Half way through my Christmas shopping mission, I meet up for coffee with my friend TJ, even though he drinks neither tea nor coffee. I tell him about an article I’d just been reading about people’s fitness and gyms.

‘According to the highly experienced instructor in the article, most people put in around 7/10 amount of effort when they workout,’ I say, pleased to have committed to memory what I thought was a useful factoid.

There’s a split-second pause as the thinking cogs click into motion and then TJ says, ‘Most people work out at 3. Out of 15.’

Baffled, I’m silent for some time. Of course there’s no real way of knowing whether or not his statement is factually correct, but it resonates with me. It also casts a dark shadow over the past couple of weeks whenever I’d managed to shave a couple of seconds off my 5k PB.

‘You can run faster than that,’ TJ says.

‘How do you know?’ I huff, indignant of so bold a challenge.

‘Because I’ve seen you do it. Once.’

And I had. I’d just forgotten.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

(Over coffee during an Agile training course)

Student: You weren’t what we were expecting.
P.: What do you mean?
Student: We were expecting a male trainer.
P.: I see.
Student: Actually we were expecting a big man with a beard.
P.: You’re right. I’m no Santa Claus.

What you see isn’t always what you get

A recent conversation with a student reminded me of the importance of keeping an open mind. Most important of all, according to Marshall Goldsmith, we would do well to question the success we attribute to ourselves.

What got you here won’t get you there

In his book on professional development, ‘What What Got You Here Won’t Get You There’, Marshall asserts that most of us are successful not because of personal merit. Instead, Marshall says that most of us are successful in spite of who we are and the things we do.

Marshall identifies the top 20 offences many successful people are guilty of:

1. Winning too much

2. Adding too much value

3. Passing judgment

4. Making destructive comments

5. Starting with ‘No’, ‘But’, ‘However’

6. Telling the world how smart we are

7. Speaking when angry

8. Negativity, or ‘Let me explain why that won’t work’

9. Withholding information

10. Failing to give proper recognition

11. Claiming credit that we don’t deserve

12. Making excuses

13. Clinging to the past

14. Play favourites

15. Refusing to express regret

16. Not listening

17. Failing to express gratitude

18. Punishing the messenger

19. Passing the buck

20. An excessive need to be ‘me’

Do any of these sound familiar? I’m guilty of at least three. What struck me most about the list was that I recognised many of the attributes in the managers with whom I’d worked early on in my career. And yet they continued to be promoted.

In my experience, what Marshall identifies as limiting flaws continues to be rewarded by many organisations. Such organisations are usually highly hierarchical and rigid. Such places are usually mired in all kinds of waste: wasteful management, wasteful individuals, wasted potential. And all because an organisation rewards individual achievement over collaboration, trust and transparency.

Agile Adoption with Change to spare

Agile Adoption requires organisational change. Organisational change requires each of us to make a change for the better, however small, however seemingly insignificant at first glance. Organisational change takes time. And an incredible amount of effort. Personal effort. Some would call it an investment.

Change Happens

P.: I hear you’re an Agile Coach.
Agilista: You are correct.
P.: What do you do as a coach?
Agilista: I change people.
P.: In my experience, you can only change yourself.
Agilista: I change people. Like psychologists do.
P.: My mistake. I thought you said you were an Agile Coach.

With great power comes great responsibility

Agile Coaching is a people business. I’m an Agile Coach because I’m interested in people. Why? Because working with others helps me better understand myself and the world around me. Learning doesn’t just help me deliver business value. Learning helps me create things of worth. I’m an Agile Coach but that doesn’t make me a psychologist.

An effective Agile Coach inspires those around them to change for the better. They lead by example. They constantly strive to improve by seeking feedback and taking action arising from the feedback. They show that change happens by changing themselves.

An effective Agile Coach learns by making mistakes. They take calculated risks by trying out new or different ways of doing things. This means sometimes things might go wrong. Making mistakes is essential in the cycle of learning. You have to do something different to change the status quo. Doing the same thing you’ve always done and expecting a different result is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

An effective Agile Coach is trustworthy. They act as the guide for a team on their journey towards becoming more agile. ‘Integrity is the opposite of manipulation,’ Pollyanna Pixton once said during a JAOO session on leadership. I take this to mean you can help people change by providing and exploring real options, but the choice remains theirs. Believing you have the power to change others sounds a lot like meddling to me. So long as people have the choice to change, you cannot ‘change people’.

Making a living out of learning

Human beings can’t help but learn. As Jim Collins (of From Good to Great fame) says, there’s no OFF switch to people learning. We’re learning all the time, whether we want to or not. Start by taking responsibility for yourself instead of trying to change others to suit you.

A training gig in Helsinki means an early start for Christmas celebrations this year since everything is covered in snow. My Finnish guides help brighten up my brief, yet adventurous, 4-day visit with their cultural commentary.

‘There’s no specific Finnish word for “please”.’ It seems that it’s implied in the structure of what you say and how you say it. ‘That’s why Americans think we’re rude,’ exclaims one Finn.

‘The Finns advocate and live by the principle of Work-Life balance.’ Many of the people I meet seem to work at a sustainable pace. It’s remarkable how some folks respond to fewer daylight hours by making the most of their dark afternoons and evenings.

‘The Finns work hard.’ I’m told it’s a matter of pride that many people here work hard. No Finn wants to be regarded as a lay-about. If this is true, then it’s a good example of what Dubner and Levitt describe in Freakonomics as a social incentive that influences human behaviour (the other two being financial and moral incentives).

‘The Finns are straight talkers.’ They tell you what’s what, no messing about. It requires some serious listening – whether you want to hear it or not. In return, they really listen to what you have to say.

‘Helsinki’s a pleasant place to work.’ Most of the non-native Finns I meet tell a similar story of how they ended up in Helsinki by chance. ‘I came here as a student and have stayed on ever since!’ beam a number of Finns.

‘The Finns are a friendly bunch once they get to know you.’ I wonder if it’s because good company helps keep the winter blues at bay. That and Lapland being less than 100 kilometres away.

Casual Observations

The Finns seem to talk more about the weather than even the Brits. I feel right at home as folks spend their lunchtime commiserating one another on the rain and long for a winter with snow to brighten the long darkness.

Most people I meet from around the world wish they worked in a flat structure at work. One Finn insists his boss isn’t just the bloke who sits next to him, but also a good friend. ‘What happens when you make a mistake?’ I ask. ‘He tells me and we work it out,’ he nods, smiling.

The Gift of Giving

During my expedition in search of Christmas presents, I stumble across an unusual sight: the Free Hugs campaign at the main train station. ‘If I give you a hug, may I take your picture? It’s for my blog,’ I explain. Distracted by the phenomenon, I mistake their offer as a commodity instead of a gift.

Nonetheless, I give and get a hug. What a great idea.

‘We’re part of a global movement to increase happiness in the world,’ says one of the young women as a matter-of-fact.

‘Do you come across strangers you would rather not hug?’ I ask.

‘Yes!’ replies the shorter of the two gifthuggers.

‘But we hug them anyway!’ insists the taller one.

Now that’s dedication.

My friend Thoughtful Jim is the silent type. Whenever I pose a philosophical question (such as ‘Can we be paid well for doing what we love?’), instead of accusing me of overthinking, TJ usually replies, ‘I can’t answer an important question just like that. Let me think about it.’ TJ’s a deep thinker. And when he has something to say, I always sit up and listen.

One day, I notice TJ looking a bit glum. Instinctively, I tell him about the importance of doing what makes his heart sing. For once, he’s ready with a retort, ‘What does it mean “make your heart sing”? I’m not like you – I’ve never experienced anything that makes my heart sing.’ For the longest moment I’m lost for words.

Without music, life would be a singular mistake

What makes my heart sing is striving to do my best, gaining a better understanding of the world and myself and, most important of all, doing W-O-R-K T-H-A-T M-A-T-T-E-R-S. (Thanks to Tom Peters for the reminder!) That’s just my definition, of course. Yours is likely to be something entirely different.

I feel I owe TJ a better answer than this, so I begin to carry the question around in my head.

The Story of Success

Then I came across the answer this Tuesday when I went to hear Malcolm Gladwell speak at the London Business Forum.

Malcolm says that for an individual to be successful, they must do ‘Meaningful Work’. He defines Meaningful Work as:

1. Autonomous – You determine what you do
2. Complex – It’s hard enough to exercise your mind
3. Effort and reward – The more work you put in, the greater the reward you reap.

Malcolm’s definition is like a chance meeting with an old friend because it’s what I used to do at school. And it’s by identifying those three attributes that Malcolm crystalises what I’ve always known, but never quite dared to acknowledge as a working adult because it sounds impossible to achieve.

The Riddle of Work

The currency of work is changing. Can we be paid well for doing what we love? Yes! How do I know? Because I do more of what I love every day and am rewarded both financially and experiencially.

How many people do you know have:

• 1 x suitcase stuffed with 225 balloons
• 10 x Agile game kits (The XP Game and The Business Value Game)
• 4 kilograms of chocolates
• And plays games to help adults learn in beautiful cities such as Helsinki?

Work can be fun. Sometimes it even becomes a party.

Still Life

P.: Richard’s a nice guy.
Zach: He’s changed a lot since meeting a lady friend recently.
P.: (Pauses) Has he changed for the better?
Zach: Definitely. Richard’s got potential.
P.: (Smiles)
Zach: I like to think of him as a work-in-progress.

Life as Art

I’d never heard of someone being described as a ‘work-in-progress’ before. My friend Zach. is an artistic, cultured kind of guy, so when he described Richard as a work-in-progress, he had meant it to be a compliment of sorts. The idea that Richard had the potential to be an artist’s masterpiece. Being a work-in-progress is part of that journey.

Zach’s use of the term ‘work-in-progress’ also reminded me of Lean. In Lean, you strive to first deliver value. You achieve this by minimising work-in-progress. That’s because too much work-in-progress blocks flow, delays value from being realised. Worst of all, it hides waste.

In Richard’s case, he’s the single piece of work-in-progress on his Assembly Line of Life. That fits nicely with Lean where you want to be working on one thing at a time.

From Journeyman to Master

But something’s still missing from the equation. Does being part of the status quo help us become a masterpiece? Does reliving the same year twenty times give us twenty years of experience? Sounds more like a death march to me.

Then it dawns upon me, the most magical ingredient of all.

Kaizen’s for life, not just on birthdays

In life, we are the artist as well as our own potential masterpiece. We become a work-in-progress from the day we’re born and remain one until we die. The Goal is to turn our life into our own masterpiece. To achieve that goal we need to continuously improve. Continuous Improvement forces us to learn. And to change. By changing for the better, we move closer towards our Goal. And so the virtuous circle takes shape to become the wheel that rolls us forward.

Make yours a masterpiece. Love something, change something, make something better.

‘Exoftware has been ranked 6th in the 2008 Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Ireland. Rankings are based on average percentage revenue growth over five years. Exoftware grew over 1300% percent during this period.’

– Deloitte Ireland

One of the hardest things about becoming agile, both for the organisation and for the individual, is that Agile challenges parts of your brain other project delivery methodologies don’t reach.

Continuous Improvement is a tough job, but someone’s got to do it

I’ve gained an incredible amount of insight and experience by working at Exoftware as an Agile Coach since January. One of the things I love most about my job is the fact that I’ll always be learning. After all, continuous learning is the only chance we have of improving ourselves.

What Makes Exoftware Special

I’ve worked for a number of organisations, both large and small over the past decade, and Exoftware’s different for 5 key reasons:

1. Exoftware walks the talk: We strive to apply the Agile Values of Communication, Simplicity, Feedback, Courage and Respect, with our customers and among ourselves.
2. Exoftware acts with integrity: We tell it like it is even if the message isn’t easy to deliver or receive.
3. Exoftware’s a learning organisation: We understand that success is defined by continuous improvement. The best learning comes from making mistakes, so we fail early as well as pool the experiences of our coaches.
4. Exoftware creates an environment where we can be courageous: Everyone who works for Exoftware is part of the same team. Our clients are an extension of that team. We’re stronger because we work together.
5. Exoftware really cares: We continuously improve because we care about what we do. That’s because we’re in the People business.

New Kids on the Block

My first ever commercial IT project was to tweak an existing application that sent out financial news by email. I remember really enjoying the challenge. I learned how to set up my local dev environment. I learned about the release process using foil packs of tea as release tokens (creativity was what made the Dot.com days special). Most important of all, I learned how to write code better by looking at bad code.

As time passed, I was exposed to terms such as ‘maintenance’ (more sinisterly known as BAU – Business As Usual) vs ‘greenfield’. I was surrounded by developers who complained that BAU was gruntwork, that they wished they could do greenfield work instead.

‘Avoid maintenance work at all costs’

Many of those developers were given greenfield work, only to create an even larger legacy of bad code. I found that I appreciated a balance of maintenance and greenfield work because, together, they reminded me of the cost of over-engineered or badly designed solutions that I would have to help support.

The Longest Journey

Still, the conundrum of endless maintenance bugged me. Then one day it dawned upon me: Everything in life is BAU, be it buying milk, having breakfast on a Monday morning or attending yet-another-pointless meeting warped by political posturing. And, of course, keeping fit.

Welcome to your most important maintenance contract. It’s for life. Make it fun. Fill it with learning. Make it meaningful.

Imagine. It’s 10.15 in the morning. The team’s just finished their daily standup. One of your team members seems to have gone missing.

The Office

(In an open plan office)
S.: Morning!
P.: Morning. (Pause) Everything all right?
S.: Sorry I’m late. I had to go to the vet.
P.: I didn’t know you had pets.
S.: I don’t.

It turns out Sruthi had found a sparrow lying injured on the road on her way to work. She immediately took the wounded bird to a local vet, but they refused to look after it, so Sruthi took it home and made it a comfortable little bed on her kitchen table. She then fed it some milk before setting off to work again.

Sruthi and I had had another of our 1-2-1 Agile Coaching sessions the week before. I learned that she loved animals and would like to be a vet if she could do anything else other than her current job as a Java developer.

On that fateful morning when Sruthi saved the sparrow, we both knew that her detour wouldn’t negatively impact the project. The project deliverable was being integration-tested and we had to wait until the US dev team came online in the afternoon (UK time) before she could do any more testing.

Just before Sruthi went back to her desk, I asked her what state the sparrow was in. She said she couldn’t see any external wounds, but that the bird seemed very weak. ‘It’s likely the bird won’t be alive when you get home tonight,’ I said. Sruthi looked surprised. It was the first time I had to deliver that kind of bad news on a client engagement.

The next morning, the sparrow was gone, but Sruthi and I both knew we did the right thing.

Folks who are genuinely agile, understand that people and trust are at the heart of Agile. Is there anyone on your team you don’t trust? Why don’t you trust them? What does what you think about them tell us about you?

Adopting Agile brings out the best in people, it brings out the worst in people. That’s because Agile is a challenge for change: for the individual, for the team and, above all, for the organisation.

For many people, Agile evokes fear. Fear of uncertainty, fear of looking foolish, fear of being held accountable, fear of the problems it uncovers, fear of having to deal with those problems. That’s a lot of fear.

But there’s more. The fear of the consequences if we ignore the problems. And the biggest fear of all: the fear of having to face ourselves.

Perfect is Poison

‘Our Agile process clearly isn’t perfect yet. What we need are lots more iteration zeros to get it right.‘

Perfect doesn’t exist. Perfect is something we aspire to, it’s elusive by design. People use it as an excuse when they’re unable to cope with mistakes, especially their own. Mistakes they made in the Past, mistakes they’re making in the Present, mistakes they’ll continue to make in the Future – if we choose not to change.

Perfect as Procrastination

Wisdom comes from experience. Experience comes from learning. The most valuable learning happens when we make mistakes. That’s where Agile comes in.

Agile is about Continuous Improvement. Agile is about failing early, so that we can learn from our mistakes earlier – instead of waiting for things to be perfect. Before you can fix a problem, you have to first acknowledge it exists. Especially if it’s your fault. Don’t wait for when. Ask others for feedback then change the way you work. Now.