One Agile coach says to another, ‘How do you find the strength to carry on?’

The other coach replies, ‘I believe in “happily ever after“‘.

Going Off the Rails

In my experience, the toughest period on any Agile Enablement gig is the first two iterations. Some have described it as a rollercoaster ride – the corkscrew-space-mountain type where you can’t see where you’re headed because everything’s pitch black, your stomach’s one big writhing ball of worms and you have begun to doubt you’ll survive.

It’s also the roughest of rides because just when you think you’re getting it, you discover there’s more to learn. And then some. It’s harder to go on precisely because you remember the difficult road upon which you’ve just travelled. And your gut tells you that it’s going to get harder before it gets easier.

The Road Less Travelled

Agile is about Continuous Improvement. If you’re truly dedicated to improving, you will demonstrate your commitment by learning new stuff and brushing up on the old stuff. Eventually, the old stuff gets displaced by a re-combination of the old and new and you come up with better ways of working.

‘H’ for Helping Yourself

People new to Agile almost always believe they’re already agile. This is rarely the case. The penny only drops when the first person in the group openly acknowledges that, ‘Hey, it’s not a process problem we face, it’s a matter of mental attitude’. The greatest impediment to Agile adoption is people. It’s you. And me.

‘H’ for Hope

If you’re genuinely agile, you don’t just give up. Why? Because you know there’s always hope. You know being agile demands continuous improvement, so as long as you’re changing yourself for the better, you’re one small step closer to a better and happier work life. You can help make change happen at your organisation. What’s the one small change you can make to yourself today to change things for the better?

If Agile were a food (instead of a project delivery methodology focussed on people and collaboration), it would be Marmite.

Marmite is a savoury black spread made out of yeast extract. Yes, that’s right: extract of yeast. To some it’s taste-bud tingling good while to others it’s more revolting than three-day old roadkill on a hot summer’s day.

A Love-Hate Phenomenon

It’s estimated that around 50% of the entire UK population love it while the other half hate it. Marmite reminds me of Agile precisely because of this polarised reaction to something as simple as extract of yeast. Marmite reminds me of the extreme reactions I get from folks new to Agile who find themselves challenged by the fundamental values of Communication, Simplicity, Feedback, Courage and Respect and what these values really mean in practice.

Processes Don’t Fail

Some individuals say, ‘Agile’s not for me!’ while others say, ‘Agile doesn’t work!’ Then there are those who declare, ‘I can deliver much more on my own!’ To which I would reply:

1. Agile is for the team, not just the individual.
2. Processes don’t fail, people do.
3. If what you do depends on work others have to do before it can be released to Live in order for its value to be realised, how can you measure success solely based on your own endeavour?

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Agile is much more than just a way of working. It’s about taking responsibility for who you are and what you do, both as an individual and as part of a team. Agile is about putting your team before your ego so that you and your team can move forward together. What value do you place on teamwork? How agile are you really?

Rejection’s tough to take. More often than not, it’s painful, humiliating and disappointing. Sometimes even devastating. It can get really ugly, not just for you, but for all parties involved.

Now we’re all agreed on what rejection feels like, here’s how to best deal with it: Avoid rejection by improving your interviewing technique.

Rejection Can Be Avoidable

In the world of consultancy, failing to get a contract is a form of rejection. Likewise spending five years on a supa-dupa high profile project only to have it rejected two weeks before it goes live because we got the requirements wrong also merits an R for REJECT.

Just as you would spend some time preparing for a romantic night out with a significant other, be sure to gather the information you need to bring about a happy ending to your business engagements.

How the Nine Boxes Technique Can Help

The Nine Boxes is an interviewing technique from the Solution Selling® sales process.

It’s a structured approach for:

1. Discovering the root causes of problems
2. Identifying those affected by the problems
3. Creating an agreed common vision of the solution between you and your customer.

Bonus: The information gathered feeds into user stories as demonstrated by Dave Nicolette.

During the information interview, we gather information about 3 aspects of the problems:

• Details of the problems
• Those impacted by the problems
• What the world will be like when the solution is in place (outcome visioning)

For each aspect, we ask 3 types of questions (3×3=9):

Type 1: Open questions allow the interviewee to tell their story (aka Qualification):

• ‘Tell me about…’
• ‘What happens after that?’
• ‘Why is that?’

Type 2: Control questions help fill in the facts of the story (aka Quantification):

• ‘How much…?’
• ‘How many…?’
• ‘How often…?’
• ‘When does that happen…?’

Type 3: Confirm questions verify the interviewer’s understanding of what the interviewee has said (aka Confirmation):

• ‘If I’ve understood correctly… Is that correct?’
• Only when the interviewee replies ‘Yes’ does the interviewer proceed by posing questions about the next aspect of the problem.

‘Sounds complicated – what do others think?’

I’ve co-presented The Nine Boxes session with Pascal at a number of conferences and participants come out amazed at how quickly and accurately the structured approach helps them elicit the root causes of problems. Most important of all, those who play the role of interviewee (the customer) always say what a refreshing change it is to talk to an interviewer who is a good listener and is capable of developing an accurate understanding of the problems.

The Nine Boxes Technique game was created by Pascal and can be downloaded from our Agile Coach site.

What You See Isn’t What You Get

‘But what if clarifying the problem leads us to discover it isn’t a problem after all?’ I hear the consultants among you ask, throwing your hands up in horror. ‘That’s great news – congratulations!’ I say. After all, it’s one of the best possible outcomes of using the Nine Boxes. Why? Because a customer who is genuinely committed to continuous improvement for their organisation would:

1. Be impressed by your problem finding acumen and thank you heartily for helping to clarify the misunderstanding that has caused so much confusion and resulted in so much time wasted to date.
2. Be impressed by your professional integrity for being open and honest instead of charging them for inventing a solution to a non-existent problem.
3. Ask you to help identify areas where improvements can be made.

More Than Words

Build integrity into everything you do. Take the 5 Agile Values to the next level: build Trust and increase Transparency.

* Special thanks to Gino and Pascal for taking this entry’s feature picture

Fear of the Unknown

One interesting similarity between being a coach on an Agile Enablement gig and presenting at a conference is this: dealing with an audience who secretly fears the Unknown.

In my experience, there are 3 main groups:

a) Those who ask for help
b) Some too afraid to ask for help
c) Others who think they know it all

Which group do you most identify with? For most people, in an ideal world, change would happen with minimal pain and even less hard work. In fact, many people don’t feel they need to change: ‘Help? Why would I need help? Of course I support Continuous Improvement! Change is for other people though. I don’t need to change.’

These folks make-believe that others need to change, but not them. These folks are usually the ones most resistant to change and this resistance manifests itself, at best, as self-deprecating humour or cynicism and, at worst, as silent sabotage.

The major casualties of such silent sabotages are the individuals themselves. I know this because whenever I resist change I miss out on learning new things and re-learning lessons I’ve forgotten. I end up losing out. I become the largest impediment I have to deal with. But I have a choice. I have the power to remove this seemingly insurmountable impediment by confronting it face-to-face.

Should I stay or should I go?

Occasionally a coachee asks me outright if they’re cut out for Agile projects. They’ve usually taken a bold leap of faith by daring to try to do something different while their colleagues and mates at work look on in wonderment / disbelief / morbid fascination*.

It’s a tough question to answer. As a coach, I’ve learnt the importance of providing feedback that helps people improve instead of criticising or passing judgment. After all, who am I to cast the first stone if I’m not prepared to offer suggestions when asked to help others change for the better? I’ve also learnt that anything that doesn’t increase value leads to more waste. A waste of breath, a waste of time, a waste of human life.

What is potential?

Agile has taught me that everyone has value. Before Agile, I remained sceptical of such a notion. Before Agile, the notion that everyone has value was merely a hollow incantation that, as a manager, I recited and barely believed.

As an Agile Coach I’ve learnt to spot potential. First I had to define potential. Potential for me means a willingness to learn which really means a willingness to change. Most important of all, potential is the willingness to change oneself instead of expecting others to change. After all, we can only change ourselves and lead by example.

Survival of the Fittest

I often hear folks say, ‘This organisation will never be agile’ or ‘Agile only works on certain types of projects – it won’t work on mine’. The reality is this: processes don’t fail, people do. If a process doesn’t work, people can change it. Believing change for the better is impossible is like clinging onto the belief that the world is flat. For as long as a team or organisation can improve, Agile can help you deliver value. So the question we all have to ask ourselves is: what’s my time worth to me? Don’t let it be a waste of breath, a waste of time, a waste of human life.

* Delete as appropriate

‘SimBlogging‘ offers a his and-hers-viewpoint as Pascal and Portia timebox-blog simultaneously

Rough Guide to Toronto

• Darwin at the Royal Ontario Museum – the story of Darwin as a curious young man seeking to better understand the world around him which has helped us to better understand ourselves
• Casa Loma – a dream come true for one man whose wife was the Head of the Girl Scouts
• Niagara on the Lake – where shops like Just Christmas are frequented by locals and tourists every day of the year
• Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls – THE best wet ride I’ve been on in one of Nature’s most beautiful amusement parks

Agile 2008

• ‘Bimbo Slides‘ – for describing presentations that look good but have a conflicting message when the volume’s turned up
• ‘Lego Moment‘ – describes a moment in time when you realise a missing piece in your experience you never knew you lacked or needed to complete a task at hand

Chilling Out and Staying Cool

• Chez Gino’s – an impromptu home-cooked lunch in the red light district served by a charming Belgian Agile coach in Toronto
• Potted Canadian history in 30 minutes – a compelling account of 400 years of Canadian history in 30 minutes on indigenous people from Allison over a tasty sushi lunch
• Pairing on Mission Dress Smart – where two Agile coaches practice giving feedback to one another on the most subjective and volatile of topics
• Dinner with Ben – meeting Christophe Thibault’s other half (binôme) at a restaurant called the Queen Mother’s

Looking into the Mirror

• Strangers to ourselves – where we ask: Mirror, Mirror on the wall – if I can only change myself and everyone has value, how can I become better?
• Playing with strangers – Playing Snow White and the Seven Dwarves game as a fun networking exercise where everyone gets to take a good look at themselves in the mirror
• Learning about business value – Learning to see where the value is and prioritising the backlog using various strategies by playing The Business Value Game

Les Neuf Cases aka The Nine Boxes

• Running a session in French and English – Les Neuf Cases (The Nine Boxes) helped bring together participants with a common interest in learning how to get the questions right in order to ask the right questions
• Bilingual session preparation – in which Pascal and Portia have fun preparing for a dramatisation of what happens when folks discover the customer’s need by asking the right questions

Value-Driven Presenters

• Ice cream and tasty cupcakes – meeting people who are passionate about learning new things and know that the best way to learn is through fun and games
• Show me the money – helping out at the sneak preview of the Business Value game created by Pascal and Vera, the pair who brought you the ubiquitous XP Game
• Doing not just talking – the best sessions at the conference were those offering practical techniques such as Mike Cohn’s ‘Prioritising the Product Backlog’ and Christian and Christoph’s ‘Conflict Resolution Diagram’ from the Theory of Constraints Thinking Tools
• Mini celebrations – whenever participants found our sessions useful and relevant so that everyone can become a little more agile every day

Eliyahu Goldratt is an angry old man. He’s not that old per se, but he is surprisingly angry for someone who’s been making his fortune from IT since the early 80s.

Goldratt is best known as the originator of the Theory of Constraints. He was one of the impressive trio of guest star speakers at Université du SI in Paris last week (the other two being French philosopher Michel Serre and the first man on the moon Neil Armstrong). To my surprise, Goldratt was the wildcard of the bunch.

What got us here won’t get us there

‘Technology should give us unbelievable results,’ began Goldratt as a matter-of-fact. ‘Why is it then that we have such amazing processing power and no astonishing results?’ he demanded of the developers, Agilists and academics before him.

According to Goldratt, each organisation is haemorrhaging to death because of a clot in its processes. Organisations existed before computers, therefore the limitations we’re experiencing existed before computers.

The problem is that the old rules for getting things done were based on localised islands of information because that used to be all the information available at the time. Now that the game has changed, the rules aren’t just out-of-date, they’re wrong.

An even bigger problem is that the antiquated rules become set in stone when they are reincarnated as a software system. The result: we make more mistakes faster which result in spiralling costs and inevitable failure if we don’t revise the rules first.

J’accuse!

Unlike Michel Serre, who employed pure rhetoric to make a similar point about making the most of one’s ability, Goldratt chose to lambast IT professionals for being irresponsible and ineffective.

According to Goldratt, as IT professionals, we’re creating our own boundary and limiting the success of our organisation. He urged us to go beyond our comfort zone and stretch ourselves beyond our immediate expertise. Goldratt demands we take responsibility for our organisation.

Lost in Translation

After Pascal and I ran our session to demonstrate the Theory of Constraints, a young man came up to me and asked about the relevance of our session at such a technical conference. I remember asking myself the same question after attending the same session at XPDay London run by Pascal several years ago.

‘Because a developer can’t deliver business value through coding alone,’ I replied in French. ‘By understanding how to improve the way your team works at both local and global perspectives, you can help improve your organisation’s throughput by applying the Theory of Constraints.’

The School of Tough Love

Goldratt concluded that, in his experience, people are much better than we think. It only takes one person to change before others follow suit or risk losing out altogether.

According to Goldratt, the way to achieve an easy life is to take a hammer to your head whereupon you’ll be spoonfed for the rest of your life. Goldratt says: Demand more of yourself. What will you choose to do?

There’s a lot to be said for French charm. The crowd of witty, friendly and plain speaking Parisian Agilistas with whom I had the pleasure of dining twice this week has to be the highlight of my Paris visit.

Le lieu du crime

(Un clan d’agilistes dans un restaurant à côté des Champs-Elysées)

L.: Remarques, avant que je t’ai rencontré, j’ai eu l’impression que tu étais plus agée.
P.: (Petit sourire)
L.: En fait, tu es beaucoup plus jeune que je m’imaginais.
P.: (Encore un petit sourire)
L.: En lisant ton blog, je m’imaginais une petite vieille dame genre Miss Marple.
P.: (Silence. Et puis) Merci pour le feedback.
Tous: (Éclat du rire)

Crime Scene Investigation

(A group of Agilists in a restaurant just off the Champs-Elysées)

L.: Before I met you, I had the impression that you would be much older.
P.: (Smiles)
L.: The fact is, you’re much younger than I ever imagined.
P.: (Continues smiling)
L.: In fact, I thought you would be a bit of a Miss Marple.
P.: (Stunned silence. Then) Thank you for the feedback.
All: (Loud burst of laughter)

Feedback continu et mon puzzle

Truth be told, ‘Miss Marple’ isn’t exactly the look I was going for, but it’s always nice to get feedback if only to know that my blog is being read. Call me an optimist. Paris je t’aime.

‘You have to be an optimist to be an Agile Coach.’

A good Agile coach helps teams and individuals become agile through care, consideration and collaboration. What they do works because good Agile coaches believe people can change for the better. It’s about putting people first.

WARNING: It feels like magic to those who don’t care enough to work out what they need to do and get it done.

A recent survey shows that birds don’t bother singing in towns and cities because their song cannot be heard. Their country cousins, on the contrary, sing to their hearts’ content even though there are fewer humans around to share their song. What makes your heart sing?

Why Exoftware?

So that on a beautiful summer’s day I find myself cycling along the low road on one of the Aran Islands to spend time with the most diverse, smart, nice and fun bunch of Agilistas I know.