Walking Their Talk, Sustainability, Inspiration
Robert Galen
Sustainability

I saw this wonderfully courageous and informative post by Sabine Canditt the other day where she wrote about Sustainable Scrum. 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sustainable-scrum-responsible-choice-sabine-canditt-x0gef

After just completing a The Week program facilitated by the amazing Ann-Marie Kong, it touched my heart.

That said, I wanted to highlight one comment reaction/interaction between Sabine and Erich Bühler 

Erich said—

Thank you for bringing this approach into the world! Scrum does provide an iterative approach for teams to create value, but its scope is limited to the product level and struggles with dynamics across the whole organization for several reasons.
Without updating the underlying business and financial model at a strategic level, Scrum alone cannot transform organization-wide sustainability.

Sustainability
Short-takes, Inspiration
Robert Galen
Sandy’s Take
Sandy’s Take
Short-takes, Personal Thoughts
Robert Galen
The Human Aspects of Agile Coaching
The Human Aspects of Agile Coaching
Coaching, ACGW, Personal Thoughts
Robert Galen
Keys to Building your Coaching Relationships

I talk a lot about the first step in coaching any client (individual, system, team, etc.) is to build a relationship, gain empathy and understanding, and then gain an idea of where/how to help initially. So, do NOT start to coach until you’ve done some relationship-building. 

But what does a coaching relationship, or a professional relationship in general, look like? What are aspects of that? Here are a few things that come to my mind—

  • Making + taking the time.

  • Explaining what you do—what is Agile Coaching.

  • Building some empathy; walking in their shoes; understanding where they are coming from.

  • Meeting them where they are.

  • Listening; reflective listening; building metaphors together.

  • Connecting with their language, not yours.

Keys to Building your Coaching Relationships
Personal Thoughts, Short-takes
Robert Galen
Privilege Awareness

I recently replied to a LinkedIn post by David Pereira. It was a wonderful post, and I applaud David’s boldness and courage in sharing it. 

Here’s a post comment from Stefan Wolpers—

While I agree fully with your personal stance regarding professionalism, David Pereira, some people will shy away, given the current economic climate. Some of the previously aggravated people may seek an opportunity to settle scores.

And here’s my comment—

I love the clarity (No BS) here. Clarity for David and clarity for those who want to work with and who don't want to work with him.
That said, David has the unique privilege that allows him to adopt this clarity. Many don't.

This post is not about David per se. Instead, he inspired me to write it.

Privilege Awareness

Vulnerability

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Reframing Rejection

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This is a short post but an important one.  

I was in a Moose Herd session on March 8th, and Don Miller referenced a conference submission reaction that Christina Thomas posted on LinkedIn.

He brought it up as an example of how someone beautifully handled things by reframing and with an eye toward learning and the future.

I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to do that when rejected. It often takes me quite a while to pivot from it.

I want to applaud Cristina for her vulnerability and for being a role model.

Here are a few related posts for those of you who want to submit for conference speaking opportunities—

Stay agile my friends,

Oh, and Christina, please keep submitting. Yours is a voice and a perspective that needs to be heard!

Bob.

 

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I’m a quitter too

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I saw this post from Bob Gower the other day about being a quitter and it inspired me to write this post. 

I’m closing in on a 40+ year career. 1981 – 2023

  • I’ve had ~ 15 jobs in those 40 years.

  • I’ve been laid off twice.

  • I’ve been ugly-fired once. Don’t ask.

  • I’ve quit, without having a backup job, ~5 times.

  • My longest run at one job was ~10 years; my shortest run was ~5-days.

  • I’ve demoted myself twice.

  • I’ve reorganized myself out of a job at least once.

  • I’ve hired my replacement at least 5 times.

Key Observations

  1. My tolerance for corporate bullshit was much greater early in my career.

  2. One consistent theme is that I’ve reflected on each and every job and the drivers for my leaving, and that’s made each step or pivot better for me as I’ve learned, adapted, and grown.

  3. I’ve learned to blame myself less and less for the driving forces behind my decisions.

  4. Looking back, I’m incredibly thankful for the entirety of the ride. It’s made me who and what I am. It’s also made me much more resilient.

Wrapping Up

I just want to thank Bob Glower for his courageous role model and inspiration. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken this powerful trip back to memory lane.

Stay agile my friends,

Bob.