Motivate Others Instead of Bossing Them

Motivation is Powerful

The biggest challenge for a coach or leader is motivating others.  If anyone could do it, the world would be a different place.  Problems like hunger, climate change, and a properly fitting pair of slacks would quickly happen because people would want to address those problems.  In reality, we struggle with these challenges because it is hard to motivate others, and there is an entire group of people who want to discourage people from thinking there are solutions to these issues.  Motivation is getting people to swim against the current of conventional wisdom. 

 

Motivating others is a full-time job.  It requires the application of soft techniques of persuasion and other times the blunt force of human resources.  People want to feel useful and challenged, but often they settle for security and routine.  A leader needs to work with these messy people and give them a chance to rise to their circumstances.  I struggle with this because I come from a command and control environment.  I would discover later in my career; this approach does not work with technical or creative professionals. 

 

The global economy has shifted from building things to creating experiences, services, and ideas.  It is a complicated process, and it requires more than following orders.  It requires looking at things from different perspectives.  The creative process requires a sense of craft.  Finally, it demands that people look at problems and question established answers.  People who excel at these skills are rarely the type to follow orders.  

Because we rely on information and creativity more than ever, leaders need to convince people why things need to happen instead of what needs to happen.  Give a problem to a bunch of creative people and tell them why it needs solving; you will be surprised by the effort they will put into solving it.  Telling people why something is essential creates a common cause with the team.  Explaining the urgency and necessity gives importance to work.  People with purpose are better than those with a plan.

So as a leader, you need to show others where you want them to be rather than telling them. Act as an example by listening to others and avoid asking someone to do something you would not do yourself.  Support others as they struggle to come up with solutions and listen to what others have to say.   It is surprising what you will learn.  

I do not have a magic recipe for motivating others.  Each day, I do my best to explain why certain things should happen.  The team should be concerned with how it should happen.  Finally, try to be an example for others to emulate.  Motivating others is not an easy process, but if you can do it right, the results are deeply satisfying.  

Until next time. 

When Culture Eats Agile for Breakfast.

Bad Culture is like canoeing over a waterfall.

I am very fortunate to have family and friends who are into musical theater.  For an aging high school theater nerd, it is always fun to sing along with a show tune while driving.  The funny thing about musical theater since the Second World War is that it has tried to tackle social issues.  “West Side Story,” addressed gang violence and racism.  I remember “A Chorus Line,” exposing me to gay characters.  Finally, “Hair,” had a rock-and-roll soundtrack and a fiercely anti-war message.  Over the weekend, I was running an errand, and the family was listening to the “Hamilton,” Broadway cast album.  I had an unusual emotional reaction, and then I began to think about my agile journey.  

One of the essential songs in the show, “Hamilton,” is “The Room Where it Happens,” where the characters Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson make backroom deals and compromises to keep the American republic moving forward after the revolution.  It is an excellent song about power and the practical matters of running a country.  It is also an ironic song because Hamilton’s rival Arron Burr jealously wants to be in the room where those compromises happen.

I thought back to a previous position where my manager would joke that I attempted to drag the company toward agile “kicking and screaming.”  The last two years of my career were so frustrating because I would propose solutions and fixes, but because I was not in the room with the decision-makers, my expertise was ignored or actively discouraged.  I would even complain to my manager that I wanted to be in the place where the decisions occurred.  Naturally, when I had my exit interview, I cited the firm’s lack of agile adoption as the reason for leaving.  Looking back at the experience, I realized my efforts were not going to gain traction because the culture of the firm was not going to value agility.  It valued tenure and experience over actually getting work done.  The stock market has rewarded the organization appropriately.  I was never going to be in the room where it happens because I had not paid the twenty-year commitment of time and adequately ingratiated myself with the other leaders.  Shipping software and delivering value was considered a threat rather than a virtue in that organization.  

The rough learning experience helped me grow and develop as a professional, but it reinforced the notion that culture is more influential than agility.  A dysfunctional culture or organization is going to actively fight against agile because agile quickly exposes the rot in the organization, and that threatens the careers of people who professionally benefit from that inefficiency.  People will quickly ally against any change, which is threatening.  The 14th State of Agile report echoed this state of affairs when they said cultural acceptance of agile is lagging because of leadership, not understanding it, and the organizational culture resisting its improvements. 

It occurred to me that unless you have senior leadership working alongside agile coaches and scrum masters, the rest of the organization will continue to do what it has always done through the force of inertia.  Even if I were in the room for decisions, at the old organization, it would not have made a difference because the leadership would not have understood a word I was saying.  So as a coach or scrum master, pay particular attention to culture because if they do not value the agile manifesto or principles, you are going to paddling against the current.  If the senior leadership does not understand agile, then you might as well go over a waterfall in a barrel.  

Agile works, but if you don’t have the right culture, you are up a dangerous creek.  You do not need to appreciate show tunes to get that message.  

Until next time.  

Call out Trolls Before They Destroy Your Business

Spot trolls before they hurt your business

The biggest challenge in Servant leadership is working with the disinterested, dishonest, and disrespectful.  Each organization harbors these individuals like weeds in a field of grass.  People like this seem to revel in their bad faith efforts to undermine others, avoid work, and act as parasites to everyone around them.  Throughout my career, I have confronted these individuals, and it never gets easier.  We should be brave enough to call out poor behavior.  

I spend plenty of time on LinkedIn. It is an excellent service because I can catch up on colleagues, get the latest news from the business community, and many of my fellow travelers share information about what is new. I was surfing along and read the following post from a coach and scrum trainer. The emphasis is mine.  

“I am a project manager having 15 years of experience and 5 years exclusively in project management. I do hold a PMP certificate too. My company is adopting Scrum-based delivery and it seems there is no role for the project managers. There are 3 roles in Scrum but none of them is for me. 

I can’t be a Product Owner because it will get filled from the business/customer side. I am not hands-on so I can’t be a part of the Development Team.

Scrum Master seems to be a very junior role for me. Many Scrum Masters are just a part-timer or working previously as Team Lead/ Tech Lead etc. There was a point when these people were reporting to me on my projects.

I also have an issue with the Servant Leadership style. It is not that I am a command & control person and you can ask my colleagues. Everyone will say how good I am with empathy, situation leadership, and self-reflection. But servant leadership sounds to me either head of the Servant or becoming Gandhi and Mandela. 

What will you suggest? Should I look at some different roles if yes then which one? I have also heard a lot about Agile Coach though I don’t know much how is this different than Scrum Master.”

I had a lot to unpack in this message.  It is an excellent example of how NOT to do Servant leadership.  I have said in the past, that ego is the enemy of good leadership.  Additionally, Servant leadership is more about leading by example than attempting to behave like a saint.  Scrum mastery requires kindness, and it often requires going beyond the call of duty. 

Being a scrum master is not a junior role.  It is a managerial role with tremendous responsibility and little authority. You are the person in the Taupe blazer who must inspire others to get work done.  At times you are a therapist, and at others, you are doing code reviews.  Often you are a square peg in a round hole.  Scrum masters are not junior; instead, they are essential to the success of your organization. 

The arrogance associated with the post was very telling.  What made it shocking was that it came from an instructor from Scrum.org.  I could expose this individual, but that would make me no better a coach or scrum master.  I am sensitive to harassment and doxing concerns on the internet.  I want the satisfaction of calling out a troll and exposing them to shame and ridicule.  The reality is they do not care.  A troll does what they do for the attention and outrage.  Instead, I would rather point out the attitude of these people so that we can be on the lookout for this behavior.  People like this are going to hurt your organization, so it is best to make you aware of them and not give them a chance.  

I take a great deal of pride in what I do.  As I continue to advance my career, I do not want to forget where I came from and the lessons I gained along the way.  Being a scrum master and product owner is hard work.  Developers and people in the organization are under tremendous pressure to deliver value to their customers and organization.  In the global economy, we are all servants, whether we like it or not.  Insulting other professionals as junior or beneath you is not how you participate in the agile reformation.  It is a form of elitism that has sparked backlash around the developed world.  

Today, I wanted to call attention to an attitude that will hurt your organization.  It is elitist, and it comes from a position of arrogance.  Do yourself a favor, find these people, and make sure you never hire them.  

Until next time. 

The Road to Damascus and Agile

Enjoy this holiday weekend.

Each day millions of people go to work.  A person spends a third of their lives working to provide for themselves and their families.  In the modern economy, it means being adaptable and finding value in any situation.  It is challenging and filled with anxiety because, at any moment, forces outside our control could threaten our livelihoods.  With the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we should reflect on work and how it should be. 

I became a member of the agile reformation over ten years ago when I discovered agile could be a better way to work.  I was tired of the drudgery of a project which had no payoff.  Technology leadership exhibited the worse traits of authoritarian management, and your best was never good enough.  I felt something had to change.  Since that “road to Damascus,” moment, I have devoted myself to the agile movement.

The manifesto has four simple values and twelve principles.  Professionals have used this tool to help make work better and more humane.  Now we understand how to eliminate waste, deliver value, and improve quality without being callous or working people to death.  Along the way, I have grown exponentially and met plenty of great fellow travelers. 

As we settle in for a long weekend, take some time to relax and spend time with the people you love.  We have a global economy to rebuild and a business community to reform.  We need to put people back to work, and I look forward to being with you during the journey.  

Until next time and have a happy Memorial Day Weekend.  

Set the Ego Aside and Be a Leader

Set the Ego aside and lead.  

Writing about agile, scrum, software development, and leadership is like walking around with a giant target on your back.  The people who know you and work with you are on the watch for you practicing what you preach.  It makes you very aware of what you do and how you do it.  Making matters more complicated is you often tie up your ego in your work, so when others question your leadership, it feels like a personal attack.  We need to talk about ego and leadership.

Being in charge of others is a serious responsibility.  It is also a massive charge to your ego.  People count on you, and they listen to your orders.  Being a boss has plenty of perks.  In reality, the respect, obedience, and ego boost of leadership is an illusion because the responsibilities of leading others are often more significant than the perks.

Additionally, someone above you is expecting a result.  Thus, a leader is pulled in two different directions one by the people he is tasked to lead and the other by the people who lead them.  It is a delicate balance.  It is why I am a big believer in what is called servant leadership.  It is the notion that the best kind of leadership is the kind where you are serving others.  Instead of concentrating on authority and action, a servant leader is a coach and a mentor.  The military has a saying, “Officers eat last.”  The implication is that only when the troops have a healthy meal is it time for the leadership to dine.  It puts the needs of the people doing the fighting and dying over the needs of the people who lead them.  In the civilian world, it means the performance of the team is more important than the ego of the leader.  

In software development, a leader is often in charge of people who are smarter than they are.  It means that advice is coming from a place of knowledge, and it is up to a leader to consider it seriously.  It means setting aside your personal needs and looking out for the team and its mission.  I have only recently come to this discovery.  Set your ego aside and listen to others on how to be a better leader.  Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said it correctly when he said, “Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.”

Author Kim Scott, in her work, “Radical Candor,” further reinforces this mindset.  Ask for feedback and receive it gladly.  Take time out to put that feedback into actionable practice.  Finally, check back with the people giving you feedback because it shows that you care, and you are seeking to improve.  Leadership is not about you or your ego.  Leadership is about the team and getting things done.

As leaders, we need to get over ourselves and focus on improving ourselves and our teams.  It means letting go of our ego and accepting feedback.  When you reach this understanding is when you transition from being a boss to a servant leader.  

Until next time.

Be an Example for Your Scrum Team

Leading by example is a key tool.

It takes hard work and commitment to become a leader.  You spend years learning to master your craft and developing the credibility you need to influence others.  Once you have reached that level of skill, you are in charge of a bunch of people, and management expects results.  Here is where the leadership gets tricky; you often do not have a clue how to motivate a group of strangers into delivering the results desired.  It is time to discuss that challenge.  

When I join a new organization or client, I want to promote the five values of scrum; openness, focus, commitment, respect, and courage.  It amazes me how many corporate cultures discourage these traits in their people.  Often individuals have worked in environments which promote orthodoxy, compliance, and obedience.  We teach people to do things the company way, and if they cannot, they leave.  Conditioning like this over the years is hard to overcome.  What helps breakthrough is to practice the skills you want others to copy.  

I want people to understand commitment by practicing it myself.  I spend time with the developers during product release or critical bug fixes.  Often, I am not required to be there, but if I expect someone to work overtime to fix a problem, I better be willing to do the same.  

You cultivate openness and respect by doing simple and small things.  Call people by their names and avoid using nicknames for your people.  I prefer to be called Ed instead of Edward.  I also do my best to pronounce the names of my off-shore developers.  It is a sign of respect when you address a person by their name and pronounce it correctly.  Openness is being clear about what you expect and what others should expect from you.  I open conference calls five minutes early because I want meetings to start on time.  When I miss a meeting, I send out a notice so that people know I have a reason and respect their time. 

Courage is living your life in an honest and frank manner.  It is saying what needs to be said when it is not popular.  It is making promises to others and honoring them.  Courage is betting your career each day and taking risks to get things done.  

Focus is one of the hardest things to do in a corporate environment.  Internal politics dominate decision making, people are worried about who gets the credit, and the noise from business media and shareholders can be a distraction.  Each day you are pulled in different directions.  Focus is being able to set aside those distractions and concentrate on what is essential.  To me, I must deliver software at regular intervals and provide value to my customers.  In the words of one of my mentors Angela Dugan, “Do your job, and if they fire you, it is their problem.”

The values of scrum need to be practiced by the team.  It means walking the walk as well as talking the talk.  It is why leadership is hard.  

Until next time.

Avoid Heroism and Practice Radical Interdependence.

Anyone who tells you leadership is easy is either a liar or a fool.  Each day leadership is tested by interpersonal disputes, market demands, and gaps in knowledge.  People count on leaders to have emotional balance when everything is going wrong.  It is facing difficult questions when you do not know the answers.  You must be firm one moment and understanding the next.  When things go well, you give credit to others, and during failure, you take responsibility.  Leadership is one of the most challenging skills to cultivate.  It is a duty and calling rather than a heroic struggle.  I want to discuss it.  

Leadership is more than a stance.

We often train a leader at an early age.  Young people become captains of sports teams or members of the student government.  Junior ROTC programs do an excellent job of teaching the skills of leadership and followership.  The early training in leadership is beneficial, but over the last thirty years, I have discovered that it is incomplete.  For the last two hundred years, we have expected leaders to have answers to every challenge and be able to motivate others.  A leader formulated a plan, and the followers executed the project.  Today, in a global and creative economy, this is no longer true. 

A contemporary leader must depend on others with specialized knowledge.  A deep understanding of the law, finance, computer software, logistics, and marketing is impossible for one person to gather in a lifetime.  Today, a plan requires multiple people to formulate and execute.  The contemporary world is too complicated and chaotic to come up with natural solutions.  

It is why I discovered a TED talk from South African food executive Lorna Davis.  She talked about how she bought into the myth of heroic leadership.  She also found heroic leadership did not effect change within her organization.  People applauded her works and went about doing the same things they did before she joined the organization. Heroic leadership failed.  She goes on to mention that a new model of leadership needs to develop, and she called it “radical interdependence.”  A leader should have a goal, and it is up to the team on how to achieve that goal.  It requires listening, empathy, and giving others a chance to excel.  It is anything but heroic.  

I did not realize I was using this approach when I confessed during a meeting I was stumped.  I did not know how to address a quality problem, and I asked, “Anyone have any idea how we are going to fix this?”  Within a day, I had answers, and the leaders at the off-shore office were implementing them without checking for permission.  The off-shore team knew if I disapproved, I would let them know, so they decided to take the initiative.  I am confident our quality issues will clear up.  

Radical interdependence requires trust and allowing others to come up with solutions.  It involves a surrender of control, which many successful people find uncomfortable. It relies on asking questions instead of giving orders.  It is physically and mentally exhausting because you are stretching your emotional intelligence and practical knowledge.  You are learning and growing with the people you are leading.

Leadership is the most challenging skill a person can acquire, and it is impossible to master.  It is clear why the military calls command a burden.  Each day you are tested, and failure can mean the loss of millions of dollars or even lives.  I think Lorna Davis has some useful guidance about leadership.  I am going to ignore the liars and fools.  

Until next time.