I spent yesterday at p-camp, an unconference for agile product managers. The event was hosted at Yahoo! and put on by the folks at Enthiosys. I led two sessions: Agile 101, and Why do Agile Projects Succeed (or Fail)? This post is about the Agile 101 session. Watch for future posts about my other session, and some more pictures.
Approximately 30 people came together Sunday morning to examine the question: “What makes agile projects succeed (or fail)?” This was one of my sessions at Silicon Valley Code Camp 2007, an open space conference that had over 900 registrants.
We generated and clarified almost 50 success or failure factors. Next the whole group participated in ranking the factors into tiers, from most important to least important. Dot voting was used to allow each participant’s experience to count equally, resulting in a result that reflects the collective wisdom of the group present. We managed to do all of this in less than an hour and a half! To learn more about the process and how to use it, click here.
Code Camp is a free conference by and for the developer community. Speakers volunteer their time and everyone attends for free. It’s a place to learn, to network and to dig into some code. It’s happening this weekend.
I’ll be doing two sessions Sunday morning:
“Agile Intro” and “What Makes Agile Projects Succeed (or fail)?“
Agile Open California 2007 has come to an end. I am sitting on a pier here at the Fort Mason Center, enjoying a muffin from Greens, watching sailboats, and collecting my thoughts.
I met some truly interesting people, heard some amazing stories, and learned much. I am exhausted and energized at the same time. I am so inspired, that I have volunteered to be a part of the conference team for next year! This was the most amazing conference experience that I’ve ever had.
Wow! The people and the energy are fantastic!
I was a busy guy today. I facilitated three sessions:
Open Space is a conference format of the people, for the people, and by the people. Participants cooperatively create the agenda and host sessions on topics that they feel passionately about.