Agilists, as ScrumMasters, Product Owners, Agile Coaches and Dev Team members, have something in common: they know that learning is a non-stop activity. Although we can find everything online these days, sometimes we are so busy that we forget the basics and purpose of our practices. So, if you’re new to Agile or even experienced, it’s always a good idea to get yourself out of the madness of day-to-day work and reenergize your mind with amazing ideas. In this post, you’ll find top 5 energizing Ted Talks. They are not necessarily new, but they get the job done:
1. Do schools kill creativity? (Ken Robinson)
Ken Robinson is an educator that led the British government’s 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education. In this video, Sir Ken makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.
2. The puzzle of motivation (Daniel Pink)
Daniel Pink is the author of 5 books about business, work, and behavior. He has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. In this Ted Talk, Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation; starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don’t: traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think. Listen to illuminating stories – and maybe, a way forward.
3. How too many rules at work keep you from getting things done? (Yves Morieux)
Yves Morieux is a consultant that considers how overarching changes in structure can improve motivation to everyone. Modern work — from waiting tables to crunching numbers to dreaming up new products — is about solving brand-new problems every day, flexibly, in brand-new ways. But as Yves Morieux shows in this insightful talk, too often, an overload of processes and sign-offs and internal metrics keeps us from doing our best. He offers a new way to think of work — as a collaboration, not a competition.
4. How great leaders inspire action? (Simon Sinek)
Simon Sinek teaches graduate-level strategic communications at Columbia University. In this Ted Talk, Simon Sinek presents a simple but powerful model for how leaders inspire action, starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?”. His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers – and as a counterpoint Tivo, which (until a recent court victory that tripled its stock price) appeared to be struggling.
5. How to run a company with almost no rules? (Ricardo Semler)
What if your job didn’t control your life? Brazilian CEO Ricardo Semler practices a radical form of corporate democracy, rethinking everything from board meetings to how workers report their vacation days (they don’t have to). It’s a vision that rewards the wisdom of workers, promotes work-life balance — and leads to some deep insight on what work – and life – is really all about. Bonus question: What if schools were also like this too?
