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The Agile Theater at XP2004
The Agile Theater Project was presented at the Trainer
and Educator Symposium within XP2004 in
Garmisch, Germany in June 2004.
The symposium was held in the beautiful Zugspitze room at the congress center.
Here is a photo showing a view of the Wetterstein massif outside of the seminar
room.
We began with a brief introduction
to set the context, and then obtained five volunteers for the session to be presented. The choice of five - an uneven number - was
deliberate: during the pair work, it provided a "wildcard" who could
disturb the equilibrium.
Then followed the exercises in relaxation and concentration,
shown here. It is interesting to note
that the theater subsumes most other relaxation and concentration techniques,
such as yoga and meditation - another demonstration of its completeness.
The pair work began with "mirroring"
exercises in different combinations of couples to experiment with changes of
leadership roles. Wildcard participants could interrupt
at any time to take over a role and create a new pair.
The tutorial session ended with some real two-person
improvisational scenarios, guided by Patrizia.
Sessions like this one have led us to a number of observations.
Some examples:
- The seminar is extraordinarily intense. The concentration levels achieved make time seem to slow down; an hour can seem like half a day.
- The experience is “pure,” in the sense that it deals with only with communication issues, without the interference and distraction of scenarios coming from the workplace.
- Extreme Programming has its YAGNI principle ("You
Aren't Going to Need It"). The Agile Theater has what we call the YACDI
principle: "You Can't Do It." By that we mean that you, the
Software Engineer, can't run such a seminar successfully. The true value added of the seminar is the involvement of the
theatrical professional. Using the very same exercises and scenarios, a software engineer would be unable to make any truly insightful analysis. It is the theatrical professional, with
over 25 years of experience and a perspective that is wholly focused on the essential issues of communication, who makes the experience unique and valuable. The theatrical professional has seen it all, and can recognize and comment with insight on any scenario in any variation. Lesson: don’t try to do it
alone. You Can't Do It.
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