Often in agile working environments, people aim for failing fast. Yet failure is not the goal - learning is. Failure can lead to learning and so can other approaches. It can lead beyond continuous improvement to transformative learning: seeing your situation from a whole new framework in a way that lets you learn by leaps of insight. In this workshop we present specific ways to probe, using hypothesis, and experiments will help you and your team to learn fast. This approach provides a way to get into the mindset of learning and thus always developing. Usually a failure is to do nothing… or to do anything (blindly). The key even for big issues is to make small bets (hypothesis) and learn through experiments what's the impact. So, gain insights by (in)validating the bet. In summary it's about thinking big but acting small (and safely). Note, that every great idea, every innovation is at first a guess or rather a hypothesis and only experiments allow us to find out if our idea is really as great as we thought at first.

1. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org1@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Jutta Eckstein | @juttaeckstein
John Buck | @johnabuck
http://agilebossanova.org
@AgileBossaNova | #agilebossanova
Don’t Fail Fast - Learn fast:
Failing fast is an option but innovating fast is a must
Company-wide Agility with BOSSA nova
http://tinyurl.com/AgileBossaNova

2. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org2@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
■ Understand how to learn & innovate fast
– Learn how to conduct experiments (probes), how to learn from them,
and how to scale them
– Understand the prerequisites for creating your own experiments
– Learn how to design experiments dependent on the outcome you aim
for in respect to the environment you are in
– Understand that everyone in an organization can foster learning and
innovation (faster)
– Differentiate between continuous learning and the deep innovation that
can grow from transformative learning
– Develop strategies for the application in your own context
Goals for the Workshop

3. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org3@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Agenda
■ Welcome & set the stage
■ Defining the context
■ Frameworks for thinking (transformative learning)
■ Enabling continuous learning (probing)
■ Creating probes: hypothesis, experiments, measurement
■ Wrap-up

4. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org4@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck

5. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org5@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
WHAT? CHALLENGES

6. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org6@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck

7. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org7@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Story of Little Girl
A clever little girl and her father were shopping at a little neighborhood store. As they packed up
their purchases, the owner of the store offered the little girl some free sweets in a bowl. “Get a
handful of sweets," the merchant said to the girl.
The girl just stood there looking up at her father. The owner repeated himself: “Honey, take a
handful of sweets...they’re free.” Again the girl did not move, continuing to look up in the face of
her father.
Finally the father reached into the bowl and got a hand full of sweets and put them in a bag.
As they walked home, the father asked his daughter why she didn’t grab a hand full of the free
candy. The girl, with a big grin on her face, looked at her father and said…
[What do you think the girl said?]

8. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org8@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Recap: Retrospective
■ The 5 phases:
– Welcome & set the stage
– Gather data
– Generate insights
– Decide what to do
– Closing
■ Think about 3 actions decided in your last retrospective

9. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org9@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Hypothesis & Experiments
■ The hypothesis
– Should be an assumption / a statement about
• What you expect to happen
• Under such and such conditions
■ The experiment(s):
– Its purpose is to test your assumption stated in the hypothesis
– Need some kind of measurement (pre-/post) or comparisons
with control groups
– Need to be actionable by the author

10. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org10@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck

11. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org11@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Definition of a Probe
■ Probes are defined by small, safe-to-fail experiments
based on hypotheses derived from reflection on the
current situation as well as on theory.

12. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org12@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Reflect
■ Come up with a (key) challenge you tried to solve more
than once
– Could also be one from your retrospectives

13. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org13@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Team Processes for
Transformative Learning and Innovation
1. Problem framing and reframing Members reframe views individually and collectively
based on internal and external insights.
2. Boundaryless solution generation The team becomes boundaryless as information is
sought and given freely.
3. Iterative experimentation Experimentation is frequent and bold; it is both
individual and collective.
4. Integrating Perspectives Members seek out views that may be disconfirming
or challenging. The team acquires the collective
memories that enable sudden leaps of insight.
©ProcessesforSynergistTeamLearning,adaptedfromKasl,Marsick,andDeChant(1997,p.x)

14. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org14@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Failing Fast
■ How can the following three statements be true?
6 1 3 = 1
7 5 8 = 2
1 7 5 = 0

15. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org15@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Reflect on the Situation
■ Take time to think about the situation of your challenge
– How am I thinking about the situation?
• E.g., what am I assuming?
• What would it be like if I don’t make that assumption?
• What do you observe?
• Can you validate the observation – how would you do that?
– So, what is your hypothesis?

16. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org16@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Design of a Probe
■ Name of the Probe:
– <A question that reflects your hypothesis, your curiosity>
■ Background:
– <Define the context of your situation>
■ Hypothesis:
– <Define what you expect to happen>
– <Observable impact>
■ Safe-to-fail experiment:
– <Define what do you want to try and how you can (dis) prove the
hypothesis>

17. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org17@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Sample Probe
■ Sample Abstract from Ashish Agarwal:
How can we enable teams to discuss openly their impediments and improvements
in retrospective?
Agile is being followed in most teams and organisations now. They are also doing
retrospectives. But most of the time, the right set of impediments and improvements are
not the output of these retrospective meetings as they have a fear that if they speak up it
would impact them in appraisals.
If we do not have managers in the retrospectives, then the team will open up with their
impediments and improvements as they will feel safe.
So, this probe talks about how removing managers from retrospectives impacts the team
and how they bring the impediments/improvements and also question each other openly
making each other accountable.

18. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org18@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Measurement & Control
■ Without comparison you won’t know what you learned
– Pre- and post-measure for comparing results:
• Measure your observation (stated in the background)
• Use the same measurement after conducting the experiment
– Controls for comparing results - if possible
• Use two (or more) comparable groups
• One group conducts the experiment the other (control group)
does not

19. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org19@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Importance of Publication
■ Collaborative learning depends on sharing
learnings
■ Publishing also contributes to the author’s
learning
– as an author you need to reflect and look
at your learning from a different
perspective

20. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org20@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck

21. @AgileBossaNova | agilebossanova.org21@JuttaEckstein | @johnabuck
Thank you so much and… Stay in Touch:
Jutta Eckstein | @juttaeckstein
John Buck | @johnabuck
http://agilebossanova.org
@AgileBossaNova | #agilebossanova
Company-wide Agility with BOSSA nova
http://tinyurl.com/AgileBossaNova