Get Stoic and Get Agile

Hang out on the porch and be stoic.

People in leadership roles like to tell stories.  A story we often tell ourselves is the tale of the coronation of a Roman emperor.  The affair has pomp and circumstance with showers of flower petals, dancing, and conspicuous displays of wealth and power.   In the middle of it all is the emperor, who takes a solemn vow to protect and grow the empire.  There is a member of the Roman senate by his side whispering into the new emperor’s ear, “All of this is fleeting.”  The moral of the story is at your most influential and successful; you have to understand the situation will be temporary.  The world around us has a propensity to humble us and does it in cruel and inventive ways.  As a leader, we need to understand that a situation is never as bad as it seems, and success is never as high as we think.  We call it having a stoic approach to leadership, and I would like to talk about it this week.

The stoics are an exciting bunch of thinkers.  The group was formed in the third century before the current era and got its name from where they practiced their craft on the painted porches on the north side of Agora in Athens.  Stoics liked to sit on the porches, drink wine and talk about philosophy, rhetoric, and politics.  In many respects, they are like us getting together with each other to talk about current events, have a few drinks, and enjoy the company of others on the front porch.  Stoics had lots of influence because they were teachers who taught the political class of Greece and over four hundred years of dominance on Greek thinking.

What sets the stoics apart from people like Socrates, Plato, and later Aristotle was a desire to avoid the ups and downs of life and live in a “rational” manner.  Stoic thought has two main ideas; live in agreement with nature and act like a rational human and not a beast.  Harmony with nature means living in balance, not eating, drinking, or consuming too much.  It appreciates a grassy hill for its natural wonder instead of for its real-estate value or the minerals it might contain.  The reason is what makes everyone human, so to be more human, we should practice more logic.  It sounds high minded and easy to say for academics with enough to eat and the ability to talk about it on some of the most charming porches in Greece.  It is hard to see how an enslaved person might embrace this attitude or someone poor or starving.

The agile world could use more stoicism.  The ability to lead large teams and get them to build software products that help the global economy purr is a rare skill.  It also requires a tremendous amount of emotional intelligence and technical expertise.  People who develop these solutions are messy and need help and support.  The emotions they feel are the emotions you feel.  It is hard to manage those feelings, and it requires energy.  If you are good at it, you will inspire others to their best efforts.  Those who are bad at it are poisonous to their organizations.  Practicing stoic thinking is not a one size solution to leadership, but it is helpful because it is never as bad as it seems and never as good as it gets.

Until next time.

Use Clear Language in Agile

Clear Language Matters.

The business world is a strange place.  Being a white-collar professional is different from more traditional jobs.  A plumber fixes broken sinks, and a firefighter prevents your house from burning down.  You can explain these careers to an elementary school child, and they will understand.  In a global company, job titles are opaquer.  Business Analyst, Programmer Analyst IV, and Programmer Analyst III are popular titles.  You cannot explain to small children and most high school students what these job titles mean.  I still cannot tell the difference between a programmer analyst III and programmer analyst IV other than the paycheck.  The jobs are complicated, and the language we use is involved.  It is also a language that is easy to parody and creates confusion for people who have never experienced it.  As an agile coach or scrum master, it is up to you to make sure the language is clear and informs.

I began to think more seriously about this topic when Molly Young wrote a great article about “Garbage Language,” which crops up in business meetings.  Young exposes lots of phrases used around the office, including; level-set, key-learnings, and complexify.  It is a fun and nasty read which had me chuckling about the dumb things I have often heard in meetings.  It quickly became a divisive topic, and business people defended their use of language as a way to save time and communicate with peers.  To people watching the argument unfold, it seems like a pointless discussion about something which does not have much impact on daily life.  The truth is more complicated. 

How we use language is critically important. It is particularly notable how we use language at work because misunderstanding can cost millions of dollars, ruin reputations, and kill careers.  I also have a more fundamental reason for being careful with writing; I studied communications and debate.  My training required me to learn how to use language clearly to inform or persuade.  With either the written or spoken word, a communication major is trained to the level of instinct to use easy to understand language.  If you use jargon, acronyms, or business-speak, you had better explain it.  When someone is not telling the truth is better to call them a liar than to say they are “insincere.”  Unfinished work is not “In-process,” it is incomplete.   The lack of flowery language is the strength of people educated this way.

Clear and understandable language is excellent if you are a journalist.  In the modern cubical farms of most offices, clear and unambiguous language is fraught with peril.  The contemporary office contains mediocre people with big egos.  Power balances between office workers and executives are cavernous.  Finally, the uncertainty of working at a corporation means saying the wrong thing to the wrong person could undo a career that spanned decades.  Thus, using the phrase, “put a pin in this conversation,” is safer to say than, “you don’t know what you are talking about, and you should talk with me after the meeting.”  The phrase that forces me to grind my teeth is, “…it is what it is.”  It is a verbal surrender to the status quo, thinking, and justification for apathy.  I spent too many years hearing it muttered back to me like some zombie mantra. 

As a coach, be clear and informative with language.  Agile, Scrum, SAFe, LeSS, and Test-Driven Development contain plenty of acronyms and jargon; skip them.  It may be shorter to use TLA, but saying “Three Letter Acronym” is more easily understood.  I know I use the phrase “stakeholder,” often, but I still take time to explain its meaning.  Finally, be transparent, candid, and truthful. It is better to admit something is broken instead of “underperforming.”

So today, our learnings were to circle back and discuss the knowledge use of language from a ten-thousand-foot perspective.  My ask is that you internalize that precise language is a win-win and can build synergies in your brand. 

Until next time.

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.

I am not going anywhere

My youthful self.

The business world can be cruel and unfeeling.  Millions of dollars move around the globe each second, and decisions in particular portions of the world can create waves of disruption.  The impersonal nature of global capitalism often makes people feel like cogs in a giant machine.  It is easy to feel lost.  The alienation we feel at work does not have to happen.  It is one of the reasons I am attracted to the agile reformation.  It is a better way to work. 

When you work in an office, you are often doing repetitive work. We cash checks, generate invoices, and service customers.  We put policies and procedures in place, but they often stifle innovation.  Managers micromanage because they are afraid to look like they have nothing to do.  It is a dreary existence that encourages people to be mediocre and perform just enough to avoid the scrutiny of the micromanagement class.

I lived that life for over twenty-five years.  I promised myself that I would try to help others avoid that trap.  It is also why I embraced the agile reformation because it felt like a more sustainable, satisfying, and safe way to work.  Leadership is hard, but if you do it right, great things happen.  I reject cruelty, alienation, and the unfeeling nature of global business.  It is why I am a scrum master and agile coach.  I will keep doing it until my time is past.  I am not going anywhere. 

Until next time.

Getting started the Agile Way.

Getting started is hard.

One of the sayings of the Scrum Alliance is, “Scrum, easy to explain; hard to implement.”  When I first saw it, I thought it was a concise way to sell the concept to others.  With experience behind me, I understand it was a clear warning.  Scrum is hard to implement but it is a way to deliver more value to customers sooner.  How do you get started?

I am what Bloomberg Business Week called “The Man in the Taupe blazer.” I have a wrinkled suit and an eye for continuous improvement.  I look around the organization and find a way to make things better.  Over my career, I have discovered that people do not know how to manage projects.  Skills like prioritization, time management, and breaking work down into smaller pieces are rare in the business world.

I suspect lousy project management happens for two reasons — first, many of us to learn to create by ourselves.  The use of teams to educate students and develop teamwork is a recent trend in education.  It means people learn to work on their own instead of with others.  I also attribute this to the glamorization of what I like to call “asshat leadership.”  Gifted people like Elton Musk, Steve Jobs, Carly Fiorina, and Alex St. John lead organizations and behave poorly to others.  The “asshat leader” is someone who thinks being rude, insensitive, and authoritarian is leadership.  It is not and Robert Sutton’s book, “The No Asshole Rule,” makes it clear that being an “asshat leader” has serious implications for the business.  The style of leadership is colorful and media-friendly but, in the end, it often leads to adverse outcomes.  For those two reasons, I think it is hard to lead and manage projects.

So, where does a rookie coach or scrum master begin when they introduce scrum in an organization?  I say before you do anything, talk to people doing the work and listen to what they have to say.  Many people like talking about their jobs, so when you ask, they will be happy to share with you.  Ask them about what is working for them.  Ask them what they feel needs to be changed.  You will be surprised by what you learn.  Only when you have learned what you can will you be able to move forward.

The next step is to teach and practice the basics.  Show a development team the process of scrum.  Show them the rituals involved with a sprint and practice them always.  Repetition is an excellent teaching tool.  Eventually, the team will treat the sprint cadence like a routine.  If a team masters the basics of sprinting then they will be able to focus on more advanced topics.

Once the team is sprinting, track your progress and ruthlessly inspect and adapt.  Measure how you are doing and then make changes to each sprint to improve.  Team members need to feel like they have input into the changes and are respected.  I remember a quotation from Will Durant, “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then is not an act but a habit. “

Help people develop good habits and then watch them succeed.  I did not realize this until I worked with an organization that stressed excellence daily.  Soon, we considered it reasonable to achieve daily and when we did fail to be able to cope with the disappointment and do better the next time.  Now one will ever be perfect but we can all strive for excellence.

So, if you are beginning your agile journey, practice the basics of scrum, listen to others, inspect and adapt regularly to change, and make excellence a habit.  It is not easy but it will be worth it.

Until next time.