Thawing the "Frozen Middle”

Em Campbell-Pretty Partner, Context Matters @PrettyAgile www.prettyagile.com au.linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/ [email protected]

Thawing the “Frozen Middle”

AGILE 2015

WASHINGTON D.C.

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http://www.solutionsiq.com/what-is-an-empathy-map/

Silent Brainstorming

Thinking about a middle manager you work with (or have worked with in the past) on an agile implementation.

•  What are they thinking & feeling about their role in the agile implementation?

•  What are they hearing about agile from their executives, their peers and their teams?

•  What are the saying about the implementation? What are they doing? (Consider both in public or in private)

•  What pain is the agile implementation causing them? •  What do they stand to gain from the agile implementation?

Each person should add at least one sticky to every section.

EMPATHY MAP INSTRUCTIONS

Photos of the Empathy Maps produced by attendees at this session can be downloaded from: http://bit.ly/Agile2015EmpathyMaps (case sensitive link)

What patterns did you observe?

What surprised you?

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I want you to do Agile

I want to be Agile

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Beware wolves in coach’s clothing

” Those who can read and don’t, are

only marginally better off than those

who can’t.” -Verne Harnish

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LEAVE THE IVORY TOWER & GO TO THE GEMBA

"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're 1,000 miles from the corn field."

— Dwight Eisenhower

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The role of management is to support the people who do the work.

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Provide the vision

Create Unity

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Train everyone

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Fund technical enablers

Improve the system

Develop the next generation of leaders

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“The vulnerability paradox: It's the first thing I look for in you and the last thing I want you to see in me.”

- Brene Brown

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•  Find managers who are willing* •  Tap into your empathy •  Address their feelings •  Give them a role to play i.e. supporting the

people that do the work •  Help them display vulnerability

* Or inspire the unwilling

THAWING THE “FROZEN MIDDLE”

“…they are people too, they are just stuck in the system”

– Jim Benson on Middle Management

Em Campbell-Pretty Partner, Context Matters @PrettyAgile www.prettyagile.com au.linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/ [email protected]

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

Check out my blog: •  Advice for coaches on “dealing with” management: http://bit.ly/FrozenMiddle •  Book Clubs at work - Are you serious? http://bit.ly/AgileBookClub •  Creating Unity: http://bit.ly/UnityHour •  Train everyone: http://bit.ly/TrainEveryone •  An Agile Team of Agile Leaders: http://bit.ly/AgileTeamOfLeaders •  Leading Through Vulnerability: http://bit.ly/LeadingVulnerability •  An Agile Christmas Story: http://bit.ly/AgileChristmas

Note: all links are case sensitive