18 Mar

Holacracy: How does it work?

By Fabien Bataille

This article was originally published in French on Fabien’s blog Agile, Lean et Compagnie

As part of my research on new ways of working in organizations, which currently abound, I recently discovered Holacracy. It is used by Zappos, the
largest online shoes seller, in the United States
(see here [FR]). Closer to us in France “SOPRODI” (SME in industry in Clermont-Ferrand) and Antonutti-Delmas (SME transport, near Paris).

This new mode of business management, which was invented by the American company “Ternary Software”, then sold under license through the structure “HolacracyOne“, is now spreading around the world.

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10 Apr

3 things I learned on Agile with primary school teachers

The Agile philosophy is not only applicable to IT projects. It makes sense in any collaboration context, because it is just a better way of working. My recent experience of Agile with primary school teachers has shown me that the approach truly can be used everywhere and that it will quickly be of benefit to the team that uses it.

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30 Mar

Why is Scrum so much fun? Part 4 – Voluntary participation

No matter how engaging an experience is, or how much effort you put in designing cool rules and goals: If someone feels forced to engage in an activity, they will find it utterly boring. In this fourth and final part, we are addressing the last aspect of what makes a game fun: Voluntary participation. How does this notion apply to Scrum?

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21 Mar

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Fabien Bataille is the owner of the blog Agile, Lean et Companie (in French), which contains many insightful articles and book reviews. I invited him to be the first guest on this blog, with a translation of our favorite articles from his site. Today, a review of a classic management book.
-Coline Pannier

Among a bunch of books that a former colleague of mine left behind, I was especially interested in this one about team spirit.

After a first experience as a manager that didn’t go so well, where I had the feeling to always improvise instead of really managing, I’ve been looking for the best way to manage people (if this really exists).

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15 Feb

Why is Scrum so much fun? Part 3: The Feedback System

Feedback is a decisive aspect of human interactions. Be it in education, games, management, design or in interpersonal relationships, the way we communicate to people if they have met our expectations can have a strong impact on their future behaviours. Well-designed feedback loops are thus crucial for crafted experiences, and one of the main reasons behind the success of Scrum as a method.

After looking at the goal (part 1) and at the rules (part 2), we are continuing the exploration of the fun in Scrum with the third trait defining a game: The feedback system.

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21 Jan

Why is Scrum so much fun? Part 2: The Rules

In today’s post, we are continuing the observation of Scrum through the lens of game design. In part 1, we discussed how having a short-term goal makes for a compelling experience. Let’s now look at the second factor defining a game, namely: the rules.
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13 Jan

Why is Scrum so much fun? Part 1: The Goal

In the past few years I had the opportunity to explore various uses and dimensions of Scrum. On projects working with Scrum and the Agile philosophy, I always felt more energized, accomplished and enthusiastic. The atmosphere in my team was better, we were more productive, engaged, and overall we experienced much less stress. To put it simply: Working on projects with Scrum was fun. I started to ask myself why it was so much better to run a project with Scrum than without.
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10 Jan

What does work look like in the 21st century?

Scanning the horizon

I have started this blog to explore how work methods can foster motivation in human organisations. It is meant to grow organically, and will follow the twists and turns of my work and research.

My first idea was to start from game-thinking and see how it applies to various topics and activities. You can see this unfold in the four-fold series “Why is Scrum so much fun?”

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20 Oct

The Power of Systems

In a previous post, I discussed the question of game mechanics and how they can be used to support certain design intentions. Today I would like to share some thoughts about systems, the underlying and often invisible structure behind interactive experiences.
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01 Oct

Non-evil Gamification

When we hear of gamification, it is often in reference to the tip of the iceberg: achievements, levels, points, and other forms and representations of scoring systems. This leads to a common misconception that one could simply add a few levels and points to turn a boring task into something fun. However, even if these kinds of game mechanics are able to prompt behaviours to some extent, it is a double-edged sword.
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