Our Cause
AgilePool exists for a specific, overarching goal and it is to Optimize the Business World.
And when we say “the Business World” we mean every business, in every domain, in every country.
Yes, we know this is aiming extremely high, we are aware of the fact it is near impossible, even naive, to think that a single company can achieve such a thing.
But no, we are not out of our minds. Bear with us.
See, everything we do as a team and as a company, we do it to contribute, to influence, to move a step further, no matter how small, toward that objective.
And we hope you will help us, too.
“Ok, but why do you want to optimize the Business? What is wrong with it the way it is today?”
Those are fair questions to ask – let’s answer them.
We are humble
We know we have not seen every business in the world. During our modest experience the past decade, however, we have worked closely with all kinds of companies in different domains. Such as:
IT, pharmaceutical, hospitality, food and beverages, betting, marketing, finance, banking, cyber security to name a few.
We have worked with startups, emerging companies, and established enterprises, operating worldwide businesses. Some of them are various service providers and others create their own products and product lines.
And what we observed, over and over again, is how wasteful most of those organizations are.
We see the ineffective, slow, and exhausting organizational processes that are established – the endless meetings with no real outcomes, the unrealistic plans, the lack of vision, the slow decision making, the long reporting chains, the disconnect between strategy and execution, the lack of alignment and clarity between different people and roles, the money spent for meaningless initiatives, the ineffective compensation programs, the internal politics, the toxic organizational culture, the demotivated individuals and low morale, the inability to innovate, the short-sighted managers, the underperforming teams, etc.
And the worst of all – no real value delivered for the customers and end-users.
We are sick of all this and we know you are sick of it, too!
Despite all this, we acknowledge the fact that not all businesses have all those issues and certainly not necessarily all of them at once.
And this is what is giving us hope. Because we know it is possible to change, we have done it and we know how to do it.
The BIG Problem we want to solve
We believe one of the ways to achieve our goal is for companies to start utilizing the Lean-Agile arsenal of values, principles, practices, frameworks, and tools.
Unfortunately, many organizations have tried and failed (or still failing) to “transform” into Lean-Agile (or Teal) companies, and in our opinion, a big reason for that is the “Lean-Agile Certification Business”.
We believe the current certification business model for the most part is de-facto toxic for achieving true business agility. Why?
Because like any other business, its main focus is to make money. And boy, didn’t they find the right niche for making money – the glorious certification!
With great agility comes great certification.
Imagine you are running a business and you want to become “more Agile”.
Here come the consulting companies that convince you that you need to certify all your employees for all kinds of “agile roles” like Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Agile Product Managers, Agile Architects, Agile Secretaries, Agile Sanitary… the list goes on and on.
Of course, this will cost you a big pile of money, not to mention the time that’s needed, so what you do is to look for “certified people” directly from the market.
And there is no shortage of people looking for a job.
They see the need to be “certified” and start looking for ways to obtain that precious artifact. What a great opportunity for the certification providers!
The main goal for many people is to find a new job and/or advance in their career and there is nothing wrong with that.
However, unfortunately, when the main motivation is to gain a certificate to advance their CV, the need for real knowledge and skills takes a back seat.
The result is that people start looking to buy a certificate and when there is demand, there is supply – the certification providers start selling.
Some of the consequences of this wicked practice are the following:
– People and companies spend tremendous amounts of money just to get a certificate.
– Certificates become super easy to get with or without a test, just by attending.
– Because certificates are easy to get, they do not justify real knowledge and skills.
– Certified people grow false self-evaluation.
– Certified people sometimes believe “they are done with learning”.
– More money is spent to “keep the certificate valid” because there is usually an expiration date and they are done for it. Of course, the main way to keep the certificate valid is to pay a tax fee, not to prove knowledge and skills.
On top of things, having a certificate does not guarantee a job!
The quality of the training is questionable because:
– It is template-based, not tailored to people’s backgrounds and needs.
– Not all of the participants are “invested” or adequate for the group, which makes the group’s practical exercises inefficient.
– During the training, a big focus is on “How to solve the certification test”, not on real knowledge and skills.
– Some people are “sent” by their organizations to be certified, but they themselves don’t care.
– During the hiring or performance evaluation, the possession of a certificate provides a false justification and trust in one’s capabilities.
In the end, companies that want to become agile lack the internal expertise and capabilities needed to drive a real organizational change.
What is the value we provide?
Having all of the above in mind, we have decided to disrupt the agile certification business by providing FREE, high-quality certification courses that are truly tailored to people’s needs.
Yes, you read correctly. Certification courses. But now for free.
What’s the catch?
There is no catch. Besides that, the certificate is by no means guaranteed. Every trainee is eligible to obtain a certificate, but it will be given only after passing certain acceptance criteria.
As the certification courses are free, this means money doesn’t play for us. We do not sell certificates.
Our certifications will have a real “weight” because the training is going to be focused on real learning, real practice, and skills, not on certification tests.
In addition, there will be a screening of the participants and an initial evaluation that will determine who will join a certain certification course. This is to ensure a high quality of the group where people will have similar needs, goals, and backgrounds, as we believe the best way to learn is to learn by doing and our workshops are full of various practical exercises, simulations, and games.
All of that with a combination of the certification passing criteria will guarantee that the possession of our certificate justifies real knowledge and capabilities.
Our certificates may or may not expire, but we will never ask for money to extend their validity.
Finally, there are no strings attached – people do not owe us anything. There are no contracts or other obligations.
We hope to attract people and organizations that believe what we believe. It is a chance for them to be part of something unique that will make a difference. Our goal is to enable as many people as possible to “initiate the Agile spark” in their organizations and lead them in the journey.
Our business is to help other businesses optimize their ways of working and if you wish to work together, you now know where to find us.
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