Twelve principles underlie the Agile approach to development and, translated carefully, to change management. This programme takes one principle each week for twelve weeks, grounds it in the psychology of behaviour change, and shows precisely how it is applied in the daily management of a wool or mohair enterprise — on the farm, in the shed, at the depot and across the broker relationship.
Who this is for
Farm owners and managers, shed foremen, wool and mohair classers, depot and broker management, group scheme co-ordinators, and anyone carrying responsibility for making change stick across a seasonal, distributed and multilingual operation.
How the programme runs
- One lesson per week, designed to be read in twenty to thirty minutes.
- A short assessment after each lesson. Four questions, pass mark 70%, retakes permitted.
- An ‘Apply it this week’ practice in every lesson, intended to be done in the operation rather than in a notebook.
- Industry-specific worked examples throughout, drawn from clip preparation, shearing operations, veld and stocking management, depot flow and broker relationships.
The twelve weeks
| Week | Principle |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Customer satisfaction through early and continuous delivery of value |
| Week 2 | Welcome regular adaptation to changing circumstances |
| Week 3 | Deliver working outcomes frequently — weeks rather than months |
| Week 4 | Close, daily co-operation between the commercial side and the operational side |
| Week 5 | Build initiatives around motivated individuals, and trust them to do the work |
| Week 6 | Face-to-face conversation is the most effective form of communication |
| Week 7 | A working solution is the principal measure of progress |
| Week 8 | Sustainable pace — a constant rate that can be maintained indefinitely |
| Week 9 | Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design |
| Week 10 | Simplicity — the art of maximising the amount of work not done |
| Week 11 | The best requirements and designs emerge from self-organising teams |
| Week 12 | At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective and adjusts accordingly |
A live change every delegate is carrying
The Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) and Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS) are being replaced. Textile Exchange has consolidated its material-specific standards — including the whole Responsible Animal Fiber framework covering wool, alpaca and mohair — into a single unified standard, the Materials Matter Standard (MMS). This is not an additional standard sitting alongside RWS and RMS. It replaces them.
| 12 December 2025 | Final MMS criteria and the Claims & Labeling Policy published. |
| 1 April 2026 | Transition Policy published, setting out what certified organisations must do. |
| 31 December 2026 | MMS becomes effective. Eligible organisations may be audited to MMS or continue under the current standards. |
| 31 December 2027 | MMS becomes mandatory. All Tier 4 audits from this date are conducted to MMS. |
| 30 June 2029 | All claims and labels must be to MMS. |
MMS combines practice-based and outcome-based criteria across land management, animal welfare, human rights and livelihoods, and primary processing (water, chemicals, energy, waste and emissions). The outcome-based element is the part most likely to catch producers out: it asks for evidence of results, not only evidence of procedures. The Content Claim Standard continues to carry chain of custody.
The transition is used as a running worked example throughout the programme — in Week 1 as a first slice of delivered value, in Week 2 as the central case in adapting to changed requirements, in Week 3 as staged delivery, in Week 9 as accumulated evidence debt, and in Week 11 as a design the operation should own rather than have imposed on it.
Course Features
- Lectures 4
- Quizzes 4
- Duration 50 hours
- Skill level All levels
- Language English
- Students 1
- Assessments Yes
Curriculum
- 4 Sections
- 4 Lessons
- 12 Weeks
- Week 1 — Customer satisfaction through early and continuous delivery of value2
- Week 2 — Welcome regular adaptation to changing circumstances2
- Week 3 — Deliver working outcomes frequently — weeks rather than months2
- Week 4 — Close, daily co-operation between the commercial side and the operational side2
