Agile Wasn’t Written for Software. It Was Written About It.
The principles came out of software because that’s where the pain was first. Nothing in them is about code, which is why marketing, logistics and healthcare teams keep arriving at the same answers.
Completing this class earns you the Scrum Alliance® Agile Essentials Microcredential.
The Principles, and What They Mean Where You Work
Agile arrives in most organisations as a set of ceremonies borrowed from a software team, with the reasoning left behind. Then it doesn’t work, and everyone concludes agile doesn’t apply to their kind of work.
This is the day that puts the reasoning back — the values and principles read closely, and applied to work that has nothing to do with a codebase.
- What agile is, and what it was reacting against
- How an agile organisation is shaped differently from a traditional one
- What “success” measures when it isn’t on-time-and-on-budget
- User stories and prioritisation outside software
- The obstacles every transformation hits, and what to do about them
You leave able to tell an agile practice from an agile ritual.
In development
No dates yet. Join the wait list to hear when they open.
What you'll learn
- The definition of agile, and the values and principles underneath it
- How agile organisations differ structurally from traditional ones
- How success is measured differently, and what that changes about reporting
- Applying user stories and prioritisation techniques to non-software work
- The obstacles that stall a transformation, and the ones that kill it
- Where agile is being applied across industries, with real examples
Who this is for
- Team members in any function, at any level
- Executives, directors and managers sponsoring an agile change
- People in marketing, healthcare, logistics, product design and operations
- Experienced practitioners who want the principles read closely rather than recited
What you get
- 5 hours of live, high-engagement training
- A student handbook with the values and principles annotated
- Your Scrum Alliance® microcredential badge, which doesn’t expire
- A 2-year Scrum Alliance® membership
- Discounted access to all future Artisan training events
The fine print
Agenda
One day, five blocks, working outward from the principles:
What agile is
Focus: Values and principles, closely read
- Where the Manifesto came from, and what it was answering
- The four values, and what each one trades away
- The twelve principles, interpreted rather than recited
How the organisation changes
Focus: Structure, not ceremony
- Traditional structures and what they optimise for
- What an agile organisation optimises for instead
- Where the two genuinely conflict
Measuring differently
Focus: What good looks like when the plan isn’t the target
- Outcome measures over output measures
- What to report upward, and how
- The metrics that quietly cause harm
Practices you can use
Focus: Agile outside software
- User stories for work that isn’t a feature
- Prioritisation techniques and when each fits
- Slicing work that doesn’t look sliceable
Making it stick
Focus: Obstacles, named
- The obstacles every transformation meets
- The ones that are actually fatal
- What you can do from where you sit
One day, live. Times are Central and are confirmed when the cohort is scheduled.
Training formats
Live and instructor-led, in person or remote. A microcredential is short enough to take in a day and specific enough that a day is the right amount of time.
A student handbook you keep, with the exercises and room for notes
The Scrum Alliance® badge on completion, and a 2-year membership with it
Risk-free guarantee
Satisfaction is guaranteed. If, for any reason, you are dissatisfied with the class by the lunch break, let us know and we’ll refund your class fees. No questions will be asked.
Prerequisites
None. Some familiarity with Scrum will help, but the class assumes nothing.
Frequently asked questions
When does this run?
It doesn’t yet. This class is on the schedule to be built, and this page exists so you can say you want it.
Tell me you’re interested and I’ll write to you when the first cohort has dates — before it goes on the public schedule.
Is this a Scrum class?
No. Scrum is one way of being agile; this class is about the values and principles underneath it and how they apply to any kind of work.
If you want the Scrum framework specifically, take Scrum Essentials.