Lisa Cooney
Agilist
Lisa Cooney is an Agile Coach at Blackstone Technology Group where she supports the Strategic Technology Management office at U.S. Department of Homeland Security in their efforts to bring Agile into the organization. She has been ScrumMaster for teams of software developers as well as instructional designers and subject matter experts. Lisa is a co-organizer for the DC Women in Agile Meetup, on the review team for the Learning track at Agile 2019, and is editor for Michael Hamman's upcoming book, “Evolvagility: Growing an Agile Leadership Culture from the Inside-Out.” Her interests include cognitive science, business agility, Agile leadership, Agile instructional design, and behavioral psychology.
Brain Agility: Overcoming Cognitive Bias
Did you know that your brain makes up stories all day long, and if they are good stories, you believe them? Come to this entertaining interactive session to experience some “cognitive illusions” for yourself, and learn what they demonstrate about how our brains’ work. Cognitive science and behavioral psychology offer important insights for agilists, insights that can help us work more effectively with our co-workers and clients. You will learn how awareness of our brains’ tendencies is a powerful tool to overcome our own innate cognitive bias, and the cognitive bias of others. This newfound awareness can open you to more varied perspectives in order to tell yourself a story that is both richer and more nuanced – and closer to being “a true story.”
Outline of what we will do together:
We will watch two short videos as “experiments.”
A short debrief after each video including a review of the video with an explanation of the cognitive bias that led us to our beliefs about what we saw.
We’ll split into smaller groups to make sense of what just happened.
Regroup to learn about the relationship between what you have just experienced and a key Agile value, individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
We will explore a visual example of cognitive bias, and talk about how this relates to the difference between the way that agilists see the world, and the way everyone else sees the world.
Learning Outcomes:
Knowledge of how our brains are hardwired to “co-opt” our beliefs.
Ways that awareness of this tendency can help us overcome our cognitive biases.
Increased ability to be open to all perspectives.
Deeper appreciation for the agile value, “individuals and interactions over processes and tools.”
Did you know that your brain makes up stories all day long, and if they are good stories, you believe them? Come to this entertaining interactive session to experience some “cognitive illusions” for yourself, and learn what they demonstrate about how our brains’ work. Cognitive science and behavioral psychology offer important insights for agilists, insights that can help us work more effectively with our co-workers and clients. You will learn how awareness of our brains’ tendencies is a powerful tool to overcome our own innate cognitive bias, and the cognitive bias of others. This newfound awareness can open you to more varied perspectives in order to tell yourself a story that is both richer and more nuanced – and closer to being “a true story.”
Outline of what we will do together:
We will watch two short videos as “experiments.”
A short debrief after each video including a review of the video with an explanation of the cognitive bias that led us to our beliefs about what we saw.
We’ll split into smaller groups to make sense of what just happened.
Regroup to learn about the relationship between what you have just experienced and a key Agile value, individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
We will explore a visual example of cognitive bias, and talk about how this relates to the difference between the way that agilists see the world, and the way everyone else sees the world.
A short debrief after each video including a review of the video with an explanation of the cognitive bias that led us to our beliefs about what we saw.
We’ll split into smaller groups to make sense of what just happened.
Regroup to learn about the relationship between what you have just experienced and a key Agile value, individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
We will explore a visual example of cognitive bias, and talk about how this relates to the difference between the way that agilists see the world, and the way everyone else sees the world.
Learning Outcomes:
Knowledge of how our brains are hardwired to “co-opt” our beliefs.
Ways that awareness of this tendency can help us overcome our cognitive biases.
Increased ability to be open to all perspectives.
Deeper appreciation for the agile value, “individuals and interactions over processes and tools.”
Ways that awareness of this tendency can help us overcome our cognitive biases.
Increased ability to be open to all perspectives.
Deeper appreciation for the agile value, “individuals and interactions over processes and tools.”