D C S C R U M U S E R S G R O U P - A U G U S T 1 5 , 2 0 1 6
Clean Language and
Systemic Modelling for Scrum Teams
Andrea Chiou, Agile CoachConnections At Work, LLC
Andrea Chiou, Agile CoachConnections-At-Work, LLC
IIBA-DC - 2014Agile 2014 Conference
MAFN - DC 2015
CBODN 2014
Lean Agile Scotland - Oct 2016
Who Is Using Clean Language, Anyway?https://leanpub.com/whoisusingclean
Agile Santa Barbara 2016
AgileDC 2014
C L E A N L A N G U A G E - D AV I D G R O V E
• A way of listening without judgement
• A way of inquiring without imposing
Words and symbols a have different meaning for each person - each created in a different time and a different space
C L E A N Q U E S T I O N S
• are content free
• direct one’s attention
• explore metaphors underpinning one’s thinking
T W O ‘ L A Z Y J E D I ’ Q U E S T I O N S
• Is there anything else about ….?
• What kind of …?
Judy Rees coined the term ‘Lazy Jedi’
• SENSORY INFORMATIONwhat is seen, heard, felt, tasted, smelled
• CONCEPTS such as family, democracy, honesty, trust
• METAPHORS • Explicit: encapsulate how we structure our experience
describing one thing in terms of another (usually from the physical world)
• Implicit: so embedded in our language we don’t even notice
T H R E E WAY S O F E X P R E S S I N G O U R S E LV E S
Where%is%…?%Whereabouts%%is%…?%
What%kind%of…?%Is%there%anything%else%about…?%%
Clean%Ques9ons%–%David%Grove%
Note:%%replace%…%with%a%part%of%what%the%other%person%said.%
Inner Need to be Seen as Contributing
Professionalism
Fear of silence
Problem Solving
Unvalidated Assumptions
Use Clean Question to accept, expand, transcend and gain new clarity on words used
Metaphors get us away from limbic flight or fight
responses…
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU MODEL?
Learning
Parenting
Coding
Coaching
Time
Studying
Collaborating
Decisions
Ideal Team
Current Organization
Desired Organization
Motivation
Where%is%…?%
Whereabouts%%is%…?%
What%kind%of…?%
Is%there%anything%else%about…?%%
Then%what%happens%?%
What%happens%next?%
Where%could%…%come%from?%What%happens%just%before?% That’s%…%like%what?%
What%would%you%like%to%have%happen?%When%you%are%working%at%your%best,%you’re%like%what?%
Clean%QuesCons%–%David%Grove%
When%X%,%what%happens%to%Y%?%Is%there%are%relaConship%between%X%and%Y?%
Focussing In
AND….
AND WHEN…
CLEAN QUESTION
Structure used to zone in
1.) And…. [use one or several things the person has said up until now]2.) And when…. [then hone in part of what you repeated above]3.) Clean question [use 1 word from the ‘and when’ part of what you said]
From Drama to Karma Clean Scoping Clean Setup Developmental Practice Clean Feedback Five Senses Modeling Time Metaphors At Work Flower Model
S Y S T E M I C M O D E L L I N G - G R O U P S
BusinessHiring
Coaching
In ITHelping teach young kids math, spelling, and music
Elementary School
DoctorsGeriatric care
Facilitating change in organizations, schools, training departments, police departments
In therapy and change work
W H E R E H A S I T B E E N A P P L I E D
We learn to become more intentional when we interact with people with the purpose of discovering what we want.
We do this by practicing listening to a partner talk about something they intend to do differently or improve on in the near future and asking systemic modeling questions.
Planning for a future event
For ‘X' to go as you would like, it would be like what? or
What would you like to have happen?
The ‘X’ (event) could be: a project, meeting, event, an interview, training, demo, facilitation. Or on a personal front going out to dinner, or on a vacation or even getting married…
You can augment the answer with the two core clean questions.
C L E A N S E T U P
C L E A N S E T U P ( C O N T ’ D )
You then augment this with:
What will you or others notice (see/hear) that will be evidence that you achieved that?
What would that mean to you (inference)?
And what would the impact be on you/others?
****
And for ‘X’ to go like that, you'll need to be like what?
And what support do you need from me (or the group)?
In a group, or where several people are organizing the event, you would go around get answers for each person, thus reconciling metaphors and creating a network of support.
D E V E L O P M E N TA L TA S K
What will you do that will be an example of the outcome you have set?What will we hear/see if you are doing it? or are not doing it? What do you want us to do when we see you doing it/not doing it?
C L E A N F E E D B A C K
A three step process to give congruent useful, judgement free feedback.
• EVIDENCE What did you hear or see?
• INFERENCE What did you infer? • IMPACT What was the impact from your
perspective?
C L E A N F E E D B A C K
What worked well? What did you observe?
What did you infer from that?
What was the impact for you?
What would work better?What will you observe?
What will that mean?
What will be the impact for you?
What did not work so well?What did you observe?
What did you infer from that?
What was the impact for you?
F L O W E R M O D E L
My stuff
Their stuff
Detecting
Attending to
Distinguishing between
YOURPATTERNS
THEIRPATTERNS
WHAT ISHAPPENING
WHAT YOU INFER
BUILDING USEFUL MODELS
WHAT ISPRESENTED
My recommended books and online resources: https://adaptivecollaboration.com/books-i-recommend/
Free ebook: http://judyrees.co.uk/your-clean-language-questions-answered/
Very reasonably priced online study course: http://judyrees.co.uk/metaphor-mastery-discount-offer/
R E S O U R C E S F O R F U RT H E R L E A R N I N G
Virginia Satir
Gerald Weinberg
David Grove
Caitlin Walker
Innovator with Clean Language applied in Groups:Systemic Modeling
Originator of ‘Clean Language’ Used Questions free of Influence
to help Trauma victims heal
A Gentle Giant in Software Dev, Testing,
Systems Thinking, Prolific Writer
Pioneer in Family Therapy, whotaught Jerry Weinberg much
about \working together congruently
Pioneers who Influenced Me