One of the things that I’ve come to value in my agile journey is our local Raleigh / Durham agile community. It’s one that I’ve had a hand in creating and guiding over the years. But one that’s taken on a life of its own.
I can’t tell you how many wonderful agilists are here in my local area. Some are:
Mary Thorn, Josh Anderson, Ken Pugh, Jason Tanner, Laurie Williams, Agile Bill Krebs, Andy Hunt, Ken Auer, Catherine Louis, Cory Bryan, Jeff Barschaw, Tom Wessel, my colleagues at Zenergy Technologies, and the leaders of our local AgileRTP and ALN groups. Literally, we have a community of thousands in our Meetup groups and our local TriAgile conference draws 500+ folks annually.
A couple of other local folks that I want to call out are Laura Burke Olsen, Arjay Hinek, and Matt Phillips. They are collaborators in a group/website entitled Collaboration Explored. It is a website focused on Collaboration inspired by the late Jean Tabaka. I think it’s wonderful that these folks (and others) are continuing the work that Jean inspired.
There is no better legacy for someone than to be remembered in this way.
Back to the Metaphor
Arjay wrote an insightful and thoughtful piece on the site's blog entitled – Team Building with Metaphors.
I’ve never heard of metaphors directly referenced in this way. But Arjay makes the case of their effectiveness in creating a shared vision and understanding at a team level. He focuses on the team-building aspects.
But the communication aspects also resonated with me.
I’ve been talking a lot about the power of story-telling from a leadership perspective in agile transformations. Not just from client leaders, but from any change agent or coach that is involved in the effort.
I now think that sharing a metaphor, with or without an accompanying story, can be even more effective. And I’ll certainly be exploring this more in my ongoing coaching and teaching efforts.
Wrapping Up
I just want to say that I’m extremely thankful for our local agile community. It’s growing, learning, and adapting in so many ways.
And the people just never cease to amaze me. Arjay, nice job! And Laura, Arjay, and Matt, please continue to invest in Collaboration Explored. It’s a worthy effort!
Stay agile my friends,
Bob.