Intelligent Agile (IA) #6

A Six-Part Online Meetup Series

Session 6 guest speaker: Derek Wade

Modern Management Metaphors
A Cybernetic Paradigm for Your Organization’s AI Implementation
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Many leaders approach AI implementation with an Industrial-Age paradigm, wielding AI as a simple headcount-reducer. In knowledge work, the result can be a shifting of bottlenecks around the organization (at best) or even lost mission-critical capabilities (at worst). This is not the paradigm for improved customer satisfaction, market stability, or employee morale. A *cybernetic* paradigm of human/machine collaboration is needed to leverage the resources your organization already has, implement AI safely, and boost innovation.

Human behavior is shaped by the stories we tell ourselves: our metaphors. This interactive session will offer three cybernetic metaphors explored as practices, roles, and implications for organizational structure. We’ll uncover ways to adapt the agile practices of code management, test-driven development, and customer-centricity to guide context-management policies, build a culture of safe AI-enabled innovation, and maximize value — not just output.
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Bio
Derek W. Wade is the founder of Kumido Adaptive Strategies, an organizational performance consultancy that clarifies strategy, simplifies change, and smooths out delivery. His focus is on bridging the disconnects between team performance and the psychological constraints on change. This year he concluded the enablement of genAI-augmented product management processes for a North American financial lender, but he’d rather talk about that time in the 1990s that he trained a neural network AI to identify U.S. Senators by their voting preferences.

Derek serves on the Board of Directors for Simulation Australasia (SimAust), is a past Board Member of the Agile Leadership Network (ALN-USA), and has presented at forums including the International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA), the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), and the International Network for the Science of Team Science (INSciTS).
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Description of this series
Agile didn’t promise speed. It promised sustainability.
The original Agile Movement was never about pumping out code at breakneck speed. It was about building robust, adaptable software and creating healthier, human-centred workplaces. It promised autonomy, trust, and environments where people were empowered to make meaningful decisions.
For the most part, we missed that mark.
Over the last two decades, workers were subjected to micromanagement, rigid tools, and metric tracking. Managers, too, were trapped in a system few truly understood. While delivery pipelines improved, the human potential latent within our organisations remained largely untapped.

Read the full description here: Intelligent Agile.

Join us to explore how we can finally fulfil the original promise of Agile—creating exceptional products in truly human-centric environments.

NOTE: This meetup is free, but you are encouraged to contribute
towards the meetup fees and the organiser's time. CLICK HERE