Enjoying Agile and My Job

I know that these principles work; I know that these principles are benefiting my company; I know that there’s some correlation with business growth and the application of the Agile Principles. One experience that comes to mind that further validates the effectiveness of these principles occurred when I was working as a Scrum Master for a team that had the responsibility of delivering functionality critical to the organization’s mission. It was during that time that I noticed that one of the developers lacked motivation and was undependable. This negatively impacted the team from functioning in accordance with the fifth and eleventh principles of Agile. The lack of motivation from this developer would eventually reduce the likelihood for the team to operate in a self-organizing and self-directing manner. Seeing this anti-Agile behavior prompted me to have a conversation with this developer. I knew that this was a coaching opportunity. I truly value these moments with team members because I have a unique forum and privilege to give them constructive feedback that can help them to thrive as an employee. In my conversation with this developer, I asked her a series of questions regarding competence, commitment and consistency. In our one on one conversation, I asked the following questions:

● Do you perform your work with excellence? How can your team tell? (competence)
● Are you dedicated to the team’s success? How can your team tell? (commitment)
● Can you be depended on every time? Are there areas where you’re not consistent? (consistency)?

Asking these questions allowed me to drive the conversation in a way that would minimize defensiveness and allow her to see the truth about her behavior on her own (people tend to be more receptive to truth when they discover it on their own). It was a very productive conversation as she was both receptive and thankful for the feedback. A few weeks after this conversation, I noticed a positive change in this developer. She went from being one of the most unmotivated people on the team to becoming one of the most dependable and committed individuals on the team. The prompting to discuss and address this concern with the developer occurred primarily because of the recognition that this behavior deviated from the principles. I’m passionate about these principles because they represent a guard rail to help ensure teams are moving towards an Agile mindset, thereby functioning more efficiently. See Appendix A for helpful tips for coaching teams to become more self-organized.

Better understanding the work that I do as an Agilist and the positive impact it has on the company’s growth has helped me to have a renewed passion for my job. I’m not only saying “Happy Friday”, but also “Happy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday”! In the past, there were times that I asked myself if my role as an Agilist (i.e. Scrum Master, Agile Project Manager) was making much of a difference. I didn't feel as though I was providing much value or significance to the teams I was on. I unfortunately allowed people’s low perception of the principles to influence how I viewed the principles and my role. It wasn't until I reminded myself to go back and better understand the fundamentals of why I even promote the Agile Principles that a new excitement and joy for my role started brewing. And it's still brewing. To help with understanding the fundamentals, I placed stickies on the walls of my home office to keep them as a constant refresher and reminder (see Figure 2 below). Additionally, I made a voice recording of the principles on my cell phone and listened to it at least twice a week on my way to work so that I was constantly reminded of the benefits.

In the past few years, I’ve seen others go through similar moments. I've noticed that many in this field have lost the passion for or have been discouraged in continuing to promote the Agile Principles. I’m sure there are several reasons for this, but I suspect the primary reasons to be the professed Agilist either (1) lacks strong conviction in promoting these principles, (2) has experienced strong vocal opposition from team members that do not recognize or care about the benefits of Agile, consequently allowing those opinions to discourage them or (3) has an insufficient understanding of the core benefits of each of the Agile Principles. These factors and many others can discourage the best of us. Given this, the aim of this book is to demonstrate that when we embrace the benefits of the Agile Principles and see how the application of these principles support the mission of the organization and directly drives business growth, this will help Agilists cultivate and maintain a deeper and unwavering enthusiasm for their role in the organization.

Lack of passion in the workforce is not limited to the Agilist. Lack of zeal and engagement in one’s job has unfortunately become a common thing. Studies are showing that the majority of the modern workforce are not engaged or excited about their jobs. Gallup, an organization that delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems, helped to provide some insight on this issue. Gallup recently completed a study titled ‘State of the American Workplace’ that was aimed at understanding employees’ engagement in the modern workforce. This report was based on extensive work in a variety of industries of over 195,000 employees. The study showed that only 33% of employees are engaged at their jobs. That means 67% are either not engaged or actively disengaged. Let’s establish some definitions around these terms:
● Engaged: Employees are highly involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace. They are psychological “owners,” drive performance and innovation, and move the organization forward.
● Not Engaged: Employees are psychologically unattached to their work and company. Because their engagement needs are not being fully met, they’re putting time - but not energy or passion - into their work.
● Actively Disengaged: Employees aren’t just unhappy at work - they are resentful that their needs aren’t being met and are acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers potentially undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.