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How to build a pigpen

a tale of Agile Organization

Pierre E. Neis

A group of farm animals must redesign their pigpen after a storm destroys it. Each animal represents a common organizational role or mindset — the visionary rooster, the cautious cow, the practical pig, and the reflective goat. Guided by an unexpected newcomer — a sparrow who has seen “adaptive farms” elsewhere — they learn how to build not just a pigpen, but a smarter way of working together.

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About

About

About the Book

Blending the AO Method (Adaptive Organization) with the allegorical and story-driven style of John Kotter’s Our Iceberg Is Melting. I'll be using a fable about building a pigpen, not just as a literal task, but as a metaphor for organizational design, team learning, and adaptive transformation.

It is structured: as a short business fable written in story form, with a cast of animal characters on a farm. Through their journey of building a better pigpen, they discover and model the principles of the AO method — adaptive structures, systemic coordination, and reflective learning — framed within Agile play mechanics (like the “Agile Animal Farm Game”).

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ManagementAgileLeadershipAgile EnterpriseOrganizational Psychology

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About the Author

Pierre E. Neis

I’m a Franco-German agile practitioner who’s been learning and working alongside organisations for more than a decade to help them become more adaptive and people-centered. I’ve supported around 200 organisations in roles such as team and product coach, and adviser — always exploring how agility can grow from real conversations and shared purpose.

Along the way, while learning through #play14, I developed the “AO” (Agile Organisation) model and the idea of agile sense-making — tools to help teams think together and respond to change with intention. I wrote The New Normal and co-authored Swarming X4 to share some of these patterns and reflections from practice.

I see agile like the ability to respond to the challenges of 21st‑century work. Through initiatives like #play14, I use games and experiential learning to bring people closer to that spirit of curiosity and collaboration. My approach is simple: I try to be part of the system I’m helping, learning as much as I teach, and creating space for others to grow.

Contents

Table of Contents

Getting Started

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Writing in Markua

  1. Section One
  2. Including a Chapter in the Sample Book
  3. Links
  4. Images
  5. Lists
  6. Page Breaks
  7. Code Samples
  8. Tables
  9. Math
  10. Headings
  11. Block quotes, Asides and Blurbs
  12. Good luck, have fun!
  13. author: Pierre E. Neis contributor: Pages Publishing macOS v1.0 date: 2026-01-29 identifier: 0C0D391B-6F0B-4DFA-B32D-C3737A241C77 language: en title: How to build a pigpen

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