Intelligent Teams Podcast

Caitlin Walker, an expert in clean language and systemic modeling, is the guest. She shares her extensive experience in facilitating group dynamics to foster collaboration. The discussion includes using clean questions to enhance understanding, especially with at-risk youth. Caitlin highlights the steps to achieving a drama-free environment and the significance of respectful communication within teams. She also delves into practical examples of applying clean language in both educational and tech settings, emphasizing the importance of clarity and empathy in conversations.

This week’s guest is Michael Lloyd. Michael is a scrum master and agile coach who has been helping teams deliver value for over a decade. Michael is the Founder and Head of Global Agility at Honest Agile and the creator of Dysfunction Mapping. I’ve followed Michael’s posts on LinkedIn for a few years and I’ve admired his authentic thoughtful approach to working with teams and organisation as he has risen to prominence in the world of agility. We met at a conference a few months ago and decided to publish a conversation together for Agile On The Mind. We decided to just see where we ended up and as you’ll see in the episode we landed in some pretty interesting and whacky places, including from the initial introduction. I had a blast recording this with Michael and I hope you enjoy listening to it. If you enjoy this podcast you’ll probably enjoy the Agile On The Mind substack, subscribe here to get a weekly blog or podcast about building Intelligent Teams inspired by agility and cognitive science. We sprawled across quite a few topics in our conversation together including:* The power of irrational tools* Using Tarot with your teams* Can we change mindsets or only change the environment? * Dysfunction mapping* Planning a trip to Scotland* Putting stickers on laptops is like building a termite mounds (the word I struggled to find in the conversation was ‘Stigmergy’)* The ambiguity and clarity of visualisations (approximately 50% of the brain is taken up by the visual cortex)* How to incorporate more visual facilitation in your day to day work* In person versus remote collaboration, the value of in person pandemonium* Introverts and extroverts collaborating online (warning: controversial opinion)* The power of Liberating structures, 1,2,4-all* The facilitator’s role in creating structure for groups * Dunbar’s number* Precocial vs altricial species - more info here * Applying an evolutionary biology lens to our organisations * Selective pressures changing our organisations * Agility in government versus business organisations * making changes in complex adaptive systems* Push vs Pull systems in the military* Is leadership the brains of the organisation?As you can see there were few topics we stayed away from, and I hope you’ll enjoy the adventurous spirit we took into the conversation, full well knowing that these were largely speculative conversations I’d love to hear your feedback on the episode, so please comment on this post, fill in this feedback form or find me on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you. Get full access to Intelligent Teams at intelligentteams.substack.com/subscribe

Dave Snowden, the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of The Cynefin Co., dives into the intricate world of cognitive science and its relationship with complexity. He discusses how humans excel at navigating complex decision-making, drawing parallels to the narrative strategies in Disney's 'Frozen.' The conversation covers the significance of defined roles in teams, the transformative power of rituals in organizations, and the value of diverse methodologies in fostering critical thinking. Prepare for a thought-provoking exploration of adaptability and intelligence in teams!

Tobias Mayer, a renowned Scrum trainer, shares insights from his journey of weaving faith into the workplace. He discusses how organizations can learn about humanity from religion and the power of stories in shaping our truths. The conversation touches on the significance of authenticity in teams, the benefits of haiku writing for developers, and how to foster gradual change within organizations. Mayer even humorously speculates on whether Jesus was a zombie or a vampire, all while advocating for a more human-centered work culture.

This week’s guest is Adam Boxer. Adam is an old friend, and I’ve been privileged to see his rocket-like career trajectory from humble London chemistry teacher to entrepreneurial multimodel powerhouse. Adam is a science teacher, EdTech start-up founder and educational consultant. He is an internationally recognised expert in practical pedagogy and has written several books about teaching. Adam is a co-host of the They Behave For Me podcast, and the Education Director of Carousel Learning, an innovative online learning platform that harnesses evidence from the cognitive sciences to boost student outcomes. Learning is a concept that comes up all the time in our agile product teams, so I wanted to have this conversation with Adam about learning from a point of view informed by education and cognitive science research. I found our exchange fascinating as always and this conversation introduced a bunch of interesting topics for further exploration. In particular I enjoyed the section towards the end of the episode about cognitive load and cognitive overload, so please do stick around for that. In our conversation we explored some of these questions: * What is learning?* Is there a difference between learning facts and skills?* Can you teach creativity?* Do transferable skills exists?* What are some common myths about learning?* What is the replication crisis in Psychology?* How do humans choose which information to base their opinions on?* What is a paradigm shift?* What is cognitive load and how can you reduce cognitive overload? * Why is multitasking impossible?* How does learning in groups work?Here’s the excellent list of variables Adam mentioned you could use to help you modulate cognitive load:* expertise and knowledge (including the expertise reversal effect)* number of things you ask someone to do* distractions such as jokes and redundancy* presenting things in multiple vs one modality (eg verbally and visually) * lowering the abstraction (giving concrete examples and analogies) * giving external tools and supportsLinks and referencesWhy don’t students like school Cognitive Load TheoryTo support this podcast, please give a rating on whichever platform you used to listen, and for bonus points fill in this feedback form to help me improve. You can subscribe to the Agile On The Mind substack for free for a weekly podcast or post about building Intelligent Teams with the help of cognitive science. Get full access to Intelligent Teams at intelligentteams.substack.com/subscribe

‘‘Great writing is about noticing. It’s about really picking up the details and the nuance. That’s where the stories are.’’Today’s episode is sponsored by Embodied Agility. Embodied Agility is the vehicle through which you can work with me in your team. I run training, I coach people and I help teams collaborate better and build better products. To find out more, visit embodiedagility.co.uk and book a free session with me.If you’re enjoying this podcast, please consider becoming a paid supporter of my work. This week I got my first paid subscriber and now I feel a million dollars, for the low price of less than a million dollars. If you want to encourage my work please hit that subscribe button and pick the paid option.If there’s one other thing you can do to help this substack, it’s completing this feedback form after listening to the episode. It helps me get better.This week’s guest is Laura Stroud. Laura is an author, a ghostwriter, and a doctoral student at the University of Derby. She runs the Derbyshire Writing School, and is passionate about opening up the world of creative writing for beginners. Through her courses, retreats and workshops, she makes writing feel joyful. Laura is also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has lectured in Creative Writing at the University of Derby.I loved this episode, it was my first discussion with someone who doesn’t come from the ‘agile world’ and Laura is a great advocate for creative writing. At the beginning of our conversation we had a couple of false starts in which Laura tried to find the right way of talking about her early entry into creative writing. I left it in, because it felt really real, and it shows how it sometimes takes multiple drafts and attempts before we get the final result we want.In today’s episode we discussed:* The messy ways in which we introduce ourselves and redraft our thoughts* Laura’s journey into creative writing* What creative writing is and why your teams should try it* How creative writing can help you become a better listener* Hosting psychologically safe participatory workshops* Creative writing and Cognitive Science* Short creative writing techniques you can use in your team* Storymapping and the hero’s story for your customer* Personas and user stories* The value of the big picture* Creative writing ideas for an away-dayLinks* Derbyshire Writing School - derbyshirewritingschool.com* Begin – the podcast from Derbyshire Writing School - derbyshirewritingschool.com/podcast* Some of Laura’s books – www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Laura-Stroud/author/B08HPM6ZB4* Expression of interest form for Laura’s doctoral project – https://forms.gle/gpeomQj7e4WQ2LnUA* Matthew Dicks’ website and a great storytelling tool https://matthewdicks.com/homework-for-life/* Matthew Dicks books https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Matthew-Dicks/author/B002P92M64 Get full access to Intelligent Teams at intelligentteams.substack.com/subscribe

This week’s episode is sponsored by… me! In the guise of my consultancy Embodied Agility. Embodied Agility helps your teams collaborate better by providing training, coaching and mentoring for your leaders and teams. Wherever your organisation is in it’s lifecycle from startup to supergiant, better collaboration helps you build better products, quicker, cheaper and easier and Embodied Agility is here to help. To book a free 1 hour coaching and exploration session with me go to embodiedagility.co.ukToday’s guest is Tiani Jones. Tiani has spent over 20 years in Engineering and Technology. She has a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, she’s worked with teams from diverse domains including mobile applications, IT consulting, flight simulation, aerospace, software localization, and consumer electronics. Her special interests  at the moment are Cynefin and Complexity, Theory of Constraints flow metrics. When not reading white papers on exogenous and endogenous uncertainties, Tiani enjoys weightlifting, languages, fashion, and art and it was a delight to have her on the podcast. You can find more about Tiani at properscience.coIn the podcast we covered many many topics! But some highlights for me were: * The difference between teams working in software and hardware manufacturing* Managing socio-technical systems* Different definitions of complexity * Working alone versus working collaboratively* black box thinking* Is chess a game of complexity? * Tools for helping teams - Wardley Mapping and Current and Future Reality trees * Getting into your first agile jobSHOW NOTESSocial Practice TheoryWestrum’s TypologyDetmer’s Logical thinking processFlow Engineering Qcon London Get full access to Intelligent Teams at intelligentteams.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s episode of the Agile On The Mind Podcast I talk to Vitaly Sharovatov, developer advocate and mentor at Qase. Vitaly and I explore philosophy, religion, approaches to management and - of course - cognitive science. Vitaly can be found on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/vsharovatov/ where he writes about pedagogy, software, science, philosophy and management. If you liked this you might well enjoy my substack where you can get a weekly email with my thoughts and conversations about how to build intelligent teams by combining the worlds of agility and cognitive science. This is my first foray into an interview format, I’d love to hear what you think about it or take ideas for future topics or guests. Please get in touch on daniel@embodiedagility.co.ukThis week’s episode is sponsored by -erm- me! and Embodied Agility. Embodied Agility is a consultancy that can help your teams thrive, no matter their size, domain, or dilemma. To book in a free one hour coaching and exploration session with Daniel, visit embodiedagility.co.uk and see how Embodied Agility can help you, your team, and your organisation flourish. Links Vitaly mentioned in our conversationDaniel Pink, Drive: https://www.amazon.fr/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/1594484805- Bertrand Russel, the history of western philosophy: https://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581- W. Edwards Deming, Leadership Principles from the father of quality: https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Deming-Leadership-Principles-Quality/dp/0071790225/- Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan: https://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Thomas-Hobbes-ebook/dp/B07SQ4T11M- John Locke, Second treatise of government: https://www.amazon.com/Second-Treatise-Government-John-Locke-ebook/dp/B004UJCSBG Get full access to Intelligent Teams at intelligentteams.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode is an audio of yesterday’s post Tuning The Lute. We explore opponent processing - how it works and what it could mean for a team. If you enjoy the episode, please do give it a like on Substack and subscribe for future posts and episodes.If this is up your street, you might like a couple of the talks I’m giving next week about the 4 Ps of Knowledge* Agile Northants Meetup Tuesday 27th Feb 6.15 GMT* Agile Mind Meetup Thursday 29th Feb 7.30 GMTI’m also running a class about using Team Lifecycles in planning your retrospectives on March 5th so would love to see you there are well. Until next time, stay cognitive friends. Get full access to Intelligent Teams at intelligentteams.substack.com/subscribe

If you’re reading this Substack it’s probably because you’re interested in building more effective teams. In this podcast I’ll introduce (reintroduce?) the premise of my work here, which is thinking beyond Complexity and into Intelligence as a way of helping our teams sensemake in the world. If you’ve been keeping up to date this won’t be anything new, but if you want to think about how to build better teams whilst on the go, give this a listen. Even better, give it a like and I’ll know that I should make another one. And as ever, subscribe to learn more about how to build Organisational and Team Intelligence Get full access to Intelligent Teams at intelligentteams.substack.com/subscribe