Improv-ing Agile Teams

Using Constraints to Unlock Creativity

De: Paul Goddard

Narrado por: 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 audiobook explores how those same simple rules and principles can help agile teams collaborate more effectively and how purposefully working within constraints can unlock creativity.

In this audiobook, 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

©2015 Paul Goddard (P)2019 Paul Goddard

Clever and useful

I was a bit skeptical at first but I was recommended this book by a colleague and I was surprised at how clever and useful the theory and games were. I used a few of them with my team and they enjoyed them and they even helped us get better.

Surprising crossover between improv and agile

I was recommended this book by a friend and enjoyed hearing about how improv (which I enjoy anyway) can apply and help me as an agile coach. There are games at the end of each chapter to try (as separate sections) - interesting listen

improv theatre techniques to improve soft skills

The audiobook is really worth the time I spent listening to it - it brings a new, at least for me, approach to improving soft skills of agile team members via techniques of improvisational theater. I like how the author cites interesting facts to support his conslusions and that each chapter is ended with a short list of short exercises / games to address some of the social or communicational weakpoints we all have. The perspective it provides made me think about new directions for my growth in this area and I'm grateful for that. Thank you, Paul.