Author: Florian Puschmann, PMP
After attending virtual events for more than a year, I was very excited when I saw the invitation to the in-person event held 31 August in Basel.
Agile - and how to make it work in different company environments, certainly relates to many project management professionals. One pain point was addressed straight at the beginning with a fitting Dilbert comic; Agile has become a hip business buzzword, but typically, not everyone involved is aware of its philosophy and methodology.
Presenters Anna Nestorova, PhD, PMP and Steffen Keller, PMP have hands-on experience at LIVEsciences AG, which focuses on helping organizations define if - and where, agile methodology implementation makes sense, followed by aiding its implementation in a tailored fashion.
Everyone very much enjoyed the interaction that followed:
- Where does Agile make sense on the Cynefin framework background that segments the work environment in clear, complicated, complex, chaotic, and confused areas?
- What does it take to build an environment that enables people to work at the intersection of autonomy, mastery, and purpose to tackle the "impossible" through intrinsically driven teams?
- What's the difference between "doing" (method) and "being" (mindset) agile?
The challenges of such self-organizing organizations were then further put in perspective with two case studies:
- Semco Partners – where a self-organized company was built in Brazil under the "leadership" of Ricardo Semler even long before the Agile Manifesto was born
- Burtzoorg – A low-cost, high profitability home nurse service that is organized through fully independent self-organized teams of nurses
Overall, I deeply enjoyed the content of this event and the vivid discussion and human connection that I was craving after the prolonged period of virtual events only.
The best part was still to come though: A very enjoyable late summer apero with all participants! The apero was so much fun that I missed two train connections until I finally made it back to Zurich rather late. The only regret I had was not having stayed even longer.
Florian Puschmann, PhD, PMP
