The Power of Well Formed Outcomes

From Agile Coaches Gathering

What this session was about.

I wanted to share with other coaches a technique that I found a lot of value in http://www.a1projekt.pl/

and to explore other areas in which it could be used/enhanced.

What was discussed.

The Well Formed Outcome is a tool from NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) that helps an individual craft clearer, more realistic , valuable goals. It works by guiding the individual,through directed questions, towards well sized, realistically achievable and ecologogically sound outcomes.

Essentially, the technique involves a thinking process represented in the following acronym:

• P - state the outcome in a Positive way
  e.g We want to improve our code quality' vs 'We don't want any bugs'.
• O - it needs to be in one's own control to achieve the outcome.
• S - the outcome must be specific
  e.g 'We want to improve the variable names in all new code' vs 'we want to improve our code quality'.
• E - what evidence will we observe when the outcome if achieved. What will will see/hear/feel to know we have acheived it.
• R - we have the resources we need to achieve it.
• S - the outcome is sized appropriately
  e.g we want to improve the variable names in all new code in the next sprint'.

I suggested that this technique could help teams better craft their commitments and their goals for continuous improvement by taking a similar guided questioning approach.

The technique was illustrated by having the group come up with a scenario 'Improving some legacy code base' and we spent time putting that goal through its paces - at which point we got stuck!

What We Discovered.

The timely intervention of CathDuncan helped us revise the goal by using another NLP technique called 'Chunking Up' saved the day as it caused us to continue asking the question 'What will that get you' at every stage when we thought we had a meaningful goal.

In the end the real discovery was that you need to have an outcome that is clearly stated, realistic and measureable to ensure it stands a chance of being achieved. It can be useful for teams to do this so that they can be tuned to the opportunities that may emerge to help them acheive their well formed outcome.

Thanks to all who attended, I learnt so much from everyone's contribution.