts I and II together account for the middle half of Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator – ie the second and third of four sessions. They make for a deeper and more repeatable TTT/F than was possible with the corresponding workshop materials alone.
  4. Only one module – Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success – remains still to be migrated off the old learning management system. With a good number of subscriptions now migrated (with a nice 25% saving) to the new system off yet a third system, the Great Consolidation proceeds nicely. I will begin revising and re-recording Outside-in after Easter.

For access, visit the store page, or watch the introductory video first. The next TTT/F is in May; see the events calendar below. And in case you missed the March webinar, the recording features on a new Obstacles Fast and Slow page on agendashift.com and prominently on the homepage also. To save you a click, here it is:

Obstacles Fast and Slow, recorded March 2024

The Great Rebalancing

Book 4, Organizing Conversations: Patterns of Dialog for the Transforming Organization, is a few minor edits away from completion after a couple of much bigger revisions. I’ll keep you posted on its progress through the production process in the coming months (to be honest, I don’t know how long it will take).

Book 5, Wholehearted: Engaging with Complexity in the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation, is started. I told myself that I would hold fire until book 4 was done, but I could hold on no longer. After having it kick around in my head these past couple of years it feels good!

Out of chapter 1 of Wholehearted – which you’ll have to wait a while to read of course – will come my next keynote, The Great Rebalancing. It will revisit themes I have blogged about before; it turns out that the need for organisations to increase their decision-making capacity leads to an interesting way to frame the shift heralded by the Agile manifesto that we have seen over the past couple of decades. Conference organisers and meetup hosts, you know where to find me; I do paid private speaking engagements also.

April’s webinar and experience/practice sessions

April’s free webinar and experience practice sessions are a bit different to usual. At the webinar, we’ll have special guest Karl Scotland, one of my earliest collaborators in the development of Agendashift and Leading with Outcomes. The experience/practice session will switch from being about assessments (most months, we look at one of three different templates) to being about organising outcomes into some representation of strategy. We’ll do some Option Relationship Mapping (together with Liz Keogh, Karl was its co-creator by the way) and look at some alternative/complementary tools. Again, see the events calendar for both sessions.

I haven’t added webinar and experience/practice sessions for May or June yet. For news of those, watch this space or subscribe to the series links (eventbrite.com both):

Leading in a Transforming Organisation

There are now three of these events in the calendar below: Berlin and London in early and late June (the London one brought forward from July), and Southampton in October (bumped from a highly speculative attempt to put it on at short notice in April). There’s a chance that I’ll do one in Scandinavia in the Autumn; other than that, these represent your best chances to experience Leading with Outcomes in person this year.

Top posts

  1. A big update to 15-minute FOTO (February)
  2. When to use which Leading with Outcomes workshop (March)
  3. From Flow to Business Agility (January)
  4. Leaders as keepers of context (September 2022)
  5. Better user stories start with authentic situations of need (October 2016)

Upcoming events

February

March

*TTT/F and (where shown) LIKE events include free one-year membership of the Leading with Outcomes Authorised Facilitator programme, upgradeable to Authorised Trainer at any time. Both of those include access to the video-based Leading with Outcomes training and the full range of Agendashift assessment tools.

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its modules in the recommended order:

  1. Foundation module:
  2. Inside-out Strategy:
  3. Adaptive Organisation:
  4. Outside-in Strategy:

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 £18.40 per month after a 7-day free trial, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors. For bulk subscriptions, ask for our Agendashift for Business brochure.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes training or workshops yourself, see our Authorised Trainer and Authorised Facilitator programmes. See our events calendar for Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and Leading in a Transforming Organisation trainings.

Agendashift™: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Trainer and Facilitator Programmes | Store

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Agendashift roundup, February 2024

Posted on by Mike Burrows

In this edition: A big update to 15-minute FOTO; The Featureban Flow Experience; Coming in March: Obstacles Fast and Slow and more; Adaptive Organisation (Berlin & London); The Great Consolidation; Top Posts; Upcoming events

A big update to 15-minute FOTO

On Monday I released v13 of our Clean Language-inspired coaching game, 15-minute FOTO. This was the most significant release for a long time, making it easier for participants and facilitators alike to get things started. Read all about it here:

The Featureban Flow Experience

Also last Monday was the Featureban Flow Experience, a two-hour workshop which I co-hosted with Allan Kelly. Featureban is my open-source kanban simulation game, and we played it online using the KanbanZone tool. We had KanbanZone founder Dimitri Ponomareff in attendance also, and behind the scenes the three of us are working out how best make a Featureban template available to other KanbanZone users.

It was a lot fun, and given that this one sold out within 24 hours, I’ve no doubt that there will be more. The next one might see us use Changeban, a Lean Startup-flavoured and more gamified variant.

Speaking of kanban, my first book, Kanban from the Inside, has its 10th anniversary in September. I’m thinking of marking the occasion with a 1-day in-person event, most likely in London. It will be of interest to anyone looking for ways to introduce kanban in a manner more resonant with continuous improvement than the one most often taught. It could be described – at least to those in the know – as “Reverse STATIK meets Leading with Outcomes”, and it leaves you with not only a working kanban system but an organised agenda for change too. If you’re not sure what that all means (let alone what it might look like), watch this space.

Coming in March: Obstacles Fast and Slow and more

Hot on the heels of the 15-minute FOTO update comes Obstacles Fast Slow. This is a rename and an update to Good Obstacle, Bad Obstacle, the exercise that typically precedes 15-minute FOTO. The exercise in short: How you frame obstacles matters, and the process of reframing them can an interesting challenge! The March webinar slot is given over to this exercise so that we can record a new video:

The following week I’m ValueGlide’s guest with a new talk that expands on the short opening keynote I did at SEACON 2022:

The third of three free events in March is a regular fixture, a monthly experience/practice session – a chance perhaps to practice 15-minute FOTO:

April’s by the way breaks from the usual format. See Upcoming events below.

Adaptive Organisation (Berlin & London)

I did my first 1-day Adaptive Organisation Workshop at MBDA last week and was very happy with how it went (“Massive thumbs-up to the whole workshop” was one response). I only do these privately (do get in touch if you’d like to hold one; within reason I am increasingly able to travel) but yesterday I added two public Leading in a Transforming Organisation events to the calendar:

There are substantial savings offered on the first few tickets so get in there! The Berlin venue may be confirmed as soon as tomorrow (update: it was!), so be in little doubt that it will happen. For London, I have a venue in mind but am very open to it being hosted by a sponsoring organisation (so to speak) in return for seats. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if that could be of interest.

Leading in a Transforming Organisation is the longer form of the Adaptive Organisation workshop; the latter was extracted from the former. Presented in workshop format, it integrates the following modules of Leading with Outcomes, which you can take self-paced online if you can’t get to do it in person:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Adaptive Organisation (I): Business agility at every scale
  3. Adaptive Organisation (II): Between spaces, scopes, and scales

The Great Consolidation

Slowly but surely, the Agendashift Academy is moving off its old platform and onto the new one, relying less and less on the gubbins that held it all together, making for a much smoother experience. Subscriptions are now native to the new platform, and a number of people whose yearly subscriptions were approaching renewal moved theirs across this month.

Over the next few weeks while this process continues, both in recognition that two modules have yet to be transferred (I’ll be re-recording them) and as an incentive to move subscriptions across, a substantial discount of 25% applies. Visit the Academy’s Store page to take advantage.

Top Posts

  1. A big update to 15-minute FOTO (February)
  2. From Flow to Business Agility (January)
  3. My favourite Clean Language question (January 2019)
  4. From Reverse STATIK to a ‘Pathway’ for continuous transformation (October 2019)
  5. 15-minute FOTO’s cheat mode (October)

Upcoming events

February

March

*TTT/F and (where shown) LIKE events include free one-year membership of the Leading with Outcomes Authorised Facilitator programme, upgradeable to Authorised Trainer at any time. Both of those include access to the video-based Leading with Outcomes training and the full range of Agendashift assessment tools.

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its modules in the recommended order:

  1. Foundation module:
  2. Inside-out Strategy:
  3. Adaptive Organisation:
  4. Outside-in Strategy:

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 £18.40 per month after a 7-day free trial, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors. For bulk subscriptions, ask for our Agendashift for Business brochure.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes training or workshops yourself, see our Authorised Trainer and Authorised Facilitator programmes. See our events calendar for Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and Leading in a Transforming Organisation trainings.

Agendashift™: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Trainer and Facilitator Programmes | Store

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Agendashift roundup, January 2024

Posted on by Mike Burrows

STOP PRESS – just too late for the main roundup below, here’s the episode I recorded on Monday for the Clean at Work podcast with hosts John Barratt and Sarah Baca. Enjoy!

More: media

In this edition: February TTT/F; 15-minute FOTO, Obstacles Fast and Slow, and 25% off; From Flow to Business Agility; Upcoming events; Top posts

February TTT/F

Approaching fast, the next Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) begins on the 6th. With the Inside-out Strategy module now split into two parts (I will record part II of the self-paced version after TTT/F finishes) and a much stronger relationship with the two most-used Agendashift / Leading with Outcomes workshop designs, the TTT/F agenda now looks like this:

  1. Tuesday 6th February – Leading with Outcomes: Foundation – a trainer’s eye view on the first two chapters of this core module of the Leading with Outcomes curriculum, introducing the IdOO (“I do”) pattern – Ideal, Obstacles, Outcomes
  2. Wednesday 7th February – Inside-out Strategy (I): On the same page, with purpose – featuring classic exercises including Celebration-5W, Obstacles Fast and Slow, and the first of two experiences of our Clean Language coaching game 15-minute FOTO. This session builds on the Leading with Outcomes Discovery Workshop and related workshop designs, including the Outside-in Strategy Review
  3. Tuesday 13th February – Inside-out Strategy (II): Fit for maximum impact – featuring the Leading with Outcomes Assessment Debrief Workshop and related workshop designs including the Adaptive Organisation Workshop, this session’s exercises include Option Relationship Mapping and a second experience of 15-minute FOTO and of course the assessment tools
  4. Wednesday 14th February – Moving into Action – Completing Leading with Outcomes: Foundation (specifically, the ideation part and its core pattern, Meaning, Measure, Method) before delving deeper into Adaptive Organisation

All sessions begin 13:00 GMT, 14:00 CET, 8am ET and finish by 17:00 GMT, 18:00 CET, 12 noon ET.

Ping me for coupon codes if any of the following apply:

  • Past TTT/F participants can join again for free (a popular perk)
  • Past participants of Leading in a Transforming Organisation get 60% off
  • Employees in public sector, education, and non-profit organisations get 40% off
  • Members of the old partner programme get 30% off
  • Last but not least, Agendashift Academy subscribers get subscription-specific discounts also

More information on Leading with Outcomes and its trainer and facilitator programmes here.

15-minute FOTO, Obstacles Fast and Slow, and 25% off!

Partly a bonus of the recently-announced release of the self-paced version of Inside-out Strategy (I): On the same page, with purpose, I will soon be releasing updated materials for our Clean Language-inspired coaching game 15-minute FOTO and the exercise that typically precedes it, Obstacles Fast and Slow (formerly Good Obstacle, Bad Obstacle).

Expect a new 1-deck 15-minute FOTO sometime in February. The one deck will cover both the Classic and Lite editions, plus the new cheat mode!

The March webinar/AMA is given over to recording a new video for Obstacles Fast and Slow. Join us! Materials and website updates to follow shortly after.

The release of Inside-out Strategy (I) also heralded some site reorganisation and a win/win! Details here:

From Flow to Business Agility

What can I say? January’s first blog post has been read more times than anything that made it onto last year’s top 10! If you missed it:

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise specified:

February

March

April

May

Top posts

  1. From Flow to Business Agility (January)
  2. My favourite Clean Language question (January 2019)
  3. What Lies Beneath (Spoiler: Constraints) (October 2023)
  4. From Reverse STATIK to a ‘Pathway’ for continuous transformation (October 2019)
  5. What’s in store for 2024 (January)

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its modules in the recommended order:

  1. Foundation module:
  2. Inside-out Strategy:
  3. Adaptive Organisation:
  4. Outside-in Strategy:

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 £18.40 per month after a 7-day free trial, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors. For bulk subscriptions, ask for our Agendashift for Business brochure.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes training or workshops yourself, see our Authorised Trainer and Authorised Facilitator programmes. See our events calendar for Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and Leading in a Transforming Organisation trainings.

Agendashift™: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Trainer and Facilitator Programmes | Store

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Agendashift roundup of the year 2023

Posted on by Mike Burrows

Whether you have followed Agendashift and Leading with Outcomes over the years or have only just found us, thank you for your interest and support. As we approach the Christmas and New Year break, let me wish you a time of peace and renewal.

In this end-of-year edition: December looking forward; Top 10 posts of the year; Upcoming events (most of them free)

December looking forward

The usual monthly list of the top 5 most-read posts would overlap quite a bit with the year’s top 10, so instead I’ll point out just one recent post:

As for the rest of the month, I have my fourth book to finish, and only then (though my head feels fit to burst) my fifth to start. Two very different books, their provisional titles:

  • Organizing Conversations: Patterns of Dialog for the Transforming Organisation – for the BMI series in dialogic organisation development, hence the American spelling
  • Wholehearted: Engaging with complexity in the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation

It would be quite something to get both books published in 2024, ten years since my first. Wish me luck! In relation to that second one, I have in the past couple of days updated the Everywhere all at once white paper to include a brief section on the recent What Lies Beneath stuff. You can request your copy here.

Of course 2024 won’t only be spent writing. Two modules of Leading with Outcomes still live on the old learning management system. Once their videos are re-recorded, I can consolidate everything onto the new platform. I’m looking forward also to doing more in-person training and workshops. I intend to put on the 3-day Leading in a Transforming Organisation publicly at least twice in the UK, hope to do it at least once in mainland Europe, and further afield as opportunities arise. Opportunities to do the private 1-day Adaptive Organisation workshop are materialising too; introductory pricing remains available for bookings taken in the next few weeks.

Top 10 posts of 2023

Most popular first, these are this year’s most-read posts:

  1. #2MBM: Meaning before Metric, Measure before Method (July 2020) – the prototype for the Meaning, Measure, Method pattern that features now in every Leading with Outcomes module
  2. Your organisation in 5 networks (November 2022) – now part of the Leading with Outcomes module Adaptive Organisation (II)
  3. My favourite Clean Language question (January 2019) – the oldest post in this list, still a regular fixture on our monthly top 5
  4. What Lies Beneath (Spoiler: Constraints) (October 2023) – only a few weeks old but already #4 for the year!
  5. Explaining the “unreasonable effectiveness” of Agile (July 2023) – expect more on this in the coming months
  6. 15-minute FOTO’s cheat mode (October 2023) – another recent entrant
  7. It’s 10 years since the post that changed my career (January 2023) – referring to the evergreen Introducing Kanban through its values (January 2013), the post that spawned my first book
  8. Start where you are (July 2023) – a twist on an old idea
  9. Sell the pain, not the solution, the theory, or the blame (December 2022) – a tip repeated several times across Leading with Outcomes; see also the March webinar below
  10. Avoiding the disaster that is ‘solution-driven’ (June 2023) – why outcome-orientation matters

Upcoming events

February

March

*TTT/F and (where shown) LIKE events include free one-year membership of the Leading with Outcomes Authorised Facilitator programme, upgradeable to Authorised Trainer at any time. Both of those include access to the video-based Leading with Outcomes training and the full range of Agendashift assessment tools.

Agendashift™: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Trainer and Facilitator Programmes | Store

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Developing and pursuing strategy in the language of outcomes

Agendashift roundup, November 2023

Posted on by Mike Burrows

In this edition: Adaptive Organisation; 15-minute FOTO; New podcast interview; More free sessions; Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F); Top posts

Adaptive Organisation

There is plenty to report here! Let’s begin with its online, self-paced version. Now that I’ve finished hand-editing the captions on all of its videos, Adaptive Organisation (II) is out of beta. That’s both parts now:

Both parts lean on Leading with Outcomes: Foundation, and we recommend that you take that first.

Also online, the latest version of my keynote:

With regard to the in-person experience, the Leading in a Transforming Organisation training (Foundation and Adaptive Organisation combined) goes from strength to strength. Thought’s on this month’s training in Manchester:

Also some tweaks to this post from October:

Each of these events generates a further flurry of activity. Trainers now have access to post-Manchester decks and handouts for Adaptive Organisation parts I & II. For Facilitators, an update to the Adaptive Organisation workshop will follow as soon as I have synced the handout with the deck – not a huge task but I begin my travels to India shortly.

I’m looking to do at least two more of these in the UK next year, and maybe a couple of in mainland Europe also. If you have thoughts on bringing it to your city, get in touch! Similarly for the 1-day workshop (only privately for the time being, introductory pricing between now and the end of January).

Adaptive Organisation, the two-part module: Engaging with complexity in the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation

15-minute FOTO

A couple of updates to our Clean Language-based coaching game 15-minute FOTO:

  1. Gaël Mareau has kindly contributed a French language cue card – merci beaucoup Gaël!
  2. During my trip to India I’ll be testing a number of usability improvements (none of them major, but they add up), so expect a new release in the next couple of weeks

New podcast interview

While in Australia last month I was interviewed for Kanban Lab by Orod Semsarzadeh and Soma Mazumder. You can listen to Exploring Kanban from Right to Left: A Thoughtful Conversation with Mike Burrows here:

More interviews, talks, etc on our media page.

More free sessions

Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F)

Unusually, the next TTT/F is in person, and it begins this coming Sunday:

Thank you Prachi, Noopur, and the Kanban India 2023 team – the conference begins on Friday.

The February TTT/F is now confirmed:

Top posts

  1. 15-minute FOTO’s cheat mode (October)
  2. What Lies Beneath (Spoiler: Constraints) (October, recently updated)
  3. Leading in a Transforming Organisation: Takeaways from Manchester (November)
  4. A small update to the Constraints Club exercise (November)
  5. My favourite Clean Language question (January 2019)

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its modules in the recommended order:

  1. Foundation module:
  2. Inside-out Strategy:
  3. Adaptive Organisation:
  4. Outside-in Strategy:

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 £18.40 per month after a 7-day free trial, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors. For bulk subscriptions, ask for our Agendashift for Business brochure.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes training or workshops yourself, see our Authorised Trainer and Authorised Facilitator programmes. See our events calendar for Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and Leading in a Transforming Organisation trainings.

Agendashift™: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Trainer and Facilitator Programmes | Store

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Agendashift roundup, October 2023

Posted on by Mike Burrows

In this edition: From Melbourne to Manchester; Adaptive Organisation workshops; Adaptive Organisation online; More free sessions; Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and alternatives; Top posts

From Melbourne to Manchester

It was a privilege to open the inaugural Kanban Australia – congratulations to Daniel Ploeg and the team there for putting on such a great event! The Leading in a Transforming Organisation training/workshop held the preceding week wasn’t as well attended as we might have liked, but it was highly productive nevertheless. Two blog posts describe some of what came out of it:

My eldest son moved to Sydney last year, so if anyone wants me back in Australia, count me in 🙂 Between training and conference we enjoyed the weekend together in Melbourne, and I joined him in Sydney afterwards.

Back in the UK, my youngest son lives in Manchester, and by pure coincidence that happens to be the location of the next Leading in a Transforming Organisation, which begins in two weeks on November 14th. Our hosts are the University of Manchester (thank you Andrea), and we have already the most diverse group of attendees signed up I have yet managed to assemble. There is still time to grab a place:

1-day, 2-day and 3-day tickets available. Use BLOG20 for 20% off, and ping me if another discount might apply. There will be NHS and university staff attending – they and other public/educational/non-profit employees get 40% off.

It is not its primary purpose, but I should mention that as described on the event page and below, it offers a path to Authorised Leading with Outcomes Facilitator and Trainer also.

Adaptive Organisation workshops

This new 1-day workshop takes the two-part Adaptive Organisation training module (two days of training when done in person, three days when taken with Foundation) and dials down the training dimension to make it all about the conversations your organisation needs to have with itself. Read more in the recent announcement:

For myself, I am offering this workshop only privately, initially with introductory pricing. The materials are available already to authorised Facilitators and Trainers, and if the latter want to experiment with offering it publicly, I won’t stand in their way.

Adaptive Organisation online

Quick updates on the online version of the two-part Adaptive Organisation module:

There is still some work to be done, but were you to start Foundation now, there’s a good chance that the beta tags will gone by the time you get to the above. Don’t wait for part 1 to get re-recorded as version 2.1 or later – that won’t happen until after the Inside-out and Outside-in strategy modules are re-recorded and I can retire the old learning management system, early 2024.

While we’re here, my Adaptive Organisation-related keynote gets an online airing on the 9th, courtesy Blackmetric’s BA community meetup (thank you Adrian Reed):

A busy day, as you’ll see in a moment!

More free sessions

The first free experience/practice session took place last week. A lot to fit in the hour but we did it, just! The next of those and the existing webinar/AMA sessions, one of each per month:

Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and alternatives

Unusually, the next TTT/F is in person:

That is thanks to another conference (thank you Prachi, Noopur, and team):

Really glad to be revisiting India – I’ve been several times, thoroughly enjoyed it every time, and after Australia, it will be only my second trip abroad since covid!

I have pencilled in the next online TTT/F for February:

  • 6-14 February, online, Tuesday & Wednesday afternoons (UK time):
    Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) – to be confirmed

I’ll announce that separately when the booking page is up.

Together with some extra online study and an onboarding call, your alternative to TTT/F is the in-person Leading in a Transforming Organisation. If you would like me to hold one of those somewhere near you in 2024, please get in touch. I’m thinking a couple in the UK (London and perhaps the south coast) and in mainland Europe too (Germany and/or Sweden perhaps). I’m open to travelling further (ie North America and Asia) if numbers or other opportunities make the longer trip worthwhile.

Top posts

  1. What Lies Beneath (Spoiler: Constraints)
  2. 15-minute FOTO’s cheat mode
  3. My favourite Clean Language question (January 2019)
  4. Announcing a new Adaptive Organisation workshop (and more)
  5. On values, meaningfulness, and change – parallels with Bateson and Mead (May 2022)

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its modules in the recommended order:

  1. Foundation module:
  2. Inside-out Strategy:
  3. Adaptive Organisation:
  4. Outside-in Strategy:

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 £18.40 per month after a 7-day free trial, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors. For bulk subscriptions, ask for our Agendashift for Business brochure.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes training or workshops yourself, see our Authorised Trainer and Authorised Facilitator programmes. See our events calendar for Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and Leading in a Transforming Organisation trainings.

Agendashift™: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Trainer and Facilitator Programmes | Store

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Agendashift roundup, September 2023

Posted on by Mike Burrows

In this edition: Experience/practice sessions; Leading in a Transforming Organisation; Looking ahead to December; Top posts

(New! Free!) Experience/Practice sessions

I have added two more dates to the calendar, the first experience/practice sessions of what should become a monthly fixture (series link):

They’re a chance to try one of our famously inclusive, non-prescriptive, and framework-agnostic assessments (a different template each month) and to experience with others some post-assessment conversations, Agendashift-style.

Post-debrief conversations will follow the IdOO (“I do”) pattern – Ideal, Obstacles, Outcomes, for which materials based on Leading with Outcomes: Foundation will be provided. If, within that structure, you would like to take the brief opportunity to practice our Clean Language coaching game 15-minute FOTO (Academy version here), this should be possible, numbers permitting.

These are in addition to the free monthly webinars that continue to cycle through the three “questions that drive us” (series link). The next two of those:

Leading in a Transforming Organisation: Engaging with complexity in the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation

I’m both counting down the days to Australia and looking ahead to Manchester!

This is where it’s happening in Agendashift-land right now. If you’re tired of approaches to organisational challenges that can’t see beyond process (and trust me, it’s liberating to get past that) and have little of consequence to say about complexity, get yourself to one of these if you possibly can.

I should mention that my trip to Australia – my first trip abroad since COVID – is thanks to Kanban Australia 2023. Thank you Daniel and the rest of the organising team!

Looking ahead to December

In early December I’m off to India for Kanban India and the last TTT/F of the year:

And a thank you to Noopur, Prachi, and the rest of the organising team there too!

Top posts

  1. An invitation to a more thoughtful assessment (September)
  2. My favourite Clean Language question (January 2019)
  3. What I really think about Scrum (August 2020)
  4. Your organisation in 5 networks (November 2022)
  5. From Reverse STATIK to a ‘Pathway’ for continuous transformation (October 2019)

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its modules in the recommended order:

  1. Foundation module:
  2. Inside-out Strategy:
  3. Adaptive Organisation:
  4. Outside-in Strategy:

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 £18.40 per month after a 7-day free trial, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors. For bulk subscriptions, ask for our Agendashift for Business brochure.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes training or workshops yourself, see our Authorised Trainer and Authorised Facilitator programmes. See our events calendar for Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and Leading in a Transforming Organisation trainings.

Agendashift™: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Trainer and Facilitator Programmes | Store

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Agendashift roundup, August 2023

Posted on by Mike Burrows

In this late summer edition: Responding to “Scrum is cancer”; Foundation 2.8, Adaptive Organisation 2.0; Looking ahead to the autumn season; Top posts

Responding to “Scrum is cancer”

Doing the rounds on LinkedIn and X / Twitter is the abovementioned. My response here (linkedin.com).

Related:

Foundation 2.8, Adaptive Organisation 2.0

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation version 2.8 beta is now out of beta. As mentioned last month it is to be found not on the Agendashift Academy’s old learning management system (LMS) but on what until recently served only as the community platform for Academy subscribers. The latter is itself developing as an LMS and it presents therefore a consolidation opportunity.

Again as mentioned last month, of the several iterations of Foundation so far, this is the one most influenced by the experience of other authorised trainers (ie not only me) delivering it in person. It is definitely a smoother experience – 12 minutes shorter for no loss of content!

Next up for the same treatment is the two-part Adaptive Organisation module. Recording has started for the first part, Adaptive Organisation (I): Business agility at every scale. It will include some exciting new content (we’re turning up the dial on the complexity-related matters already integral to it), but not at the cost of any significant increase in length. At least that’s the plan; what I can promise is that for Academy students authorised trainers alike it will be a smoother experience.

The previous version (1.6) of Adaptive Organisation is still available meanwhile, and I dare say it remains the most refreshing treatment of its subject matter you will find anywhere. And don’t forget the Agendashift classics, Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact and Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success.

With more about what to expect, some related posts:

If you’re not already a subscriber, sign up here.

Looking ahead to the autumn season

It being the summer here (though not where I am next headed)…

September and December bring different opportunities to do Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F):

Those are, respectively, the last chance to do TTT/F online this year, and the first to be held in person. Between those two, I’m doing Leading in a Transforming Organisation on opposite sides of the world:

These events are driving forward the Foundation and Adaptive Organisation modules as mentioned above (one day of the former, two days of the latter), and it has been a delight to see how well they go together – hence the abovementioned resequencing. If you have any interest in what it means to lead in an organisation that is transforming (and what organisation isn’t?), join us!

I should mention that my trips to Australia and India – my first trips abroad since COVID – are thanks to these conferences:

I’m grateful to the organisers of both. And yes, there will be some kanban content in my keynotes – I haven’t forgotten my roots!

Finally, with the end of summer approaching, there are only days to wait until the monthly webinar/AMA sessions restart:

Top posts

  1. Explaining the “unreasonable effectiveness” of Agile (July)
  2. When not to do Celebration-5W (August)
  3. My favourite Clean Language question (January 2019)
  4. Leaders as keepers of context (September 2022)
  5. Picturing Foundation (May)

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its modules in the recommended order:

  1. Foundation module:
  2. Inside-out Strategy:
  3. Adaptive Organisation:
  4. Outside-in Strategy:

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 £18.40 per month after a 7-day free trial, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors. For bulk subscriptions, ask for our Agendashift for Business brochure.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes training or workshops yourself, see our Authorised Trainer and Authorised Facilitator programmes. See our events calendar for Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and Leading in a Transforming Organisation trainings.

Agendashift™: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Trainer and Facilitator Programmes | Store

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Agendashift roundup, July 2023

Posted on by Mike Burrows

In this edition: Foundation re-recorded and re-platformed; Looking ahead to the autumn season; Top posts

Foundation re-recorded and re-platformed

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation version 2.8 beta is now out on a different platform to the previously-recorded version, 2.1. As an experiment, the newer one is to be found not on the current learning management system (LMS), but on the community site for Agendashift Academy subscribers. The latter’s underlying platform is itself developing as an LMS and it presents therefore a consolidation opportunity.

Of the several iterations of Foundation so far, this is the one most influenced by the experience of trainers delivering it in person. It is definitely a smoother experience – 12 minutes shorter for no loss of content!

I’ll remove the beta tag when I have finished adding captions, which I’ll release one video at a time. AI does a decent first approximation but I still take the trouble to edit them manually.

With more about what to expect, some related posts:

And to sign up:

Looking ahead to the autumn season

September, October, November, December. Ok, December isn’t really autumn, and neither are the preceding months if you’re in the southern hemisphere (to which I am headed), but it will do!

September and December bring different opportunities to do Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F):

Those are, respectively, the last chance to do TTT/F online this year, and the first to be held in person. Between those two, I’m doing Leading in a Transforming Organisation on opposite sides of the world:

These events are driving forward the Foundation and Adaptive Organisation modules (one day of the former, two days of the latter), and it has been a delight to see how well they go together – hence the abovementioned resequencing. If you have any interest in what it means to lead in an organisation that is transforming (and what organisation isn’t?), join us!

While we’re here, there is no August webinar/AMA session. Not too long to wait though:

Top posts

  1. Explaining the “unreasonable effectiveness” of Agile (July)
  2. Three ways to understand the Leading with Outcomes universe (June)
  3. The wholeheartedness equation (June)
  4. My favourite Clean Language question (January 2019)
  5. Avoiding the disaster that is ‘solution-driven’ (June)

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its modules in the recommended order:

  1. Foundation module:
  2. Inside-out Strategy:
  3. Adaptive Organisation:
  4. Outside-in Strategy:

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 £18.40 per month after a 7-day free trial, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors. For bulk subscriptions, ask for our Agendashift for Business brochure.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes training or workshops yourself, see our Authorised Trainer and Authorised Facilitator programmes. See our events calendar for Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and Leading in a Transforming Organisation trainings.

Agendashift™: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Trainer and Facilitator Programmes | Store

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.