Gustav Messany-Oberwandling

Gustav Messany-Oberwandling is an independent Agile coach. He has studied IT, philosophy, and systemic coaching. He has been delivering agile software and design for people for 10 years. As a free radical, he burns to take systems to the next level, connecting the dots between disciplines and conjuring new ways of thinking.

Title of presentation: Bring Democracy to the Next Level with Agile.

When certain key concepts of agile are properly implemented, they sustainably strengthen democratic structures. This talk explores these concepts and how they can be linked to democratic theory, especially by Castoriadis, an insider's tip to political and economical philosophy. Autonomy is foundational to both worlds. We need to distinguish the term from other terms such as self-organization, self-responsibility, or freedom. How did Kant define autonomy and what additional perspectives are helpful to prevent systemic dysfunction? Transparency is a pillar of agility and radical democracy. But how and what should one make transparent and for whom? Where should efforts be made to make things transparent? We'll learn about three spheres of influence, how the Athenians structured themselves in ancient times  – the most advanced democracy to date  – and a proposal for how to use them in modern systems. Finally, dealing with alienation is the nourishment to keep democratic and agile structures alive in the long run. Retrospectives and reflections are common in the agile world, and we will make explicit two qualities that are common in high-performing agile organizations but usually absent in systems with a lower level of maturity.

14:35 - 15:20

TeleSoftas Track (Hall – 5.2)

Bring Democracy to the Next Level with Agile

When certain key concepts of agile are properly implemented, they sustainably strengthen democratic structures. This talk explores these concepts and how they can be linked to democratic theory, especially by Castoriadis, an insider's tip to political and economical philosophy. Autonomy is foundational to both worlds. We need to distinguish the term from other terms such as self-organization, self-responsibility, or freedom. How did Kant define autonomy and what additional perspectives are helpful to prevent systemic dysfunction? Transparency is a pillar of agility and radical democracy. But how and what should one make transparent and for whom? Where should efforts be made to make things transparent? We'll learn about three spheres of influence, how the Athenians structured themselves in ancient times  – the most advanced democracy to date  – and a proposal for how to use them in modern systems. Finally, dealing with alienation is the nourishment to keep democratic and agile structures alive in the long run. Retrospectives and reflections are common in the agile world, and we will make explicit two qualities that are common in high-performing agile organizations but usually absent in systems with a lower level of maturity.