Creative Sparks

They are everywhere!  Right now, near you, is another person.  That person cares about something, cares enough that they could talk about it with enthusiasm, energy and sparks!  And even if you didn’t really care about the subject, their enthusiasm just might rub off on you.

One of the things that helps create a high performing team is diversity of opinion, personal culture and points of view.  Make sure you help team members give each other the gift of passion.  Hold learning events to present about hobbies.  Ask for book reviews or presentations on some new technology.  Heck, go bowling.  Do things that expose your people to new ideas.  One day those “unrelated” creative sparks will trigger your next market-winning innovation!

Check out more inspiring presentations at the Ignite Phoenix YouTube Channel.  What will they inspire you and your team to do?

My Mentors

• Don Dayley, my father – Taught me all the foundational things in life, including how to mow the lawn when I did not want to, sometimes through uncomfortable methods.  He also gave me an unsurpased example of attention to craftsmanship.  Everything he builds or repairs is better than new when he is done.
• Mrs. Fedler, 4th grade teacher – I found most of my first three years of public school boring.  Mrs. Fedler found ways to show me that learning itself was fascinating.  And she showed me that exploring the boundaries beyond expectations was praise worthy.
• Mr. Douglas, 11th grade chemistry – THE hardest teacher I ever had, including college.  The scientific method, analysis, reporting, supporting conclusions based on facts and failing with good humor are among the things he taught me.  Ask me why he sometimes called me “Beaker.”
• Pedro Brassinini – Taught me to love strangers more than I ever dreamed possible and to feel compassion deeper than I had known.  And how self-sacrifice brings inner rewards.
• Bill Sheppard – My first engineering boss was hard and understanding with me, a green engineering student.  He showed me that trust is part of doing my work well.
• Kevin Kilzer – A brilliant engineer of software and hardware.  He harnesses passion for the work like no other coworker in my experience.  Creativity fueled by inner fire is awesome.
• Mike Vizdos – A guide over the years of my journey into the Agile and Scrum world.  Quiet thought is a powerful tool, which he knows and shows how to use in all his work.
• The Ignite Phoenix Team have shown me Agile collaboration skills and community building prowess that I hope rubs off on me.  (Don’t tell them they are Agile, they’d get too self-conscious.)

I could go on with more mentors, some who don’t even know the little, important things they have taught me.  You should take some time to make your own list, even just mentally.  You have had some great mentors too, or you would not be where you are.

Gangplank Mentor

Before I knew January was Mentor Month, I was invited to be a member of the mentor team at Gangplank.  I’m one of the mentors on business operations.  Once a month, more often when I can, I’ll have office hours at Gangplank.  You can book a 45 minute session with me to ask questions about Agile and Agile frameworks like Scrum and Kanban.

My first mentor day is in the afternoon of Tuesday, January 25th.  No fee, just set your appointment with the Gangplank Director of Operations and let’s talk about taking your operations to the next level.

I can’t necessarily give back to all the mentors in my life.  But I can give to someone, who can build something great and give to someone else!

It’s December.  Time for gifts and good feelings.  Time for another free class!

As I did in September, I’ll be teaching the four-hour workshop “AGL-101 ntroduction to Agile and SCRUM“ on Saturday, December 18th.  This is a no cost workshop where we will explore the basics of the Agile Manifesto and the Scrum Agile Framework. The class will be held at Gangplank HQ in downtown Chandler, Arizona.

Gangplank Academy

Gangplank is a wonderful dream made real by Derek Neighbors, Jade Meskill and other community minded people.  It is community centered co-working at no cost, and therefore priceless.  Visit their site to learn more about their work.  Especially read the Gangplank Manifesto which, in my opinion, drives Agile values into the realm of community building.

One of the efforts of Gangplank is to provide education opportunities for the community.  They work to provide the infrastructure for people to share expertise and learn from one another.  Regular business and technical “brown bag” sessions happen every week.  Other conferences and events are scheduled regularly.  All of these events together are create The Gangplank Academy where learning on many subjects and for all ages takes place.  This workshop is designated as “AGL-101″ since it is part of the classes of Gangplank Academy.

AGL-101

I am hoping for a great mix of Agile and Scrum knowledge as well as a mix of work focus in this class.  Software projects have traditionally been the focus of Scrum application.  This is logical since it was created from that industry.  However, creators of software product aren’t the only ones who can benefit from Agile values and Scrum.  Management, marketing, operations and other facets of the business of production can be improved by application of high interaction and clear communication.  I encourage you to invite your peers and people “outside” of software and engineering work to spend this bit of time to learn with us.

RSVP

The event is available on Facebook.  Pease RSVP on that page so we can plan for the class size.

One attendee has promised to bring donuts or bagels.  Which do you want?

I learned some interesting things that I’ll try to pass on here.

Where You Are

The attendees of the workshop were a diverse group:  A CEO of a web development firm, a web application developer, a project manager and a high-level manager of development for an insurance company.  Each of them had important and different views of Scrum and Agile. Best of all, each of them were highly engaged in learning.

As we discussed, I saw the each of them being open and honest about their experience and knowledge around Scrum.  They were speaking from “where they were” in their own Agile journeys.  This empowered the rest of us to give them what they needed most out of the class.  Early expression of truth brought about meaningful discussion and value.

We all should do this in all our interactions, whether they be daily meetings, planning or talking with our kids.  Where you are is not known to those around you.  If you help them see that place more clearly, the interaction will be far more valuable for them and you.

Experience Is Not Quite Everything

None of us in the room were new to Scrum.  We all had experience with the terms and the practice.  What do you do in a workshop on the Scrum framework with people who already know Scrum?  Mike masterfully structured the class to use the Scrum framework content as a framework for discussion.

Only reading books, watching videos or attending classes is shallow learning.  Agile is all about action and learning from that action.  And remember, combining learning with experience is powerful for building the next leap in action!

Application Teaches

The workshop was filled with interactive activities, from writing Product Backlog Items on cards to shuffling cards and folding boats.  The long-time practitioners on the team consistently expressed delight at the value of studying a concept and then applying it, even in a “contrived” environment.

Action is where the lesson is learned, just as it is in developing a product.

Keep Applying

Lastly I personally learned that continuous application of principles is needed in my own Agile practice.  It is easy to forget the basic little things that make all the difference.  Powerful things, like honesty, direct but polite disagreement and small pieces of a big vision can be more important than we know.  I promise to keep applying them if you will!

On Wednesday and Thursday, November 17-18 I will be co-teaching a Certified ScrumMaster Workshop.  I am not a Certified Scrum Trainer so Michael Vizdos will lead this workshop.  Participants will be ready to receive their ScrumMaster certification from the Scrum Alliance.  I’ll be his humble assistant as we help people improve their understanding of Scrum over those two days.

Mike Vizdos is known for his experience and thoughtful teaching style. He brings a great perspective of long experience and humor to the learning process. There is much to learn through the cartoons at his Implementing Scrum web site.  Several years ago Mike was the trainer for my own ScrumMaster certification.  He has since been a mentor for me, answering questions and continuing to be a guide through the difficult part of my Agile journey.  I am very excited for the opportunity to work with him in the classroom.

Register for the course with this link for $300 off the usual fee.

The course will be held in a modern classroom in historic downtown Chandler, Arizona.  Chandler is an easy 20 minute drive from central Phoenix.  The city is just finishing a series of downtown improvements with wide sidewalks and wonderful restaurants along the way.

Let me know if you are coming!

The first session is scheduled for 11:30 AM: Going Deeper Into Scrum, An Agile Journey.  Lunch follows so we have some incentive to end on time!

The next session is right after lunch at 1:00 PM: The Agile Manifesto – What it means to the code and the coder.  I promise to make the conversation interesting so we won’t fall into food sleepiness!

Even if you can’t attend my sessions, please come out to the camp to learn and interact with our great technical community.  Desert Code Camp is always no cost to everyone.  And we will get a free lunch to boot!

The best way to make sure a poster has value for your company or team is to start out with good information.  Platitudes don’t cut it.  Real value from the information is the best measure of good content.  Let me tell you about the most powerful poster we have in our office.

Some time ago I encountered the presentation “I don’t like Mondays” presented at Agile 2007 by Jean Tabaka.  Her presentation is an excellent summary of great things that energize meetings of all kinds, and Agile meetings in particular.  (After you read this post, go watch the video.  It is well worth your time!)

In the presentation, Jean provided the content for our poster as a “Focus On / Focus Off” list about communication.  A picture of the poster is to the right, hanging in our main meeting room.  The simplicity of the content belies it’s power:

Focus On / Focus Off

Inquiry rather than Advocacy

Dialogue rather than Debate

Conversation rather than Argument

Understanding rather than Defending

Why

We found that hard decisions in our meetings led to some conflict.  Conflict is to be expected, even desired, in creative work.  Passionate and creative people will have conflicts if they are effectively engaged.  The trick is working through the conflicts such that the customer and the team are happy with the results and each other.  An Agile team needs to learn tools of compromise, knowledge transfer and empathy to get through the conflicts that will come.

One particularly contentious Sprint Planning meeting bothered me as we proceeded into the Sprint.    We had simply postponed some of the difficult decisions because the logjam of opinion was impenetrable.  (Everyone was civil but feelings were strong.)  As we approached the end of the Sprint, I worried about the Retrospective and the planning to take place after that.  How could we quell the conflict enough to make decisions without damaging the team?

One evening, during the last few days of the Sprint, I found the video of Jean’s presentation.  I had to try this “Focus On / Focus Off” discussion!  I wrote the title and described how our internal focus changes the context of our communication.  I then wrote each “rather than” pair one at a time and asked a team member what that pair meant to him.  I then asked another team member how one would act or speak if focused on the left word and then on the right word.  I did this with each pair of words, discussion their meaning and effects.  I then asked that we each do our best to focus on the words to the left as we work through the retrospective and planning.  I then taped the easel page to the wall as a reminder.

The feel in the room softened, opened as we had this discussion.  Yes, that sounds all “warm and fuzzy” but it is true! The Retrospective was excellent and the Sprint Planning meeting that shortly followed was very fruitful.

Power

Can a poster have such power?  If you have a Scrum Team willing to work for the better of the project, for the customer, it can.  We each need occasional reminders about what open communication really means.  A reminder that our thoughts are valid and need not block all other ideas to retain validity.

Today, more than a year later, the hand written poster hangs on the wall right where it was first taped up.  It still helps us to disagree, learn and grow.  And work with each other the next day!

I reported my impressions and notes of the meeting on the group website.  Head over there to see what I learned about agile developer excellence and Scrum developer certification possibilities.

I attended Ignite Phoenix 1 more than a year ago.  I was blown away by the willingness of people to stand up and talk about thier passion, the support from the audience and the creative minds connecting.  When Jeff Moriarty and Roger Williams asked for volunteers to organize the next one, I jumped at the opportunity.  I’ve been working the events ever since.

My Experience

Have you ever had a great planning meeting?  One where everyone is at least supporting the discussions and when innovative and powerful ideas just seem to flow?  Have you seen a speech or concert or movie that left you moved, passionate and uplifted?  Fireworks in your head as the passionate presentation awakens power, connections and creativity in your own mind.  This is Ignite Phoenix for me, for 18, five-minute presentations in a row.  A brainstorming session of 550+ people led by 18 presenters with passion!

OK, so maybe it’s not directly Agile or Scrum related, but it is powerful.  It recharges me to work with a fabulous “naturally agile” team.  And the power of team building, on a huge scale, is on display.  I love it!

The Points

• If you have passion to present, please submit your idea by Friday, October 2nd.
• If you are in the Phoenix, Arizona area on November 3rd, you should be at Ignite Phoenix 5.
• We’ll be at The Tempe Center for the Arts in the 600-seat theater.  Watch the web site for updates on ticket availability.

It will stretch your mind!

One team I’m coaching had members with varying degrees of concern about estimating in story points.  The team had difficulty embracing story points instead of units of time because units of time matched their past experience.  We defined “ideal days” for estimation purposes.  An Ideal Day for our team was defined as 6 productive hours in an 8-hour workday.  The team would define a task for a specific team member who would estimate its work in ideal days.  They could determine how many features to include in a sprint by adding up the estimated ideal days against the length of the sprint.

This approach was pretty good:  The team was able to start using Scrum, plan sprints, use a task board and make serious progress.  Those are big benefits!

Some sprints later we began to notice some negative effects to this approach:

• We were still using time as the basis for estimates even though humans are better at relative size estimates.
• We were writing each tasks with a single, specific person in mind.  This contributed to a perpetuation of engineers going off in a corner to do “their piece” alone.
• To some extent, the tasks, and the availability of specific people to do them, were driving the order of the features implemented, instead of value driving the priorities.

Last retrospective the team pointed out that we were not meeting our goals.  We determined that part of this was the desire to make sure all the ideal days were booked with tasks for every team member.  This caused the focus of our tasks to be far too broad.  We noted many times where someone in the Daily Scrum would report an impediment because some other person had not completed their task.  The words “tracking dependencies” and “critical path” even came up!

In the time between the retrospective and the sprint planning meeting, I conferred with a colleague ScrumMaster about the retrospective.  He drew a one sprint long, mini Gantt chart (Gasp!) on the board showing the separate tasks for one hypothetical feature.   We could see that many times integration of individual’s pieces does not happen till late in the sprint, sometimes too late to expect it to work.  We realized that the focus on tasks was completely de-emphasizing delivery of the stories by the whole team.

Thirty minutes later we began the sprint planning meeting with the following proposed shift in the team’s work agreement:

• Don’t explicitly estimate individual tasks except when needed to clarify them further.
• Don’t explicitly assign a person to individual tasks.
• Do use stories that can be completed within the sprint.
• Do estimate the stories by difficulty, size, risk, etc. relative to each other using story points.
• Do have team members self-assign to each story so they will work together to get that story done.
• Do continue to work on the assigned story even if “your part” is done.
• Do support other stories in the sprint if you have time available.
• Do add or remove tasks as needed to get the story complete by the end of the sprint.
• Do track sprint progress on the burndown chart using the story points of completed stories.

We originally started this team by focusing on estimated tasks.  This got us going in the right direction but, after several sprints, helped push us into old ways.  Separate people waiting on each other is not a team.  Now we have a story focus with the understanding that the tasks are only important as long as the story gets done.

Work the story, not the tasks!  We’ll see how it works for us.  If the team board looks like this at the end of the sprint, it’ll be a success.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinomite/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

(I have been looking around the web while thinking and writing about this blog post.  Seems some teams and well known agile leaders don’t agree about estimating only tasks or only stories or both.  For example, Mike Cohn recommends story points for release and backlog planning but time on tasks for sprint planning.  Well, inspect and adapt is the agile way.  We tried only estimating time on tasks for a while and think we don’t like it.  This switch to story points may be what we need.  Or we’ll adapt again later.)