Learn how to Slice fine & Prioritise for Value
Who cares about Slicing anyway?
In my experience one of the most challenging aspects of working with big problems and deep complexity is mastering work decomposition & prioritisation. i.e. Breaking big things into smaller things that still contribute to a common outcome in a way that is understood by the team, and the business.
In today’s parlance — this is the ability to vertically slice fine and prioritise for value. These are essential skills to enable truly agile delivery, regardless of role or seniority. Everyone should care about slicing!
Over the years I’ve devised my own approaches and techniques — through trial, error and learning on the job. I’ve always wondered if there is a better way to learn the essence which underpins my personal mental models, and last week I discovered there is…
‘Slice-a-palooza’ Workshop
I recently attended Everest Engineering’s Slice-a-Palooza workshop, run online over 2 half days. The experiential, learn by doing sessions run by Dan Prager were invaluable for both product and tech folks and at the same time a whole lot of fun!
“It really helped people believe in slicing — you can always slice thinner, you can always slice for value!” — me
Day one ran like a typical Elephant Carpaccio workshop (created by Alistair Cockburn of Agile Manifesto fame) and introduced people to the principles of ultra fine slicing. Tech and Product people were paired together, sometimes mixing up roles to see what it was like ‘on the other side’. The speed of this session was rapid (8 minute sprints!) and we all learned the value of fast feedback in a microcosm of agile teaming.
Day two (or the second half) began with us choosing real-life problems to slice. We started to learn different techniques for slicing (thanks Neil Killick for the framing) and applied them to real-life problems. This was super valuable as a collaboration exercise, over and above learning to slice. Even though we were all experienced at techniques such as story mapping this took our experience to a whole new level.
The learning environment itself was very safe and open and I particularly like the experiential aspect. Dan also judiciously inserted the first day’s problem back into our learning on day two to really reinforce the value of key techniques and connect our learning across the sessions.
Taking it forward
I really enjoyed myself and I’d recommend this workshop for all levels of experience. The group ranged from complete newbies to people with 15+ years of agile experience and we all learned something.
I’ve also heard that some attendees are directly applying the techniques learned to decompose new work on their teams radar, a great result!
As our guide Dan reinforced to us:
“Knowing is not enough,
We must APPLY.Willing is not enough,
We must DO.”- Bruce Lee
Hmm, let me find something to slice!
To find out more about future editions of this workshop and other technical public or in-house workshops, you can sign up to our newsletter, and read other blog posts at Everest Academy.
