Art of Agile Foundations

CREDO:
„If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Sir Isaac Newton

WHAT IS AGILE FOR US?

  • a modern way of discovering the world
  • the harmony of head, heart and hand – thought, feeling and will to act
  • simplicity – untangling complexity (mindset shift)
  • a set of values and a way of thinking
    • focus (goals, mission, vision)
    • freedom to make decisions (responsibility)
    • action
  • creating space for free will
  • retrospection and re-planning
  • the dynamic, the moving is stronger in the long run than the rigid form
  • resourcefulness
  • a therapy for weak, ill organisations
  • a transformational journey from Amber to Teal
  • (heart)beat, rhythm – sustainable pace
  • a collection of vital forms
  • experiencing gratitude in the process of delivery, handover (accomplishment)
  • the experience of community and flow
  • focusing on continuous improvement
  • the gym where we can exercise being present – learning from the past, pre-sensing the future
  • improving the ability to make decisions

WHAT DOES ‘ART’ MEAN IN OUR NAME?

Agility has its roots in the most technically and socially innovative and fast-growing field of this age, IT, but it has now outgrown this cradle considerably.

While we can describe the laws of some software development processes or team dynamics quite precisely, we can only explore the functioning of an entire company or the mystery of management with the right balance of humility, awareness and artistic flair.

We have experience and practice in the application of many arts. We are witnessing the emergence of a new social art inspired by the classical arts (movement, drama, visual arts, music, etc.). For us, an important mission is to bring the whole of the human being into the world of work and organisations, and to inspire new ideas in the leaders of organisations through the arts.

The popularity of Agile springs from the zeitgeist-inspired realisation that people today are capable as well as require to (re)create the harmony/balance of thought, feeling and action in their work. The insights of sociology, psychology and economics have shaped – partly consciously and partly unconsciously – a new type of approach to work. In the past 80 years our idea of humanity has changed drastically. A few key milestones of this change:

  • 1900: Taylor (a colleague of Gantt) creates the model of “scientific” management, which influences the way we build our organisations even today
  • 1914: Sri Aurobindo starts using the expression “integral”, which later has a great impact on the work of Ken Wilbur
  • 1917: Dr. Rudolf Steiner presents the concept of threefolding, the basis of which is the adequate use of three core principles: freedom in thinking and culture, equality in the world of law and agreements, and fraternity in economics.
  • 1928: DISC personality typology is born as a renewal of the ancient typology of the 4 temperaments (earth, water, air, fire)
  • 1939: Gebser lays down the foundations of the Integral approach
  • 1943: Maslow creates the pyramid model of human needs
  • 1944: the MBTI typology is born out of the Jungian concepts of human sensing, feeling, thinking and intuition
  • 1950: classic project management is born at the same time as Japanese LEAN
  • 1951: Rogers introduces the term Empathy to describe the phenomenon of deliberately turning towards each other
  • 1968: Friedrich Glasl creates the early draft of Theory U based on the teachings of Dr. Rudolf Steiner
  • 1969: PMI is born, project management becomes a profession
  • 1970: system thinking comes into existence
  • 1973: Ken Wilber finishes his first book about Integral Theory, where he connects spiral dynamics, holon theory and the models of Gebser
  • 1974: the foundations of spiral dynamics (an evolutionary model of humans, communities and organisations) are laid down
  • 1989: Covey’s book (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) is published, in which he describes the consequences of abundance and scarcity mentality
  • 1990: Peter Senge develops the concept of the learning organisation, which is built on system thinking, striving for professional excellence, mental models, shared vision and team learning
  • 1993: the Kanban method is born and facilitation turns into a profession
  • 1995: the foundations of SCRUM are laid down, and the Scrum Master becomes the “prototype” of a new, servant leader without authority
  • 1996: the first book about spiral dynamics is released
  • 2000: Otto Scharmer creates the modern Theory U developmental model
  • 2001: the Agile Manifesto is born, as well as Lean Six Sigma, which integrates the 5S approach
  • 2007: Holacracy is born, which codifies the forms and operation of learning and agile organisations
  • 2008: Alex Osterwalder and colleagues present the Business Model Canvas
  • 2009: Daniel Pink writes one of the fundamental books on intrinsic motivation, “Drive”
  • 2010: an open, downloadable SCRUM guide is created, and Steve Denning serves as a “midwife” for the birth of “Radical Management”
  • 2012: Spotify’s working culture is published, which later turns into a model to be followed
  • 2014: Frederic Laloux creates “Reinventing Organisations”, a collection of case studies, in which he systematises forward-looking organisational cultures in the framework of integral theory. The IMU Augsburg presents the map of the development of organisations
  • 2015: the model of Open Participatory Organisations and the Corporate Rebels initiative are born
  • 2017: Kiss Ferenc, member of Circle43 group writes the book “Szociokrácia és Holokrácia”
  • 2018: the official SCRUMBAN model is published, the reinventing map is made available in 15 languages, our team participates in a Communities for Change programme with the Presencing Institute to renew the image of work
    2019: Art of Agile is born and the Jövőképző School is launched, merging Circle43 (community of practice) and the Leadership Roundtable (organic leadership training institute) to train organisational developers and agile trainers in collaboration with Art of Agile. The Reinventing Agile manifesto is born.
    2020: a Theory U and Reinventing workshop organised by the Sayling Wen Foundation brings together executives from major Taiwanese companies.
  • 2021: Thousands of people in Hungary’s large companies are learning about models for developing awareness and agile practices. At least 500 minutes of animation and educational material on modern forms of leadership have been produced.
    2022: Our English language website is now live

WE RECOGNIZED…

…that Agile puts an emphasis on the following challenges of our era (which we would like to present and explain on a deeper level):

  • learning by consciously experimenting with structures, processes and notions
  • learning via value creation
  • expanding and applying the knowledge about the role and impact of rhythms and recurring events
  • building a culture of questioning, developing the culture of feedback and evaluation
  • striving for equilibrium, ability to create a stable centre
  • re-evaluating the forms, processes, relationships and notions of the past (releasing the obsolete)
  • working in a community, team – discovering the forms and dynamics of cooperation, consciously connecting to a group in order to create complex products and solutions together

WE BELIEVE…

…that more of today’s challenges should be addressed during the practice of Agile:

  • the evolution of individuality by consciously connecting to groups
  • harmonising thought, feeling and will both on an individual and organisational level
  • connecting with the unfolding future (understanding the state of the art – research, innovation, presence, sensitivity)
  • enhancing and applying the knowledge about the process of learning
  • expanding consciousness, responsibility – reinforcing creation and initiative