v3.1 Agile Coaching Growth Wheel
v3.1 Agile Coaching Growth Wheel
v3.1 Agile Coaching Growth Wheel
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Introduction
Agile coaching is an evolving profession encompassing many disciplines,
including individual, team, and systemic coaching, facilitating, teaching, and
mentoring, all applied with an open and deliberate bias towards using agile
approaches to help address the client’s needs.
Agile coaching helps people who work in rapidly evolving situations become more
effective and successful.
When we use the term “Agile” in this document, we are referring to philosophies,
frameworks, processes, and techniques that help improve outcomes in evolving
contexts, so “Agile” includes Lean Manufacturing, Lean Startup, Scrum, Extreme
Programming, etc.
The Agile Coaching Growth Wheel is a tool for Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters, Leaders,
and anyone who desires to increase their ability to help and grow teams and
organizations using Agile principles and practices. The wheel allows you to reflect and
grow on your Agile journey. This tool is also best used with another coach to help
support them.
The wheel has eight segments or spokes, representing eight competency skills areas
built around a hub of self-mastery. The tread around the outside of the wheel represents
your domain knowledge. These are knowledge areas that in turn support the skills of the
main competency areas.
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Why create this wheel?
At the 2018 Agile Coaching Retreat in London, a collection of coaches came together in
an effort to tackle the question “what are the skills needed to successfully coach teams
and organizations in Agile?”.
As the use of Agile has become more and more mainstream the foundational definition
of good Agile coaching skills has remained loosely defined and this lack of definition has
resulted in unqualified people presenting themselves as Agile Coaches with little
experience and low competence. This creates something of a lottery for organizations
choosing the right people with the right skills for their needs.
The London retreat created the first generation of the Agile Coaching Growth Wheel, as
an effort to address these questions and challenges.
In 2020 Bob Galen wrote Agile Coaches Need More Than Coaching Skills, which
sparked a renewed conversation around what skills are essential to the craft of Agile
Coaching. His blog was an implicit challenge to everyone in the Agile Coaching
community to think about how we were presenting ourselves, growing ourselves, and
helping the next generation of Agilist to be the best they could be.
Partly in response to Bob’s article, in the Spring of 2021 the Scrum Alliance hosted an
Open Space with the question of “what competencies are needed for a successful Agile
Coach.” The outcome of the Open Space was the formation of a working group whose
goal was to “Professionalize the world of Agile Coaching.”
Using the 2018 Agile Coaching Growth Wheel as a start they refined it to what you see
today. Our goal is that the Agile Coaching growth wheel lays down the core
competencies that allow practitioners to go from good to great through a reflective
process with clear guidance to assess their progress.
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For over a decade the Adkins/Spayd model has been the gold standard for defining the
skills and competencies of Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches. It was the logical place
to start from when the 2018 London coaches sought to take it to the next level.
We can’t thank Lyssa or Michael enough for the work they have done to professionalize
the world of Agile Coaching. They have been a constant source of inspiration to all of
the volunteers that have worked on this project.
Recognizing this solid foundation, the contributors of this work believe that more
definition is required to further professionalize the world of Agile Coaching and the result
is the Agile Coaching Growth Wheel initiative.
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Coaching certifications that already exist. It will also build confidence in the industry
around the future profession of any job roles that involve the use of Agile Coaching
skills. We are making it easier for an Agile organization to select the right person for the
right job with confidence.
The next step is to complete the Agile Growth Wheel with all nine competencies fully
defined and aligned to the skill progression path. Once this is complete the intent is to
build out resources that will guide a learner to developing specific competencies to the
level they need or desire.
The Scrum Alliance has committed to using the final Growth Wheel as a foundation for
updating its coaching certifications and it is hoped that other Agile and Scrum bodies
will recognize the Wheel as a new standard in Agile Coaching and the entire community
can step towards professionalizing the world of Agile Coaching.
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at the practitioner level that you cannot fulfill 100%, perhaps they are not vital to you or
your context. As you explore the guidance, you might find a better fit for yourself.
Self Mastery: At the heart of great agile coaching is the need to invest in yourself
through learning and reflection and take care of your wellbeing. Self-mastery starts with
a focus on yourself, having the emotional, social, and relationship intelligence to choose
how you show up in any given context.
Serving: serving is about being concerned with the needs of the team or business over
your own agenda. They do this from the stance of Servant Leadership which focuses
primarily on the growth and well-being of the team or business and the communities to
which they belong.
Advising: advising is the ability to bring your experience, insights, and observations to
guide the client towards a shared understanding of the value that can help them to
achieve sustainable success, even after you have moved on. As a trusted adviser, you
are invested in the success of the client, creating a long-term and sustaining
relationship with the client.
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Leading: leading is about being the change you want to see to make the world a better
place. As a leader, you are capable of catalyzing growth and inspiring others to realize
the shared vision.
Transforming: transforming is guiding sustainable change that will allow the individual
teams and the organization to be more effective and learn how to change for
themselves through leading, facilitation, coaching, facilitating learning, and advising.
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determining which aspects are of greatest importance in a particular
situation.
Practitioner A practitioner can demonstrate working knowledge of all aspects of the
Agile Coaching Growth Wheel. An Agile Coaching practitioner will be able
to analyze and differentiate various solutions to apply in their work without
close supervision and possess the planning skills required to enable them
to deal with complex issues or resolve conflicting priorities. At this level,
the practitioner should be capable of using repeatable procedures to
produce acceptable results and be able to plan towards longer-term goals.
Guide At the guide level, the individual has in-depth knowledge of the Agile
Coaching Growth Wheel competencies. They will be able to synthesize
coaching solutions from the existing bodies of knowledge within Agile/Lean
and beyond, and tailor them to specific instances in all save the most
complex or exceptional of situations and can effectively guide the work of
others.
An Agile Coaching Guide will usually be able to intuitively assess the best
course of action to take in a given situation and understand how and when
to apply guidelines.
Catalyst A Catalyst has a deep tacit understanding of the Agile Growth Wheel
competencies. This individual will be able to modify or alter standards and
develop new and innovative approaches to deal with unusual situations. A
Catalyst will be able to easily produce high-quality results and be able to
develop a vision of what is possible.
“I only know that I know nothing. Every time you think you have learned
something, you can let go of it to continue learning.” Socrates
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Start with Ethics
As an agile coaching practitioner ethics are central to your practice when using any of
the core skills. This is important for your own personal growth, the good of our clients
and the integrity of the profession. You may base your ethical approach on such
sources as:
● Agile Alliance: Code of Ethical Conduct for Agile Coaching
https://www.agilealliance.org/agilecoachingethics/
● ICF: code of ethics https://coachingfederation.org/ethics/code-of-ethics
● IAF: code of ethics
https://www.iaf-world.org/site/pages/statement-values-code-ethics
Self-mastery and ethics intermingle, the more Self-mastery you have the more you will
be in touch with your abilities to uphold your ethical code of conduct, to understand
when you have transgressed and to be able to repair the harm.
Self Mastery
Self-mastery practices are the need to invest in yourself through reflection, learning, and
taking care of your wellbeing. Self-mastery starts with you having your own emotionally
intelligent relationship with yourself and others. You understand how Emotional
Intelligence supports Relationship Intelligence, Social Intelligence, and the systems that
you interact with.
A core of Self-Mastery creates the platform for effective use of all the other
competencies of the Agile Coaching Growth wheel. The level of your self-mastery will
influence your potential in the other competencies. To achieve self-mastery you must
focus on:
Emotional Intelligence
When we grow our Emotional Intelligence we have access to improved mental health,
greater job performance and more effective leadership skills.
● Self-Awareness - Know yourself; know your impact. Gaining a fundamental
understanding of yourself, your personal cultural beliefs and biases, your
strengths and weaknesses, your skills and knowledge, and your values. These
are a prerequisite for knowing the impact you have in any situation.
● Self-Regulation - You are able to regulate your emotions and your energetic
field in a conscious way. This gives you the ability to choose how you show up,
and shift in the moment when necessary and to hold appropriate boundaries.
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● Systems impact - You have the ability to understand your impact, determine if it
differs from your intention, and fluidly change the way you show up in order to
achieve the desired impact. The ability to understand when you have
transgressed a boundary, and the skill to repair the relationship.
Level Reflection
1 Self-Awareness
Beginner ● Identify major emotions, such as happy, sad, angry in
self and others.
● Aware that people have their own values and a belief
systems.
Self-Regulation
● Able to regulate some emotional states or behaviors.
● Understand that you can attain self-regulation.
Systems Impact
● Aware of the concept of systems, and that you as an
individual, are part of a system and that teams exist in
a larger system.
2 Self-Awareness
Advanced ● Recognize a larger set of more nuanced emotional
Beginner states.
● Aware of some of your own values and beliefs.
Self-Regulation
● Demonstrate an understanding when self-regulation is
not happening.
● Control your emotions and behavior to achieve a
specific impact.
● Describe some self-regulation techniques that can
lead to more successful outcomes.
Systems Impact
● Understand common systems that exist in
organizational structures.
● Identify positive and negative impacts that may occur
when the systems interact.
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● Recognize when a system is out of alignment, and
know that the system may need assistance in
resolution.
3 Self-Awareness
Practitioner ● Recognize and name your own emotional state at any
given time.
● Recognize that you have blind spots, and begin to
identify them.
● Identify most of your own values and beliefs.
Self-Regulation
● Choose your own response in most situations.
● Able to match your emotional state to the energetic
field in some cases.
● Plan in advance for some complex scenarios.
Systems Impact
● Understand systemic values and the impact of your
values on the system.
● Recognize complex issues within single systems, and
work to resolve some
● Recognize the impact of systems within systems (i.e.
teams within a department), and is able to work to
align those in a healthy way.
4 Self-Awareness
Guide ● Understand and anticipate your own triggers.
● Understand your own values system and be aware
that it is at choice about whether to live by them or not.
Self-Regulation
● Regulate your emotions and energetic field in a
conscious way in most situations.
● Choose how you show up, shift in the moment when
necessary, and hold appropriate boundaries.
Systems Impact
● Assess systems intuitively and know what the best
course of action is to take in any given situation.
● Understand clearly the difference between your own
intention and impact, and know when they differ.
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Catalyst ● Know yourself deeply and are aware of your emotional
state at any given moment.
● Choose intentionally whether or not to live your values
and beliefs.
Self-Regulation
● Shift your emotional state at will.
● Choose how to respond in any given situation.
Systems Impact
● Understand the breadth of ways to lead, and choose
the appropriate stance in the moment.
● Work with systems to help them evolve.
Balance
Taking time for yourself and seeking balance, learning how to integrate all parts of your
life in a healthful way. It's also important to be aware when you are out of balance and
be able to re-balance when needed. Balance encompasses understanding your
physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. It also incorporates the intersection of work
and play, and the cultivation of supportive structures, communities, and interests in your
life.
Level Reflection
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● Build a wider support system, which may include
professionals or organizations in addition to personal
support.
● Understand when you have transgressed a boundary
and are able to make the repair with the other party.
Personal Transformation
Be the change you want to see by modeling the transformation you want others to
experience. Valuing and investing in your own personal growth through reflection,
seeking, learning, and the integration of all you have learned. You also work with peers,
mentors, or coaching supervisors to accelerate your skills and mastery. You understand
that your transformational journey is never complete.
Level Reflection
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3 ● Recognize that personal transformation is an ongoing
Practitioner activity that has no end.
● Engage a mentor, and may mentor others.
● Aware of your growth opportunities.
● Aware that transformation impacts not just what you
know, but also who you are.
The term Agile was originally coined as part of the Manifesto for Agile Software
Development and defined by 4 values and 12 guiding principles. The idea of agility has
transcended the Manifesto and evolved beyond software to meet a wider organizational
context, but it retains a philosophy that can be seen clearly in that Manifesto.
The term Lean originates from Lean Manufacturing and Lean Product Development,
although the word Lean has also been subsequently used in many contexts. Many of
the ideas that are aligned with Agile and Lean concepts can be seen in many Agile
Frameworks, Methods and Practices.
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The Agile values and principles guide our thinking and actions when approaching new
situations. They can be traced back to the Manifesto for Agile Software Development
and before that Lean Manufacturing and Lean Product Development, and cover
concepts such as (but not limited to):
● Trusting and supporting people to work together in small self-managing teams.
● High-quality simple products that improve the lives of the customer.
● Delighting customers by collaborating to regularly deliver tangible value.
● Build products that can adapt to the needs of the customer.
● Continuously improve the way we work.
● Optimizing our organizations for flow by eliminating waste through leveraging
small batches within the shortest possible lead time.
Level Reflection
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4 ● Guide level guidance will be provided in a future
Guide update.
● Practices - Provide techniques and tools that enhance the use of Frameworks
and Methods. There are lots of practices that support Agile / Lean ways of
working and depending on context and team maturity, the practices used will
change over time. Some examples of common practices are:
○ User Stories, User Story Mapping, Impact Mapping, Product Vision
○ Estimation, Agile Metrics, Information radiators
○ Value stream mapping, Causal Loop Diagrams
○ Test-Driven Development, Pairing, Refactoring, Automation
○ Communities of Practice, Learning Dojo’s
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Your challenge is to discover or create new Practices and to have fun experimenting
with them.
Level Reflection
3 Frameworks/Methods
Practitioner ● Demonstrate how you have moved a team to an agile
way of working.
● Apply at least two frameworks or methods in multiple
situations.
● Aware of changing Agile trends and newer methods in
the industry.
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Practices
● Analyze the benefits of a wide range of Agile practices
and can help the team adopt them as appropriate.
● Integrate at least three Agile development practices
with Lean practices.
● Apply Agile practices beyond the team.
● Explain at least three benefits of supporting strong
technical practices when working with multiple teams.
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Serving
While servant leadership is a timeless concept, the phrase “servant leadership” was
coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first
published in 1970. In that essay, Greenleaf said:
“The servant-leader is a servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one
wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.
That person is sharply different from one who is a leader first, perhaps because
of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material
possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types.
Between them, there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety
of human nature.
“The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant first to make sure
that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and
difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being
served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves
to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society?
Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?“.
A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the
communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the
accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant
leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power and puts the needs of others
first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.
You help businesses delight their customers, through focusing on customer needs and
using agile to accelerate learning and value delivery. They have the knowledge and
skills, that serves the business in several ways, including their ability to facilitate, teach,
advise and support:
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● Purpose & Strategy - developing practical product strategies, product planning,
and forecasting, and product economics.
● Managing the Backlog - differentiating outcome and output, defining value,
ordering items, and product backlog refinement.
● Supporting Business Stakeholders - supports the learning and growth of the
Product Owner and other business stakeholders.
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Competency Level Definitions:
Level Reflection
1 Understanding Customers
Beginner ● Describe at least one technique to prioritize between
conflicting customer (or user) needs.
● Describe at least three aspects of product discovery
and identify how each contributes to successful
product outcomes.
● List at least three approaches to connect the team
directly to customers and users.
Purpose & Strategy
● Outline an approach for the creation of a product
vision.
● List an approach to communicating progress with
stakeholders.
● Describe the relationship between outcome and
output.
Managing the Backlog
● Explain at least two approaches to identify small,
valuable slices of work to maximize outcomes.
● Describe at least one approach to making sure work is
refined enough for the team.
● Describe at least 4 properties of a well-structured
Product Backlog.
Supporting Business Stakeholders
● Describe at least two stakeholder behaviors that
support the team’s success and at least two behaviors
that do not support the team’s success.
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2 Understanding Customers
Advanced ● Practice at least one technique to support teams
Beginner learning by connecting them directly to customers and
users.
● Examine the impact of product work on customers,
stakeholders, and/or the organization.
● Compare at least two approaches to validating
assumptions in order to inspect and adapt.
Purpose & Strategy
● Discuss a real-world example of how product strategy
is operationalized and evolves over time in an Agile
organization.
● Practice at least one technique to visualize and
communicate product strategy, product ideas, features,
and/or assumptions.
● Facilitate the creation (or refinement) of the product
vision between stakeholders, the Product Owner, and
the team.
Managing the Backlog
● Apply at least one technique to assist the Product
Owner in creating a smooth flow of work, ensuring that
enough Product Backlog items of the right type are
“ready” for the upcoming period of work.
● Facilitate at least two techniques for moving from a
product vision to a Product Backlog. Show how these
can be organized, ordered, and filtered within a
Product Backlog to link to product goals or strategies.
● Apply at least two techniques to model value and at
least two techniques to measure value.
Supporting Business Stakeholders
● Explain agile to business stakeholders.
● Build a coaching relationship with at least one
business stakeholder and help them become more
effective.
● Teach business stakeholders different practices for
making decisions aligned to product strategy.
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3 Understanding Customers
Practitioner ● Mentor business stakeholders in the integration of
product discovery into development.
● Facilitate at least three techniques for customer
research or product discovery.
● Facilitate the selection of an appropriate experiment to
test a hypothesis and evaluate the results.
Purpose & Strategy
● Facilitate the development of a business model and
competitive analysis for a product idea.
● Apply at least two methods to calculate the expected
outcome or economic results of a product.
● Explain an iterative and incremental investment model
for product development.
Managing the Backlog
● Assess and recommend improvements for how
teams and/or organizations emphasize outcomes over
output, and how this is reflected in a Product Backlog.
● Support the Product Owner in the selection of an
appropriate value creation strategy, using product data
to make an informed decision on what to build next.
● Apply techniques to structure and order single team
and multi-team product backlog to create transparency
and understanding.
Supporting Business Stakeholders
● Facilitate Lean experiments.
● Build a coaching relationship with multiple Product
Owners and business stakeholders in order to help
them become more effective.
4 Understanding Customers
Guide ● Advise the business on market segmentation.
● Guide the business to identify market opportunities.
● Assess at least two different approaches for validating
assumptions and guide the client in the appropriate
use of them.
Purpose & Strategy
● Facilitate product kickoffs in almost any situation
engaging multiple customers, stakeholders, leadership,
and team members.
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● Advise an organization on developing a business
vision and strategy.
● Guide the business to decide which initiatives to invest
in, to create a shared understanding of value creation
across the organization.
Managing the Backlog
● Advise the organization on how to prioritize demand
across the business.
● Facilitate an initiative from concept through to value
recognition.
● Change the focus on initial success to be
outcome-focused (economic, social, and
environmental value).
Supporting Business Stakeholders
● Respect any previous coaching done with business
stakeholders and use this to continually improve how
to serve others.
● Guide a product community in their growth.
● Teach business stakeholders Agile and Lean concepts
so they can bring the right products to the market at
the right time.
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You help teams become the best they can be using the core competencies you have
already covered. This section covers a more focused view of specifically serving the
team through a journey to high performance. This is done with knowledge and skills,
that serves the team including things such as:
1 Team Effectiveness
Beginner ● List at least three attributes of effective teams
● Describe at least three different challenges facing a
self-managing team.
● Describe the importance of creating a continuous
learning culture in a team.
Team Dynamics
● Identify the advantages of diversity within the team (i.e.
different perspectives, experiences, and viewpoints).
● Understand the importance of conflict in a team.
Launching Teams
● Understand how starting an agile team is different from
kicking off a traditional project.
● Identify characteristics of a successful team launch.
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2 Team Effectiveness
Advanced ● Discuss three different ways the organization (culture,
Beginner leadership, policies, structures etc.) can impact team
effectiveness.
● Describe at least three characteristics of a
high-performing team and how those characteristics
relate to an agile mindset.
● Discuss at least three typical impediments for a team
and describe at least one way to address them.
Team Dynamics
● Describe when a constructive interaction moves to
destructive conflict.
● Apply at least two techniques to foster greater
self-management within teams.
● Explain at least one multi-stage model for team
formation and development. Illustrates what is important
for a new team.
Launch a Team
● Facilitate creation of team purpose, roles, agreements
and alignment during the start-up of a team.
3 Team Effectiveness
Practitioner ● Describe how you can help a team overcome at least
three challenges to be more effective.
● Analyze at least two ways in which you have evolved
the culture of a team.
● Appraise at least two models or techniques for team
development and improving team effectiveness.
Team Dynamics
● Surface conflict in a positive manner to improve the
team’s competency in dealing with conflict.
● Apply at least three techniques for addressing team
dysfunctions in different teams.
● Describe how teams are unique and will require
different approaches to how they work and will need to
be coached differently.
Launching a Team
● Assess and then address missing skills or capabilities
within a team that will take it towards high performance
and business agility.
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● Integrate learnings from other teams and take a whole
system approach to the launch of a new Agile team,
starting with - good enough for now.
● Facilitate the launch of a new Agile team and explain
the learnings from the experience.
4 Team Effectiveness
Guide ● Integrate different team models and demonstrate how
you have used these to increase the team’s outcomes.
● Contrast different techniques used to increase team
effectiveness across multiple teams with who you have
worked and evaluate the effects on team results.
● Teach teams how to self-adapt, without the need for a
coach.
Team Dynamics
● Contrast the different relationships across teams with
who you have worked, and integrate learning into your
coaching interventions.
Launching a Team
● Apply a coaching approach to the formation and
development of teams and the challenges commonly
encountered while introducing Agile.
● Guide an organization in changing the environment in
order to provide the best possible start to a team.
● Support an organization in articulating a clear vision
and goals that can support teams.
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Coaching
Coaching is partnering with a person, team, or organization (client) in a creative process
to help the client to reach their goals by unlocking their own potential and
understanding. A coach is able to accept the client as a whole, creative, and competent
person, and serve their agenda ethically.
There are many different definitions of coaching, for example Whitmore, J. (1992),
simply states: “Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own
performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.” When working with
an individual or system we are helping them move forward in some way, helping them
grow. Coaching people and systems are professions in their own right, and we
encourage you to dig deeper into coaching, as a profession, using the links provided in
the resource section. There are professional bodies, such as the International Coaching
Federation (ICF) and European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), which
support the overall principles of professional coaching.
Someone using Agile Coaching practices needs a strong foundation in coaching as the
client often needs someone to create a constructive space in which they can broaden
and deepen their thinking to where they need to go. An important aspect of using
coaching practices is to understand when/when not to use a coaching approach.
Coaching Mindset
Being a Coach, you will have the beliefs, values and attitudes that allow you to take a
coaching stance and work effectively with both individuals and systems. It can be
difficult for beginners to enter a coaching stance as you must often let go of skills and
behaviors that have made you an expert. Below is a list of some attitudes and beliefs
that a great coach will hold when taking a coaching stance:
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● Belief in the Client - the client is capable and whole and growth is possible.
Clients are capable of achieving their own goals, and not in need of “fixing”.
○ Neutrality - You respect the client's perspective and their needs without
judgment. You do not influence, and instead hold the clients agenda. You
reduce client dependence, work to enable the client to move forward
independently.
○ Adaptability - You are willing to let go of judgment and adapt to what the
client needs in the moment.
○ Learning - You believe that others learn best for themselves. People are
naturally resourceful and whole with unlimited potential. They come to
work to do the best they can and do not need rescuing from the decisions
they make.
Level Reflection
1 Coachee Focus
Beginner ● Define what coaching ethics means to them.
● Explain what Physiological safety is and why it is
important.
● Recognize the power of coaching and the impact of
coaching for themselves.
Belief in the Client
● Recognize that growth is possible and people are
naturally creative, resourceful, whole and have
unlimited potential.
● Recognize that a coaching conversation is for the
purpose of helping a client deepen/broaden their
thinking and to enable growth.
● Understand the importance of the client leading the
direction of the conversation.
2 Coachee Focus
Advanced ● Apply coaching ethics when coaching.
Beginner ● Demonstrate the power of coaching by having regular
coaching yourself.
● Able to let the client set the agenda.
Belief in the Client
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● Able to focus on the clients agenda, believe that your
clients are naturally creative, resourceful, whole and
have unlimited potential. Therefore, they have the
means to solve their own challenges.
● Able to help the client create opportunities for learning
and for taking new actions. Helps them explore
alternatives, promotes experimentation and
self-discovery, celebrates successes and capabilities,
helps “do it now”.
3 Coachee Focus
Practitioner ● Apply coaching ethics as part of their everyday life.
● Demonstrate the power of coaching by having regular
coaching supervision or peer support.
● Able to suspend judgment in regards to the clients
perspective and their needs.
Belief in the Client
● Model unconditional positive regard, assume positive
intent, people are always doing the best they can.
● Demonstrate the ability to help clients to believe in
their potential and ability to change.
● Able to enable the client to move forward
independently.
Coaching Skills
To be a successful coach is more than just adopting the right mindset. Coaching models
leverage specific skills and capabilities that allow the coach to help the client deepen
their thinking to where they need to go. Coaching skills are foundational techniques that
you as a Coach can apply regardless of if you are working with an individual, a team, or
an organization.
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There are a number of different approaches to one on one coaching, each of which may
contain different models, practices, and tools that can help a coach given different
contexts. Whichever tools a coach uses, they must co-create an effective relationship
with the client and leverage their communication skills to cultivate learning and growth.
Coaching Systems looks at skills associated with coaching beyond individuals working
with groups and relationships. There are a number of different approaches to coaching
systems, each of which may contain different models, practices, and tools that can help
a coach in the context of a system.
Level Reflection
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● Recognize confidentiality as a basis for the coaching
conversation.
Communication Skills
● Understand the importance that listening plays in good
communication.
Tools, Techniques and Approaches
● Explain at least one coaching tool/technique and be
aware of the benefits.
● Understand the importance of using powerful questions
and silence to create space for client thinking and
expression.
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3 Co-creates the Relationship
Practitioner ● Contrast at least 2 methods to develop, maintain, and
reflect on agreements and goals with individuals and
(the) system(s).
● Practice intervening in the conversation to reorient it
and reflect on which interventions were appropriate.
● Practice encouraging individuals and system members
to pause and reflect on how they are interacting and
behaving in the coaching sessions.
Communication Skills
● Practice at least 3 ways to encourage individuals and
the system to own the dialogue.
● Demonstrate a situation where you intervened to
reorient the conversation and your reasoning.
● Able to actively listen, reflect and mirror body language,
words, tone and energy.
Tools, Techniques and Approaches
● Compare coaching approaches and how they best
serve the client.
● Analyze three coaching tools and how they can be used
to help a team grow, explain how you have used one of
the tools in the past.
● Apply two or more tools or techniques to support
psychological safety in a systemic coaching session.
Facilitating
Facilitating a group increases the effectiveness of people to align in a collaborative way,
to interpret their context, and mutually identify the most valuable outcomes desired. A
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facilitator has the skills to create a neutral environment of openness, safety, and
innovation in a group setting.
“Facilitation is the practical neutral craft (an informed blend of techniques and insights)
of creating environments of openness, safety and innovation” (Turner, 2012).
Facilitation Mindset
Being a Facilitator you maintain neutrality of the content being discussed, create a
collaborative space, and encourage full participation of all members of the group.
● Group Focus - Develop and maintain a mindset that is open, curious, flexible,
and honors the group's agenda. Demonstrate collaborative values and remain
present for the group. The processes you create in
○ Authenticity - You behave in an ethical way and have a strong belief and
values system that holds the group in a non-judgemental and safe space.
○ Learning - You recognise that learning is an important part of becoming a
better facilitator
○ Enabling - You develop your own skills to enable the group to learn and
gain insight.
● Believe in the group -The group is creative, resourceful and whole and, with the
right focus, has the answers to meet the outcome for themselves without external
support.
○ Neutrality - You respect the perspective of each person in the group and
their needs without judgment.
○ Adaptability - You hold the outcome and are able to adapt to what the
group needs in the moment in order to meet the agreed outcome
○ Learning - You believe that others learn best for themselves. The group is
naturally resourceful and whole with unlimited potential. The group learns
from its mistakes and becomes stronger. No rescuing is required.
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Competency Level Definitions:
Level Reflection
1 Group Focus
Beginner ● Discuss how a Facilitator maintains psychological
safety, trust, transparency, and clarity throughout the
engagement with the group.
● Identify when a Facilitation stance is appropriate.
Believe in the Group
● Describe the importance of maintaining respect for
people's opinions.
● Welcome diverse opinions.
● Explain why Facilitation is for the benefit of the group.
2 Group Focus
Advanced ● Describe your Facilitation stance and how it impacted
Beginner the group.
● Reflect as a facilitator and describe your impact on the
group.
● Describe how you remain ethical when facilitating.
Believe in the Group
● Describe why we don’t set the outcome of a session
we are facilitating.
● Explain why remaining neutral is important.
● Articulate the importance of the statement “The group
is naturally creative, resourceful, and whole, and
therefore, they have the means to solve their own
challenges and do not need to be fixed in any way.”
3 Group Focus
Practitioner ● Analyze how you plan to improve your facilitation skills
over the near future.
● Analyze a session you facilitated and reflect on what
went well and what would have worked better.
● Guide the process for the group without leading their
path and solutions.
Believe in the Group
● Model unconditional positive regard and always
assume positive intent.
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● Demonstrate the ability to help groups believe in their
potential and ability to change.
● Demonstrate how you helped the group learn for
themselves.
Facilitation Skills
Being a Facilitator you hold attention to what is important for the group, and leave
responsibility with them for action. You help the group be accountable to what they say
they will do and their plan. You will be skilled in working through a number of different
group challenges.
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● Establish an Approach - You use a variety of techniques that foster open
participation considering client culture, diversity and participants who have
different approaches to learning and ways of processing information.
● Inspire Group Creativity - You draw out participants with various approaches to
learning and ways of processing information. Encourage creative thinking and
stimulate group energy.
Level Reflection
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2 Multi-stakeholder contracting & relationship management
Advanced ● Apply a facilitation agreement with a stakeholder.
Beginner ● Design a basic facilitation plan that ensures
engagement for all participants.
Participation & Outcomes
● Demonstrate the ability to facilitate a session, that has
active yet balanced participation for all group
members.
● Demonstrate facilitating a group to consensus.
● Able to facilitate a group to an agreed outcome.
Tools & Techniques
● Demonstrate the ability to follow a basic facilitation
arc.
● Demonstrate the use of a variety of tools and
techniques that foster open participation.
● Demonstrate the use of a variety of tools and
techniques that encourage creative thinking and
stimulate group energy.
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4 ● Guide level guidance will be provided in a future
Guide update.
Guiding Learning
Guiding learning is about effectively growing an individual, a group, or a team’s skills
and enabling them to be competent and resourceful. With this competency, you choose
the most effective learning method to help the learner achieve their learning outcomes
and inspire future learning.
Agile is all about learning, you will need to guide the learning of other people around
you, helping them learn new skills and gain knowledge.
Learning Mindset
Being a guide, you believe in the power of continuous learning and people's unbounded
potential to change and grow as a result. There are certain attitudes and beliefs that
you hold that underpin both your mentoring and training approach.
● Growth
○ Believe that all people can learn and grow, and that learning is a lifelong
journey.
○ See the learner as creative, resourceful and whole; not needing to be fixed
in any way.
○ Express curiosity: Be open to feedback and focus on continuous learning.
● Environment
○ Identifie culture and adapt to meet the individuals and the organization
where they are.
○ Cultivate an environment of trust, respect and safety - partner with the
learners to create a psychologically safe and supportive environment that
enables learning and encourages collaboration.
○ Create a learning environment that allows for experimentation and
supports the learner's reflection.
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● Guiding
○ Share experiences and knowledge with the intent of helping learners be
the best they can be.
○ Maintain awareness of self, and listen to the learners needs.
○ Develop learner-driven content that is interactive and engaging, enabling a
concrete connection to the concepts.
○ Validate learners' understanding of concepts and skills.
Level Reflection
1 Growth
Beginner ● Explain how learning is a lifelong journey
● Discuss the importance of feedback
Environment
● Describe how to cultivate an environment of trust
respect and safety
Guiding
● Discuss how you can validate a learner's
understanding of concepts and skills.
2 Growth
Advanced ● Show how feedback given well can be transformative.
Beginner ● Apply feedback received to improve your guiding
skills.
Environment
● Assess the impact you are having on the learners.
● Create a supporting environment for your learner(s).
Guiding
● Develop a workshop based on learner-driven content.
3 Growth
Practitioner ● Design an activity to help your learner distill their
learning, so they know what they have learned.
● Analyze three ways to help your learners grow
professionally.
● Demonstrate at least 3 methods to give and receive
feedback with curiosity to drive continuous learning.
Environment
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● Create a partnership with learners to create a
psychologically safe environment to enable learning
and encourage collaboration.
● Integrate experimentation and reflection into your
learning environment
● Modify the environment based on organizational
culture to meet your learners where they are
Guiding
● Believe in a learner's potential unconditionally.
● Create and foster a learner-and-guide relationship
based on mutual trust, respect and commitment.
● Explain why entering a learning relationship requires
compatibility with the learner to be successful.
Mentoring
Mentoring the creation of a “learning relationship between two (or more) individuals who
share mutual responsibility and accountability for helping a mentee towards a clear and
mutually defined learning goal. Learning is the fundamental process, purpose and
product of mentoring”. (Zachary, 2005).
In a mentoring relationship, the mentor has experience in the area of growth, although
both the mentor and mentee may learn from the interaction. Mentoring involves sharing
with the mentee different approaches and acting as a guide down pathways commonly
taken.
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● Sharing Expertise - Mentoring is generative and not directive. The mentee
remains at choice as to whether to adopt a mentor's suggestions in any of the
experiences the mentor shares. The Mentor…
○ Shares subject matter expertise in the areas of need to the mentee
○ Understands the boundaries of own expertise and when to seek other
experts for the mentee
○ Shares experience by showing examples, storytelling, roleplay, giving
feedback, and sharing resources/connections.
○ Checks resonance with the mentee.
Level Reflection
1 Mentee Focus
Beginner ● Describe the opportunity for learning for both you the
mentor and the mentee.
● Describe the impact of clear goals on a mentoring
relationship.
Sharing Expertise
● Identify if you are compatible with a mentor or mentee.
2 Mentee Focus
Advanced ● Describe three techniques to help an individual
Beginner recognize areas of weakness and create positive
change for themselves.
● Demonstrate giving feedback in a way that
encourages growth.
● Create a mentee relationship that connects your
experience to the needs of the mentee.
Sharing Expertise
● Demonstrate your ability to mentor a person or team.
● Support your recommendation to the mentee using
your expertise.
● Explain how the scenario(s) you share relate to the
problem for which the mentee is seeking guidance.
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Level Reflection
3 Mentee Focus
Practitioner ● Identify the mentee's needs and adapt your approach
appropriately.
● Evaluate at least 3 factors that may contribute to your
decision to stop mentoring
● Co-create goals and create a shared purpose to guide
your relationship.
Sharing Expertise
● Illustrate - through storytelling, examples and roleplay
- the means to tackle similar problems.
● Appraise the mentee’s desire to make use of such
information. If so, expound on any scenarios deemed
valuable by the mentee.
● Modify your approach to mentoring based on
feedback and changes in the needs of the mentee.
Training
Being a Trainer, you will engage with learners to catalyze their understanding and
application of knowledge, competence and skills. It could include logistics, design,
content selection, delivery, assessment and reflection.
● Learning Design
○ Understands different learning styles and creates experiences so that the
knowledge, competence and skills can be applied by all.
○ Designs a meaningful learning experience.
○ Develops learning journeys that are focused on the learner.
● Delivery
○ Adapts in the moment and fluidly shifts learning frames toward the needs
of the learner.
○ Shares expertise and experiences through examples, storytelling, roleplay,
giving feedback, and sharing resources/connections.
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○ Validate learning of concepts and application of skills beyond the course.
Level Reflection
1 Learning Design
Beginner ● Describe training and approaches to adult learning.
● Evaluate the learning needs of an individual or team.
Delivery
● Explain two or more ways that you can share
knowledge with a group of people.
2 Learning Design
Advanced ● Design a learning experience using an appropriate
Beginner training style.
● Develop clear learning objectives, to create and
execute training.
Delivery
● Demonstrate proficiency in delivering a half day training
workshop on any Agile topic.
● Integrate learning materials, to meet the needs and
objectives of at least one training event.
3 Learning Design
Practitioner ● Create a suitable learning environment by using the
physical space.
● Modify learning design based on cultural context
● Design a safe learning environment where students can
engage and learn from each other.
● Develop learning opportunities that engage participants
who have different approaches to learning and ways of
processing information
Delivery
● Demonstrate proficiency in delivering training using at
least one of the teaching philosophies Alchemy, TBR
(Training from the Back of the Room), Deep Learning,
etc.
● Revise your approach to training based on feedback.
● Integrate effective storytelling into training to convey
key concepts.
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● Plan for disruptive situations in training workshops.
Advising
As a trusted advisor you are invested in your client's success. By fostering a long-term,
collaborative relationship with the client you can offer your experience, insights and
observations to help them succeed with their goals.
Partnering
Setting up an engagement for success by creating shared responsibility as the client
moves towards their goals. Fostering a collaborative relationship by making agreements
with leaders, teams and individuals.
● Align on Goals - A common area of frustration and failure is when there are no
goals agreed upon for the work to be undertaken. Consider, what is the purpose
of the engagement? What will success look like and how will you know?
Establishing clear goals builds focus and trust, allowing you to work
collaboratively with others in support of those goals.
● Create the Environment for Success - Partner with the client and relevant
stakeholders to create clear agreements about the nature of the relationship,
including roles, processes, plans and reporting. Establishes agreements for the
overall engagement. Organizations are complex systems. Any work should be
carried out with appropriate inspection and adaptation points that allow the
partners to adapt the work.
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Competency Level Definitions:
Competency levels for Partnering will be included in a future update of the Coaching
Wheel.
Giving Advice
As a trusted advisor sometimes what the client needs is for you to give advice. Your
knowledge and experience is valuable to the client because the client may not be aware
of what they don’t know.
● Storytelling - Based on your own experience and that of others you humbly
share stories of the people, the places and the conditions that led to new
awarenesses and benefits. You do this in service to the client to inspire new
thinking, to challenge inertia, and to unlock their potential.
● Knowledge Sharing - Referring to industry case studies, research and
established bodies of knowledge.
Leading
Leading is about being the change you want to see to make the world a better place. As
a leader, you are capable of catalyzing growth and inspiring others to realize the shared
vision.
Leading recognizes that you need leadership skills in order to help grow teams and
organizations using Agile principles and practices. It is built around a central notion of
shared responsibility in leading. Partnering with other leaders, while taking shared
responsibility on the journey towards the goal.
As a successful leader, you must move between a number of stances in the support of
these concepts. You may be asked lead from the front as a visionary leader or to let
your inner purpose serve as inspiration for others. At other times you will be asked to
subsume yourself to the betterment of others, adopting a strong servant leadership
stance. A successful leader is able to “dance in the moment”, knowing when and how to
move between these various stances.
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Leading and Self-Mastery
There are strong connections between the Leading and the Self-mastery. This is the
concept that you model behavior, principles, values, and practices in your daily
interactions. This extends into solid leadership behaviors when there is nobody around
to observe them. That is, modeling them from the inside out is part of the essence of
who you are as a Leader.
Visionary
A visionary leader is co-creating a vision of the future that acts as a positive attractor or
catalyst for incremental change. Change that is aligned to business agility, innovation,
team health, and customer value delivery. You do this largely by assisting other leaders
and organizations to dream of inspiring future states and helping them hone, share, and
instantiate those dreams organizationally.
Role Modeling
Think of role modeling, in the simplest terms, as a leader walking their talk each day.
For example, that means modeling their agile principles and values on a day-to-day
basis, both personally and professionally.
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There are two modes to role modeling. Modeling when the going is easy and modeling
when the going is tough. Being resilient means that you aspire to be a consistent role
model no matter what is going on around you.
The challenges are more cultural and organizational in nature. And this is where your
organization or clients often struggle the most, because they have to:
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1. Grow personally and internally
2. Grow and evolve their leadership teams
3. Grow and evolve their organizations
This involves successfully navigating their VUCA contexts while navigating and
negotiating large-scale change. Given that, there is a strong connection between this
competency area and the Transforming competency area.
There are skills that come become crucial to deepen your knowledge:
Transforming
Transformation is a continuous activity that allows organizations to adapt and thrive in
an ever-changing world, transforming is not just going from a current state to a new
state. As a transformation agent you guide sustainable change that allows people to be
more effective and learn how to change for themselves.
49
You will be familiar with organizational design concepts that will help client organizations
achieve greater business agility.
Organizational Change
Organizations are complex and changing them is an even more complex proposition.
An empirical and informed approach to the change process improves the chances of
success of a transformation. This approach may sometimes be talked about as a
continuous journey or a process of organizational evolution.
● Introducing Change
○ Context for change - Taking the current context & future possible context
of Organizational Design and explaining the reasons we need/want to
change or not change (for example if there is no appetite).
○ Complexity conscious - helping your client understand that organizations
are complex in nature, so change should be empirical and people-driven
rather than plan-driven.
○ Culture awareness - helping your client understand the culture of the
organization so that they can introduce appropriate change.
● Navigating Change
○ Empirical change: establishing methods for transparency, inspection and
adaptation
○ Facilitate change events & activities - from launching a single team to
guiding a full organization redesign.
○ Ownership - Involving people impacted by the change in designing and
implementing change.
○ Safe to fail experiments - establish a safe environment where the
expectation is that some experiments will fail.
○ Working with organizational tensions to navigate change.
● Sustaining Change
○ Create sustainable change: aid the organization to learn how to create
and navigate change on their own
○ Build internal capacity: Grow agile coaching capability in others
○ Help change go viral: help create an environment where positive change
can spread
○ Learning culture: seek ways to help people build learning into to the way
they work
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○ Deprecating ways of working and process: Remove those that no longer
serve the people.
Level Reflection
1 Introducing Change
Beginner ● List at least three emerging global challenges and how
each makes our world more complex, unpredictable
and/or volatile.
● Illustrate how a healthy agile approach supports the
complexity and uncertainty of work.
● Describe the nature of complex systems.
Navigating Change
● Discuss at least two ways to help the team with
responding to impediments.
● Identify at least three common organizational
impediments outside the scope of a team that impacts
effectiveness.
● Describe how transparency, inspection and adaptation
can support change.
Sustaining Change
● Describe the role continuous learning plays in
sustaining change.
● Discuss how introducing change will require
organizations to stop or adapt existing ways of working.
2 Introducing Change
Advanced ● Explain the importance of discovering an organizational
Beginner culture that supports shared accountability with teams.
● Explore at least one tool or technique to identify,
understand and influence the culture within an
organization.
● Explain how to approach an organizational change in a
complex system.
Navigating Change
● Explain the importance of taking a systemic view,
helping stakeholders understand the whole system.
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● Demonstrate how an effective approach to change
should be flexible and adaptive to different situations.
● Apply at least two techniques to effect change outside
of the team in order to help them be more productive.
● Experiment with at least one large-scale, participatory
meeting format to facilitate/kick-off people-driven
change.
Sustaining Change
● Explain the role building capability in people has on
transformation sustainability.
● Discuss how to foster the courage in leaders on all
levels to continue change.
● Describe a learning culture.
3 Introducing Change
Practitioner ● Analyze how change might be approached differently
based on existing organizational culture, and the
influence that culture has on speed, risk, and
receptiveness to change.
● Analyze how change might be approached differently
based on the system's complexity.
● Facilitate a clear understanding of an organization's
unique and compelling reasons for being agile.
Navigating Change
● Describe how organizational change impacts people
and list three benefits of involving them in the change
process.
● Compare at least two systematic methods for helping
organizations improve.
● Analyze your approach to a complex intervention that
addresses the root cause(s) of an organizational
dysfunction.
● Demonstrate at least two tangible examples of how
you changed the culture of your team or organization.
● Coached multiple groups to design/conduct
people-driven change using large-scale, participatory
meeting formats.
Sustaining Change
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● Discuss transformation sustainability and give two
approaches to developing organizational agile
capabilities.
● Evaluate an experience with supporting the work of
multiple teams in an organization and make
improvements.
● Grow agile coaching capabilities in others, including
transformation, some core skills and self-mastery.
Organizational Design
As a transformation agent you grow knowledge that will support an organization's
transformation to become a more adaptable, resilient, outcome-focused and
people-centric organization. We do this by taking a system view, helping clients design
experiments introducing them to new organizational principles and patterns. This affords
your business the freedom and flexibility to achieve its purpose. No matter what the
future brings.
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● Organizational Operating System - knowledge of approaches that could help
organizations better achieve their goals and support the culture you want to
create:
○ Decision making - how power is shared and how decisions get made.
○ Structures, policies and metrics - how we organize ourselves and work
together in a way resilience, adaptability, focusing on outcomes.
○ Innovation - how we learn and discover new ideas.
○ Roles and teams - how we take responsibility for getting work done.
● Organize Around the Delivery of Value: How an organization is designed for
the delivery of value that is aligned with healthy decision making no matter the
complexity of the organization.
● People Advocacy - organizations are made up of people and they are the center
of everything we do.
○ Create policies that include all people and allow for diversity of thinking.
○ Advocate for people's growth, wellbeing, and create space for peoples self
care.
○ Purpose - what's the change we want to see in the world, even beyond
making money.
○ Motivation - ensuring that extrinsic and intrinsic factors of motivation are in
balance and aligned to the organization's goals.
Level Reflection
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● Describe the value of having a clear and compelling
vision.
● Describe intrinsic motivation and why it is important.
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3 Organizational Operating System
Practitioner ● Experiment with at least three techniques to improve
inter-team collaboration.
● Apply scaling practices and methods that can be
helpful without adding the overhead of an entire scaling
framework when necessary.
● Assess organizational structures, policies and metrics,
describe how they impact organization culture and
create value.
Organize Around the Delivery of Value
● Describe an organizational design that enables multiple
teams to work on the same product.
● Contrast at least two patterns for applying Product
Ownership across multiple teams.
● Facilitate growth of understanding as to what is value
and what are products.
People Advocacy
● Facilitate and nurture the growth of people.
● Apply practices that give agency to people and teams.
● Facilitate the movement of decision making away from
management towards the people involved in the work.
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While crafting the Wheel, we debated for a long time whether things like engineering
practices and technical excellence should be represented under Knowing the Team. We
specifically chose not to write about these things—e. However, knowledge of your
team's technical practices conceptually live here on the wheel.
Similarly, you can consider things like Lean UX and Business Modeling part of Knowing
the Business, and scaling frameworks and organizational change practices may be part
of Knowing the Organization as you serve the organization.
Domain knowledge encompasses expertise in the work of the team, the business and
the organization Including (but not limited to):
Acknowledgments
London Scrum Coaching Retreat in 2018 Team:
● Shannon Carter ● Andre Rubin
● Martin Lambert ● Kubair Shirazee
● Rohit Ratan ● Mark Summers
● Stacey Louie ● Rickard Jones
● Tom Reynolds
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Additional Contributors to the 2019 Version 2.0 Update
● John Barratt
● Zia Malik
● Helen Meek
Additional Contributors:
Thanks to other reviewers who are numerous, some anonymous. Contributors who we
know and can thank explicitly include:
If you are not listed here but have given feedback, a big thanks, let us know and we will add you to
the acknowledgments.
58
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59
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● Dee Kelsey, Pam Plumb. Great Meetings!: Great Results. (2’nd Edition, 2004)
● Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo. Gamestorming – A Playbook for
Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers, (2010).
● Christopher Avery. The Responsibility Process – Unlocking Your Natural Ability to
Live and Lead with Power, (2016).
● Amy C. Edmondson. The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety
in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, (2018).
● Dr. Mark Smutny. Thrive: The Facilitators Guide to Radically Inclusive Meetings,
(2019).
● Cara Turner. “What is Agile Facilitation?” - source:
https://facilitatingagility.com/2012/03/05/what-is-agile-facilitation/, (2012).
Guiding Learning
● Peter Senge. The Dance of Change: The challenges to sustaining momentum in
a learning organization, (2014).
● Emily Webber. Building Successful Communities of Practice – Discover How
Connecting People Makes Better Organizations, (2016).
● Dion Stewart, Joel Tosi. Creating Your Dojo: Upskill Your Organization for Digital
Evolution, (2019).
● Brandy Agerbeck. The Idea Shapers – The power of putting your thinking into
your own hands, (2016).
● David Sibbet. Visual Meetings – How Graphics, Sticky Notes, & Idea Mapping
can Transform Group Productivity, (2010).
● Andy Hunt. Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor your Wetware, (2008).
● Henri Lipmanowicz, Keith McCandless, The Surprising Power of Liberating
Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash a Culture of Innovation, (2014).
● Lois Zachery. Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization’s Guide, (2011).
● Lois Zachary, Lory Fischler. Starting Strong – A Mentoring Fable, (2014).
● Lois Zachery. The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships.
(2’nd edition, 2011).
● Sharon Bowman. Training from the Back of the Room!: 65 Ways to Step Aside
and Let Them Learn, (2008).
● Sharon Bowman. Using Brain Science to Make Training Stick, (2010).
● Jacqueline Lloyd Smith, Denise Meyerson. Strategic Play – The Creative
Facilitator’s Guide, (2015).
● Jacqueline Lloyd Smith, Denise Meyerson. Strategic Play – What the Duck!,
(2017).
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● Sean Blair. SeriousWork – How to Facilitate Meetings & Workshops Using the
Lego Serious Play Method, (2016).
● Sean Blair. SeriousWork – the Lego Serious Play Methods – 44 Facilitation
Techniques, (2020)
● Sean Blair. How to Facilitate the Lego Serious Play Method Online, (2020)
Advising
● Gerald Weinberg. The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting
Advice Successfully, (1986).
● Gerald Weinberg. More Secrets of Consulting: The Consultants Tool kit, (2001).
● Peter Block. Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used, (3’rd
edition. 2011)
● Edgar H. Schein’s. Humble Consulting: How to Provide Real Help Faster, (2016).
● Jason Little. Lean Change Management: Innovative practices for managing
organizational change, (2014).
● Jason Little. Change Agility: A guide to help you think about change
management differently, (2020).
● Kim Scott. Radical Candor: Be a Kick-ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity,
(Revised edition: 2019).
● Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, et al. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking
When Stakes are High, (Third Edition: 2021).
● Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, et al. Crucial Confrontations: Tools for
Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior, (2004).
Leading
● Co-Active Leadership Model: https://learn.coactive.com/your-leadership-approach.
● Brené Brown. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the
Courage to Stand Alone, (2017).
● Brené Brown. Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.,
(2018).
● Karen & Henry Kimsey-House. Co-Active Leadership, Second Edition: Five Ways
to Lead, (2021).
● Steve Denning.The Age of Agile: How Smart Companies Are Transforming the
Way Work Gets Done, (2018).
● Peter Senge. The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning
Organization, (2010).
● David Marquette. Turn This Ship Around: A True Story of Turning Followers into
Leaders, (2013).
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● David Marquette. Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You
Say—and What You Don’t, (2020).
● Gerald Weinberg. Becoming a Change Artist – Quality Software Book #7, (2011)
● Robert R. Shallenberger, Steve Shallenberger. Start with the Vision: Six Steps to
Effectively Plan, Create Solutions, and Take Action, (2020).
● Robert R. Shallenberger, Steve Shallenberger. Do What Matters Most: Lead with
a Vision, Manage with a Plan, and Prioritize Your Time, (2021).
● Patrick Lencioni. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, (2002).
● Stephen A. Josephs, William B. Joiner. Leadership Agility: 5 Levels of Mastery
for Anticipating and Initiating Change, (2007).
● Robert J. Anderson, William A. Adams, et al. Mastering Leadership - An
Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary
Business Results, (2015)
● Tim Clark. The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion
and Innovation, (2020).
● Anjali Leon. Principles of Agile Leaderships:
https://www.ppl-coach.com/post/principles-of-agile-leadership. 2020.
● Esther Derby. 7 Rules for Positive, Productive Change: Micro Shifts, Macro
Results. 2019
Transforming
● The Business Agility Institute https://businessagility.institute/
● Frederic Laloux. Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations
Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness, (2014).
● Aaron Dignan. Brave New Work (2019).
● Michael Spayd and Michelle Madore. Agile Transformation: Using the Integral
Agile Transformation Framework to Think and Lead Differently, (2020).
● Matthew Skelton, Manual Pais. Team Topologies – Organizing Business and
Technology Teams for Fast Flow, (2019).
● Stephanie Johnson Inclusify: The Power of Uniqueness and Belonging to Build
Innovative Teams, (2020)
● Daniel Mezick. The Culture Game – Tools for the Agile Manager, (2012)
● Daniel Mezick. The Open Space Agility Handbook, (2015)
● Daniel Mezick, Mark Sheffield. Inviting Leadership: Invitation-Based Change in
the New World of Work, (2018).
● Dave Logan, John King, and Haley Fischer-Wright. Tribal Leadership: Leveraging
Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization, (2012).
● Em Campbell-Pretty. Tribal Unity: Getting from Teams to Tribes by Creating a
One Team Culture, (2016).
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● Pamela Meyer. Agility Shift: Creating Agile and Effective Leaders, Teams, and
Organizations, (2016).
● Patrick Lencioni. The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything
Else in Business, (2012).
● Darrell Rigby, Sarah Elk, and Steve Berez. Doing Agile Right: Transformation
Without Chaos, (2020).
● Mike Burrows. Right to Left: The digital leader’s guide to Lean and Agile, (2019).
● Richard Sheridan. Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love, (2013).
● Richard Sheridan. Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy
and Eliminate Fear, (2018).
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