Lewis Carol said, “Between the idea and the reality lies the shadow.” It was a wise observation from the author of “Alice in Wonderland,” particularly for people in the technology business. Each day developers are taking ideas from others half-formed and transforming them into web pages, mobile applications, and complex data systems which keep the economic world spinning. The theoretical becomes a reality in my line of work.
I am working on a professional credential for my profession, and something has occurred to me. To be a good scrum master or agile coach, you must balance the academic skills of the trade with the real-world challenges of working with people and business. Not only must a scrum master know things, but they must be able to put those things into practice when the knowledge counts. It means agile must embrace pragmatism.
I have written about pragmatism before on this blog. It is a uniquely American type of philosophy which more concerned about outcomes than deep philosophical processes. It is also concerned with what people accomplish than how they get to the accomplishments. For example, when I was between jobs, I substitute taught computer s science at my local high school. To my surprise, the high school has a daycare center. I was a little flustered and asked why a high school would have a daycare. An understanding woman who was dean of students, Flora Betts, explained that it was for teen mothers so their children could receive care while they finished their diplomas. My apprehension turned into admiration as the school found a way to prevent women from dropping out. Instead of forcing young mothers to drop out, the school allowed them to complete their education while their children were in a safe and healthy environment. If a high school can find a way to address a problem like teen motherhood, then the business world can deal with its myriad of complex issues.
Part of many of the problems I see in business come from people slavishly following processes and ignoring what those processes are supposed to accomplish. The customer must fill out forms correctly or obtain approval before receiving a product. It may be the correct approach for accounting, but in the world of customer service, it undermines relationships and sales. It is why I am a big supporter of pragmatism at work. For instance, retrospectives should fall on the last day of a sprint, but what if the last day of the sprint falls on a national holiday?
Many people would move the retrospective forward a day. Often it is scheduled after the holiday because the entire office wants to get out early before the holiday. In my coaching practice, I ask the team when it is time to have a retrospective. We are still having a retrospective, but the pragmatic approach is to let the team decide when to have it. The team is empowered, and the bent rules are not broken. The agile world uses a fancy Japanese phrase for this approach, and it is called Shu Ha Ri.
Development teams should learn the basics of agile, the Shu stage. Next, they know which rules can be bent or broken in the Ha phase. Finally, the team comes up with their own more relevant regulations for work, and this is the Ri phase. After all the learning and growth, they begin the process again. Mastery never happens because everyone is learning and growing. It seems like a powerful, pragmatic way to improve an organization.
So as I continue to study very formal and prescriptive ways to do my job, I am aware that work gets done in the shadow of the idea and the reality. I need to understand the rules before I know which ones to bend or before I can create new ones. Remember it the next time someone quotes practices or processes to avoid doing work. Being pragmatic gets the job done and leads to change in organizations.
A good Juneteenth and until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment