A Little Gratitude this Thanksgiving.

Mmmm Pie!

If you are working as an agile coach or scrum master you spend plenty of time working in negative situations.  Continuous improvement means finding things which are not working and helping others fix them.  It is an often a thankless process filled with personal and professional frustration.  This week I want to take a step back from my day to day struggles and reflect on the things which make me grateful.

I am grateful for the people who work with me.  I have developers spread over two continents, and they are smart and hardworking individuals who make my day easy.  The team accepts my faux cheerfulness in the early morning during stand-up calls.  The team also put up with my grumpy admonitions to follow good code practices.  The development teams I work with are a pleasure to work with, and any scrum master would be honored to work with them.

Next, I am deeply grateful to LSC Communications for allowing me to lead agile initiatives.  It has to be strange having an entrepreneurial person in your cubicles asking awkward questions and shaming individuals to do better work.  You embrace my enthusiasm and flakey nature to help make the organization better.  The world of business moves at the speed of the internet, and I am glad you allow me the opportunity to guide the firm in that direction.

I have an understanding group of friends.  I do not spend as much time with them as I should.  We play cards, board games and plenty of military simulations.  They keep me grounded.  They keep me clean and sober.  They have supported my professional decisions, and they have been there for me throughout the inevitable ups and downs of my career.

My family generates a fountain of gratitude.  As my parents have grown older, I have become close to them.  They show me the kindness and support that is sorely lacking in the other areas of my life.  In the aftermath of my divorce, they have prevented me from wallowing in loneliness and made sure I bought groceries.  I wish I were half as good as my parents.

In spite of all the difficulty of my career, I have a lot to be grateful; my colleagues, my company, my friends, and family make life worth living.

Happy Thanksgiving until next time.