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Most discussions of Agile work touch on the matter of
collaboration. The basic idea is that “two brains on a
task” generally yield a better outcome than those two
brains working separately on two tasks.
I experienced a textbook case of collaboration last
week. I want to share this story with you as a taste for
what collaboration is like.
Next month at Project World Toronto I'll be teaching a
full-day workshop, “Agile project management: Beyond the
moves and mechanics”. In its abstract, I promised an
experiential, PowerPoint-free workshop. Last Friday, the
time came to plan the details of that workshop.
My normal procedure for any teaching experience is to
design it myself, then have colleagues and my wife Ronit
review my design. Apply their feedback, review, repeat
until done.
As it happens, Ronit was home sick that day, and she
agreed to design the workshop with me.
Quick background: I've been designing learning
experiences for a few years now, but I've rarely been on
the receiving end of experiential learning. My wife,
only once, at PSL (Jerry Weinberg's Problem-Solving
Leadership course). Her day job is rather different:
managing a structural biology lab.
For the first 30 minutes, I did most of the talking.
We reviewed the workshop's “target persona”, promised
outcome, and the topics I hoped to cover. And then we
said, let's plan a simulation for the attendees.
We had no clue how to get started. We stared at the
whiteboard for a while. Ronit offered, “Tell me about
the simulations you experienced at AYE.” (Amplifying
Your Effectiveness, Jerry's other event. You should go.)
I recounted some experiences and that gave us an idea.
We elaborated on it. Some aspects of the simulation felt
good; what we wanted the participants to do felt awkward.
Still, we made progress. It looked like a conversation
in front of a whiteboard, with occasional peeking at my
laptop for more data. And then something funny happened.
Ronit (who's quite artistic and a craft devotee) was
scheduled to teach a recycling-craft workshop to teens
the next day. Our design session shifted to discussing
whether she'd go, as she was still sick. I was thinking
to myself, “Well, she could run a simulation with the
kids, so she wouldn't have to talk much.” To make my
point, I gestured at the whiteboard. She misunderstood
the gesture and said, “You mean we could have the
simulation participants do this craft?”
I stared at her. My workshop attendees are software
project managers. This particular craft relies heavily
on paper and masking tape. I would never have
suggested it. Neither would she, if she hadn't been
involved in this design. Even if she had offered this
idea, I would have dismissed it (politely). But that
morning, my mind was receptive.
We laughed at the misunderstanding and delved into
exploring her idea. It was just *perfect*. We sketched
it out some more. We went for a walk during which we
elaborated on it some more. Ideas, extensions, and
modifications were just flying. In the afternoon, she
demonstrated some artifacts and we made sure our
attendees could pull them off. After a total of four
hours, we were basically done.
Working alone, I might have taken the same amount of
time. I can't imagine that alternative outcome and
whether it would have been as unusual, exhilarating and
fun. Ronit would have spent that time doing something on
her own; afterwards, she would have reviewed my ideas.
Apply feedback, repeat.
Instead, we produced a quality workshop. We had fun,
shared an experience, and learnt creative ideas from
each other.
A few things certainly helped, and they are true of
any collaboration:
• I didn't dominate by saying “I'm the workshop leader;
I need to deliver it. I welcome your opinions and ideas,
and I'll decide.” It was a symmetrical experience.
• We allowed ourselves to get off track, take mental
breaks (one was to make soup) and go for a walk. The
changes in perspective helped both of us.
• We made the time and were fully present in the design
session. If she had said “I can only spare an hour,” we
wouldn't have reached this outcome.
When the time comes to design my next experiential
workshop, I'm not starting without her!
I'd love to hear your opinion of this story. Also, if
you have great collaboration stories to share, do tell me.
Copyright © 2011, 3P Vantage, Inc. All rights reserved.
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