Conversation with One of the Agile Thought Leaders in Japan

I met Kenji some years ago, first at an Agile 20XX conference where he gave an excellent presentation on Mindmapping. Then in 2010, we met at BCS SPA where we had a riveting conversation about Agile Fairytales, soft skills and the power of storytelling for personal development and problem solving.

Last year, we met again, this time at Agile 2011, where he was a track host of the experiential sessions. It was great to have Kenji participate in the latest Agile Fairytale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes: Meaningful Interactions in Stressful Situations“, co-created by Jenni Jepsen and me.

Most recently, Kenji invited me to share my views on the state of Agile Adoption in the UK. He’s been commissioned by the Japanese government to undertake an assessment of the state of Agile Adoption around the world. With such an exciting endeavour, how could I refuse?

Taking part in the interview given me the chance to look back as well as look forward to all that Agile has brought and continues to bring to people and projects: Communication, Community, Collaboration and Continuous Improvement.  I’ve come to understand that Agile isn’t about being right or wrong. It’s about being better. Here is an adaptation of the interview we’d like to share with you.

I look forward to interviewing Kenji about the state of Agile Adoption in Japan. May be we can even publish it in two versions: English and Japanese! Watch this space…

“Play once a day to keep the doctor and priest away!” – Portia Tung

Screw Work Let’s Play!

I first came across the book “Screw Work Let’s Play” by John Williams sometime last year. It’s fair to say reading the book has changed my life. In a playful way.

The fact is, I’ve been researching on how to make a living out of doing what I love for years. I’ve read books like “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss and watched a multitude of videos and self-help books besides. Check out Tim’s inspiring Ted talk here.

Why love what you do?

Because I know, as a coach, that when we do what we are truly passionate about, the world around us opens up. And that’s when the magic happens. For me, doing what I love is a dream come true. A chance to make the most of my potential. Since this is what I encourage my teams to do, it’s important I drink my own champagne.

So what have I done since? Quite a bit, considering I’ve got a day job and other responsibilities.

• Created an play-filled presentation on “The Power of Play” (based on my past and very present curiosity on the art and science of play)
• Delivered the “The Power of Play” presentation at a number of places, including Oredev 2011, Play4Agile and even at work! If you want to experience this session yourself, we’ll be playing at GOTO Copenhagen on 23 May!
• Invented the concept of “Playmaking” to mean “transforming work through play” and the term “Playmaker” for people who do this to stay alive plus created the “Playmaking” blog
• Attended a session hosted by John on the subject of “Happiness” and making happiness a central part of my life (the event was part of something called “Scanners Night” where a scanner is an ideas person who may at times struggle to realise one of those ideas)
• Made play an integral part of what I do every day. Have you had your Recommended Daily Amount of Play today?

What’s next?

I’ve signed up to be the second intake of “The 30 Day Challenge“, a concept realised by John and Selina Barker to help people deliver a “play project” of their choice. “The 30 Day Challenge” started back in August 2011 and I’m very excited to be part of it!

The challenge begins on 1 May and I’ve selected my project. To write and publish a book to share with you. I’ve started and abandoned writing a book (fiction, non-fiction, you name it, I’ve probably had a go) at least 20 times in my adult life time, so I reckon this endeavour will be a serious test of how effective “The 30 Day Challenge” really is.

Watch this space and follow me on Twitter to hear live updates on how my 30 Day Challenge goes.

Meanwhile, back to you…

…  Benjamin Disraeli once said, “Life is too short to be small”. How can you open up the world around you so that magic can happen?

“A rose by any other name…”

Sometime ago, I witnessed a curious story on a gardening programme about an elderly couple, a pair of husband and wife, who loved each other very much. Together, they had brought up a nest full of children, and now have a tumble of grandchildren. Of course, there’s nothing out of the ordinary about all this.

What made their story curious was when we stepped into their garden. The first thing you notice was the fence that ran straight down the middle of the garden. In one half was a meticulously mowed lawn edged with majestic trees, a few of which must have been centuries old. In the other half, was a gravel path that twisted and turned, guiding us through a maze of carefully crafted meadows and a rainbow of flowerbeds.

“Well, this is a remarkable garden!” exclaims the presenter with his floppy hair and woolly jumper. “Or should I say, two remarkable gardens?” he chuckles. Because upon closer inspection, it was exactly that. Two gardens, lain side-by-side, each with its own gate into paradise and its own “Keep Out!” sign.

A Garden of One’s Own

It turns out that the husband loved trees and cared only for Nature’s skyscrapers. “The first thing everyone notices when they step into my garden, is that big oak in the back,” he said. “Their first question is, ‘How old is it?’ And when I tell them it’s 200 years old, they are very impressed. The older and taller the tree, the better.”

Next was the wife’s turn to walk us through the intricacies of her garden. “I prefer flowers to trees because I enjoy noticing every tiny change, from a single bud to a blossoming flower,” she said. “There’s a place for every little thing, including weeds in my meadow.”

After all this, the presenter, with his floppy hair and woolly jumper, then started quizzing the couple about their different approaches to gardening.

The wife smiles and replies, “Life happens all around us and it’s important to notice small changes so that we can nurture them into great medleys. For me, flowers are what defines a beautiful garden.”

The husband shakes his head and points first to his garden then that of his wife’s in contrast. “Flowers are insignificant in the grander scheme of things. What matters are the big structures because they give shape to what would otherwise be an unruly mess.”

Our Secret Gardens

For the longest of time, this encounter has intrigued me. It has made me think hard about the relationship between creations and creators. And, of course, the relationship among creators themselves.

To paraphrase Toyota’s perspective on quality, “the product you produce is a reflection of those who created it”. Likewise, in software development, “the quality of your codebase reflects the teamwork and organisation that produced it”.

All of this gives rise to a few vital questions. Why do so many of us think in terms of black- or-white (aka False Dichotomy) or what I call “Either-Or-Thinking”? Does it really have to be either trees or flowers that make a garden beautiful?

What about “And Thinking”? Could it be that trees and flowers would together result in an even more beautiful garden? Why? Because seeing the big picture (trees) and keeping it in mind is just as necessary as finer-grained details (flowers) for getting things done.

And the most important question of all if we are to achieve greatness beyond ourselves is this: How can we leverage each other’s strengths and weaknesses to help us achieve our goals more effectively and harmoniously?

After all, the pleasure of a garden comes from sharing it with those we truly love.

Meaningful interactions in stressful situations

See the Emperor in all his glory! Which role do you play? We all interact with different types of characters in our daily lives which may lead to stressful situations. Together, we can learn how to communicate more effectively with others, especially at times of stress, by transforming our behaviour from incongruence to congruence.

Learn how to begin transforming your behaviour from one of incongruence to congruence by thinking about interactions in terms of Self, Other and Context.

Regain and maintain your sense of balance

• Slide presentation at-a-glance
• Coping stance cards
• Congruence stance card
• Session handout (includes theory in a nutshell and instructions on how to play)

Begin your happily-ever-after today

Jenni and I recently played this game with a bunch of friends at Play4Agile. Participants were surprised at how well the coping stances matched real-life behaviours when we’re put under stress. By applying the concept of Congruence in our everyday lives, we can all become more effective and efficient while reducing stress!

If you like this..

… You’ll love these. More Agile Fairytales at www.agilefairytales.org.

Travel Game

When I travel, I play a game. I imagine I am an ambassador, an appointed representative of Europe, the place where I live. I wasn’t always an ambassador of Europe, of course. I began life as a simple traveller, trying to get from A to B.

Growing up, I quickly went from being a traveller to an adventurer. If only flight class upgrades were so easy! I like to think I remain an adventurer to this day, sometimes performing feats of derring-do like Indiana Jones. At other times, I am an ambassador, establishing first contact and building relationships between us and different species across the galaxy like Jean-Luc Picard.

On Being an Ambassador

So what does being an ambassador mean to me? My idea of an ambassador is my dear friend John. By the time I met John, he had already retired after a lifelong service to the British Government and her Majesty the Queen.

John was a tall man, always well-presented. He was soft spoken, polite and amicable. Most memorable of all, he was humble and fun. He always knew exactly how to put people at ease, from small children to thorny politicians.

John was the kind of man who went riding with Lawrence of Arabia in the desert. He was certainly good at his job. And he was good because he cared for the work he did and the importance of acting for the greater good.

An ambassador understands their responsibility to others and behaves accordingly, both with those they spend time with as well as those they will never meet. Most important of all, they understand their responsibility to themselves.

An ambassador remembers to look up to the sky and into the horizon often to keep things in perspective. Do this enough, and you’ll start recognising the different flags of sky.

Future Encounters

If life is a journey, and I believe it is, then where does an ambassador of Europe go next? I’m working towards becoming a citizen of the world some day. And after that? Ambassador of Earth of course! By the time that happens, I hope to have acquired the necessary knowledge, skills, experience and humility to explain why humans are a valuable asset to our wider ecosystem that is the universe. I also hope to be fluent in the universal language of friendship, mutual respect and understanding.

Meanwhile, I send you greetings “Na-Nu Na-Nu!” (pronounced “nahnoo nahnoo“) from a peaceful hilltop village called Johannesburg just outside of Frankfurt, host to this year’s Play4Agile!

For me, the philosophy of work has come full circle. When I was a child, I was encouraged to dream and “do what you love”. When I became a teenager, those words slowly but surely morphed into “love what you do”. When I reached adulthood, the wise and elderly around me changed their tune once more. “A job’s just a job,” they said. “Do what you can to make a good living, don’t get into trouble and you’ll have a job for life”.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place

I wrestled for years with those three very different choruses. I desperately tried to reconcile my daily toil on the anthill with realising my dreams. Slowly but surely, those dreams ebbed away, hardened and broken by the relentless beat of the daily commute.

Then one day, I overheard a friend say, “Of course you can do what you love. Doing otherwise would be madness!”

As I considered this friend wise, his words forced me to do a triple take on everything I’d come to believe in. What if, just WHAT IF, some of the things I’ve come to believe in are not true?

Rediscover your dreams

For most of us, the advice of “do what you love” is impractical for a number of reasons. The most fundamental being that to do what we love, we need to first figure out what it is we love doing. That takes time and requires discovery through a series of experiments and experiences.

For many of us, our dreams have become buried so deeply in the sand on the beach of life, that the only way to figure out what we love doing is by identifying what we don’t like doing. It’s through a series of trial and error and process of elimination that we begin to pinpoint what it is that we truly love doing.

Career advisors’ advice

Career advisors’ advice can be distilled into three criteria when it comes to a happy working life:

1. Do something you’re good at AND
2. Do something you enjoy AND
3. Do something that makes you a good living.

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, you get this far in search of your dream job. Most likely, you’ll still be confused as it turns out that what you like doing isn’t just one thing, but a combination of things that make up the unique job tailored to suit you. For instance, a travel writer, a singing chef or a knitting teacher.

Find your true purpose

In order to figure out what we enjoy doing, we need to try many things. By bringing what we love into our work, we begin to close the gap between the gruelling toil of daily work and our passion. And it’s through this series of experiments that we define meaning with our work.

For those of you who choose to read this blog, the reward of meaningful work is probably worth much more than its weight in gold. Why? Because meaningful work helps us discover our purpose.

Bring back the love

The first baby step then is to love the job you’re in, love the work you do. If this seems impossible, ask yourself, “What would someone who loved my job do?” Then begin to move in that direction, one baby step at a time. And if it feels like you’re Bambi skating on ice, that’s because you’re outside your comfort zone. The good news is your dreams are back in sight albeit in the distance. For now.

Re-define “success”

As you do this, you may discover that you fall in love with your job anew. After all, there must have been a very good reason for you to have taken the job in the first place, all that time ago. Alain de Botton helps us answer: What does “success” mean to you now? Begin by bringing back the magic. Happy Valentine’s!

When the North Wind blows, with him isn’t Mary Poppins. Instead, it’s the Cold Chill that rattles our bones and chatters our teeth. The kind of cold that turns people into human dumplings, wrapped in sweaters, scarves and mittens.

What better way then to warm the cockles of one’s heart than going to a winter festival. I am of course referring to last weekend’s Death Festival held at the ever creative and vibrant Southbank Centre along the River Thames in London.

Believe me, it was no ordinary festival.

A Festival for the Living

“What a strange idea!” I hear you gasp and I would agree. After all, Death is one of the biggest taboos in this country, according to the Death experts. In my case, Curiosity got the better of Fear. When I eventually subdued my 3Ms of “morbid, moody and morose” and instead envision “magnify, materialise and make-believe”, I managed to keep an open mind for long enough to 1) buy a ticket and 2) go to a few gigs.

Upon arrival, I’m greeted by an exhibition called “Boxed”, a display of beautifully crafted coffins that would make the Dead proud. That’s not all. There’s a whole host of activities such as “Coffin Morning” (a pun on coffee morning), “Death Cafe-Salon” where we are invited to eat a piece of cake while discussing all things Death-related, “Desert Island Discs” where people share the music they would like played on that special day. And O! so much more.

Festival Director, Jude Kelly, and associate artist, Lemn Sissay, describe the festival as, “the only event that truly links anyone and everyone who will ever visit Southbank Centre”. A classic example of “never have truer words been spoken”.

Whose life is it anyway?

As I sit through talks and discuss Death with strangers, the icicles in my head placed there by the Cold Chill begin to melt.

Death Bites

(What follows are quotes I collected from the day.)

Be Prepared – A good funeral doesn’t give a damn what people think about it. If you want a good funeral, you have to plan backwards, beginning with where you want to be when you’re gone.

Finding Solace in the Secular – What does Contemporary Death mean and how do we want to take control of the decisions of a secular funeral?

Enduring Death – Longevity of life makes death harder to think about; what used to take days now takes weeks or months. You will experience loss, fear, grief, anxiety or exasperation. Take turns supporting one another.

Fear Less – Grief is a personal experience. Funerals amplify your preferred natural state. A good life leads to a good death. Perhaps if we didn’t think that we would go to different places, one better than the other, we would be less afraid?

Circle of Life – Funerals are for the living. You have to experience Death to experience Life. To talk of death is to be most alive. Life, Love and Death is a cycle of rejuvenation.

Time for Celebration – Death leads to new discoveries. It’s possible to turn a funeral into a celebratory event. Such events are a catalyst for life. Create a celebration, one that creates a space for all feelings.

Beyond Goodbye

One of the most moving talks I heard was about the funeral organised by Jimmy Edmonds and Jane Harris. They have become known as the people who made a video of their son’s funeral in order to come to terms with his sudden death and celebrate his life. Jane talked about many things, including how she got to know Josh better during and after the funeral through hearing the stories told by his friends. All this because the family chose to share their son’s death with his friends.

Hanging on for Dear Life

As I leave the festival, I recall a curious fact I learned not so long ago. Death is the favourite topic among Buddhists. And the warmth I feel in my heart is exactly as Jimmy and Jane described in their experiences of coming to terms with their son’s death. Instead of “Goodbye”, we might try “See you later, alligator” or even “In a while, crocodile” and, in saying so, come to know our loved ones better forevermore.

An Encounter to Remember

Alain de Botton and I first met when I was 19 years old, between the covers of his first book, Essays in Love. Back in those days, we were both preoccupied with love. Between us, we would desperately try to define it, conjure it and acquire it. We would spend most of our time thinking about love, the only difference being he would write about it and I would read about it.

Ageing Curiosity

As time passed, we both grew up but we never grew apart. It seems that our mutual interests merely evolved with time. We continued to analyse the nuts and bolts of the body, mind and spirit of life, ranging from how Proust can change one’s life to the art of travel. As he continued to write, I would continue to read, nibbling on madeleines and sipping tea while dreaming of far off places.

Friends Re-united

Eventually our writer-reader relationship got buried by the sands of time until last Sunday. Imagine my surprise when we met up again, this time on ted.com, both in search of the missing pieces in secular life.

In search of Morality, Guidance and Consolation

I’m of course talking about what Alain refers to as Atheism 2.0, a flavour of atheism that takes the bits and pieces of religion (such as singing Christmas carols and visiting churches) that we enjoy to make our existence more complete, from daring to ask questions about life’s bigger mysteries (life’s purpose, death and disappointment) to creating connections (building communities and developing an attitude of service towards others).

I urge you to listen Alain’s Ted talk here. It really made me think.

Making Vital Things Matter More

As you stand by the water cooler today, looking out the window, ask yourself these three vital questions: Why am I here? How can I make things better? How can I make what we do together matter more?

And if you’re feeling courageous or simply playful, try asking these questions out loud and see where the conversation takes you, for it is in the search for answers that we find responses through our questionings.

And who knows? You may discover a pot of goodies at the end of the rainbow or tumble down a rabbit hole and have a tea party!

Dear Reader, my apologies for not writing sooner. The fact is, I’ve gone into hibernation mode. Caught in a week-day routine of getting up before dark and returning home in the dark is enough to send anyone to sleep.

And yet, this winter is not unlike all the other decades of winters that have gone before. Wintry weather has always had a way of getting under your skin and into your head if you let it. No wonder winter feels like a thousand days of dark and cold.

The problem is, it’s not even mid-January yet. So the real question is, what are we going to do about it?

“M is for…”

We can choose to make M stand for Moody, Morbid and Morose. Just as I was starting to wonder why Misery was getting to me, a friend casually explains that it’s because the moodiest day of the year is just around the corner. It’s scheduled for Monday, 23 January, with a preliminary spell of dreariness predicted on Monday, 16 January.

“Beware of Blue Monday!”

It turns out this terrible day has a name. Our modern day soothsayers (I’m referring to bloggers and feature writers) refer to it as “Blue Monday“. Discovering the existence of so curious a phenomenon snaps me out of my hibernation mode as I find myself leaping into CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) mode.

As I do my research, I find myself slipping between feeling bemused and amused by so strange an idea of “the most miserable day of the year”. Meanwhile, a quiet resolve forms in my mind to politely refuse to succumb to something that resembles nothing more than superstition.

“I have a dream…”

So I decide to make use of “Blue Monday”. This time, it’s personal. I plan to use it as a test of my personal agility. A test of my focus and will. A test of my play potential. With a little help from my friends, of course.

On this special day, I shall round up my Play Brigade and we shall make the most of what we have. Instead of succumbing to the notion of predestination, we shall assert free will. We will tell jokes, eat candy and play. There will be laughter and groans (unless I magically get my standup act together in time). There will be music and may be even dancing. And balloons. Yes, lots of balloons.

“M is for…”

We can choose to make M stand for anything our hearts desire. For me, M stands for Materialise, Magnify and Make-Believe. It’s no coincidence that these action words often lead to my most successful work as a coach and friend.

The days of “no news is good news” are long gone. Knowing that something as terrible as Blue Monday is just around the corner gives us time to prepare. And it makes us choose. A choice between sleepwalking through 2012 or making it a song and dance for life.

What do want “M” to mean to you?

Remembering 2011

One of the highlights has to be my Agile Pilgrimage with Carsten Ruseng and Henrik Kniberg to Snowbird, Utah on 12 August. Snowbird has a special place in my heart because it’s where only ten years ago, a bunch of enthusiasts got together to create the Agile Manifesto that became the definitive catalyst for the way we develop software and work together as teams today.

“Look what I found in my Agile treasure trove…”

As I looked through my Agile video library collected this year, I came across a video we made during our visit to Snowbird. It’s of Henrik Kniberg sharing his story behind the Agile Manifesto Translation Programme and the impact it’s had in forming new Agile communities.

“It’s nice to see you, to see you, nice!”

The coming together of this group has shaped not just my career, but also my life, in so many ways. People, purpose and play. These three words best describe the impact of Agile on my life as a whole.

Learning about Agile has meant that I’ve met more people than I would have done otherwise and learned something from each of them. Because Agile is a tribe of tribes the diversity that comes from this community is immense and the learning intense!

“Love what you do and do what you love”

If I had to sum up Agile in two words, they’d be “Continuous Improvement”. This passion for improvement has lead to many personal failures, learnings as well as successes. It’s made me realise that it is possible not only to love what you do but take you closer to doing what you truly love. By daring to fail in order to improve, it’s helped strengthen my purpose: to be better than I was yesterday every day and help others do the same if that’s their wish.

“Play once a day to keep the doctor and priest away!”

My Agile adventure started with playing The XP Game back in 2004 and has continued with playing many more games and even creating some of my own. My take on Agile has made play a key tool for tapping into people’s potential as well as increase it with time through shared experiences.

I look forward to meeting more people through more play in 2012! It’ll be nice to see you, to see you, nice!