This article was originally posted on April 20, 2013. Much has changed since then on my development and it is worthwhile reflecting back since then.
...for a long time now I've wanted to chart my Agile journey. It started 3 years ago and because I aim for continuous improvement personally and professionally, this journey will not be over any time soon.
To understand the above statement I feel I need to explain that before I fell into Agile, Scrum, to be specific, I had been a Project Manager delivering projects rather successfully using traditional or waterfall methods for 10 years already. I resisted Scrum for 3 months and when the magic started happening, despite my confused feelings about letting go and not trying to control everything all the time, I became an instant convert.
At about this time two things happened that defined my conversion to Scrum. I attended the Certified Scrum Master Course. And I read Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. I came back to work and laid down my conditions for what I’d termed “a new way of working” – we, as a team, do this properly, or not all all! No Scrum-buts. No half-hearted attempts. No scrumming-waterfall. And this meant that the Agile Principles ruled supreme!
…as a Scrum Master…
…continuous improvement. Continuous Improvement. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT! I don’t have all the answers, nor all the questions. Retrospectives are my favourite of the Scrum sessions and the one which I consider the most important. Teams had better have a good reason for skipping these! Actually, these are non-negotiable! Is this against being a facilitator? Well, I don’t care.
as an Agile Coach…
…I become frustrated when I am not able to communicate the magic to new teams and Scrum Masters. When they don’t “see” it. And then I get over myself and rather focus on holding the space that they need to find it themselves. That to me is the least easy part of being an Agile Coach. When teams find their groove, the magic starts happening, taking even them by surprise. And I smile…
as a Kanban practitioner…
…I’ve been using Kanban in my teams in managing analysis and more recently, managing the release process and production issues. Recently, I attended the Kanban Change Leadership course. I realised the true power of Kanban and that I’d been merely scratching at the surface of this evolutionary change process.
as Regina…
…I am an Agile practitioner in Johannesburg, South Africa. I love what I do for a living. I have other blogs, and am currently working on the concept of a vegetarian food and lifestyle blog for meat-loving South Africans…wish me luck! I am in the process of implementing Kanban at home…
…theagileway…
…my passion is to build self-organising teams. I’d like to have some part in influencing organisations on their journey towards adopting Agile. And I am going to try to put into words what for me is the magic that naturally evolves from adopting Agile.
I know this means a commitment to regularly update this blog with original content. I hope I know what I’m letting myself in for :-)!