Take your teams through the scenic path

When you have to go somewhere, you can either take a short cut through allies or you can take a longer path that happen to be also scenic.
We took a friend out to dinner one night. We were tired after a long day at a conference, hungry and low on energy. So I decided to take the shortcut and get from subway station to the restaurant behind some buildings, through some not so well lit allies and get there quickly, maybe 5 minutes earlier than if we had taken the other path. The other path was on the main streets, in front of the buildings and well lit, especially now before Christmas. Our friend was not that impressed with the city when we got at the restaurant. But the restaurant was able to change her view on what the city can offer. So after a nice dinner and some live entertaining, we left the restaurant. This time we took the scenic path. And as we were walking around, I tried to talk about the stories or histories I knew about some areas or some buildings. She liked that a lot!

 

I think that taught me a lesson. It is not all about reaching the target, it is also about *how*  we reach that target. Although we got at the restaurant 5 minutes earlier, we achieved our goal to sit down and eat after a long day,  she had nothing nice to say about the city at that point. Maybe she wouldn't come to visit this city again.

Very often, coaches and managers working closely with a team, get attached to the pressure the teams have to deliver quickly and just hit those deadlines. When we want to teach our teams a new practice or skill, we do that quickly because *we don't have time for training, we have to deliver, you know!*. Instead of taking our teams through the scenic path and explain things, tell the stories about why certain things are being suggested, show history on how this has been done before from others and what results they had, make the trip meaningful and unforgettable .... we take the allies and the shortcut. Our teams will reach the goal and will deliver, but most likely they will not want to do that again. 

So we lost a big chance to teach our teams something new in a way that they will love to get back and learn more about it, they would be interested to improve it and do it over and over. 

Dear coaches and managers,

Please take your teams through the scenic paths, take the time to stop and talk about the things we see on our journey, explain them and make them attractive so your team will enjoy taking that path again in the future. And please, make small deliverables that do not have such horrific deadlines and don't leave room for learning.

Love,

Ardi

 

Agile for Sale

It took 15 years to run under the bridge of the big Enterprises, but Agile is now the only thing Enterprises want to talk about. People that until now were labeled as "They don't understand how real business runs!" are now being mentioned as "Listen to what they're talking about!".  Organizations and individual consultants that until now were promoting traditional methods and leadership techniques, are now switching to the Agile ones and are raising  all their sails to catch the wind and get ahead of Agile as quick as possible.

They are using old skills to gain new horizons. You can't direct the wind but you can adjust your sails

 

In the last 15 years, Agile has been molded in so many ways, with so many names, decorated with so many certifications and promoted by a lot of fake "practitioners". Agile has become something that can be bought, rented, used to hide, patched, washed out, ironed well, thrown away, replaced, upgraded, accessorized, kept on shelf, used for "special occasions" and framed as an achievement.

Now, Agile is for sale just like any item on a store. 

 And it can't be any other way. Once it proves that is successful, everyone wants a piece of it. And when it comes easy (with training and  certification that are 100% guarantied to pass), when it comes open and non precisely prescriptive (so that anyone can come up with their personal interpretations), when it comes as a medication that tastes awful but can be covered in a thick layer of sugar.. it makes it easy to sell it to anyone, from big leaders to "downstream resources".

Agile has become like a T-shirt, that can be sold on every store on a mall, that can come in any size you want, any color you want, with any printing you want and any price you want. 

Newcomers to Agile are confused. Not to be blamed.They fall for the big shiny signs and the stores that offer "1 stop shop for everything you need". 

The problem? Authenticity, the core and craftsmanship are being lost. Real agile has become the small corner store that big companies are trying to put out of business.

Meanwhile, more methods, frameworks, certified people and experts keep being generated every day. They all promise something unique that can't be found somewhere else. Packages and deals get more lucrative and CIOs/CTOs are the targets that everyone wants to hit for a big ROI.

There's no need to be emotional about this, but jokes are always welcome to improve the quality of life with laughs. As per the pure Agile spirit, everyone is learning. New practitioners are learning and they are trying to find a place to do so. New organizations to Agile are also learning and based on the choices they make they are learning on different paces. Some of the people with expertise and good knowledge on Agile are learning marketing skills so that they can make more money (they are like those big brands that sell high quality and branded products with a high price tag). Some other people with expertise that are not interested on new marketing skills are working to bring more success stories about Agile so that all of the above can continue on the path they have started. Success sells and someone needs to showcase it. 

So let's all do our part on this new world. At the end we all want different things and that's why the World is a beautiful place. There is plenty for all. 

But if you want to learn the real Agile, you better look at those success-story-makers!