TWAA

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Congratulations on your nomination and approval to be invited to join TWAA. Welcome.

Executive Summary:

We are a bunch of fun-loving people who are also goal-seeking. Our intent is to tip the worldwide Agile conversation towards a discussion of what it takes to ENGAGE people in change.

Our position is that ENGAGEMENT IS ESSENTIAL. We are aligned on this, and on the idea of leveraging the power social media to spread knowledge of this fact. And this ENGAGEMENT meme is a Trojan Horse for a wider discussion: if engagement is essential, then: what exactly does it take to engage people?

Is forcing change in any way engaging?

And if it is not, then what in the name of all things sacred is going on in the Agile industry?

We are a bunch of Agile coaches and others who look at the Agile industry as an organization. And we are interested in changing that organization for the better. To “transform” it if you will. Our basic strategy is simple: leverage social media for spread, and identify and work with THE WILLING PEOPLE.

So: this group of TWAA can be thought of as an aligned group of experts in org-level change, who are applying our best thinking to the wider goal of tipping the worldwide Agile conversation (and culture) in service to…PROGRESS.

The whole thing is very “meta.” We are dead serious and totally playful at the same time. Participating is very simple: first you must be invited, then you accept and away we go.

Here is what we are doing now:

How to Play The Game of TWAA:

  • Playing the TWAA game takes maybe 10 minutes a week. Once you get invited to the Slack group, you can check that. We also send very short emails with essential information, maybe once a week tops.
  • The Slack group always has the latest changes to our approach. After a while you’ll get an invite into the Slack group. So after you get invited to the private Slack group, go there to get current and up to date. Here is the basic idea:
  • Identify our latest post. The Slack group always has this information
  • Share, Like and Comment the current TWAA post. It is always something on how Agile change only works when people ENGAGE, and how it doesn’t when they DONT.
  • Watch your email and check the Slack for info on the current stats and the next post.

If YOU want to post a TWAA-post someday, just say so in the GENERAL channel of the Slack. Read the guidelines so you know how to do it. We make a post every so often….

SUMMARY

We are applying our expertise in service to TIPPING THE CULTURE of Agile itself. We are working at making it NOT COOL to be forcing change. We are using social media to do this….

…because imposing change does not actually work, but inviting participation DOES.

You are cordially invited to join TWAA. If you want to participate, sign up right here. Right now. You’ll get key notifications, and we will also use your email to invite you into the TWAA Group on Slack. Signing up now, with your email, PLUGS YOU IN as a member of TWAA.

We will never share your email. Sign up and confirm your TWAA Membership here:

Join TWAA: The Willing and Able

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The following is extra stuff, you can read it if you want. If you signed up for the list and are short on time, GREAT, you are all set. Watch for the invite into the Slack group, which you will see soon !

The History and Origin Story:

….TWAA started in March of 2021. What follows is the original text of the original invitation to join. The TWAA has evolved a lot since then. What follows is part of the origin story and kind of a joke, but kind of NOT a joke. You’ll need a sense of humor to thrive here. We meet on Zoom every so often, to meet each other and build cohesion.

There is an external-facing goal-seeking aspect to the group, which has just been described. Yet there is also an internal aspect: the culture of this group is always under construction. You are invited to influence our culture.

The history follows …

BEHOLD:

The ELEVEN PILLARS OF TWAA

Welcome to TWAA: The Willing and Able

TWAA is a worldwide, goal-seeking, self-organizing federation of like-minded individuals who coordinate. We coordinate, to shamelessly exploit the power of social media, without apology, in pursuit of The One True Goal of TWAA.

1. The One True Belief of TWAA

We are aligned on The One True Belief of TWAA:

Engagement is absolutely essential for any genuine, positive and lasting change to occur

2. The One True Goal of TWAA

The One True Goal of TWAA is to achieve the One True Vision.

3. The One True Vision of TWAA

We shamelessly exploit, leverage and in fact game social media, as one, in service to achieving The One True Vision of TWAA:

We envision a world where everyone is invited to engage meaningfully, in every decision that affects their work.

TWAA is playfully serious, and doing very serious work at the lively and vibrant edge of Agile…

…instead of operating anywhere near the smelly, diluted and polluted center, a place where there is less and less life evident with each passing day.

A primary tactic of TWAA is the activity of spreading The One True Meme:

4. The One True Meme of TWAA

Our intent is to disrupt and then redefine the worldwide Agile civilization, by advancing the One True Meme of TWAA:

Engagement Is Essential.

Thanks to social media, everyone is now a publisher. This fact provides fascinating new opportunities for The Tribe of TWAA to make an astonishing and ongoing worldwide impact:

5. The Tribe and Emerging Civilization of TWAA:

If you are reading this page, you are already a member of the Tribe of TWAA, or have been invited to join us, which is a high honor. It means you have already met our very high standards: you already demonstrated that you support the One True Goal, the One True Vision and the One True Meme of TWAA. We are already you, and you are already us. We welcome you, and all that you are and are becoming. We already love you.

We are the One True Tribe and Emerging Civilization of TWAA.

As you may imagine, we are entirely comfortable with and happy to play along with uncertainty, ambiguity and (especially) paradox:

6. The Paradox of TWAA

We work together, outside of the system in which we are also very much a part.

It is obvious that the leadership system of the Agile industry has absolutely no interest in emphasizing the obvious connection between genuine org-change success and genuine employee engagement.

That’s where we step in.

7. The One True Strategy of TWAA

The One True Strategy of TWAA involves shameless and utterly unapologetic group-level exploitation of the worldwide reach and power of social media. We exploit this power, for free, via highly organized and highly efficient group-level planning, coordination, and execution.

Through this low-effort, high-impact socio-technical alchemy, together we quickly and collectively achieve the One True Goal of TWAA.

While we are strategic and playful at the same time, we are not kidding around. To stay focused on results, we adhere to an Honor Code:

8. The TWAA Code of Honor:

The TWAA Code of Honor contains four aspects which guide all of our work together, and all of our interactions:

  • UNITY: We are each 100% aligned, together, on the The One True Vision Of TWAA
  • ACTIVITY: We commit to 100% engaged & energetic participation in each and every TWAA social media campaign
  • SECRECY: We never discuss TWAA with non-members, ever.
  • AUTONOMY: We make individual tactical decisions in alignment with overall TWAA goals, and intent, TWAA culture and especially The Hacker Ethos of TWAA Civilization:

9. The Hacker Ethos of TWAA Civilization:

In reality, hacking just means building something quickly or testing the boundaries of what can be done. The culture hackers of TWAA tend to be idealistic people who want to have a positive impact on the world.

Hacking is an approach to building that involves continuous improvement and iteration. Hackers believe that something can always be better, and that nothing is ever complete. They just have to go fix it — often in the face of people who say it’s impossible or are content with the status quo.

Hacking is also an inherently hands-on and active discipline. Instead of debating for days whether a new idea is possible or what the best way to build something is, hackers just prototype something and see what works. 

TWAA’s hacker culture is also extremely open and meritocratic. TWAA culture hackers believe that the best idea and implementation should always win.

This is not a pick-and-choose ethos: we apply it everywhere. This goes for ideas about how to implement and adjust leadership and leadership decision-rights, as needed, inside TWAA:

10. Leadership Inside the Tribe of TWAA

The Hacker Ethos of TWAA applies to the design of TWAA leadership and structure as well. TWAA civilization has just enough decision-making structure defined, but certainly no more than that. Recall that Autonomy is a core element of the TWAA Code of Honor.

At any given moment, any member may nominate any other member to serve as the Chief of the Tribe of TWAA. How this leadership story unfolds is totally up to the Tribe of TWAA. What emerges as a result of spreading TWAA themes, TWAA memes, TWAA culture, and TWAA civilization governs what happens next with the leadership function.

11. The Core Commitments of TWAA:

Joining TWAA is the same as joining any well-defined group, such as a club or company. Yet, TWAA membership is not for everyone. The TWAA definition is not wishy-washy or vague. This clarity of purpose and the related commitments to that purpose will not be attractive to everyone.

Becoming a TWAA member requires certain commitments. Specifically, it means you agree to hold and keep all of these Core Commitments of TWAA at all times:

If nominated, I hereby commit, in advance, to serving for a time, as the Chief of the Tribe of TWAA

I commit to the One True Goal of achieving the One True Vision

I commit to spreading the One True Meme

I commit to the One True Belief and the TWAA Code of Honor

I commit to the Hacker Ethos of TWAA

I understand I can and will be banished from The One Tribe of TWAA for not keeping these commitments

The One Tribe and One Emerging Civilization of TWAA:

  • One True Belief
  • One True Vision and One True Goal
  • One True Meme
  • One Code of Honor, with One Ethos
  • ONE TRIBE

The TWAN:

The TWAN is the TWAA ideal outcome, and is identical to “the KWAN” as described in the movie Jerry McGuire:

From the film: the TWAN:

“…it means LOVE. Respect. COMMUNITY…and the dollars too, the ENTIRE PACKAGE….the TWAN…..” ……click the video…55 seconds explains it:

How to Join TWAA:

We coordinate and plan from a secret Slack Group.

If you already accepted our secret invitation, and joined the secret TWAA Slack Group, you are already a Member of TWAA. Welcome.

If not:

Because of your expressions and behavior online, you have been nominated and subsequently approved to consider joining The One Tribe and One Emerging Civilization of TWAA. We hope you will join us by accepting our invitation, sent to you earlier, and joining our secret TWAA Group on LinkedIn.

Welcome to the The One Tribe and One Emerging Civilization of TWAA.

We welcome you, and your best ideas, as we all work together to achieve The One True Goal of TWAA

Anything is possible

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