Created in 2019 by Jurgen Appelo, initiator of Management 3.0, Shiftup offers continuous training in agility and innovation, especially by interacting with members of this international community. How does Shiftup work, and why take the plunge? We’ll give you the answer in this review.
“Before you try to measure someone else’s performance,
please explain how you measure your own.”
Jurgen Appelo, #Workout
When I joined Astrakhan, the opportunity to innovate, learn and build skills started with ShiftUp.
I am an agile coach at Astrakhan and like any agilist, I wondered how I could discover and learn more about the topics related to agile management.
In 2019, Jurgen APELLO, entrepreneur, author and initiator of Management 3.0 launched the Shiftup community. Known for his involvement in the creative economy, Jurgen Appelo is already the founder of several communities such as Agility Scales, or Happy Melly.
Today, with more than 6,500 members from 55 countries around the world, it is part of a particularly active network.
My experience on Shiftup started in the summer of 2020. In the beginning, the idea of joining an international community seemed unconvincing to me. In fact, my knowledge in agility did not allow me to exchange views and share ideas on too complex subjects, especially since it was not easy for me to understand all the issues, while I was still in a learning phase.
However, driven by my interest in agile management topics, I quickly got carried away. I soon realized that it was possible to approach ShiftUp from several angles.
In a way, we can choose the role we wish to play in the community or simply be readers. It is possible to learn through articles, videos, publications and posts that are freely available.
Shiftup offers 3 levels of accessibility that allow you to be more or less active within the network.
The first level, “Free”, allows the user to join the collaborative communication platform “SLACK” and to be regularly informed of new publications put online.
For members wishing to share ideas, discuss and participate in events (webinar, podcast…), there are the “Explorer” and “Facilitator” levels. These last two levels are intended to accelerate the learning of members, which will result in a qualification awarded by Jurgen Appelo.
This qualification is seen as a real reward. It is not an aim in itself, but it allows the theoretical learning of the certification to be complemented by a more practical approach.
After all, can we question the knowledge of a “facilitator” if it is approved by Jurgen Appelo, leader of Management 3.0?
Actively participating in the community is fine, but being qualified is better!
The skill levels are set up on 5 levels, ranging from agility promoter to expert in agile transformation coaching.
It is of course very interesting to learn and challenge ourselves through concrete cases shared by other professionals. However, it is not easy to become one of the people who can claim to be experts in managerial innovation and to be qualified as such by ShiftUp.
This qualification is based on a point system. Members will have to remain active in the community to earn the highest number of points, depending on the topics covered.
In short, Shiftup is an effective way for people who want to be part of an agilist ecosystem. It offers the opportunity to share and learn new agile management tools, processes and techniques from each other.
I appreciate the fact that I don’t have to be active in the community right from the beginning and that I can start by getting informed and then exchange views to progress. I can organize my learning pace in my own way by consulting by myself the articles shared on the network.
Nevertheless, a skill-building path requires a lot of time and Shiftup is no exception to this rule. We have to be patient and stay tuned to keep up to date with what’s new on the market and identify the topics we want to explore further.
In June, a community member received the first level qualification after 4 months of learning through which he read and commented on more than 70 articles, 10 podcasts, 40 posts and 40 videos recommended by Shiftup. This is a hard job, but particularly rich in knowledge and adaptable to everyone.
