Sonesis/AI — An AI Companion for Learning and Problem Solving

Sonesis is designed to help people learn in an effective manner. You can talk to it like a person. It is based on a scientific approach integrating the works of Lean, Evo (Tom Gilb’s approach), Flow, and The Theory of Constraints. We call this the Physics of Flow. It also integrates little used but very powerful practices.

But knowing what to do is not enough. One must also understand how to convey these ideas to others. Therefore Sonesis also integrates:

• coaching patterns that help people discover insights
• the Sonesis Improving Kata for interactive learning
• attention to how people listen, learn, and respond in organizations

Sonesis/AI is currently a trained ChatGPT. Sonesis/AI can be used in several different ways depending on what you want to accomplish.

Sonesis/AI uses Interaction-driven learning – a way of building capability through guided conversation in real situations, rather than through pre-packaged instruction. Instead of separating learning from doing, it integrates the two—using questions, feedback, and reflection to help people see what’s actually happening, think through decisions, and adjust their actions in context. Because the learning is tied directly to real problems, it develops not just knowledge, but the ability to apply it—accelerating understanding while improving performance at the same time.

Effective organizational change requires attending to three interdependent dynamics: context, diagnostics, and reframing. Context determines what is possible and appropriate—without understanding the environment, constraints, and stakeholders, even good ideas fail. Diagnostics reveal what is actually limiting performance, preventing teams from applying generic solutions to the wrong problems. Reframing shifts how people see their situation, enabling them to move beyond habitual thinking and recognize new options for action. Ignoring any one of these leads to misalignment, wasted effort, and resistance; attending to all three creates the conditions for meaningful, sustained improvement.

What You can Do With Sonesis/AI

Sonesis/AI is designed to interact with you in the same way you would a person. However, it is possible to tell it to work with you in a particular manner. These are being added to. Here are some active ones.

Interaction Driven Learning. This enables you to ask Sonesis/AI about an appoach, a concept, a chapter in a book, pretty much anything. It can also determine if you understand the topic and teach you what’s missing. You can also impove your understanding of frameworks like Scrum or SAFe, or approaches like Kanban or Disciplined Agile. Sonesis/AI is familiar with Al Shalloway’s books. You can ask it questions about specific topics as you wish. Although Sonesis/AI does not have access to all books, if there is a topic you want to learn more about, ask Sonesis/AI. It almost certainly will be able to give you insights. We call this interaction driven learning.

Ask Sonesis/AI about some capability you’d like to have. These include effective product management, running a diagnostic, using the DA bowser effectively, or how to overcome a problem.

Ask Sonesis/AI about a problem you’re having. It can help you diagnose problems. Just tell it what issues you have and you can work with it to see how to resolve things. Go here to learn more about how Sonesis/AI does this.

Have Sonesis/AI help you decide between DA Browser Options. Sonesis/AI helps you make choices between the DA Browser’s options. It goes beyond the foundation that underlay the Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant workshop that was, unforunately, never implemented in the browser and has since been extended by Sonesis. You can learn more about what it will do here.

Use Sonesis/AI to help recover from stalled SAFe adoptions. Simply evoke Sonesis/AI and tell it you’d like to learn more about this. This is an example of what it may walk you through. The exact path will vary on what you tell it.

Use Sonesis/AI to solve problems we’ve seen at the team level. You can also ask it about common team-level practices. Go to The Sonesis/AI Team Situations Guide to see more.

Get Guidance on How to Coach Someone In a Particular Situation. Describe a challenge you are facing as a coach, manager, or team member. Sonesis/AI can help you think through what may be happening and suggest ways to guide the conversation productively. Sonesis/AI uses Kata Coaching Patterns. You can learn more here.

Practice Coaching Conversations. Role-play difficult conversations. Sonesis/AI can play the person being coached or demonstrate how an experienced coach might handle the situation. You can learn more about how to do this here.

Learn Concepts Through Guided Interaction. Ask Sonesis/AI to teach you something using the Learning Kata. Instead of a lecture, it will guide you through questions and small steps so the ideas become clearer as you explore them. You can learn more about how this work here.

Demonstrate and Strengthen Your Capability. Ask Sonesis/AI to test your understanding of a concept or topic. It can ask questions, check your responses, and help deepen your understanding through continued interaction.

The above scenarios are intended to work together

Each of these are just descriptions of what you can do with Sonesis/AI.  A common sequence is:

• discuss a problem you have
• ask for guidance on how to coach people in solving it
• role play with Sonesis/AI to practice how to do that
• learn more depth about the topic

In other words, there is no right way to interact with Sonesis/AI. “Talk” to it the way you’re interested. It can respond in surprisingly appropriate way.  The above list is just to give you some ideas.

You can begin with a question like:

• Our teams keep starting work but not finishing it. What should I look for?
• “Test my understanding of value streams.”
• “Help me prepare for a difficult coaching conversation.”

Or simply describe a situation you want to think through.

Sonesis/AI will guide the conversation from there.

Sonesis/AI helps you:

• think through problems
• practice coaching conversations
• learn key distinctions
• develop improvement capability