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Caitlin Walker

Training Attention & Clean Learning

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John Barratt

Agile Affinity

Caitlin is a director of Clean Learning and the developer of Systemic Modelling™. She is the author of From Contempt to Curiosity, which details many of the innovative and transformational projects she’s led across our community from the most dispossessed to leading think tanks, and has recently been awarded a PhD from Liverpool John Moores University for her thesis on “Using Clean Language Interviewing to model Curriculum Design in Higher Education: Curriculum Design is Like What?”

Caitlin graduated in Linguistics at the School of Oriental and African Studies and completed four years post graduate research in ‘Strategies for Lexical access’ including fieldwork in Ghana. She began modelling teaching and learning while at SOAS, volunteering intermediary classes to translate information presented at lectures into different learning styles for the students. At the same time she was a youth worker in Kings Cross bringing these leading edge tools to groups of young people.

She went on to set up literacy clubs in King’s Cross, where children could come to learn to spell. From 1996 – 1999 Caitlin was an Education tutor with the Dalston Youth Project, a Home Office run experiment to offer accelerated learning to at-risk students, alongside mentoring, to keep them in school. She ran these sessions as NLP modelling workshops and achieved excellent results with the students. The project won a Crime Prevention and Community Safety award for Great Britain. In 1999 she was offered the opportunity to develop her work in a business context and she created the ground breaking metaphors@work process. These techniques are available on the Creative Management section of the Open University MBA program and on a 10 week modular course on Practical Thinking. She has co-designed and she co-delivers a Masters Level module in Coaching and Mentoring at Liverpool John Moores University.

She has since developed her modelling skills from small scale group development to whole scale organisational culture change programmes. She designs and delivers tailor made learning and development programs for addressing diversity, conflict, leadership, managing mergers and creating ‘learning organisations’.

Caitlin practices in a variety of contexts. Clients include: Jeyes Group, Liverpool John Moores University, Pharmacia, Hull City Council, South Yorkshire Police Service, Bexley Care Trust, New Information Paradigms, Work Directions UK, Crime Concern, BT, Police National Search Centre, Celerent Consultancy, Carbon Partners, Ealing LEA, and Working Links. She has trained a number of in-house trainers to carry on and develop the work without creating dependency on her expertise. She has systematically tested and developed her ideas in challenging arenas and her robust products have become sought after learning aids.

At the heart of my approach lies a profound belief in the transformative power of agility. As an avid proponent of seeing individuals, teams, and organisations reach their pinnacle of potential, I leverage a dynamic blend of agile coaching approaches deeply rooted in the agile mindset. My journey in the agile landscape is marked by a commitment to excellence, evidenced by my status as an ICAgile Transformation Member, an ICAgile Expert in Agile Coaching and Enterprise Coaching, a Certified Scrum Trainer, a Certified Enterprise Coach, and a Certified Team Coach.


My passion extends beyond traditional coaching; it’s about fostering environments where descaling complexity and nurturing self-organisation are the norms, not the exceptions. This vision is supported by my systemic coaching approach, which forms the backbone of my work with organisations worldwide. By integrating the fundamentals of agility with advanced coaching techniques, I guide entities through the intricate process of transformation, ensuring they emerge more resilient, agile, and aligned with their core values.
As an ICAgile Transformation Member, I am recognized not just for my expertise in delivering practical, impactful learning experiences beyond conventional frameworks but also for my role in shaping the future of agile transformations. This prestigious membership is a testament to my track record of guiding successful transformations and my dedication to principle-based strategies built on a foundation of best practices and real-world experiences.


Choosing to engage with me means opting for a learning journey that transcends the acquisition of skills to become a transformative experience. Whether you’re an individual seeking to excel in the agile domain, a team aiming to elevate its performance, or an organisation pursuing a holistic transformation, my goal is to empower you with the knowledge, tools, and mindset to navigate the complexities of today’s dynamic environments.

Clean Codes, Clear Conversations: A Live Coding Experience

14.30-15.15 The Shirley Room (workshop)

Abstract

Building on the keynote, Training Attention—One Clean Question at a Time, this hands-on workshop teaches you how to “code” a conversation in real time so you can notice critical shifts and respond more clearly. By focusing attention on what’s happening now, what’s possible next, and how to get there, you’ll discover a practical way to keep every dialogue on track without imposing your assumptions.

Key Takeaways

  • Learn a simple approach to categorizing or “coding” any conversation on the fly
  • Develop a sharper focus for detecting subtle cues and shifts in dialogue
  • Strengthen your ability to guide discussions toward the next steps without steering
  • Gain confidence in maintaining a clean, client-led stance, even under time pressure