A great article, "Can Scrum change the world?" , by Melanie Webb from TechTarget.com on my Scrum in Schools presentation at the Atlanta Scrum Gathering this week. She makes me sound so much better than I actually was : ) And yes, Scrum can and will change the world for a vibrant future.
The Scrum Alliance Gathering was amazing! The best part was meeting the amazing folks that work behind the scenes at the Scrum Alliance. They are the most friendly, warm, and passionate people you could meet. I know they are taking the organization to amazing places.
Trailer for presentation:
Prezi for Presentation: Just pics. I was requested to accompany this with a speaking video or voiceover. Coming soon!
I had the honor of speaking at the Scrum Alliance Gathering in Atlanta this week. Honestly, I was not sure how the Agile community would respond, fearing I would be presenting to an empty room. The session was very different from the others, where they were to deepened the Agile proactive, while, mine was why to be passionate about Agile and broaden Agile to transform the world. I was very surprised by the interest and buzz around the of using Agile for learning session!
I was so excited to share what we are doing at Litchfield Elementary School District at the Cortes Sierra Elementary School, with the passion and leadership of an awesome teacher, Mrs. Kimberly Mills, the most charismatic and innovative Principals in history, Chris Barnes, and a class of 4th graders who have grown close to my heart and have grown so much this year.
I did have some technical difficulties that prevented me from playing some of the videos, my computer experienced some corruption the night before. I apologize to the attendees they did not get to see everything. We performed a live video feed to the Mrs. Mills classroom doing Scrum to talk about how they love Scrum and to answer questions from the audience. This was a big hit, despite some of the issues from a bad network connection. The students were awesome and so was Mrs
The audience burst out in applause on many occasions, especially when they saw the video of one the students state during a Sprint Review, "I think we overestimated". So many attendees approached me afterwards, stating how they left with goose bumps. Two people even told me tears came to their eyes (tears of joy I hope).
The students and Mrs. Mills are an inspiration. They are what one would consider and average classroom in a Title 1 school. A "Title 1" school is a school the Department of Education has determined to a significant population "disadvantaged" students. Mrs. Mill class ranges from resource students (students with Special Needs) to gifted students, diverse races & backgrounds.
The beauty is you can witness how these students work together so well and how the students self-organize the strengths and passions of each. I had little to do with, what I consider a big success, I owe it all to this ordinary classroom, with a teacher bold enough to listen to my crazy idea that Scrum would be wildfully successful for learning. A learning experience based on Scrum can and does transform an ordinary classroom into an extraordinary one. Perhaps, what it really does, is remove the impediments for the greatness already in each student and teacher that is suppressed by the usual classroom experience.
I have some great lessons learned on presenting at a big conference, especially about relying on a conference's network. I was happy that people left being inspired. Agile can transform the world for a vibrant future.
You can find my Prezi here .
Thank you for all the Agilists at the Scrum Alliance who inspire me to keep moving forwards.
Fellow Agilists, would you want these skills and attributes for a teammate on your agile team?
Innovation and Creativity
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Communication and Collaboration
Flexibility and Adaptability
Initiative and Self Direction
Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
Productivity and Accountability
Leadership and Responsibility
I think the answer is a resounding yes. Indeed, the Agile Manifesto and Agile Frameworks, like Scrum and Extreme Programming, instill these values and skills throughout. These skills are not from an Agile Job description or performance review, these are the skills outlined by the Council for 21st Century Skills, being adopted by schools to instill in our students across the country. This should get you really excited! Imagine, the uphill battles many us have had with pushing Agile into our organizations, against the grain of top-down control culture, because we believed these skills and values not only make better products, but make for a better place to work, and a more fulfilling and meaningful career. When the young students of today enter the workforce of tomorrow, they will have the effect of changing organizations and communities with legacy cultures in mass. It could be a tipping point for our society as a whole. Are you excited!
Well, hold on! I hate to burst your bubble, but the deep down adoption of these 21st Century Skills are in jeopardy. Just see some of the professional development material for teachers to "teach" 21st Century Skills. As if they could be taught, they can only be nurtured and grown from students intrinsic motivations. Classes, such as, Intel's 21st Century Assessments, state, in order assess a students problem solving, for students to keep a log. Man, I would never want to solve a problem, EVER, if I was forced into compliant overhead to prove to a teacher that I actually solved a problem. Isn't the evidence of a successful challenging project the result of problem solving? Wouldn't daily stand ups, observing answering the question of, "What is my impediment?", with sticky notes landing and taking flight from the Impediment Board of As Agilists, we know the principle, of show, don't tell. We understand and have a framework that taps into intrinsic motivation with minimal viable compliance. Like inserting Agile into a waterfall wrapper, and killing all the benefits of Agile, 21st Century Skills are being delivered from a 20th Century, command and control, mass education teaching approach.
I make a call out to all Agilists that care about our kids, our students, and the future. Go forth and talk to teachers, talk to your own kids, discuss Agile with Principals, talk to School Boards, to share your Agile knowledge to transform our schools into engines of vibrant growth for the 21st Century. Teach a free class, offer an after school program, open up your garage offer fun projects for kids in your neighborhood, and use Scrum so they can become self-directed makers. Work at any and all levels that engages you to grow these digital natives into innovation natives, to make Generation Flux into Generation Agile. You are already masters of 21st Century Skills and are what the future needs. Now, make a difference with the powers (yes, if you realize it or not, you have powers to transform the world) you posses from Agile. I am here for you, and I hope others are also. Let's make a vibrant future by partnering with our schools and communities, and transcend being just an Agilist to an Agile Activist for a vibrant world.
Agilists can transform the world, not just the world of work, but also in education and communities for a vibrant future. I am honored and very excited to be selected as a speaker at the Global Scrum Gathering in Atlanta, on May 7th. Join me at 1:30pm to stimulate ideas and action about how Scrum can transform education, why it is the best foundation for a 21st Century learning environment, and how you can be a passionate force for a vibrant future.
Your Scrum flight will be fueled by passion and meaning as we show how Scrum is being applied to classrooms and schools. Students are happier, more engaged, more creative, and empowered in an Agile learning environment. Teachers discover their work is more rewarding and fun. Understand why Agile is the BEST learning environment for 21st Century learners. A call to arms for us to ban together & outreach to schools using our Scrum expertise to build better schools & a brighter future for our children. Discover a new meaning in Scrum, and how it can power your passion to improve the world.
Your Thoughts
I would love to hear your ideas, what you want discover, discuss your own experiences, and how you would like to engage in the topic. Be a part of the transformation.
Please comment or email me at agileschools (at) gmail (dot) com.
