Comments on Powers of Two: Techniques for Agile Trainers

Yeah, I’m so glad you shared this on your blog and...

2009-04-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I’m so glad you shared this on your blog and I very much agree with your post and the comment. I added a few more points on my website blog, Techniques of Design at (http://techniquesofdesign.com/2009/04/16/on-techniques-for-agile-trainers/).

Thank you for the comments. I hereby correct a fl...

2009-04-12T23:58:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the comments. I hereby correct a flagrant omission: "Tell vivid stories" is definitely first-tier.

I often tell positive stories from the agile projects I've worked on, and/or coached, such as the Denali project (with Jim Shore), or the University of Michigan OTIS2 project (with Menlo Innovations). Those two projects contained particularly pivotal events that led to significant success for the team and organization. These events serve as examples of agile techniques generating realistic, achievable ROI well beyond the mediocrity to which most people are inured.

Apparently my enthusiasm comes through; often attendees tell me that my stories were their favorite part of the course. (I hope that's a good thing! ;-)

There's more goodness here than in most 200 page h...

2009-04-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

There's more goodness here than in most 200 page how-to books. And what you say applies to any kind of teaching, really. Not sure adding to it would enhance, as the succinctness and digestibility of what you have here is important.

I'd add to Bob's point about storytelling by casting it as "Tell vivid stories." I was at a one hour lecture earlier this week where the presenter had many great insights and novel perspectives on something I was very interested in. But he used very few examples and told few anecdotes to illustrate. After half an hour of dense, rapid-fire abstractions, my brain shut down. It was too much of a good thing, with too few "hooks" to catch the info. Our memories are naturally designed to store things in the form of stories and examples, the more vivid the more meorable. Not everyone can do funny, but anyone can do vivid with a little practice.

Not sure how this fits with what you have, though. It may be second-tier, while the points you have made (well illustrated through examples!) are all top-tier.

I tend to think most training courses are too bori...

2009-04-10T19:19:00.000-07:00

I tend to think most training courses are too boring, so I like to add "Interesting/Humorous Stories"

Maybe this goes under Mimicry, but I would call it out separately. When we are learning things for our careers it is important to remember we do it because we love what we do. Don't we? ;-)

One caveat - make sure it really is funny, and not just funny to you! I try most stories several times in different ways prior to ever using them in a course.

All things considered this is a great list. I'm glad you were able to find it and post it as a blog entry. Hopefully trainers will read it and try to improve!

Rob,

Right on!

I'm an especially big...

2009-04-09T16:52:00.000-07:00