Listen and you will become a servant leader.

Listen Up!

The agile reformation is about making work more sustainable, satisfying, and sane.  I have spent a good majority of my time as a scrum master and coach in my career.  I have learned plenty of things about myself and others.  My educational background is in speech communication and journalism.  I even enjoyed performing in Community Theater.  It made me the kind of person who was comfortable in a room speaking to others.  Unfortunately, the training did not give me the most important skill necessary for servant leadership; listening.  Without the ability to listen to others, you are an empty suit reciting words.

Often, we are distracted when we are attempting to listen to others.  Phones, tablets, and television screens fight for our attention.  It is up to each of us in a leadership role to eliminate these distractions, turn off the devices, and give someone our full attention.  It is not easy.  Leaders are afraid of missing a call from the boss or not receiving an important e-mail.  Great leaders set those fears aside because they are aware the people speaking to them are giving up their time and experience to talk to them.  The exchange of information is always helpful. 

People's communication with you is sharing crucial information about what is happening in the organization.  Individuals are often closer to the problems you cannot see so they have insight into how to fix them or they need feedback before implementing those improvements.  Another reason people speak to you is they want to share their hopes, dreams, and aspirations.  People, especially those in large organizations, want someone to listen. 

The book Co-Active Coaching discusses three levels of listening.  The first level is casual listening we do each day in our social circles.  It acts as a way to get through the day quickly but it is not listening.  The more advanced levels of listening go beyond the superficial and focus on the content of what was said. More profound listening focuses on the subtext of what people are saying.  The more advanced forms of listening allow you to understand body language and what people are NOT saying.  All of this information comes together to create an accurate picture of what the person is thinking, feeling, and meaning. 

It is the listening where you are attempting to understand and empathize with the person speaking where you can find value in the most challenging situations.  If you listen in this fashion without judgment, you will be able to understand what people need in order to succeed rationally.  You will also be in a position to provide it.

Listening is a principle component of servant leadership.  It establishes trust and builds credibility with the people you serve.  The skill allows you to better problem solve.  We do not talk about listening as much as we should be as the economy continues to shift toward service and creativity. I feel that it is changing.  I have been working in technology and agile for over twenty years.  Only recently I have learned how to listen to the people around me.  I wish I had learned that skill sooner. 

Until next time. 

Use Agile to Fight Failure

Failure hurts, but not learning from failure hurts worse.

The purpose of agile is to create working software and solutions.  I have stated this goal repeatedly.  The iterations, meetings, and emotional labor are all designed to get work completed promptly.  The rapid feedback delivers value in the least amount of time without waste exposing failure.  The real test of an agile team is how it copes with failure.

The world of politics, media, and business loves to celebrate winning and success.  John F. Kennedy remarked that success had many fathers, but failure was considered an orphan.  People with careers on the line will do anything to avoid failure.  In a world of achievement, the stigma of failure is very real.  I suspect it is this stigma that makes it hard for business leaders to experiment and try different approaches to problems.  To do so is to risk failure.

Failure is a clarifying experience. We quickly discover what does not work.  We also understand the conditions we are working to overcome.  Failure also creates an emotional connection to the work.  It is the chip on the shoulder that drives you forward which says to the world, “I may have failed now but it will make my future success more powerful.”  I extol the virtues of failure because it makes people and teams better at overcoming adversity.  I have failed a lot in my career and that wisdom follows me around.  It helps me train others to avoid the mistakes I have made in the past.

A team has three reactions to failure.  The first reaction is apathy.  If failure does not have any repercussions, a group of people will continue their bad habits and personal agendas.  The next response is fear, where we have people behaving in self-preservation mode.  Team members withdraw from each other and look to do just enough work to avoid blame or blame someone else.  Leaders micro-manage because they feel helpless and see the people they lead unable or unwilling to do the job.  Fear is a palatable emotion, and everyone experiences it on the team.  The final sentiment is determination.  Where the fear once existed, the emotional survivors of the group become determined to overcome their adversity.  Good leaders and coaches get teams to the point of determination quickly.  Those with less skill will have to slog through the earlier steps.

Agile and scrum help along this process, exposing failure and forcing the team to inspect and adapt.  Each retrospective allows the team to find the points of failure and address them.  The team reflects on what they need to do and what they need to change.  A woman I respect who teaches children says failure is an acronym for the first attempt at learning.  Based on this premise failure is a stepping stone to more substantial success.

I have failed more times than I can recall during my career.  Each setback, mistake, and screw up has made me a better developer, scrum master, and coach.  I like to point out the mistakes I have made in the past so that other people can learn from them.  It is also this display of vulnerability that helps me build credibility with the team.  I strive to be a leader instead of a boss or manager.  So, when you are creating working solutions for customers, you are going to confront failure.  The critical part of the failure experience is how you learn from it and the emotional strength of the team who should develop the ability to overcome.

Until next time.

Communication and Openness are the Start of the Coaching Experience.

Patton knew a few things.

Development work is hard.  Software engineers take vague guidelines from business professionals and attempt to build working applications.  It is fraught with peril because business professionals think software developers can mind read and psychically understand what customers and business partners need.  It does not work that way, and it requires constant communication and openness.  It is the same challenge an agile coach faces when they are attempting to improve a scrum team.

I am leading an agile transformation.  I spend plenty of time listening to individuals and teams and I withheld judgment.  Finally, I made a point to listen with intent instead of responding.  After synthesis of all the information, it was time to put a plan into action.  The developers, testers, and business partners were shocked.  Instead of ignoring the problem, I asked the team to confront it and fix it.  Naturally, they looked at me and asked if I could provide them solutions.  Instead, I followed the advice of Lt. General George S. Patton, “Never tell people how to do things.  Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

It is a new experience for the team, but they are learning.  When groups of people are learning new skills and working together for the first time, they are going to make mistakes.  As a coach, you need to create an atmosphere where those mistakes can happen and the team can inspect and adapt.  The world of business does not forgive errors but with proper communications and avoiding the same kind of failure, the learning process is beneficial to both the client and the team.

From the perspective of a coach, it looks messy and awkward.  It is supposed to be this way.  Each leader wants their team to be superstars, but that is a destination.  The journey is a grind of mistakes, accidents, and mess.  The experiences create cohesion on the side and improved performance.  People are messy so getting people to change and grow will generate clutter in your organization.

The first part of the agile manifesto says, “individuals and interactions over processes and tools.” Agile is not something you can not copy and paste from a manual.  It requires matching the people you are working with to the skills they need to succeed.  It is making sure the values of the agile manifesto are understood and accepted.  The team will grind and falter.  The struggle is necessary because it will create success later.  Coaching is different than working on the front lines, but with openness and constant communication, it will yield results.

Until next time.