"Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible"

… as they see it.
This talk was given December 7th, 2021 thanks to Amitai Schleier and the Jersey City - Java User Group (JC-JUG).

It is in large part my experience report about my journey toward learning how to run a "Challenge Dojo". The last slide has a number of links you may find useful, or fun, or both.

I was very pleasantly surprised upon see who some of my attendees were: Esther Derby, Geepaw Hill, George Dinwiddie, and many more friends, and a few new friends.

Transcript

1. Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible …as they see it, and, without straining their backs.
2. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order Who … am I? Who … do I get to work with? Who … are the clients? 2 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
3. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order Who … am I? Who … do I get to work with? Who … are the clients? 3 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
4. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order Who … am I? Who … do I get to work with? Who … are the clients? 4 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
5. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order What … is this Challenge Dojo? What … is different from other “dojos”? What … else is special about this Dojo? 5 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
6. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order What … is this Challenge Dojo? What … is different from other “dojos”? What … else is special about this Dojo? 6 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
7. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order What … is this Challenge Dojo? What … is different from other “dojos”? What … else is special about this Dojo? 7 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
8. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order Why … no katas. Instead, their actual work? Why … so long; four to six weeks? Why … does the team choose the focus? 8 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
9. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order Why … no katas. Instead, their actual work? Why … so long; four to six weeks? Why … does the team choose the focus? 9 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
10. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order Why … no katas. Instead, their actual work? Why … so long; four to six weeks? Why … does the team choose the focus? 10 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
11. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order 11 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible How do we start … Chartering: Team name, Framing, Story Map, Working Agreement, and Skills Matrix.
12. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order 12 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible How do we start … Chartering: Team name, Framing, Story Map, Working Agreement, and Skills Matrix (example below)
13. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order 13 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible How do we … keep it going, and, start to get out of the way. Remember that 2-day sprint I mentioned? That’s how. To transition from 2 weeks (typical) to 2 days is often met with something akin to “Inconceivable!”
14. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order 14 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible How do we … keep it going, and, start to get out of the way. Remember that 2-day sprint I mentioned? That’s how. To transition from 2 weeks (typical) to 2 days is often met with something akin to “Inconceivable!”
15. Who, what, why, & how … not necessarily in that order How … do we finish? Before we finish, we have the team “share” periodically, with stakeholders, leadership, other teams they work with. The final ”share” is special in that the focus is mostly about … • what the learned, and • how they feel about it, and the best part, • a declaration of how they have agreed to carry some of the learned practices forward into their day-to-day work beyond the Dojo. 15 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
16. Questions? One Caveat: This presentation is not the definitive “way to do dojos”. It describes a set of practices that I and others have learned, mostly from those who have gone before us, about what works, why it works, etc. It’s always changing, and it always will. 16 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible
17. Finé , and links • The video that started it all for me “Dojo Virtual Tour” • The word “Dojo” defined: The Place of the way • David Hussman - Shut Up and Play Your Guitar • Daniel Pink’s DRiVE book and TED talk • The J–Curve as relates to learning. • Princess Bride reference – “Inconceivable” 17 Coaching Teams to Do the Impossible