A Letter of Inspiration from GSGDen22

Dear Scrum Community,

As I commit these words to the Googleverse, I’m sitting in my hotel room between sessions at Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gathering Denver 2022 (#GSGDEN22). There’s so much excitement in the air! For many, it’s their first time traveling since the pandemic began, and they’re making the best of it. I’ve heard laughter. I’ve seen tears. I’ve caught sincere words of appreciation in every conversation overheard in the halls.

So what’s so important that it has urged me to step away and type these words? Well, the short answer is easy (and probably isn’t worth a several-hundred-word article). Simply put, it’s inspiration. I’ve been inspired by an inspiring idea presented by an inspiring speaker. Great story, sure, but still a little prosaic, right?

The real story is the “why” behind that inspiration. And that requires a trip back in time to 2001 with the publication of The Agile Manifesto and 2003 with the publication of Seth Godin’s Purple Cow. I didn’t know it then, but both of those manuscripts had already put me on the path to becoming a Certified Agile Coach. 

I won’t retell how the Agile Manifesto inspired my agile journey. As a Certified Enterprise Coach and Certified Team Coach (CEC and CTC) through Scrum Alliance, that part is probably obvious. For most of you, however, I’ll wager that the connection between a book about marketing and agile coaching is a little more tenuous. They’re not as far apart as you might think. Let me explain.

In short, Purple Cow is about how companies need to make their products stand out in the ever-increasing noise and clutter of publications, TV shows, never-ending news cycles, and internet flame wars. He argues that products need to be remarkable to be noticed. And, he asks, “What could be more remarkable than a purple cow?”

The kicker, of course, is that your purple cow must also meet a need or solve a problem for those buying it. And that’s where, for me, the Agile Manifesto and Purple Cow cross paths. Agility, in most instances, is about doing things differently and breaking the status quo in order to move faster and be more responsive to market demands and customer needs. Definitely remarkable when done well. Definitely a purple cow. But is that enough? Has it been enough? Of course not. 

The value of agility isn’t because it’s different. “Different,” for most businesses, is a four-letter word. They don’t want to be different or even hear about different. They do, however, want to hear about doing things better, increasing collaboration, decreasing waste, increasing effectiveness, and increasing customer satisfaction. All of which are possible when adopting agile principles and practices.

So for over 20 years, I’ve been riding this agile purple cow from client to client and team to team to define problem spaces and pursue collaborative solutions using and promoting agile ways of working. 

Now let’s get back to the conference and the spark that spawned these words…

Today, after all these years, I finally got to hear Seth Godin speak. Life had come full circle and I was watching Seth Godin at a conference about agility. Clearly, it wasn’t the first time he had spoken to an agile audience. He had done his research and was able to resonate with our audience of dedicated changemakers. He spoke of working in small batches, iterating, MVPs, and the value of getting things to Done–just like we do in our jobs every day. 

To me, however, his biggest point was this: “Do work that matters for people who care.” Let that sit with you for a few seconds … 

Do work that matters for people who care. 

What does that mean to you and the work that you do? 

Work that matters

What is that to you? Is it burn down charts, velocity, the three questions, and Jira? Or is it collaboration, communication, connection, and relationship? If it’s not the latter, when will it be?

For people who care

Who is that? What do they want? How can you help create conditions that will enable them to succeed? If you can’t answer those questions, when will you be able to?

Seth’s talk was entertaining, enlightening, and full of everything that any fan would expect. I’m still walking around with my feet a few inches off the ground. He ended with a funny and relevant story for those of us who are often met with silence and inaction when we present practices and behaviors that we know will result in positive outcomes. 

He was flying back to White Plains, New York and bad weather kept the plane from landing. After circling the airport until nearly running out of fuel, the plane made an unplanned stop in Albany, NY to refuel. “For those of you who’ve been to Albany, I don’t need to say more,” he said. I’ve never been to Albany, but I think I know what he meant.

Once on the ground, the captain announced it would be several hours before they could refuel and get back home. After realizing that driving would be much shorter, Seth got online, found the last car at Hertz, and rented it. As he was exiting the plane, he turned to all of the passengers and told them he had a few empty seats in his car which was taking a much shorter trip home. Not one person left with him. Not one! Zero. Zip. Nadie.

He offered an easier, shorter, more comfortable way to do something, and no one took him up on it. There was a purple cow in the airplane with them, and they all ignored it. Ever have an experience like that when presenting agile ways of working to a client or employer? Yeah, I thought so!

To summarize, I urge you to find inspiration where you can and keep at it, even when no one wants your purple cow. Keep plugging away, working on your skills and paint your purple cow the most vibrant, rich shade of purple that you can. That’s the lesson I took from Seth’s little book in a milk carton. That’s the lesson I keep practicing and sharing with every neophyte scrum master, coach, or any other changemaker I meet. Keep at it and you, too, will get to do work that matters for people who care.

Speaking of people who care, please excuse me while I get back to this amazing conference.

Sincerely,

Teddy Carroll, CEC

6/6/22