In daily work we often get used to solving, rushing, planning in order to execute. But when variables increase, when stakeholders multiply, when expectations diverge, something different is needed: we need to slow down in order to understand.
Piero guided us through exercises, reflections, and maps, helping us distinguish between simple projects and complex ones.
We started from personal experiences and discovered that absolute definitions don’t exist. Complexity is relative. It depends on the people involved, the clarity of the objectives, the nature of the context, and our willingness to question ready-made tools and models.
Every project deserves to be listened to
In daily work we often get used to solving, rushing, planning in order to execute. But when variables increase, when stakeholders multiply, when expectations diverge, something different is needed: we need to slow down in order to understand.
Piero guided us through exercises, reflections, and maps, helping us distinguish between simple projects and complex ones.
We started from personal experiences and discovered that absolute definitions don’t exist. Complexity is relative. It depends on the people involved, the clarity of the objectives, the nature of the context, and our willingness to question ready-made tools and models.
The Cynefin Framework as a map of contexts
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Agile is listening in motion
For those who work with teams and projects, requests for “agility” often show up as a synonym for “doing more in less time.” But the agile approach is fueled by something entirely different: care, intentionality, and continuous alignment between purpose and practice, because its meaning lies in co-creating the sense of the work. Making the “why” explicit, adjusting along the way, gathering evidence — even from mistakes — to change the pace.
Acting in micro-cycles, experimenting, observing.
Value is not only in the outcome
In the agile mindset, what matters is the value generated — not just the action completed.
During the workshop, we revisited the concept of outcome: the effect produced, the real benefit. Sometimes we focus so much on “closing the task” that we forget for whom and why we are doing that work.
A well-run retrospective can shift the trajectory of a project more than a thousand meetings. This is why tools like the sailboat metaphor help the team refocus.
The sailboat retrospective helps a group reflect together on what is happening in the project or in the team’s work. The idea is simple: visualize the team as a boat sailing toward a destination. The boat is the team; the island is the goal; the wind represents resources, motivation, and tools; the anchors represent obstacles and difficulties; the rocks are hidden risks and vulnerabilities not yet surfaced; and the sea is the context in which the team moves — stable or uncertain, supportive or turbulent.
During the retrospective, each team member fills in (in writing or visually) these elements. This creates a shared map that allows the team to:
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gain awareness of the present moment,
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recognize collective efforts,
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identify critical areas to address,
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make decisions about what to continue, start, or let go.
It’s a tool that shifts reflection from personal judgment to co-creation. And above all, it invites the team to navigate together instead of pointing fingers.
The organization as a living system
Behind every decision lies a network — not always visible and not always explicit. Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) helps bring this network to light: it shows how information truly flows, how decisions move, who connects different functions, who is consulted, and who remains at the margins.
In several studies reported by experts such as Rob Cross (The Hidden Power of Social Networks), ONA has revealed situations in which junior figures, never formally involved in decision-making processes, turned out to be the real connectors between distributed teams. Informal yet central roles: everyone turned to them, even though it was never written anywhere.
Similarly, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) makes it possible to see where value is generated and where, instead, delays, blocks, and duplications accumulate. In many organizations, visualizing the full flow of work has made it possible to identify bottlenecks that were previously invisible. One too many formal steps, a control no longer needed, a redundancy that absorbs time and resources.
It often happens, for example, that in an internal validation process requiring twelve steps, only three truly add value for the final customer. Seeing it in black and white makes simplification possible — freeing up time for what really matters.
Agile as a cultural posture
That said, the true heart of agile is cultural, because it requires accepting that a plan can be revised. Agile seeks to create the conditions in which people can feel that their voice matters, and that the process is a structure to be updated based on what is happening.
During the session with Piero, we experienced this concretely:
each person brought their own perspective, language, and experience. No single truth emerged; instead, we found ourselves in front of a mosaic. And within that mosaic, a new awareness took shape: to work with an agile mindset, we need a context that fosters trust, dialogue, and ownership.
We need environments where each person can contribute to defining the problem even before solving it.
The quality of the work also depends on the quality of attention we bring to creating it.
