Snowman No More

Agile Apprentice: Why do I always feel so afraid?
Agile Coach: Fear helps us live and breathe.
Agile Apprentice: I’m sick and tired of feeling afraid.
Agile Coach: Fear keeps us alive.

If We Don’t Speak of Vital Things

Life’s about Balance. Balance, by its very nature, is constant.  Like treading water in order to stay afloat, we need to constantly work at maintaining that balance. Why? Because things change. Because People change.

Embrace Uncertainty

One Agile adage is ‘Embrace Uncertainty’. Like it or lump it, Uncertainty pervades our lives. Most of us have a tendency to make decisions too early. For fear of Uncertainty. For fear of looking indecisive. For fear of looking the fool.

One way of making the most of Uncertainty is by postponing making decisions until the last responsible moment. The trick is to know when you have to make the decision. Given a deadline and the time it takes to execute an action, we can use Real Options Thinking to identify a decision point, the point at which a decision needs to be made. Why do this? To buy us more time so that we can gather more information. Why gather more information? Because more information leads to better informed decisions which, in turn, produce better results.

First Accept Impermanence

Before we can truly embrace Uncertainty, we need to first accept the Impermanence of Life. Things that exist today may not exist tomorrow. Accepting the impermanence in life provides a healthy perspective on Now. Instead of being stuck in a perpetual Blame Game, ask yourself ‘What can I do right now to change? How can I make things better (instead of worse) now?’

Resolve to Change For the Better

Be courageous! Make the most of Now by using The Responsibility Model to transition yourself from Denial -> Blame -> Justification -> Shame -> Obligation -> Responsibility.

Be mindful! Make better decisions Now and in the Future using Real Options Thinking. A Real Option is where Value > Cost. A Stupid Option is one where Value < Cost. Doing nothing is also always an option. The key is to take responsibility for your decisions by conscious decision making.

Be full of heart! Always practice the Agile Values of Communication, Simplicity, Feedback, Courage, Respect, Trust and Transparency to create more happiness for everyone to share. After all, none of us exist in isolation. Everything we do has a cause and effect that impacts others and, ultimately, ourselves.