In 2019, Leslie Hawthorn introduced me to the Open Practice Library
It was a revelation.
There was very little overlap between the Open Source and Agile communities I was living in, which is strange given they have so much in common. In some ways they are parallel revolutions that arguably, have changed the world we live in. Stefan Koch discusses the similarities in "Agile Principles and Open Source Software Development".
The Open Practice Library is a collection of tools and practices people can use to support software development. The emphasis is on practice. And anyone who practices team work to create stuff will likely find some of it familiar.
I've recently been having conversations about how to enable more people to adopt these practices. Just pointing them at the information (much of which is freely available) doesn't seem to be enough. They also need time and space to practice. To have a go, to try, to learn, to adapt, to refine, and to master the skills associated with those practices.
We learn by doing, through practice. Through making mistakes, and actively, intentionally trying to get better at how we do what we do.
People who do this with generosity, by sharing their learning as they grow, help us all become better Open practitioners.
Thank you to everyone who's ever shared a HowTo, Checklist, Framework, or Canvas.
Check out the Library. Even better - help us all learn by making a contribution!