Most recently, I have found myself creating an, ‘playbook’ for a startup which is poised for exponential growth. Above is a snippet from this playbook and my perspective.
When I first was introduced to Agile, it was painful. The ceremonies were executed with a high-level of “ugh” and a low level of “this is exciting stuff”. An entire day was spent in planning sessions every other week, it was difficult to keep focused, and it was all about, “This is the process we need to follow” and very little about, “These are the goals we are trying to solve for”.
Let’s just say – it was agile applied poorly.
Many years later, I’d experienced Agile in different flavors, most of which seemed half-implemented and cross-breeds because the entire organization HAD NOT ADOPTED the framework and practices, which created a lot of challenges in the efficiencies of business operations. Eventually, I joined a team which had been very successful at integrating MOST of the organization into agile, and it was SO exciting. There were many agile squads (teams), and chapters, responsibility sharing and every layer of the organization was objective-solving focused and this enabled every person to have a voice. It was SO liberating.
One of the ceremonies which was THE HARDEST FOR ME is now the one I like the most.
Retrospectives.
These may as well be group therapy sessions.
They take courage and when every person expresses themselves openly, honestly, and without animosity, the team is able to make adjustments in exploratory ways which enhance collaboration and trust over time. They take special skills, personal honesty, and a willingness to be courageous while having dialog with one’s peers.
As a UX practitioner who didn’t believe enough in herself, these were rough, but thinking back – they were essential to my personal growth. I highly encourage this practice. I highly encourage people to embrace ‘the suck’. I also highly encourage business leaders to enable team members to take the rest of the day DIRECTLY AFTER retrospectives, because they can be a bit brutal at times.
They are, however, necessary for continuous growth.
