Fellow agilists,
I recently took part in the Agile Confessional podcast with Giles Lindsay. This podcast explores the agile sins people have committed in a confessional format and for me, there have been many.
You can hear the podcast here;
I have fortunately been granted absolution for my agile sins, however as penitence, I agreed to confess my 7 agile sins on video to all who wish to hear them.
Lust
I have been guilty of committing the agile sin of being lustful. Of coveting that which others have at their disposal as opposed to embracing the resources I have available to me (And I don't mean people here) and focusing on how I can help use these to best serve my teams.
As agile coach with a consulting background, I often come into a new companies and have to make do with the tools and processes they have at their disposal. For reasons commercial, security and pragmatic, I don't always have the benefit of accessing or using my 'Favourite' tools, and by favourite, I mean the one I'm most comfortable or familiar with. Whether that's Miro, Jira, Zoom or otherwise.
I've have wrongfully become frustrated at this and sought to get my favourite tools adopted, or pushed others to try using them. Just because it was comfortable, or because it was a known entity to me. I have since learned otherwise.
How can you avoid committing the agile sin of being lustful?
Focus on the needs of those you work with as opposed to what's comfortable to you. You may be a JIRA expert, but you can achieve great outcomes with alternatives such as Azure DevOps or otherwise if you don't allow the tool to be your focus.
Continuously innovate with your own ways of working - It's human nature to take the path of least resistance and to seek equilibrium and comfort. In the same way we coach agile teams, we should always be on the look out for ways we can innovate your own styles of coaching, teaching, facilitating or otherwise. This will keep things fresh for those you work with, alongside challenging yourself
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. It may not be your favourite way of doing things, but an opportunity to use a new tool, or try a different way of facilitating is an opportunity to hone your skills. Embrace the experiment and try something new.
Look out for tomorrows agile sin where I talk about pride.