Agile Development Blog

Just got off the phone with Dan Montgomery who interviewed me on his BlogTalkRadio channel on Sustainable Leadership.

Following the ‘More…’ link will show my notes and links from the 50-minute interview using the Decker Grid.

Sustainable Leadership Talk Radio Interview

Notes –
Here are my notes and links organized using the Decker Grid.
Thanks Bert and team for making preparation so fast and easy.

Topic – Sustainable Leadership

Sharp – Used Necessary Revolution as framework for annual planning at Rally

Point of View (POV) – The next decade will be about design for Sustainable Value in a connected world, not just shareholder value in isolation – from adolescence to adults

General Action – Find something to do in 2009

General Benefit – Start to exercise these muscles

Topic 1 – Sustainable IT vision is no longer isolating in business

Problem – Tons of waste – 2% of the population but 22% of waste

• Data centers 2X
• AC/DC in computers
• Design for reuse versus toxicity
• IT will be more polluting than the airline industry in 2020

Solutions in 2008 – Hope

• IBM, CISCO, Apple Ipod/Iphone, Tendril, Sustainable Minds

What Rally did in 2008 – Paved the path

• Baselined Rally’s carbon footprint
• Grew (three facilities now – CO, NC, UK)
• Moved to Energy Star building with shortest commute
• Moved to Google Apps with other SaaS companies like Salesforce.com
• 2000+ hours of volunteer work in 2008

Topic 2 – Agile collaborative working culture is catching fire

• Lean Principles/Thinking (reduce waste, amplify learning, delay decisions, empower teams, deliver fast, build integrity in, optimize the whole)
• Moving away from negative archetypes (myopic thinking, zero sum games, Tragedy of Commons, Isolated (unlimited resources and away))
• Towards (two-pronged approaches, committed to long-term, be your best, win/win – collective Van Jones)

Topic 3 – My own personal journey is accelerating

• Started Rally based on Senge and Hawken (Lean/Sustainable IT, New Domain of Action – EFCO/Give Back)
• Agile success as a service and data on usage and carbon (Ice Data Center @ CU Boulder, Story of Stuff, Inconvenient Truth, wecansolveit, Pachamama, NRDC E2, Be Climate Smart, Pine Beetles in Colorado, green team – composting & commuting, PV & hybrid @home, Urban Chickens, Boulder County Going Local and Permaculture)
• Goals, planning and theories to test (zero by 2020), strategic non-profit partner in social responsibly, carbon per employee and per 100 users – looking for other SaaS providers to follow suite)

POV – The next decade is about design for Sustainable Value in a connected world, not just shareholder value in an isolated world – we are building our plans and strategies

Specific Action – Start your green team or read Necessary Revolution

Specific Benefit – It feels really good to be part of the solution

Sharp – Feels like the wind is at our back now

Thanks again, Dan!