“A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.” – Dalai Lama

As I sat in rapt attention to a talk by the Dalai Lama in honor of his 80th birthday celebrations earlier this year, there was an unexpected and serendipitous realization that many of his stories and messages shared an uncanny yet natural affinity to what we would call “being Agile”.

More recently, at the Agile2015 conference, Lyssa Atkins asked “What if agile in your organization were just practice ground for you getting skills to address global issues? What if?”

In this atypical session targeted at all those interested in viewing Agile values, principles and practices from a different vantage point, we will explore this interplay of social consciousness and agile, focusing on select musings from Dalai Lama on compassion, wisdom, experimentation, collaboration, leadership, and their applicability to our behaviors and actions as Agilists.

Delivery teams know from experience the importance of maintenance such as applying patches, upgrading, and conforming to the latest security and accessibility regulations. Product Owners, other value team members, and system stakeholders are focused on functionality and end user satisfaction. Maintenance isn’t sexy and can sink in priority until it fails to be included in releases.

The Security community has been using Dark/Abuser/Evil Stories using the persona of a Black Hat Hacker to uncover vulnerabilities. In this workshop participants will assume the role of Delivery Team members and use the power of personas to write “Dark Stories” that bring to life the full impact of failing to perform necessary maintenance.  The intent is to give Product Owners a complete understanding of the importance of maintenance so they can appropriately prioritize maintenance and keep their systems strong.