Hey there, fellow digital warriors ⚔️!

Welcome back! In our last posts, we delved into the transformative idea:

“STOP ✋ transforming 🚧. START 🌱 evolving 🔄.”

Today, we’re exploring the amazing experience at the XP2024 conference and how evolution shaped the creation of the Unicorns’ Ecosystem, inspired by my F1 experience and Laurent Bossavite’s coding dojo.

Day 1: Monday

I rode my Aprilia Tuono V4 from Slovakia to Bolzano under a brutal rainstorm ⛈️. The elements were relentless, with rain and snow nearby testing my resilience. But as I crossed into Italy, the excitement surged, and I found myself pushing full throttle through the Alps, knees scraping the asphalt 🏍️💨. Sadly, I arrived too late for the unconference format, missing some talks from dear friends.

Day 2: Tuesday

The workshop day began with the “Large Scale Agile” track. Observing the discussions, it was clear that process-driven behavior had permeated even the language of the presenters. This confirmed my theory on “osmosis-behavior,” highlighting the overuse of the term “transformation.” To me, the frequent mention of transformation felt like a symptom of deeper issues. The afternoon “GoHybrid Workshop” brought interesting discussions on hybrid working. I challenged the norm by asking, “Why hybrid and not full remote?” This sparked a lively debate, highlighting the influence of real estate interests in maintaining office spaces. The realization that many board members have stakes in real estate was an eye-opener, and it underscored the complexity of moving entirely to remote work.

Day 3: Wednesday

The day kicked off with a bang 💥 thanks to Diana Larsen’s keynote: “The Evolution of Agile: from Then ‘til Now!” Diana’s insights were profound, and we spent the morning discussing her new project after Agile Fluency. The word “evolution” in her keynote title resonated deeply with me. In the afternoon, I attended Graziela Simone Tonin’s talk on “Active Learning Approaches Applied in Teaching Agile Methodologies,” which aligned closely with my dojo’s principles of neuroscience and well-being. Her approach to active learning mirrored many techniques I’ve used in the dojo. As the day progressed, it was time for my talk: “Behavioral Engineering at the Software Craftsmanship Dojo: A 14-year Adventure Empowering Over 15,000 Developers.” I was thrilled to share the story of evolving the coding dojo into the behavior-engineered Unicorns Ecosystem . Unfortunately, the talk wasn’t recorded, but don’t worry, I’ve got a replay coming next week!

Day 4: Thursday

The highlight was “Outside In Development Guided by Tests in Mob Programming” by Marco Consolaro and Alessandro Di Gioia. I assisted in preparing the workshop and participated in the session, which featured an epic moment with Jon Kern and J.B. Rainsberger joining us. The discussions led to a powerful revision of the Agile Manifesto principle on technical excellence from “Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility” to “Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design is necessary for agility.” The workshop was a whirlwind of energy, and the collaboration with Jon and J.B. was a career highlight. The evening continued with vibrant discussions over dinner at Bozen castle, where we debated technical mastery and agility until almost 3 am.

Day 5: Friday

Alberto Brandolini’s keynote, “All the Small Things,” was inspiring and insightful as usual! His considerations on the importance of physical presence for better communication resonated deeply with me. His experimentation with communication methods sparked ideas on improving remote work challenges. Afterward, I had to rush to the Misano World Circuit for the Aprilia All Stars 2024. This event was a celebration of speed and engineering excellence, but that’s a story for another time. The thrill of connecting my professional experiences with my passion for motorsports was indescribable.

Takeaways

The XP2024 conference was a whirlwind of inspiration and insights, underscoring the importance of evolving rather than merely transforming. From vibrant discussions to hands-on workshops, every moment reinforced the value of a holistic, data-driven approach to organizational change. Remember, evolution is a journey, not a destination, and it requires the right mindset, support, and environment to succeed.

Key Highlights:

1️⃣ Evolution Over Transformation: The senior agile gurus, including the renowned names who crafted the Manifesto for Agile Software Development , emphasized the importance of evolution over transformation. Long discussions revolved around why companies still seek cookie-cutter frameworks instead of fine-tuning them to fit their unique DNA and culture.

2️⃣ Software Quality Concerns: Extensive debates on the poor software quality prevalent in the industry. Large organizations often see software as a cost to cut down rather than an asset to boost value and ROI. It’s crucial to recognize how much software surrounds us and its critical role.

“Software is eating the world”(Marc Andreessen - 2011)

is truer than ever, and bad software can lead to disaster. Embracing an engineering-oriented approach in building and integrating software is essential.

Final Conclusion

Due to these observations and the pervasive inability to evolve correctly, it is clear that organizations need more evolution platforms like the Unicorns’ Ecosystem, with dedicated tracks to evolve all actors from board members to developers simultaneously. So, 🏎️💨 start now 🚀 and jump on the Unicorns’ Ecosystem to get your tailor-made evolution.

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