Interview with Linda Rising

Q. Could you briefly introduce yourself?

I’m an independent consultant who lives near Nashville, Tennessee, in the US. I’m interested in the brain, how we think, solve problems, make decisions.

Q: What will your talk be about, exactly? Why this topic?

The title of the talk is “Overcoming resistance” and addresses one of the most important issues we face today. How to communicate ideas to people who disagree with us.

Q: What do you think could be the main gain for participants in your session?

We tend to believe that if you can just outline the reasons for our stance that others, if they are intelligent, will see our point of view and adopt it. What scientific evidence shows is –this is a bias–we are not convinced by argument. In fact, it’s very difficult to convince others to change. What is effective is to be open to listening and learning and possibly changing ourselves.

Q: Can you give some advice to teams/organisations that are transitioning to agile?

Don’t expect major change to happen overnight. Don’t expect to see the hyped benefits that others might report. Take small steps and learn.

Q: How do you see the evolution of agile in the future?

Agile is the name for a step along the way. It has already changed from its inception. I started doing Scrum in the mid-1990s. Scrum now is very different. The fact that agile has changed and continues to change means that it is really “agile.” That is its future — change.