Fashion Cycle
Drawing on the combined wisdom and energy of Project Runway, Scrum/XP and Artful Making this session will see small teams create an outfit, or outfits using a combination of conference clothing (especially Agile 2008 shirts) and a rag bag of fabric and accessories provided by the facilitator. This will be a 3-hour Scrum/XP immersion. Teams will work with their customers to establish a vision for the outfit/s, and will then plan and execute three iterations, with appropriate reviews and retrospectives, to shape the direction of the product.
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So at every conference I have been to I am handed a bag that contains stuff: brochures, key rings, pens, executive toys… and some horrendously ugly tee shirt or sweat shirt thing that would cause the fashion police to make an immediate arrest if I were ever foolish enough to wear said article on the public streets. Enough! It is time to take our ugly conference clothing and create items of fashion and originality, clothing we can be proud to wear in public.
This is a pure experiential session; it is playtime. Drawing on the combined wisdom and energy of Project Runway, Scrum/XP and Artful Making this session will see small teams create an outfit, or outfits using a combination of conference clothing (especially Agile 2008 shirts) and a rag bag of fabric and accessories provided by the facilitator. On hand to assist will be some savvy, fashion conscious colleagues, who will act as customers in the process.
Simply speaking, this will be a 3-hour Scrum/XP immersion. Teams will work with their customers to establish a vision for the outfit/s, and will then plan and execute three iterations, with appropriate reviews and retrospectives at the end of each iteration, to shape the direction of the product. The intent will be to both design and make the clothing, getting it “to market” by the end of the session.
Appropriate tools for measuring, cutting, stitching, etc. will be on hand. At least one sewing machine will be provided (a shared resource) and just-in-time training will be offered on its use. It is possible that detailed sewing tasks can be outsourced to a machine expert. Attendees will be encouraged to bring their own conference clothing to be transformed.
The session is aimed at those already familiar with Scrum and/or XP and possibly using an Agile approach in their organizations. The purpose of the session is less about learning and more about practicing; its intention is to immerse the participants in a highly chaotic and creative activity in order to experience the Artful Making qualities of release, collaboration, ensemble and play. And more than that, the participants get to create something they actually want… well, possibly ;-)
The outfits created in the workshop will be modeled, runway-style during the lunch break (which means this would be best run as a morning session).
I’ll need a room with tables and chairs. Ideally, space to move freely will be appreciated too.
I think four groups of 4-6 participants in each would be the maximum number of participants for this to work.
Three hours is the minimum. It is also the maximum. It is just enough time to create a product and experience the collaborative process first hand. It is not so long as to be laboring a point.
The introduction and the initial customer discussion and planning will probably take 30-45 minutes. I imagine the actual development sprints will be 30 minutes each. Agile and Artful Making principles will be discussed between each sprint, as appropriate
There will be no PowerPoint presentation and probably no hand outs. The whole workshop is immersive and interactive. It will be happily chaotic, with the potential for catastrophic and magnificent failure.