The Rabbits of Agile

An agile coach can learn from a bunch of rabbits.

It is the Christian season of Easter in the United States.  I take this time and spend it with my aging parents and enjoy the simple miracles of daily life.  One example of the elegance of the everyday life are the rabbits which live in my yard.  The warren living under my retaining wall has survived brutal winters, scorching summers, and the attentions of my neighbor who does not like them eating her rose bushes.  They wander around the yard, snack on of blades of grass and enjoy some table scraps from my kitchen.  In a confusing world, I can count on the rabbits giving me a brief respite from the global economy.

The rabbits are more than a form of escapism.  They are a reminder of the natural world.  Each day the world is trying to destroy that warren of rabbits.  Each day they find a way to gather food, avoid predators, and make more rabbits.  These creatures are fluffy and adorable survivors; reflecting on this reality, it dawned on me as an agile coach I can learn plenty of lessons from these specimens living in my back yard.

Charles Darwin said the species most likely to survive are the ones most responsive to change.  I have lived in my home for over thirteen years.  In that time neighbors have come and gone.  Fences have gone up, and many pets have made efforts to hunt down the rabbits.  With each change, the rabbits have adapted.  They forage around the fences and make themselves hidden when people walk their dogs.  A parent accompanies young rabbits, and thy do not bother snacking on grass when I put fertilizer down.  My neighbor has gotten into the act and has decided to stop planting rose bushes.  Change and responding to change are an essential ingredient to survival.

My rabbits reminded me of engineer and lean management pioneer, W.E. Demming who said, “Survival is a choice.”  Each day the rabbits in the yard choose to do what is necessary to survive.  The minds of rabbits are not as developed as humans, but every brain cell in the rabbit skull is preoccupied with survival.  People for all our mental ability can be distracted.  Distractions pull us away from the necessary things we need to survive another day.  Our obsession with status in the office distracts us from our jobs.  Obsessing over the stock price distracts us from providing customer service.  Being the alpha dog on the development team neglects necessary software quality.  Humans are distractible creatures, and those distractions pull us away from what is needed.

So each day as a scrum master, coach or business person is a choice.  You can choose to survive, or you can pay attention to the distractions surrounding you.  From a distance the choice seems simple, people want survival and necessity.  At the moment we concentrate of distractions, and they undermine our survival.  Choose survival and change over distraction.  If a rabbit can do it, so can a human.

Until next time.