While walking through a Neuro-Linquistic Programming (NLP) introduction, I couldn’t help but be struck by some of the similarities between some of what they were saying, and what we do in an Agile team while creating our backlog.
The NLP teachings involved a series of questions to ask someone that you were trying to help. Look at a couple of examples:
What do you want?
User Story: As a [role] I want [feature] so that [benefit].
How will you know when you have it?
Acceptance Criteria: Given [precondition] when [action] then [result].
What else could an Agile product owner learn from these NLP techniques?
What are the advantages to the Status Quo?
This is a valid question. One that should not be glossed over. The current business process must offer SOME benefits, or it would not be in place. When the user says they want XYZ, asking them in what way the current approach is better than XYZ could be a very useful eye-opener, especially when coupled with the next couple of questions.
What are the needs and/or wants behind those advantages?
How can we fulfill those needs while still getting you what you want?
What a great way of getting buy-in from your users!
The NLP teachings go on, asking for beliefs that the client might have which tell them that what they want, their goal, their aspiration, is unrealistic. In the event of a customer/user who has already bought in to and is excited about what you propose to give them, these additional techniques may not be necessary. But when you are dealing with users who have been doing things the same way for years and years, and they are resistant to change, these techniques could mean the difference between acceptance and resistance.
Sounds to me like there should be a book: NLP for Agile Product Owners: The pattern of success!
