The Agile4ADHD Community of Practice

For those of you just joining us, I spent the last year and a half doing 1:1 coaching and validating whether my method (which I call “Agile4ADHD”) was both transferable (meaning it would work for others) and teachable. The answer to both questions was “yes”, which means that I can begin offering support to clients that is more accessible than 1:1 coaching.

And the foundation of that support will be the Agile4ADHD Community of Practice. 

What’s a Community of Practice?

In the process of learning to do what I do, I went through a number of certification programs. The most rigorous of these (the CSP and PMI-ACP) required weeks of study, extensive professional experience, and an exam. But even those were more effective for getting recognition for what I'd already learned than actually learning. I mainly developed the skills that I have by working, and through years of participation in my community of practice.

This community of practice was a meetup group that got together once a month. Each meeting included a workshop or lecture, a social period, discussion, and food. Gradually, I absorbed education in digestible chunks with a community of peers. In between meetings, I applied what I had learned to the work that I did with engineering teams, and developed my personal "Agile4ADHD" practice (which later became my coaching methodology). Over time, I received mentorship from people who had more experience, and graduated to providing mentorship to people who had less experience.

This is (IMHO) the best form of education. Small amounts of information, delivered continuously over a long period of time, and supported by a working community is the most effective means of learning for almost everyone, but especially neurodiverse people. Not only is it a better model for learning, but it’s better for human social and emotional health.

I had intended to launch this community along with my fall cohort of group coaching. The idea was to start with a small group of people that had spent seven weeks studying the method and developing social connections. This would be the "starter" (yes, like sourdough) and (like sourdough) would gradually expand into the Agile4ADHD community of practice.