The aim of Active Agile is to advance the craft of leadership of leadership in product development.
Used in fields stretching from software scale-ups to develping the energy of tomorrow, Active Agile improves decision making speed and untimately the time-to-money for the very products your future depends on. Active Agile Leadership is the invisible edge, in cutting edge product development.
We train leaders in the art of continuous improvement, to find and exploit opportunities with change, and the courage to transform.
Why we created the Active Agile platform
A key reason why we created the Active Agile platform was that we wanted to collaborate with awesome trainers across the globe, people we met, who inspired us, but worked in other companies and countries than our own.
“Good things are happening where you are, how can we scale it?”
The above is a real quote from a CEO Jan and I were working with a few years back. One obvious aspect of scaling is that it has to happen without you being in the center of it. The only realistic way of achieving scaled success is through training others. So how do you do that?
If you add all the topics we use to find the right tools for the job, you’ll find a wide range: Change leadership, Agile, Lean, Systems Thinking, Theory of constraint, Decision making under uncertainty to name a few. The trouble is, the people in leadership positions that the CEO wanted to train work under pressure. They have limited time. Their attention span is short. There’s just no way you can get them to take a few weeks off to master the key elements.
The Active Agile Leadership program was born out of this necessity – to offer a concise, engaging, practical package of essential contents you need to level up as a leader, and to combine it with real practice.
Leading the system
The emphasis of the materials on the Active Agile platform is on leading the system/environment. It means understanding how to lead teams of teams, and how to tune interacting system capabilities such as Culture, Organization, Architecture and Strategy.
When continuous improvement is the new standard
In the fast-paced product development game, evolution is the only constant.
The impact is huge. Transformational leadership requires
- The ability to take balanced risks (over risk aversion)
- The ability to set a direction towards the future
- The ability to continuously improve the system (over maintaining status quo)
- The ability to evolve your leadership craft
The Active Agile objective is not to teach you what you already know, but to help you level up as a leader. For example, what you pay attention to as a team lead will differ from the questions you consider when you are at C-level.
Our mission is to allow leaders to accelerate their development, from first level leadership essentials such as energized teams, to C level questions such as Building a Culture and anchoring a realistic Strategy.
Here’s our purpose, our raison d’être.
The Active Agile platform in a nutshell
Think of Active Agile Leadership as a Github for course material, shared by trainers, that advance the art of leading successful product development.
You will find useful practices, stories and trainings on AAL.
The Active Agile Philosophy
All the material on the Active Agile platform – from trainings to articles- should combine there three qualities:
- Evidence based – Evidence based not fiction
- Millennial compatible – Engaging and concise
- Practical – The insights and knowledge should be practical and applicable
Value for trainers
Here are five valuable contributions you get as a trainer:
- Company testimonials from different fields
- Scale your impact
- Field testing of new programs
- A flat fee model
- Use your training style
Company testimonials from different fields
Our motto is to go where the challenge is hard. That also means putting ideas to the test in multiple industries.
If they turn out to bring value, we share those testimonials.
We publish them on the Active Agile site.
Scale your impact
As a trainer, you will have access to training materials that enable you to elevate your skills in four competence areas
- Product managers, Product Owners, Designers – Empowered teams
- Team coaches, Scrum masters, First level leaders – Advanced Teach Coach System
- Architects, Systems engineers – Agile Architecture
- Transformational Leaders – Active Agile Leadership Skills (and more!)
Field testing in real companies
We have a meticulous process of how new materials get added.
First, the materials are carefully curated. For example, we like the law of simplicity, if you can relay an insight in a few words, do so.
Second, the materials are field tested in real companies. Before we publish a course on Active Agile, it has to be proven to be helpful in real companies.
Finally, the materials have to go through a third revision. Only after this do we share them with other trainers.
A flat fee model
We use a flat rate model for our members. The philosophy is to keep the flat rate low, to always offer more value than the cost to you.
For a program that includes certification (as an option), we combine that with a small per seat license.
We need a simple, economical model because the development of the Active Agile platform costs money. We value your time. We want the trainer experience to be great.
Use your training style
At Active Agile, you are allowed to tweak the materials as long as you keep the curriculum. This allows you to use your preferred training style, be it to engage through Bikablo drawings, through exercises or slides. You get a mix of slides and interactive exercises out of the box. You take it from there.
Roles on the platform
Content Champions
A Content Champion is our “sensei” in a specific field. He/she distills the essential practices that you need to master in this area.
Our Content Champions also review and suggest training materials in their respective field. Finally, since knowledge never stands still, our Content Champions are of course actively engaged in broadening the understanding and building up the knowledge base in their field.
Producer
Our Producers build and evolve training materials on AAL. They are often experts in their fields. More importantly, they know how to make the material engaging and insightful – what we call “millennium compatible”.
As a Producer, you earn a percentage of the license fee per participant from each completed training course.
Trainers
Trainers bring knowledge to the field. As a trainer, you can run one or more training courses based on the accreditations.
As a trainer, you can use the base package of training material produced by the Producer and, if you have the skill and motivation, build your own material based on your training style. However, if you do so, you must follow the curriculum, practices and key learning points.
This gives trainers a dual benefit, you can get started quickly with the base setup and expand your reach and portfolio of training courses. For those of you who want to make your mark with your own unique training style and have the skills to do so, we make it easy for you!
Trainers who wish to use their own training materials pay a small fee to Content Champions to have their training materials reviewed and approved.
Practitioners
Our Practitioners are our true heroes, they are people who have a track record of small and big acts of leadership and who make a difference in the field. They are also our primary feedback mechanism to learn “what works”, allowing us to evolve and improve our content.
FAQ
Do you certify practitioners who successfully complete courses on the AAL?
Yes we do. Training courses come with a validation of your understanding of the topic at hand and a certificate of completion. A certificate is awarded by the Course Producer and reviewed by the Content Champion.