Looking back at the people who influenced me.

Inspiration comes from plenty of places.

I find inspiration from some of the weirdest places.  I could be watching a Bollywood movie or enjoying one of the many Dune books by Fran Herbert or his son Brian.  I also identify with comedies inspired by former cast members, so Saturday Night live.  I even ponder if Bill Murray is my spirit animal.  These influences have shaped my leadership style.  This week I want to discuss influences.

In my view, there are two kinds of influences; positive and negative.  Negative influences are anti-examples.  It is something or someone you refuse to emulate in your leadership.  The positive influence is one you want to fold into your practices.  I consider both types important for shaping your style of leadership.

I have many positive influences in my career; people like Andy LaChapelle, Roy and Yvonne Guash and JoAnn Pankow from Harrah’s Casino in Joliet.  I have technology professionals like Angela Dugan and Allen Dail who shape my views about corporate IT.  The most influential group in my life are the numerous coaches and competitors I have met from the world of college forensics.   People like Megan Koch, Craig Cutbirth, Elige Wilson and Ed Suitor shaped me into the person I am today.

Over my career, I have worked for numerous organizations and leaders.  The negative experiences have marked me like tattoos.  Each one made me swear to myself I would never subject any who works with me.  For example, I consulted at a company where a majority of the technology staff were consultants with H-111 visas.  Meetings were grim and quite affairs because anyone who spoke up was rolled off the project and deported back to their nation of origin.  I remember being told by e-commerce solutions should like about inventory levels because high margins were superior to happy customers.  Finally, I worked for an emotionally stunted man who would yell at me to work faster and then yell at me when I would make a mistake because was working too quickly.

In these moments of darkness, I swore I would never do things like that to people who worked with me.  I have had my moments of weakness and have fallen short of my expectations, but I have never been intentionally cruel to people.  Knowing that helps me sleep better at night.

Positive and negative influences matter and they shape the leader you become.  Paying attention to both is important.

Until next time.

When to hang it up

Sometimes you have to pack your bags.

Last week I spoke about “struggle” and what I felt it meant.  It inspired a strong reaction from a few people.  Watching this reaction, it dawned on me, I was witnessing a conversation I had three years ago.  Each of us have moments in our careers where we consider leaving and going someplace else. Some of us have that choice forced upon us while others have a “moment of clarity” and then give their notice to their boss.  This week I want to talk about when it is time to leave.

I have been a software consultant and full time software developer for many years.  It was filled with frustration and failure.  Additionally, when I was a consultant I was often treated like high paid “help” who was supposed to keep his head down, mouth shut, and ignore the dysfunction which surrounded me.  I even completed a project early for a client and instead of being rewarded with an extension I was thanked and promptly rolled off.  I have been fired a week before Christmas and had to explain it my former spouse.  I have looked over my shoulder worried I was not good enough and smart enough to work with the other developers in my company.  I needed to make change.

With my own money, I took my Certified Scrum Master training.  I was feeling despair and working as a heads down developer was taking a toll on me.  This was a chance to practice what I preached about Agile.  After becoming an architect at a different firm, they learned about my Scrum Master training and made me the servant leader of development team.  Looking back on that experience, I realize that I was raw, cocky and untested.  One developer openly rebelled against me right away and I would spend weeks and months attempting to effect change.

That was three years ago.  Now, I am training product owners for division of my company, serving as a scrum master, and being “spun off” as my firm splits into three companies.  In those three years, being in the trenches as a scrum master has made me a much better servant leader.  I am even participating in the company mentoring program.  I voiced that I was restless and frustrated with the pace of change I am trying to effect and it looks like someone listened. For me, it is a sign that I need to stay because big changes are coming and my peers and superiors see that I should be part of that change.

I will only speak for myself but if you cannot get training through your work and if you are asked to do one thing but are rewarded for doing something else then it is time to leave.  Before I started working as a scrum master, I was a senior developer for a food company.  I was talking about a software project with a superior and he said I should start over because it didn’t look like something he could use on his iPad.  It was the final straw and with-in a month I was gone.  Since then, that company has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in agile consulting and they laid-off over 100 people, mostly older workers, in order to be more nimble.  They could have saved a lot of money and preserved those jobs if they just figured out how to keep me and allow me to spread agile through the firm.  I am glad I am no longer there.

Each member of the agile community is responsible for his or her own career.  We have to make choices every day about what we do and who we serve.  We also need to remember that we need to serve ourselves.  If we are unhappy or frustrated with what we are doing then we need to change.  If that means leaving one company to go to another then so be it.  For me, I am staying where I am.  I am entering an exciting time of change and I look forward to the challenges.  When I can’t say that any more then I have to quit.

Until next time.

A Holiday Message from Dirty Fingers.

Have a good Christmas.

It is easy to get discouraged at the office.  There are lots of mean, petty and crazy people.  You also have to cope with bureaucracy and office politics.  As a scrum master these issues come with the territory.  This week I wanted to take a break from that and give everyone a message of hope.

The world is a cruel place and life can be nasty and brutish.  This does not mean that we have to be.  The Christian holiday season is a time to spend with family and take stock.  There are going to be many changes in 2016 and I will be previewing them next week.

I have a great many things to be grateful for in spite of the windmills I keep jousting in my current roll.  I am rolling along in my middle age healthy and happy.  I have great family and friends who are supportive.  I also have the community of agile developers and scrum masters to provide me help and guidance.  I would not be here and this blog would not be possible without your support.  I would also like to single out two people in particular Bill Buse and Alan Dayley for being my personal muses and mentors this year.  Thanks guys.

So I would like to wish all my readers a Happy Yule, a Merry Christmas, and a joyful Kwanza and look forward to seeing you in 2016.

Until next time.

A Christmass Wish to You

The holidays are always a weird and frantic jumble.  Between parties, shopping and networking with business people who do not want to do business until after the holiday it can get a little dispiriting.  Still, I have a lot of optimism about what happened during the 2012 and I look forward to 2013 as a very productive year.

In 2012, we had the release and marketing of the Sully 2.0 system.  We are also working on a new project called Andre which we will give you more details in the coming year.  I am proud to say that we are starting to behave like a modern business with a bids and contracts going out.  As a friend of mine says, "small steps complete the journey." 

I want to take time out to say thank you for your business and attention.  We look forward to a prosperous 2013. 

Until Next time.