Episode 203 – The Year Ahead

At the end of each year, I like to look ahead to the currents and opportunities of our craft. While I see some progress here and there, I don’t see potent shifts.  I’m learning that it’s better to create them.  Will you join me?  

Despite the prevalence of retrospectives and the value of looking back to celebrate wins and inventory lessons, I’ve found it more powerful to look ahead.  The future is ours to design, and I’ve discovered that part of leadership is the will to design it.  So let’s get busy creating our 2022.

I believe we should be applying our best energy to solving the most critical problems.   As of right now, I think those are: 1) how we use agile mindsets to respond to the shifting environments of work and wellness, and 2) how we finally attack the problems that inhibit scaling – mindset shift.

Everywhere I look, the biggest challenge facing large organizations is people. We are not experiencing an exodus based on laziness or greed but a global cultural shift.  The necessity of working from home has created nothing short of a rebirth.  We have seen what is possible.  We’ve had a chance to contemplate what matters.  

We realize that we accepted the status quo, working harder and longer days, too often to achieve pointless ends. We have sacrificed our health, growth, and family time to benefit our employers.

I called this trend in one of my first-ever blog posts.  Written in 2005 on the now-defunct myspace.com, it was about how change happens in inches – imperceptible shifts that occur slowly over time.  Our liberty is chipped away – or clawed back – in tiny increments.  Ingesting them is less painful than swallowing the inevitable end.

People are demanding better conditions as the remnants of their blind loyalty are crumbling like ash. Some are ditching the commute.  Some like the comfort of working from home.  Some feel the work-life balance is better.  Many are beginning to question the worth of giving 60-80 hours per week for little benefit and less happiness.

Something is different this time. In sharp contrast to the past, businesses can no longer treat people as hot-swappable assets. In great numbers, we find great courage.  There’s a new attitude at work – “It’s just not worth it.”  Companies can’t afford to wait this one out or build a solution over several years.  People are expecting leadership.  To meet the challenge with silence now would shift the image of powerful, Fortune 500 companies into blundering, powerless egotists.  A failure to act in times of existential change will forever destroy trust.

There are two opportunities for us.  The first is to help companies see the change and lead through it.  We can help them design their response.  I believe agilists must help leaders develop a concise and inspiring vision and help inform it.  After all, we are supposed to stand for happier, healthier teams.  We know firsthand that we can’t inspire better delivery with a burned-out squad that has lost its faith.  We can show them what a better tomorrow looks like.  

The second is to help the masses claim their future.  There is nothing wrong with capitalizing on change and uncertainty.

Notice that neither of these has anything to do with software delivery.  Personally, I’m out of the coaching game. Specifically, I no longer coach software development teams.  At this stage, most companies that have adopted Agile either get the plot or are starting to realize where they’re falling short.  Good counsel in this space is no longer hard to find.  

My clients need the most help putting down the theory and getting after the practice. The biggest impediment is their willingness to accept change and act courageously in response to it.

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