Agile Wow Moment
One phone call that would not have happened on any of the teams I was on before trying agile has stopped me in my tracks. This is the most important thing about agile so far that I've learned. Agile done right reveals disfunction to the team more quickly. It is easier to identify where the problem is, even if it is YOU!
There is a person I've been shutting out, resenting, and basically unfairly blaming for my frustration who just helped me a ton. A problem that has been blocking my progress for weeks has now been fixed on purpose and more quickly than I could have imagined. I am unblocked by someone on my team who could have helped me weeks ago if I just would have let them.
I'm the collaborative extrovert! How could it be me? How could it possibly be the "bubbly and smiling" one who is causing a problem with teamwork? Well, because I'm human and I make mistakes. In this case, luckily, not terrible unrecoverable mistakes, but like anyone I make snap judgments.
My bad feelings really weren't personal and I didn't even know they were a problem before tonight. The timing of introducing a new team member could not have been worse. Instead of giving a person some slack and ramp-up time in a tough situation I was just being selfish and immature. I wanted NO interaction and no new team members even if we DID need them. I didn't want any change to deal with. The person not being on the team was me. I wanted to be left alone and sulk like a whiny baby pee pants. Well, now I know it, I'm sorry, and starting right now I'm opening up to my team on purpose.
The best part is, instead of just feeling ashamed I feel like now that I know better, I can do better.
There is a person I've been shutting out, resenting, and basically unfairly blaming for my frustration who just helped me a ton. A problem that has been blocking my progress for weeks has now been fixed on purpose and more quickly than I could have imagined. I am unblocked by someone on my team who could have helped me weeks ago if I just would have let them.
I'm the collaborative extrovert! How could it be me? How could it possibly be the "bubbly and smiling" one who is causing a problem with teamwork? Well, because I'm human and I make mistakes. In this case, luckily, not terrible unrecoverable mistakes, but like anyone I make snap judgments.
My bad feelings really weren't personal and I didn't even know they were a problem before tonight. The timing of introducing a new team member could not have been worse. Instead of giving a person some slack and ramp-up time in a tough situation I was just being selfish and immature. I wanted NO interaction and no new team members even if we DID need them. I didn't want any change to deal with. The person not being on the team was me. I wanted to be left alone and sulk like a whiny baby pee pants. Well, now I know it, I'm sorry, and starting right now I'm opening up to my team on purpose.
The best part is, instead of just feeling ashamed I feel like now that I know better, I can do better.
It takes guts to see that, admit it and blog it. Kudos to you
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Thank you. I thought about keeping it private because I didn't want to make it worse, but I think it will help me to remember this in the future and not repeat it.
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Hi Lanette,
Great piece of blogging, very honestly written. It is always good to examine your own motives. Just reading this post made me realize that again. Thanks for keeping us all sharp on this.
Regards,
Martijn
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Hi Martijn,
It is so easy to forget and just vent when things are busy. I'd been working over the weekend and blaming others and I'm just glad this person reached out. They really were the bigger person for being willing to help. I am inspired to be a better team member due to their courage.
Lanette
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Great post Lanette. It's hard to take a look at ourselves and see our disfunction, but it's necessary to continue to move forward and find out how we can better interact with team mates. As Jim Collins says, we have to face brutal facts, which normally we don't want to do.
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Thanks. It was kind of a brutal fact. I had that "deer in headlights" look when I hung up the phone. I'm glad it happened though.
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I've been there, done that and it's tough to admit it. Great post as it makes us all take stock and examine ourselves, our motivations, and how we work.
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I wish I could naturally just take stock every so often and think "where could I be better on the team" and see it this clearly, but it is hard to do when pride gets in the way.
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There is so much hubris in testing. It's refreshing and brilliant to see some humility. Thanks for this post.
As Janet said, it encourages the reader to "take stock."
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Thanks! Hubris is a great word. I hope I can soon post some stuff I'm proud of too.
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Great Comments Lanette!
I certainly hope it doesn't take an Agile implementation to be collaborative. It should be a part of any process - Agile, Iterative, even Waterfall. It's "Teamwork"
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Great point to add Dave. The difference here is I couldn't put it off any longer. It was faced sooner because of the process. I think that was the difference from the process used before. The dedication to the process forced us to work through it. I think dedication to teamwork can be done in any process, but in this case, there was a difference I experienced that I wasn't sure I would. Maybe it is just more likely because of the people involved?
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Jeez, Lanette! I thought I had blog-courage. You totally take the cake.
I'll pile my kudos on top of others' above. I always especially admire the courage to admit and describe emotional grown and learning so forthrightly and succinctly.
AND, I wish our industry had more sophisticated (or well-known) interpersonal pattern languages. The very subjective, emotional nuts and bolts of good-faith interaction, bringing needs, meeting needs, cutting slack, empathatic listening, etc.
Rock on.
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Thank you Patrick! I love the term "good-faith interaction". That is exactly what I'd like to bring in abundance to my next team. There is so much we can do to make work effective. Even a small change in vocal tone can mean substantial improvement in communication.
I hope my bluntness in this post wasn't too off-putting to others. I really have changed in practice since this blog.
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