Description:

Agile development teams are at the forefront of the new creative economy as they participate in creating products that impact, disrupt, & change the way we work, communicate, & play. To Do Agile, teams employ practices such as Scrum, Kanban, XP, & SAFe to accomplish their work. While its important for Agile teams to constantly improve their ability to Do Agile (the practices), it is also important to develop the mindset & behaviors of Agility--to Be Agile. According to Jim Highsmith Being Agile is more about self-organization, innovation, disruptive thinking, fast learning, constant feedback, interpersonal dynamics, & culture. Well, how do we train to Be Agile? Improvisational Theater provides a wonderful model. Robie Wood & Jody Wood team to provide anexperiential learning session, derived from Improvisational Theater, that is fun, lively, engaging & leaves a lasting impact. Participants experience & walk away with a sample of exercises targeted at improving their Servant Leadership skills as well as abilities to collaborate, make quick decisions, & to adapt. To Be Agile.

Speakers:

J Robie Wood

With over 31 years experience as a business leader, program manager & information technology practitioner, Robie Wood is specializing in Information Technology program strategy & delivery with emphasis on building & leading strong Agile teams & organizations. He has led numerous programs & projects including multi-year, multi-skill, efforts. Robie has served as a Scrum Master, Release Train Engineer, Agile Transformation Leader, Agile Coach, & Agile Trainer. Robie has presented at conferences & workshops on business intelligence, project management, & team agility. His clients have included federal, state & county governments as well as commercial entities in the financial & physical security industries. Robie can be reached atrwood@willshowvalue.comand can be followed on Twitter at @ImprovAgility

Jody Wood

As a professional actor, facilitator, & trainer for almost 30 years, Jody Wood has worked in every aspect of show business from Improv to Theater, Film, Television, & Radio. Through it all the very root of Jodys work has been improvisation. About 15 years ago Jody began conducting workshops based on the mindset & practices of Improvisational Theater to train sales teams, managers, & executives to improve their abilities to create, collaborate, communicate, lead, & respond positively to change. Jody now brings his experience & skill to ImprovAgility with a focus on using Improv techniques to train individuals & teams to Be Agile. Jody can be reached atjwood@jwactorstudio.com

Location: Spotify is on 45 W. 18th Street. That's between 6th & 5th avenues, above the Bed Bath & Beyond. Note that for this meeting, we'll be on the 7thfloor.