New: Are your retrospectives not as effective as you'd like them to be? I've just released a new video course, Retrospective Magic, to fix that exact problem. Whether you're about to facilitate your first retrospective, or you're a seasoned facilitator looking for those tips to take you to the next level, this course has something for you. More details here...
There's a lot here and if you're not sure where to start, here are some popular starting points. From these, you'll find crosslinks to even more topics. Enjoy!
- Psychological Safety: An overview. For the science, see the SAFETY model. For Google's research into why it's important for high performing teams, see Project Aristotle. What happens when we don't have that safety?
- Anxiety and Stress: For the science, see Polyvagal Theory or a description of some neuroscience, illustrated with a bear encounter. To let go of that anxiety, see the Anti-Anxiety toolkit.
- Recommended reading: I'm often asked for book recommendations.
- Generally more about the brain: Cognitive bias, motivation, default mode network, systems 1 & 2 and neurotransmitters (chemicals) that drive behaviour.
- Language patterns: Why language is so important, and Clean Language, a specific language pattern that has excellent application for coaching.
- Improving your meetings: Specifically retrospectives, and standups. What if your people won't participate?
- Improving learning: with neuroscience and LEGO.
- Something fun: The millennial whoop, and inattentional blindness.
Leveraging the Doorway Effect
Have you ever walked into the kitchen, only to realize that you’ve now forgotten why you walked into the kitchen?
Clean Language
Our brains process an incredible amount of information through the use of metaphor (comparing one thing against another). When you listen carefully to the words we use, you will begin to notice how often metaphor is used in conversation.