Monthly Archives: July 2014

Why am I not writing about scrum?

28 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by in Agile Scrum

≈ Leave a comment

It’s funny, As a scrum masters’ blog, you would expect to see more posts about scrum or agile.

So why don’t I write more about scrum as the framework? Well, for me, what counts is the overall goal of delivering business value, the essence of it all AND what that TRULY means. There are so many blogs about scrum, how to write the best user story, how to hold your ceremonies, how to do this, how to do that… and they all have tremendous value, but, in the spirit of eliminating waste… why would I write about them? What is it that I have to offer in the world of agile? It’s not how to write the best user story… it’s about the underlying gems in Agile, the true spirit of it, or at least, my interpretation.

More than anything, I work with people. Whether you want to view it from a pure emotionless old fashioned economical view (your resources) or from a more respectful view, your team, bottom line is, these people create your business value. And how they connect, how they operate, how they feel, that is what will determine the true success of your project.

Late 19th century management thought they had it covered by punishment, cruelty and basically instilling fear, so that people would work harder. The ‘power trip’. Over the years, this style is (extremely slowly) making way for a more nurturing, respectful approach where we assume people actually want to work hard and need encouragement and help, instead of reprimanding. 

Agile works based on that point of view.

And… it works. It makes perfect sense too, as instilled within every human being ( except some edge cases) is the need for connection, belonging. So we want to work to please. In most companies (expect the ones that still rule with an iron fist – sometimes with a velvet glove to cover it up) that basic drive is there. The next one that is needed, is the ability to show reality. Use courage ( from the latin: speak from the heart) to say it like it is, as you know you work in an environment where you are safe and together with your team you are working on the same goal.

Linked with that, is also the courage of being vulnerable, of knowing that you are doing the best you can and that that is enough. So no need to work yourself in to the ground, as you are here to run a marathon, not a sprint 😉

Now, look a what I just wrote, look at the ‘powers’ every individual in the team ( and outside of the team) needs:

– trust, courage, vulnerability, openness, communication, honesty, sensitivity,…

Some people go a whole life time without even understanding the concepts and the true power of these qualities. Scrum offers a framework to work on these basic principles, but more is needed, and for me, that is where a really good scrum master offers most value, in working on getting the best out of every individual in the team, so they can become a truly highly efficient team.

That is where the positivity project fits in, a project at work where we are analysing if there are certain techniques out there that can improve positivity. To improve positivity, understanding and practising vulnerability, sensitivity, communication, honesty, trust, courage are the basics!

Yours truly,

Brigitte

Just start writing and never give up.

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by in Agile Scrum

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

I promised myself to write this blog every Sunday, but today, when I try to focus on what to write about, there is a bit of block there.

You probably know that feeling, something prevents you from getting in that moment of flow.

So I said to myself, just do it, just start writing, it will come.

In my career I have had so many times that I was thrown in the deep end and with no or very little prep had to just wing it. Scary at first, but exiting too, I must admit, I quite like it. More than that, I learn from it, not only a boost of confidence but also from an optimisation point of view, sometimes, you just have to trust your years of experience, combined with skills, healthy instincts and with pure intention, THAT is a winning combination. LEAN to the bone.

I have been very lucky to have influences from so many different fields, cultures, environments. Last Friday I got to revisit one of those environments.

In my past, I started a music channel where I interviewed Rock artists. It was called Taste iT Tv, as I wanted a little taste of what they were about, what made them tick, where does the passion come from, how do these creative, passionate and often pure people work and what makes them unique, how do they manage to inspire hundreds and thousands of people? What drives them and what do they all have in common?

Doing these interviews, I discovered one of the gifts I have, even though I don’t consider myself a ‘social’ person, as I am absolute rubbish at small talk, one thing I can do is have deep conversations with people, in a very short amount of time. People just open up to me. Why? Because my intentions are good and pure and they know I genuinely care. Respect and integrity are values I do not compromise on as they are core to who I am. And core to what I want the world to be. I truly believe that these values are the future of the human race and this world, and I will play any part I can in spreading them.

Last Friday, one of those bands I have interviewed was playing a festival near me. They were headlining one of the alternative stages. I went to meet up with them, to see how they were, talk about the future and the past and just relax and have fun, I really had a great time! I really loved it! And of course to see them play. Their live shows are always great, it’s not just the music, it’s how they interact with the audience, it is so much more…

I first interviewed The Blackout in 2006, hard to believe it’s almost 8 years ago. We hit it of immediately and that interview was one of the funniest I ever did. The guys were genuine, filled with drive, determination, hopes and dreams. They were just starting out then, but I knew they had something special. All of them are so unique but they work great together as a team. Over the years, they gained popularity, by working extremely hard and they got picked up by a label and they soared. The music ‘industry’ isn’t the best thing to promote values like respect and integrity and as is often the case, this label tried to suck the life out of this band. They got out, but not without a few scratches. Now, they have a kickstarter campaign running so they can take their future in their own hands and show the world what they can do. It takes guts, it really does, to keep going and just do it.

The Blackout are and will always be an inspiration to me, 6 guys with very different personalities, but together they have got it all, creativity, humour, kindness, strength, integrity, purity, courage, depth, loyalty. Rhys, Gavin, Snoz, Bob, Matthew and Sean, I hope the world backs their project, as they deserve it, and, leading by example, they have a few things they can give back to the world (not everything though, as there are certain things you probably shouldn’t get inspired by 😉 but those success elements, they definitely have them.

TheBlackout.net

This example of a great team, uniqueness, drive and ambition is one of those gems of inspiration I encountered through my life and it will stay with me.

Life is filled with gems along the road, make sure you can recognise them, pick them up and add them to your chest. And when you need to, open that chest and let those gems sparkle and guide you.

As I said in the beginning, sometimes, you just have to start, even if you don’t know where you are going, just start, something great will come out of it.

Thank you and goodnight!

Yours truly,
Bri
x

PS: For those of you wondering about the positivity project, it is going great! Over half the people at the office have signed up for it, I was truly overwhelmed by how many people wanted to take part. Next week we are starting the intro sessions, it’s all coming together.

Experimenting at work, the agile way.

13 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by in Agile Scrum

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

As you know, I am fascinated by the impact of positivity on performance, productivity, employee loyalty and health. But now I want to transition from doing personal experiments to doing group experiments.

I have only been at my current job for just over 3 weeks, but I knew even before I joined that this was ‘fertile soil’. There is enormous potential in the people, the mindset and culture of the company, we will thrive continuously and as we go along, we will learn and form new ways of optimising.

Last Friday, I asked if they would be up for doing a little experiment. That one question grew into agreeing to do a company wide presentation on positive psychology, that same day in the afternoon.

As opportunities arise, you grab them, so that is what I did. Having no time to prepare, did make me slightly anxious, as I wasn’t sure on what approach to take, but 10 minutes of clearing my head made me realise I don’t need preparation, I know what, the how we will define together and most important, I knew WHY.

If you are familiar with leadership analysis, you know that ‘why’ is most important question, because people relate to the way, people get motivated by the why, not by the how or what. It’s the passion that speaks.

So I gave one of the most honest and open presentations, just me and a white board. I used mind mapping to create the flow and make sure I extracted everything I wanted to say. I showed them the why from a ‘professional’ point of view, leading to the conclusion that happiness = professional, happiness = a crucial part of economic progress. And then, with the help of a timeline with a drawing of me as a kid (little stick figure in a dress with ponytails) a few jokes and lots of interactivity, I explained why it was so important to me as a person.

Throughout every ones life there are challenges, of different magnitudes. You reach crossroads of decisions where you need to choose between finding solutions and carrying on or giving up. Positivity leads to thriving, leads to potential, leads to happiness, flow and growth. Negativity leads to exhaustion, giving away control, a dead end. My story just illustrated some of those crossroads and how strong I felt about staying in control of my choices in a world of change and unexpected challenges.

That is ultimately what it is about, if you choose positivity, you choose ownership of your destiny, if you choose negativity, you give up.

The outcome was great, after that presentation, people came up to me to express how much they loved it and how they really want to get involved. There is no better feeling than that, seeing that spark, that energy, that force!

So, how will we do it? We are working on the how of the project, but we know the framework. We will use scrum to finish this positivity product. Next week, we will start sprint 0, in which we will define the end goal and start building our product backlog, our definitions of done, team contracts,… so… stay tuned.

Yours truly,
Brigitte