As an agile practitioner, I can see the big smile on my face when covid-19 has been implied as “chief transformation officer” in some situations. It is heartening to observe that more companies are interested in being more agile. My concern is as we are “rushing” to be more agile, do we interpret agile as something different from agile manifesto, e.g agile means doing something quickly or easily? One agile principle stands out in this situation. From “Principles behind the Agile Manifesto”,
“Agile processes promote sustainable development.
The sponsors, developers, and users should be able
to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.”
As I contemplate on this principle, I can relate to the current rush to bring offline activities to online platforms. After graduation with my bachelor degree in Computer Technology, I was a software developer for more than 10 years. The transition journey from individual technical contributor to my current role as team facilitator and coach is a long and twisted road. If I can only offer one tip from my own professional development journey to the current situation, what could it be? In my transition journey, I can identify with clarity in professional purposes, courage in making decisions and determination to stay on the course. To help the current journey of digital transformation and being agile more sustainable, one tip stands out and that is periodic intentional pause. Besides daily reflection, I have the following questions in the back of my mind during the whole journey.
- Is the current direction still valid?
- What do I need to achieve in the short term in order to move closer to the goals?
- What new changes in behavior and thinking do I need to embrace?
- Who I may need support from?
In terms of sustainability, how do you apply periodic intentional pause in an agile environment and in Scrum teams?
