George Schlitz and Giora Morein gave a great presentation/workshop on Agile Enablement Battlefield.

First off, let me say that I am not a big fan of military metaphors.  I like to think more in terms of growing understanding.

Anyway, the main point of this talk is that it is really helpful to draw an influence diagram with all the players involved in and surrounding and Agile project.  Colour code all the players so that you know where to focus your attention.

Agile Enablement Battlefield

In the diagram, one can see that negative influencers (far right) may eventually impact the team, so this is the purpose of casting a wide net when drawing this out.

The fog of war is just a reminder that we often don’t know people’s real disposition so it’s a good idea to guess and then update the diagram as information becomes available.

Also, check out Portia Tung’s description of the session.