In this seminar we will talk about responsive training, representing an exciting new breakthrough in didactic techniques adapted for digital and online. Referencing a successful air force training program, we will talk about how to maximize engagement, retention, and enjoyment while minimizing cost and disruption. Responsive training leverages the 4 C’s of training from the back of the room: connections, concepts, concrete practice, and conclusions. We will explore how to maximize the human elements while fully leveraging cloud and container-based technologies to improve training efficiencies. Finally we will explore the essential set of digital training tools including breakout rooms, surveys, bluescape/Miro, Mentimeter, and Kahoot.

1. Matt Dolan
Director, Business Development
www.arielpartners.com
29 August 2023 16:00 CDT

2. INTRODUCTION
Matt Dolan from Hoboken, NJ
• 23 yrs USAF Active Duty: retired SMSgt; Air
Traffic Control System Program Management
• 21 yrs DAF Civil Service: Source Selection, Agile
Transformation, Contracting Officer Tech Rep
• 1 yr as a civilian: Enterprise Agile Coach and
Scrum Master in Aero & Defense
Hobbies: Genealogy, Fishing, Travelling

3. Questions?

4. 4
u Simply put—it is about getting one step closer to the
warfighter.
u People optimizing the value stream using emerging tools
and tech to effectively connect with the warfighter,
understand their needs, and deliver the capabilities at
the speed of relevance.
Digital Transformation

5. 5
Successful Transformations: More Than Technology
Adapted from: Lean Enterprise Systems, Using IT for Continuous
Improvement www.steadyimprovement.com
Frustration and inefficiency
High cost of operation

6. 6
u Only 49% of Healthcare companies said they were able to deliver
their digital initiatives within 100% of planned scope.
u Only 42% of Retail & Consumer companies said their strategic
digital initiatives were delivered on time.
u Only 32% of Tech companies came in at or below budget for their
digital initiatives
u 42% of Power & Utility companies blamed lack of properly skilled
teams for being a barrier to achieving expects results.
Barrier Across Industries
What Digital Transformation Really Means by Tom Puthiyamadam 2017

7. 7
u Expert: Tactical focus on
improvements within own unit.
Minimal stakeholder engagement
u Achiever: Strategic outcome focus.
Makes episodic changes for new
environmental realities. Seeks
stakeholder buy-in
u Catalyst: Aims through the target.
Develops organizational capacity to
meet any strategic challenge
• Bill Joiner, Changewise
Leadership

8. 8
u Symptoms
• "This is the way we've always done it."
• "We tried something like that, and it didn't work."
• "That's not the way things are done in government.“
u Treatment
• Don’t simply raise problems - provide solutions.
• To improve, you must change.
• Change can mean increased risk – don’t punish it!
Debilitating Inertia

9. Transformation
Overload

10. Who wants
training?
And why?

11. I do!! It will
round out my
resume
nicely.
Depends where
the training is
being held? I
need some cool
weather.
Me too! During
feedback you
said “More
training quicker
promotion!

12. Communicate
the “Why”

13. Let me rephrase… Who
needs training to
support our digital
transformation while
you do your regular
job?

14. On second thought—my
mother-in-law will be in
town and I really need
some bonding time.
My WIP went out the
window and my brain is
exploding.
More work? I can’t
it’ll encroach on my
job search.

15. Make
Time for
Change

16. Communicate the
WHY.
Build the team
you need.
Train the team
you built.
Employ an Agile
training approach
That didn’t go as
planned! Hmmm…Am
I going about this
the best way?

17. 17

18. Select members
suited for team
success
"If you have always
done it that way, it is
probably wrong."
Charles Kettering

19. 19
Wonder
Creativity
Discernment
Movement
Enablement
Results
Potential
Invention
Judgement
Galvanizing
Support
Tenacity
The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations,
and Your Team by Patrick M. Lencioni
Wonder - Sees
potential.
Invention - Sees
ideas.
Discernment - Assess
ideas.
Galvanizing - Rally
others to act on
ideas.
Enablement - Help to
bring ideas to life.
Tenacity - Push ideas
to completion.

20. Teams
• Both are stream-aligned teams
• Different levels of investment
• Different training requirements

21. 21
Establish an Agile Training Approach
Focus on what the
team needs to achieve
rather than what the
curriculum demands
Tailor the training
when required and on
a cadence that
supports the team
Transformation is by
its nature an
iterative journey
despite unrealistic
mandates

22. What We Configured for Training

23. 23
What to Train
u Technical: Specific skills needed for the transformation.
u Change management: Skills such as communication, stakeholder
management, impact analysis, product management, etc…
u Process: Skills specific workflows or value stream are being
transformed.
u Soft skills: Developing such as collaboration, teamwork, and
problem-solving.

24. 24
When to train

25. 25
Training Image Manager (TIM) web application

26. OODA:
Observe – Orient – Decide – Act

28. Coaching & Training Courses
1. Team Kanban Practitioner
2. Kanban Management Professional
3. Kanban Maturity Model
4. Introduction to Flight Levels
5. Flight Level 2 Design / 3 Design
6. SAFe Scrum Master / Adv SM
7. SAFe Product Owner
8. SAFe Release Train Engineer
AGILE CERTIFICATIONS
AGILE TRANSFORMATION
1. Fundamentals of Agile
2. Agile for Leaders & Executives
3. Human Centered Design
4. Story Mapping, Splitting & Discovery
Kanban
5. Agile Forecasting & Metrics
6. Flight Levels Systems Architecture
ATLASSIAN SUITE
1. Jira Fundamentals
2. Jira Intermediate
3. Jira Advanced
4. Jira Service Management
5. JQL Workshop
6. Team Spaces in Confluence
7. Git and Bitbucket
TECHNICAL PRACTICES
1. Specification By Example
2. BDD & Automated Acceptance
Testing
3. Git and GitHub
4. Hands-On DevSecOps w/ Docker
5. Microservices Design Patterns
6. SRE: Site Reliability Engineering
7. AI/ML Bootcamp

29. Contract Vehicles – PRIME
GSA MAS
Prime: Ariel Partners
Contract Number: GS-35F-178CA
SIN: 54151S, 541611
Contract Period: 2/9/2015 to 2/8/2025
Navy Seaport Next Generation
Prime: Ariel Partners
Contract Number: N0017819D8460
Contract type: Multiple Award Contract (MAC)
Contract Period: 1/2/19 to 1/1/2029

30. Contract Vehicles – SUBCONTRACT
NIH NITAAC CIO Solutions & Partners 4
Prime: MicroHealth
Contract Number: xxx
Contract Period: 4/1/2023 to 4/1/2033
DISA Encore III
Prime: ECS Federal
Contract Numbers: HC1028D0009
HC102818D0012
Contract Period: 11/2/2017 to 3/11/2028
DOJ ITSS-5
Prime: IntePros
Contract Number: 15JPSS18DPZM00008
Contract Period: 5/23/2018 to 10/1/2027
NIH NITAAC CIO Solutions & Partners 4
Prime: IMTAS
Contract Number: xxx
Contract Period: 4/1/2023 to 4/1/2033
DIA SITE III F&O
Prime: IBM/Octo Consulting Group
Contract Numbers: HHM402-21-D-0037
HHM402-21-D-0144
HHM402-21-D-0017
Contract Period: 3/2/2021 to 3/1/31
DIA SITE III SB
Prime: IMTAS
Contract Number: HHM402-21-D-0137
Contract Period: 3/2/2021 to 3/1/31
DOJ

31. Questions?
mdolan@arielpartners.com
www.arielpartners.com

32. BACKUP SLIDES

33. Book smarts are
not enough
Domain expertise
is crucial!!
33

34. 34
Changing the Mindset
Mindset
Values
Principles
Practices
Tools and
Processes
Becoming a learning
organization
Source: based on Mia.Kolmodin,”Agile in a Nutshell” http://blog.crisp.se/
Requires structural and
cultural change
Can be adopted in
command & control