Linked Article from Value Stream Management Master Class on Success Mentors University
Twenty-three years ago, when I formed Net Objectives, I adopted a personal goal of “Effective software development without suffering.” I was looking at how to improve people’s lives using what I knew – software development.
I’m up to bigger things today. The inspiration for this expansion occurred after reading “Unlimited Wealth” by Paul Pilzer. Mr. Pilzer posits that wealth equals physical resources multiplied by technology (including information) raised to the nth power where ‘n’ is the effects of the technological advances. The industrial age brought in significant advancements because it significantly increased the technology available.
The Information Age shuffled in an even bigger wealth-creating potential. While the industrial age enabled us to create wealth by leveraging human physical strength, the information age enables us to create wealth with information exponentially by sharing it.
There is a gap to attend to, however. This is the difference between what is known and how much it is used. In the Agile space, this gap is enormous. So many people talk as if the potential of what we can achieve is limited in many ways – culture, complexity, difficulty in mastery, … the list goes on. I don’t buy into it. And hopefully, you don’t either.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing ever.” Margaret Mead
Joshua (from Process Mentors) and I are committed to closing this gap and are looking for people in this master class to be a part of this. While its core intention is to continue your education in Agile at Scale, its real purpose is to get people to think critically to help others work better.
People work in miserable situations that many call impossible to fix. And some may be. But we believe much of this is due to a self-imposed lack of critical thinking. As a result, most organizations ignore basic engineering and scientific processes that can lift us out of the muck of product development and other knowledge work.
You, of course, can participate at whatever level you find appropriate for you. There is no pressure or expectation by either of us. But we wanted to make sure that the invitation to go beyond ourselves was there.