Podcast interview Archives

Meet Tara Nolan, Podcast Host

Tara Nolan is the host of The Game of Teams Podcast, a podcast that was born out of her fascination with teams, her work with teams as a Team Coach and her interest in exploring the thoughts and thinking of others who have a role in making teams great.

As part of this podcast series, Tara interviews practitioners and leaders to hear their stories, including failures in a bid to give voice to what is happening on teams.

Many have written books on the subject. Her role is to help listeners to get massive traction to the things that matter most on teams.

The Art & Science of Facilitation

We discussed many points during our conversation, here are just a few of the show notes:

Systems Thinking. Dialogue, Structural Dynamics and Agile is the thinking I use to inform my approach to client engagements.

Dialogue and Structural Dynamics enable movement towards agility.

Many teams that I work with notice the groundhog or mini groundhog day conversations with which they are engaged. Dialogue principles and structural dynamics often provide the gateway to true collaboration.

So much of facilitation is an inside game. A good facilitator gets very familiar and comfortable with the 5 beliefs inherent in facilitation.

I make the claim that 21st century leaders need to become artful facilitators and coaches of teams.

Giving Up Control to Gain Agility

This past year, I was asked to be a guest on the Women in Agile Podcast titled ‘Giving Up Control to Gain Agility’.

Podcast host Leslie Morse and I met at the Agile 2019conference in August, where we discussed my upcoming book ‘The Art & Science of Facilitation – How To Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams’

What is the ‘Women if Agile’ Podcast?

The ‘Women if Agile’ Podcast series exists to amplify the voices of outstanding women in the Agile community by telling our stories, being thought leaders and having open conversations with our allies.

I encourage you to not only listen to my interview but to learn more about Women in Agile, subscribe and download the many wonderful conversations that have gone before me and continue to be told.

Facilitation Conversation and Then Some!

I was introduced on the Podcast with this intro:

“She shares stories of working in a huge corporation and a tiny startup and the learnings she’s had – including how to give up some control to let agility emerge naturally. Her passion for facilitation was her entry point into Agile, and the need for it is as strong as ever:

“To truly facilitate requires this unbiased, neutral perspective where you’re not taking sides… When the group gets stuck, you’re helping them get unstuck; you’re not solving something for them.”

The quote the Podcast host Leslie Morse used to describe the conversation is this:

Find your own voice. “It’s not that I didn’t have it, it’s that I would have these moments of insights or thoughts, and I didn’t always share it.”

My Personal Agile Origin Story

One of the many things I loved about doing this interview was the first question asked of me.

“What is your Agile origin story?”

It’s a story we all have but isn’t often told. Everyone who works in the Agile community has this defining moment as to when Agile entered their life and career. Most of us can also pinpoint a specific meeting, conference, book or Agile moment we knew where were hooked.

Can I just say it took me a whole year to wrap my head around Agile?

Have I sparked your curiosity?

Listen to my Agile origin story first, and then learn more about why giving up control is needed to gain agility!

Enjoy!

Podcast interview

An Agile Conversation: The Game of Teams Podcast