Improv-ing Agile Teams: Using Constraints to Unlock Creativity

by Paul Goddard

IMPROV IS NOT ABOUT BEING FUNNY, ORIGINAL, OR CHAOTIC.

IT'S ABOUT EMBRACING CHANGE.

Improvisation. The mere mention of the word makes many people quake with fear at the prospect of chaos and uncertainty. The fact is, though, human beings are improvising almost every minute of their lives it is more natural, and more filled with possibility, than you might imagine.

On stage, improvisational actors use simple rules, collaborative principles, and game constraints to build unscripted yet intriguing storylines. This book explores how those same simple rules and principles can help agile teams collaborate more effectively and how purposefully working within constraints can unlock creativity.

Inside, you ll find over 50 techniques and improv games tailored for agile teams, complete with step-by-step instructions. These games are based on five different principles of improvisational theatre:

SAFETY: how accepting failure is essential to discovery
SPONTANEITY: how to increase the flow of ideas
STORYTELLING: how narratives help teams relate to their customers and end users
STATUS: how adjusting personal behaviour can encourage collaboration
SENSITIVITY: how to become more fully engaged with fellow team members

Genres: Management, Technical

216 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2015

Reviews

[Cat]

The author of this book has participated in improv comedy as well as agile software development and used both of those to compare and discuss how using constraints unlock creativity … or basically, it's a book on embracing change. As the agile manifesto states, "We have come to value … responding to change over following a plan", as well as "individuals and interactions over process and tools". As a scrum practitioner, it's a great reminder that change isn't necessarily bad. It can bring good and interesting things. What's important is how to bring that change to the team so the team can adapt and do what they do.

It's a quick read but is great to reinvigorate your approach to change and how your agile team react to it.

[Christophe Addinquy]

How improv theatre could learn something to agile coaching ? That's what the author is focused on in this short 200 pgaes book. The content is based on 5 main topic, each one starting by the letter "S" : safety, spontaneity, story telling, status, sensitivity. Each topic have a main part and a game part. Not all of them are easy to play but there are good parts to keep. A recommandation from Toabias Mayer that worth it.

[zoagli]

Good idea in principle, but not much fun to read: it took me more than four months to finish. But the repository of improv games for agile terms is useful.