Deconstructing Agile

"Deconstruction insists not that truth is illusory but that it is institutional." — Terry Eagleton

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What is this?

This workshop is a confrontation—a challenge. This thing we are calling "Agile" is now very far removed from any common understanding of the term agility. What once held the potential for deep, purposeful change, has become a poor imitation of itself, a fragile veneer on the rigid, corporate status quo. What once stood apart as daring, anarchic, and even a little magical, has now been domesticated, and enslaved by the corporate machine. Agile has become business-as-usual.

We have two choices. We can ignore this reality, as many do, turn a blind eye and hope no one else notices, while we collect our consulting fees. Or we can turn to face it, confront the madness and reawaken the true Agile spirit. And that is exactly what this workshop will encourage.

Who is it for?

This experience is designed for Agile coaches, consultants, executives, directors, managers, and anyone else attempting to use Agile as a tool for change. But it is not for everyone who identifies with those roles. For those full of confidence and success, this workshop is not for you.

Only if you are in a questioning place, perhaps one of bafflement, disillusion or even despair will this workshop be useful. If this is you, please click here to read on.

Deconstruction

Deconstruction is a difficult word to pin down. Roughly speaking it means to dismantle (an object, text or idea) in order to reveal what is inherently described, and perhaps hidden from sight. Deconstruction is not demolition, as the process is done with care and thoughtfulness, and with the express purpose of creating something new, something perhaps closer to the essence strived at by the original. The word is most commonly used in literary criticism, re/building, and more recently by individuals within faith communities confronting the creeds and dogma they have been raised on, in a quest for a greater truth.

A Quest for Truth

In our context, it is perhaps the quest for a greater truth that most resonates. The term Agile (with an uppercase A) has come to mean just about all things to all people. From its humble roots in the manifesto for agile software development the word, and variations thereof is now common in such phrases as Enterprise Agile, Business Agility, Agilify, Agilist, Agile Coach, Agile Project Manager, Agile Thought Leader, and even embedded into heavyweight frameworks such as SAFe.

It's time to deconstruct "Agile", to look at what is inherently described, to tease out, to discern, to refine, and ultimately to rescue the term, and its original underlying ideas from the inevitable collapse as it slowly bows under the accumulated weight of excuses, justifications, half-measures, force-fitting and downright lies.

The Workshop

This workshop does not offer solutions, and certainly no pre-defined framework, model, pattern or process. And no manifesto! The day is designed as an exploration, or perhaps an excavation, using the tools of metaphor, confrontation, humour, storytelling and poetry.

Working in small, amorphous groups participants will deconstruct what they have so far inherited—and in some cases built for themselves—to unearth a shared understanding of the essence of agility and its value in organisational change, and then to rebuild each for him/herself a model of hope, a structure to extend and customise with future clients.

Express Interest

Workshop Availability

This is offered as an online or in-person/on-site workshop, spanning one full day. It is currently available through private booking only. Click the blue button to express interest, and we can start a conversation to see if this workshop will be useful to your organisation.

Cost

Standard pricing (discounts available to selected non-profit organisations)

UK: £5,000 + VAT

Rest of Europe: £7,500

Everywhere Else: £10,000

Workshop limited to 16 people

Contact Information

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Image: Moses Destroying the Golden Calf, by Andrea Celesti (1637-1706)
Page created: 01/01/2019 00:00:00
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