It may take fire

April 5, 2013

A busy week with three days in Helsinki working on an Agile/Cynefin course and then most of today spent getting to, and handing around in the Royal United Hospital in Bath for a consultation.   That has resulted in a need for me to return sometime soon for my first ever MRI scan (hopefully just a trapped nerve but never ask a consultant about other possibilities).  All in all a busy & somehwat disturbing week but I managed to find time in Helsinki to pick up the illustrated piece from Estonian artist Annika Teder from an antique shop around the corner from where we taught the course.  It was a part of a collection they had got hold of and I had a sense that they didn't really want to sell it which is always a good sign!

I was joint teaching with Joseph Pelrine, author of this article on Cynefin and software development courtesy of Agile Finland.  Out goal was to work out what a Cynefin/Agile course would look like and while we made progress there is more work to do.   I'm pretty clear in my own mind what are the key modules within our training set, and further that they need to be contextualised with more software examples.   I also came away firmly convinced that SenseMaker® has huge potential for requirements capture so we need to move on that in the next few weeks.

The problem I still have, and its been in various forms an issue for a decade, is how to manage the quality balance with openness.  Over the years I have seen a lot of our material taken up and used well.  I've also seen it compromised, trivialised and misunderstood.  I also don't want to get into the market of throwing together a collection of simplistic material and making a quick buck by franchising something that relies on its undemanding nature to promulgate without any need for quality control.

There is a quote than opens Annika Teder's web page that is relevant here:

The clay is rocks that has crumbled away in water and deposited as time went by.
 It takes a human being and fire to turn it into a living thing again. The creator’s will and choice define the birth of a new form. The Form is my Game.

I'm not going to expand on that for the moment, but I am going to think about it.  Any ideas welcome

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