Surprisingly, this small gathering turned out to be a global earthquake of the way we see the world we live in. From finance to business to organizations, “agile” is everywhere now. The downside of this revolution is that the word “agile“ is now an adjective used and overused and abused everywhere as well. By becoming mainstream, some shortcuts were taken to expand it to mass adoption and its original flavor was diluted along the way.

LOST IN AGILITY

Over the years many communities emerged, gathering specialists around the new trending methods and games that are created every year. Around Zürich, a dozen of groups coexist around the same subject, “uncovering better ways of [working] by doing it and helping others do it“, as a tweak to the introduction of the manifesto.

One can easily be lost into the multiplication of new names and subgroups. Especially when you are new to agility. Where to start? Where to meet practitioners?

We miss a place to gather all together, to open the stage to newcomers, to share anecdotes and challenges. To freely talk about “agile”. To get back to the roots sometimes or to launch crazy ideas!

An open space is definitely needed.

Inspired by the successes of the strong Agile Tour communities around the globe... let’s launch Agile Zürich!!

OPEN SOURCE

Like open source software that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance, Agile Zürich is an open source community. It is especially open for all. From any industry. From beginners to advanced practitioners, from curious minds to established professionals, from skepticals to believers… Agile Zürich intents to make people share.

And because it is always better to start early, its membership is free for students, as well as for unemployed people.

BY AND FOR THE COMMUNITY

No company nor person owns it, it belongs to its members and intents to evolve through the years, based on its members’ actions.

Agile Zürich is also not for profit so every cent is spent to make it live, to bring value to the community.

SHARING AND LEARNING TOGETHER

Agile Zürich is not about preaching “agile” either, it is about sharing stories and learning techniques to face the complexity of the world. No one is right here, and no one is wrong either.

“At Agile Zürich, we are uncovering better ways of working by doing it and helping others do it.”

Join the group now and start sharing your thoughts! We’ll post the date of the first gathering soon, so let’s keep in touch!

Also, follow Agile Zürich on Twitter.

We have the ambition to create a tool that provides micro-learning to train cognitive biaises. Today we have a prototype. Last spring, we had only a vision to lead us. As told in a previous post, one of my colleague detected a need in an industry and an opportunity for us to create a new tool. He gathered a small team and invited us for a kickoff meeting. We were all motivated. How could we proceed?

During the kickoff, we jolted ideas around, and used sticky notes to draw the project. It was important that we all had a common understanding of the tool we wanted to create. This kickoff meeting was also the moment when we created a team spirit and built personal commitment.

Ownership, responsibility and role

As motivated as I was to play my part, I needed to understand how I could contribute to the project and how much time it would involve. We started by writing down the outputs we expected from the meeting. The expectations were various.

Our expectations for the kickoff meeting

Kevin expected us to take ownership. The initial idea came to him and he wrote a paper about it. He expected us to work as a team and take ownership. This is what he means by ‘Co-sign Whitepaper'.

To me ownership meant responsibility. The moment I commit to a project means that I stop saying ‘Kevin's idea' or ‘Kevin decided' or ‘Kevin meant'. I start saying ‘we think', ‘we decided'. It also means that I committed myself to play my part, make time to work on the project.

I needed to understand, the role that I would play, in other words how, with my competences I would contribute to the project. This is expressed as ‘Where do I position myself?' From the beginning we are a multidisciplinary team. We have learnt to contribute with our respective skills. Understanding my role leads to better planning. If I understand my tasks and how I relate to the other team members, I can organise my agenda and be available when I am needed.

During this meeting we also decided how we would communicate about the project to our stakeholders', which at this point, were internal. We finally defined the next steps and decided the content of the next workshop.

Map the idea – understanding with drawing

We were sitting down, listening to Kevin. Sitting around a table is so limiting! Ideas cannot express themselves, they keep eluding and the energy slowly runs low. We couldn't see what Kevin was explaining. After a moment of deep concentration, I tend to relax a bit, which means that I am not being this concentrated. At some point, we were all running low on energy. Thus we started drawing.

White walls are a blessing. Someone starts drawing and you can add up your idea, then everyone can see and add his/hers.

It started with a sketch, and step by step it became like a map. A map of the idea, where we could navigate, see the stakeholders, start apprehending who we needed to talk to, what we needed to understand, what remains unclear, what is our role, our strengths and weaknesses.

Let your team take ownership by drawing together the idea.

It very much looks like this: drawing, talking and gesturing. When you stand, the flow of ideas wraps you up and before you realize it, you are ‘in it', you take ownership and you belong. You stand and draw together. It has nothing to do with sitting and looking at someone talking, you are part of it.

Our drawing got more complex while our understanding of the situation got clearer.

Be kind to your blue side and deal with uncertainties

Have you ever heard of the DISC assessment? That test attributes colors to people after a test. I never took it myself, but I often heard some friends refer jokingly to it. When they refer to the ‘blue colleague', they talk about his preciseness, attention to detail and his capacity to be systematic. As I started this project, I realised that part of me, that I will call my ‘blue side' backed off, because it was unconvinced. My blue part tends to refrain the overly enthusiastic and risky part (I don't know the color of this side yet ;-)

In other words, during this meeting, my blue side realized that there is a huge part of unknown in this project. When you start an innovation project, you have to be aware of the fact that some uncertainty and risk will always be present. During my studies and work life, I have been trained to try to avoid mistakes and evaluate risk. I usually try to have a fairly good idea of the success I expect  from my actions before I perform them. Starting an innovation process is the contrary of this. It is jumping in the unknown and imagining something that does not exist… yet. You need to be open-minded and accept the risk and unknown.

To conclude: we mapped the project and I accepted the probability to fail

It was time for me to accept that mistakes are part of the game and to come to terms with the probability of failing. An innovation process is made of ups and downs, test, success, mistakes and iteration. The risk is part of the game.

During this first meeting, we mapped the project and the stakeholders It gave us the necessary common grounds to start working together. To draw the project allowed us to clearly see the expertise we needed. We planned the next steps and organized the first workshop where we would invite other experts. The project had officially started.

How to be open to innovation?

You have to be open to new challenges, which is difficult even close to impossible if you are stressed out or under tight deadlines for example. During my first year at Liip (2016), I undertook many projects that had started before I had arrived. As a result, I had little time for planning or strategies, I undertook what was already started. During this first year, everything was new, I was in the turmoil of an event, or in a middle of a project, my whole energy was focused on current tasks.

Before Christmas 2016, my knowledge of the enterprise and the field had exponentially expanded. It allowed me to grasp the necessary bigger picture of my enterprise's needs and challenges. Simultaneously, many projects came to an end, as a result, I was not under tight deadlines. In other words, I was open to new challenges and ideas. I had cognitive capacity to take on new challenges. When Kevin, a colleague I barely knew, approached me, I welcomed his project with an open mind.

Sorry, we have no time to innovate!

An idea that takes 30 minutes to explain but a clear call to action

I do not recall the exact situation of our first actual discussion. We were probably in the open space we call arena. He most probably caught me on my way to the cafeteria.

Note to self: grab people when on their way to the cafeteria, when they are neither in a hurry for a meeting, nor in deep concentration.

Sorry Kevin, the first time you explained I did not understand your idea. It took about 30 minutes of explanation for me to understand that it was about learning, innovation, banking and compliance. It probably did not help that I had no prior knowledge of these fields.

At this point, what Kevin expected was clear ‘come to a workshop'. As I had no urgent deadlines at the time, I accepted. I assumed that I would understand the idea at the some point.

The importance of the team and the setting

At Liip, we have the possibility to undertake innovation projects when we see a business opportunity. Nothing forces us to join or undertake one. I could have decided to perform other tasks that I saw more fitting

Why did I accept to join the workshop? Three important factors simultaneously played a role there:

• Firstly, I had an open mind, I was cognitively open to something new.
• The second thing that convinced me then was Kevin's enthusiasm: he had a vision and he convinced me. I saw potential in this project.
• Thirdly, I felt valued and trusted that my competences were needed. Honestly, this is flattering and energizing. Who is not appealed to have the possibility to make an impact?

Additionnally, I also not only got along, but liked the other colleagues invited to the workshop. In such an innovation process, trust and kindness are necessary. The team is meant to go through uncertainties. Though the vision is clear, the way to reach it is not. The composition of the team is important and this fact should not be underestimated.

Note to self: notice the importance of a vision in the very first step of an innovation project. Someone has to have an idea, and has to be able to share this vision with others to onboard them.

The next steps: the initial workshop

As planned by Kevin, the next step was to organise a workshop, where we would meet and test the idea. I expect it was a vulnerable moment for him. As long as you think something for yourself and plan it in your head, it is all fine. The day you open your mouth, it is for the worse or the better. After this workshop we could have all backed off and turned to other projects. It was a turning point.

To conclude, you guessed already?

It turned out well for Kevin's idea, in the sense that we shared his enthusiasm and we saw business potential in his idea. In other words, the story was just starting. At this very early stage of the innovation process, my ability to be open-minded to something completely new and the fact that we saw business potential in the idea mattered most . The fact that Liip provides an environnement prone to innovation is also highly relevant. As a team, we know, we are supported to dedicate time to investigate new opportunities.

And yes, I take notes to myself about what a leader with a vision is, because I think everybody is someone's leader and someone's follower. It is neither good, nor bad, it is just a role, where you have to play your best part. I am learning good practices to be both.