So what is Dojo Learning? The concept originated at Target as an immersive learning approach to help drive agile adoption.
For a great explanation, please read “The Target Dojo“.
Below are some of my thoughts around the Dojo learning program.
- You are in the Dojo for 2 things.
- Learn and develop Agile skills
- Deliver on current work initiatives that add customer value
- You must enter the Dojo with an open mindset and be willing to break old habits and adapt new ones.
- The Dojo rooms themselves allow all team members to sit together in a collaborative environment. Monitors can be setup to accommodate remote users as needed.
- The Dojo will usually have a dedicated coach\guide to help facilitate the Agile transformation journey.
- The team must be able to self-organize and adapt. A key concept of Agile is the ability for a team to be agile itself.
- During the Dojo journey, the team will focus on learning Agile methods through shorter iterations, thus giving the team more repetitions.
- The Dojo journey is usually 1 – 2 months
- The initial iteration length is usually 2 – 3 days long, not 2 – 3 weeks.
- The shorter iterations allow for more experimentation and learning, thus allowing the teams to pivot more quickly. (MVP)
This is a great way to facilitate learning and seems to really bring energy to the teams!
