I’m planning to start a blog project writing about my experiences using Agile in companies transitioning from waterfall methods to Agile. The primary goal is to document my experiences. As I was thinking about this project, I was reflecting on how I use Agile outside of the boundaries of IT. It has been great to see efforts like Scrum inventor Jeff Sutherland’s Scrum, Inc. spreading Scrum beyond IT. Personal Kanban is another effort at going beyond IT. I have been enjoying these posts about using Kanban in the family to manage chores. Nag-less chores! How cool is that!

I’ve been wanting to contribute to the movement of spreading Agile beyond the borders of IT. I was messing around with the Agile Manifesto, wanting to translate it or take the IT jargon out of it. For non-IT teams, it only required a tweak of the phrase “working software” to “work product.”

We are uncovering better ways of developing software working by doing it and helping others do it.

Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software Work Product over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on

the right, we value the items on the left more

Very interestingly, though, when I looked at translating this for Individuals, it became obvious that individuals already work this way.

Solo entrepreneurs already focus on the human interactions over processes and tools, results over documentation, conversations over contracts, being flexible over following a plan. As the company grows, the things on the right come into play and need to be learned to manage a larger group of people. But, at what point in a company’s growth is the humanity lost and the focus on the items on the right so strong that we need a manifesto like the above to call us to our senses?

I don’t have an answer. But, this is something a start-up or small company might consider as it’s developing its culture.

I have decided to do a project for 2013. It will be a “three-book” project called “Scrum for…” Initially I was planning to publish one chapter per week, but I think that is a bit aggressive for me at the moment. However, by publicly declaring my intention, it will help me follow through.

As project manager, I am really a Scrum Master layering in Coaching practices in the Agile field. For the uninitiated, you might be scratching your head and wondering what a Rugby huddle has to do with IT and how does a klutzy person become agile? Agile is a type of project management framework that has been developed to improve the management of Information Technology projects. Scrum is one flavor of this Agile framework. Apparently the inventors of this framework of time and project management felt the teamwork displayed in Rugby was an appropriate metaphor for working together as a team on IT projects. It stuck. So, I am a Scrum Master. I have recently started studying Kanban. In 2012, I started adapting some of the core principles I have learned from my day job into a special set of courses for individuals. I enjoy using Agile frameworks at work and think the principles can apply to time and project management in non-IT teams as well as individuals.

I have primarily worked companies that have the traditional Control culture. There are unique challenges with adopting the team-empowering, self-organizing habits espoused by Agile in the traditional environment. In my second project, I started writing down lessons I wanted to remember for future engagements. Then I started turning it into a training book.

I kept writing while trying to find “the hook” that I wanted to use for the book. I transformed my approach several times. At first, I thought I would write it to help “democratize Scrum” by creating an inexpensive, step-by-step version of implementing Scrum. Peter Saddington already did that. Then I started pursuing the angle of having a DIY Scrum with step-by-step instructions and templates that would allow anyone to implement Scrum without a coach or teacher. Then I started thinking it would make a better supplement to training, by having the daily step-by-step start-up instructions for standing up a new Scrum team. I wrote half the book, even submitted it to a publisher, and then shelved it. The field is already very, very crowded with very good books.

However, I started digging up this idea again because I still constantly refer to my notes to help team members, management, product owners, project management offices, and whoever needs help understanding Agile in their current context. I am also glad I shelved the book, because it has allowed me another year of experience on three very different Scrum teams. More lessons learned! Still in the same Control culture. I realized that if it was still useful to me, I might as well publish the knowledge as a weekly series on my blog. The side benefit would be that it would help establish my reputation in the Agile community and provide insight in my knowledge as a Scrum Master (I am actually a Certified Scrum Practitioner) for future companies that might be interested in hiring me.

Then I started thinking: but this information is so helpful across any kind of project, not just IT! That is when it occurred to me to make it a “Three-Book Blog Project.” I decided to expand it to: a de-Geeked version – a version that has IT jargon stripped out and written for for “regular people” in normal teams like Marketing, Product Development, even construction. Since I had already started developing how to apply the principles at the individual level, I want to write a third version that translates the lessons learned from the IT Scrum to individuals, and again, strip out the jargon and make it accessible to every person. Since I have direct experience in helping IT teams use Scrum, the basis for the books is the Scrum for IT version. The other two books will be a translation of my experience into the non-IT and Individual version. These three books will be published one chapter per week starting in January of 2013 and most likely go into 2014:

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I have separated my business blog from my art. (I tried keeping it together, but it just didn’t make sense.) If you were stopping by to learn a little more about the above Kaw House Reconstruction, please stop by my blog for the rest of the tour of Council Grove (a very short tour).

I have been blogging since 2007 as an artist. Wow! Five years! I have moved my blog several times. I have had multiple blogs. Now I have combined everything into one blog. My path has meandered through just blogging about creating lampworked beads, to creating jewelry, exploring various mediums of jewelry including chain maille, seed beading, wire-wrapping, polymer clay, metal clay. Then I started taking my business a little more seriously and started a newsletter and included little business observations. I included my Resident Adventures in Hong Kong (favorite!).

I was getting serious about expanding my offerings as an artist have taken some online classes this year that have radically changed how I am approaching my business. I am more serious about including specific business practices (in my case, time and project management for artists). I have defined an editorial schedule. But, I have been struggling with just starting. I don’t know how to effectively combine my artistic voice with my business voice.

That dilemma goes to the very heart of one of the things I have been thinking about lately. While we can use templates and guidelines for things like “a business plan,” what others do to run their online business, it’s really more about adapting these tools to fit the needs of our individual business at this point in time. What worked for you 5 years ago may need to be adjusted. What worked for someone last year may not work at all for you. The key is to learn, try, apply, and adjust as needed.

Just get started.

My voice is probably going to be different when I compare this year to next year. How I combine and follow my editorial schedule will probably change. What I am planning to offer and write about will probably change. I’m glad I have five years of blogging under my belt to have figured a few things out: what I like, don’t like, my online policies, how I chose to interact online, etc. Now I am just making the conscious decision to start even though I don’t have all the details figured out just yet. I’m still taking classes. I’m still learning. But, I’m happy to share what I’m learning and how I’m using it.

And now. I’m starting.

No. That’s not a typo in the heading. I really did say “Doubter” (not daughter). Who is this person? Why would I bring this up?

First, last Monday, LinkedIn highlighted a Forbes article talking about the key players you need on your team in this article:  The 6 People You Need in Your Corner.

I wanted to highlight the one sensitive, creative, artistic individuals probably find the hardest to embrace: The Doubter. Creative souls put so much heart, attention, and love into their creative works that having someone question or doubt your work can be a sting to the soul.

Let me be clear. There is a distinction between The Hater and The Doubter. The Hater just doesn’t like anything and is out to pull everyone and everything down into their miserable little hole. I’m not talking about this person.

Why the Doubter is Worth Their Weight in Gold – Scratch That… Invaluable!

The Doubter, on the other hand, IS interested in ideas, may be a little more vocal about their opinions, may have critical feedback. Yet by engaging in a dialogue, that critical feedback loop of asking questions, finding out their point of view, answering the questions they have, considering their angle of the idea, I found whatever I was creating was made SO MUCH BETTER because of their input.

How a Doubter Can Show Up in Your Life

In my corporate job, my Doubter was first a

• Great colleague who was always intrigued with my ideas and knew how to ask questions without getting me frustrated.
• Later, I actually sought out the Curmudgeon Colleagues… the smart ones who have “been there, done that, seen it all, nothing is new.” However, even these jaded veterans still wanted to be effective and continuously improve. By engaging with them early in the process, I often avoided pitfalls from the ones who “came before, tried an idea, and failed.” We talked about what failed, why it failed, what could be done differently, what would they suggest, etc. (Which is also a critical component of support: if they help build it, they will help support it.)

In your Creative Circle, a Doubter can show up as a:

• Customer who isn’t completely happy with their product
• A fellow artist with a different set of life experiences
• A family member or friend who believes in your creativity but not necessarily in making a business of it

How I Transitioned into Embracing The Doubter

When I started my first Big Corporate Job, I was a bright-eyed, eager beaver, with loads of ideas. Before I worked at Big Corporate, I was in small offices with a limited sphere of influence. My bosses generally loved that I had lots of ideas. But engaging a wider range of people to adopt and implement the idea was a different story. I would come with a Big Fabulous Idea (in my silly opinion) to a group and somehow expect people to jump up and down happily and run away to implement it. Nope. What usually happened was, at a minimum, a lot of questions. What about this? What about that? Did you think of this? What if this happened? Sometimes we would get lost in semantics. On the tougher end of the spectrum, I would meet resistance, to outright rejection.

The first few times these happened to me, I was totally deflated. I mean, I put so much thought and effort into The Idea, I missed the the most valuable part of the conversation: THE FEEDBACK. Engaging in a healthy feedback loop makes the idea fabulous!

I think what helped me most with the transition into welcoming The Doubter into my team, was the colleague who would ask the questions. She was usually intrigued by whatever idea I was cooking up (this was nice for keeping my  morale up), and then she’d start asking questions in a very objective tone. I tend to be a big thinker. I see the forest. I can get into the trees, but when I’m at tree level, I don’t see every tree. She was the type that would mentally go out and survey every “tree” in my idea and make sure it fit the forest.

Fast forward 12 years later, and I don’t need someone to be intrigued to keep my morale up (although it’s still nice and it helps). I pay attention to The Doubters. I actually seek them out.  I have learned that The Doubter is worth their weight in gold… no scratch that… they are invaluable to my team. (Every type mentioned is invaluable on my team… but I’m singling out The Doubter, because this can be the most challenging to embrace, especially to senstive, creative souls.)

Embracing The Doubter takes some strength to be able to weather what feels like criticism. But, is it really criticism? Isn’t it that they need clarification to take away value from your idea? What if by engaging in dialogue, you figure out how to clarify your idea to appeal to a broader audience? Doesn’t that make The Doubter a fabulous person to have on your team?

Tell me what you think… do you embrace your Doubters? The customers with “criticism” or less than positive feedback? The family member or friend that loves your art, but struggles with the practicality? The fellow artist with a different life experience?

Every team plateaus and people come and go. If you’re feeling like you’re at a plateau, joining a new team, or the team has gone through a bunch of changes, run a Team Retrospective using the Speedboat analogy.

I recently joined a new team, and reviewing our Agile Scrum cycle, ran a Speedboat Retrospective on the implementation of Agile and gathered team insights on our level of maturity. I found this tremendously insightful. It gave me my own Scrum Master backlog of things to focus on. It also gave me a list of things that were working and I shouldn’t try to break them. It’s good not to come with assumptions of the problems the team may have. You may observe some things that may or MAY NOT be true. Run a Team Retrospective about how Agile is being utilized and see whether the team confirms or dissuades you from your initial impression of issues on the team.