OMS Consulting Partners, LLC

“To be playful is not to be trivial or frivolous, or to act as if nothing of consequence will happen. On the contrary, when we are playful with one another, we relate as free persons, and the relationship is open to surprise; everything that happens is of consequence, for seriousness is a dread of the unpredictable outcomes of open possibility. To be serious is to press for a specified conclusion. To be playful is to allow for unlimited possibility.” - James Carse

Happy Boxing Day Agile-ists! It's pretty common practice to survey teams to help align and identify areas for improvement, but what about surveying leaders, managers and executives?  Maybe it's the egg nog, but had an idea, wanted to see what folks think about something like this??

It Only Took Jerry Seinfeld a Few Words to Drop the Best Career Advice You'll Hear Today Always remember: It's not about you. https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/it-only-took-jerry-seinfeld-a-few-words-to-drop-best-career-advice-youll-hear-today.html?cid=sf01003 If you're doing it for them, you'll be fine.  If you're doing it for you, that could be problematic at a certain point-- because they'll know it.  They'll feel it.   And they won't like it. Pondering Seinfeld's words, I believe they hold value far beyond the entertainment industry. And we could sum up the key point in just nine words: It is not about you. It's all about them. The power of focusing on others Think about your favorite boss, your closest colleagues, the best salesperson you ever met. What quality did they have in common? I bet it's their ability to put others' interests ahead of their own.

Disclaimer:  Do not lock your executives up in a vault!  Do not try this at home!  https://www.itnews.com.au/news/bankwest-shut-senior-leaders-in-a-vault-to-agree-on-agile-515499 Bankwest has revealed how it put 20 of its most influential and senior leaders in an old bank vault to get them onboard with agile and stop blocking its progress.

Being "Intellectually Honest" is not only a key Agile behavior, it's just good human behavior, and we can only coach the willing. Coaches and Scrum Masters - if you are starting to feel yourself slipping into "selling" Agile to your team or organization, you're probably in the wrong organization. Organizations - if your Coach/Scrum Master presents you with the facts and data and you are not convinced or at least willing to give it an honest try, you are probably a 'laggard' on the Rogers Adoption Curve , and you probably are not ready for Agile. And as far as 'selling' Agile, keep in mind that you can't want more for someone than they want for themselves, and if they don't see the value or feel this is the 'flavor of the month' management fad, no amount of selling will change that. "Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig" - Robert Heinlein

Interesting summary on Visual Capitalist on the subject... http://www.visualcapitalist.com/emotional-intelligence/?fbclid=IwAR1sQ883ftetU7fssIsCJJEgrNMTXFhrPRh5SDkp2gk008VYH_YfSk4Flr8

Although we "beat the servant leadership drum" quote a bit around here, it's such an important topic...