Looking Ahead to 2019

Happy New Year!
 Looking back and forward.

The Christmas holidays are a blur of family, friends, and food.  The last week has been an exercise in sleeping late, snacking on food which is bad for me, and drinking a variety of fermented beverages.  It is also a time to reflect on the last year and look forward to 2019.

I got a few predictions right in 2018.  The battle between Amazon and Google did get fiercer.  I purchased smart lights and expanded the number of Google devices in the marketplace.  It is also clear Google is starting to pull away with a better quality product.  As of August 2018, Google was starting to pass Amazon in sales.  I hope this forces more innovation and lowers prices.  It would be nice if these smart speakers were the cost of a contemporary clock radio.

I was partially correct about politics in the last year.  Democrats did make a comeback, but the GOP leveraged its structural advantages to retain the U.S. Senate and some state house governments.   It was also clear the two parties are tragically unable to compromise.  Authors pointed out these differences were not a question of ideology but epistemology.  When Christine Blasey Ford, provided credible accusations of sexual assault against a Supreme Court nominee GOP senators saw someone who was “misremembering” a teenage event to destroy a career.  Democratic senators saw it as behavior toward women which was disqualifying.  In light of these events, it is clear the GOP, and the Democrats see women and sexual assault in different ways.

Last year was not just the spectacle of politics and commerce; I made some significant changes.  I decided to concentrate more on my brand.  I presented to the Agile 2018 conference, and I am working on my 2019 white paper for next year.  I spent time at the London 2018 coaching retreat and have given more discussions on Healthy Ownership.  It is a good start, but I have more work to do.  I have to concentrate on my coaching certification with the Scrum Alliance.  I am also returning to work, so I am looking forward to working with new people and challenges.

So what does 2019 look like?  I have three predictions.

The Messy Repercussions of Oversight – 

With Democrats controlling the House of Representatives, oversight of the executive branch will begin.  It will create numerous uncomfortable conflicts around the emoluments clause, nepotism and petty corruption from the executive branch.  I feel this oversight is necessary to hold powerful people accountable.  The aftermath of this oversight will be increase distrust in government and the deepening of the epistemic divide between the two major political parties.

Chubby Capitalism –

The American economy is chugging along creating jobs and wealth.  I suspect much of the growth is the result of low interest rates and mergers.  Gross domestic product is increasing, but there are troubling signs the good times are going to slow down.  I affectionately call the situation, “chubby capitalism,” as large companies bloated with market share and stock buy-backs struggle to adapt to the changing global market.  Some of these “chubby” companies are going to get eaten alive by faster competitors.  Others will be forced to shrink or face extinction.  Caught in the middle will be workers facing more risk and insecurity caused by the binging and purging which will happen next year.

Agile Tribes – 

I have noticed serious disagreements among the members of the Agile community.  The feud between the “No Estimates,” crowd and those who are skeptical is becoming bitter.  Kanban is growing in popularity, and this creates friction with Scrum professionals.  Finally, businesses are creating these quasi-roles for scrum coaches, senior scrum masters, and junior scrum masters.  I want both the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance to put down their collective feet and insist that scrum mastery and coaching are complementary skills.

So that is 2018 and a look ahead to 2019.  I hope everyone has a safe and sane New Years.

Until Next time.

Acknowledgements for the Christmas Season

My Christmas Card to you

The Christian holidays are always tough; you are preparing for gatherings of family and friends.  Free time is spent shopping, and disposable income comes and goes faster than a drop of water in the desert.  In the middle of this frantic scramble, I was looking for work.  I am happy to report I am returning back to work on January 3rd.  Adversity has a way of revealing the kind of person you are and this week I wanted to set this aside and thank a few people who have helped me over the last year.

I am deeply grateful for the support I received from my colleagues at LCS communications as I decided to pursue other ventures.  Wayne Reno was a great mentor and I hope someday to develop the emotional intelligence he possesses.  Thomas Collier was my partner in managing a chaotic software development process; he was both a voice of reason and experience.  Finally, I have to extend a hand to Kedar Godkhindi who was both a technical lead and a friend.  I could not get through this hardship without their support.

I also had plenty of former developers and colleagues come forward and pick up my spirits.  Larry Gasik is the curmudgeonly guy you always want in your corner during a rough patch.  I also want to recognize Gene Stetz who is never at a loss for words and has plenty of wisdom to share.   Michael Kappel is an eccentric and artist who will always inspire me.  Finally, I have to recognize Daniel Porrey who took a chance on me five years ago and thought I would be a good scrum master.

The agile community has been great particularly, Kat Daugherty who inspired me to submit my first white paper to a major conference.  I also need to recognize Anke Maerz who has been a pillar of support during the last six months.

I have plenty of people to thank but I don’t have enough room to recognize you all.  As we slide into the holiday and New Year, rest assured I am deeply moved how everyone had supported me over the last year.  2019 is a clean slate and I look forward to filling it with more learnings, news, and wisdom.  Happy Christmas and a joyful New Year.

Until next time.

Dealing with Scary Stuff

I am scared but I am going to be OK.

I have a sign on my wall which says, “If your dreams don’t scare you they are not big enough.” It has been a frightening period for me.  I am interviewing for new opportunities, sending out applications, all the while the holiday season approaches.  It is a lonely period despite the support I have received from family, friends, and colleagues.  Periods like this test a person and this week I would like to discuss it.

Since high school, I have been one of those students who could be labeled as “striver.” I wanted to advance myself and do better for myself and my family.  Pushing myself academically and participating in extra circular activities, so I would get noticed by a college.  It happened with a twist. I was offered a scholarship to a university and then it fell through.  I went to a community college for the first two years of my college career.  In hindsight, it was a perfect move as I was able to deal with the pressures of college with the support of my family.  When I transferred to a four-year university, I learned the discipline it takes to succeed academically.  It was not easy, but the early lesson was that success required sacrifice and discipline.

Sadly, those two qualities are not helpful when jobs were scarce as was the case in the recession of 1990.  Keeping the lights on and the rent paid required the swallowing of personal pride.  It meant working retail working for commission.  It was dealing cards at a casino.  I discovered I was good at computers and learning how to program them.  I was lucky when I left the casino industry, it was the giddy and stupid times of the dot-com boom.  I transitioned from dead-end jobs to a career.  It only took seven years out of school to make this basic professional milestone.

In the intervening period, I have been fired and laid off more times than I can mention.  I struggled to keep the lights on and the mortgage paid.  People have treated me in a grossly unfair fashion and I have received numerous second chances throughout my career.  The adversity which has dominated my career makes me contemptuous of others who have not had similar experiences.  It is also why I roll my eyes when I hear certain public figures discuss their “life of struggle.”

The ups and downs of my career took a heavy toll on my marriage and family life.  It has changed me more than I would like to admit.  In spite of it all, I have remained committed to the business of building working software and attempting to make work more satisfying, sustainable, and sane.  I am committed to large businesses treating people with basic decency.

I am going to give that vision a hard test.  The experience is going to challenge me in ways I am not comfortable.  I might fail.  I still have to try because I owe it to the people grinding out code.  I owe it to my family and I owe it to myself.  My dreams are very big and they scare me witless.   I look forward to defeating the fear and sharing those dreams with you.

Until next time.

When you lose a bet on your career.

Boy, did I fail.

It has been a crazy week.  I made the transition from working on a gigantic waterfall project to unemployment in the span of an afternoon.  I was feeling a flurry of emotions.  At first, I was ashamed and disappointed.  My feelings then migrated to anger and bitterness at how cheaply was thrown aside.  Currently, I am feeling determination and resolve to get back to work.  Through all this process, I have been overwhelmed by well wishes and support from the agile community.  It is this support which is keeping me going during this difficult time.

I joked glibly; I was betting my career that the project I was on could benefit from my agile knowledge and approach.  In less than seven business days, I was rolled off the project and laid off.  I did not receive any feedback from peers; I was just marched into the HR office and let go.  I should be angry and bitter, but that is not going to help me get back to work.  Fortunately, my colleagues on social media and #Slack came forward.  I received comfort, coaching, and support.  I also took some time to think.

It is not comfortable looking at failure.  It is necessary if I am going to grow and develop as a person.  It is one of the main postulates of agile is, “…to fail early and often.” In that respect, I was successful.  I failed, and now I have to take that failure and learn from it.  I am going to do a better job vetting employers to make sure they want the agilest working on their staff.  I am going to change the notifications on my mobile phone, so I am not distracted during the workday, and I can concentrate better.  Finally, I am going to focus more intensely on Radical Candor and Non-Violent Communication.

I have plenty of free time, and so I am going to use this opportunity to decompress and spend with family and friends.  I will live through this and would not be this brave without the help and support of everyone around me.

Until next time.

Rubbing Agile on It

I am in here somewhere.

Being part of a large project team is a huge challenge.  You are a member of a cast of hundreds.  Individually, you do not have much influence on the success or failure of the project, but everyone knows when you are behind schedule.  Finally, as a late arrival to a project underway, you feel like you are out running a giant boulder of death attempting to crush everything in its path.  I am where I need to be because it is clear I have to rub a little agile on this situation.

As an agilest in the middle of a very waterfall project, I understand that I am a square peg in a round hole. My boss rejected my first project plan because it was a word document with a list of risks, the people who were going to do the work, and a general timeline over eight weeks.  I was instructed to put something together more detailed in Microsoft Project.  I have not written a project plan since graduate school and never professionally.  I was content with user stories and a Kanban board.

Into this world, I am a stranger in a strange land.  The good news is that I know enough about lousy project management to try and apply better project management techniques.  I am consulting with the people doing the work so that I can put together more detailed steps in the project plan.  I am a big believer in customer collaboration over contract negotiation.  It caused shrieks of horror, but I like to share information with our client even if we are under contract with a fixed date.  I would instead practice “radical candor,” rather than “ruinous empathy.” Instead of weekly status reports, I will radiate information daily out of the “war room,” I am supervising.  By my estimation, the more frequent updates will create more goodwill with the clients.

Even the most waterfall project can benefit from the Agile Principles and the Agile Manifesto to achieve positive results.  It is my current thesis, and I am willing to bet my career on it.

Until next time.