Debunking Six Misconceptions About Agile

This articles was first published in ProjectManagement.com

For those of us in the project management community, agile is a familiar term. But despite its prominence, it’s often misunderstood. 

All too often, teams and organizations focus on the wrong things or are misinformed. And eventually, agile takes the blame. 

Here are six common misconceptions that can lead to an anti-agile mindset:

1. It is all about the tool. Any tool that’s hailed as what makes agile works is still just a tool. Yes, with distributed teams it helps to have a tool where everyone has access to project details and data. However, when introducing your team to agile, your training shouldn’t be tool-centric. I prefer teams to see and understand how agile really works—the simple use of sticky notes or a whiteboard does the trick. The move to a tool can and
   
   will happen eventually, and when it occurs, you don’t have to send multiple follow-ups to ensure the team is populating the data. 

2. Agile is changing requirements in the middle of the sprint. While agile is known for inspecting and adapting, changes can get out of control. I hear teams talking about changes happening so often that they can barely focus on the work, or they are constantly handling changes. When the pressure to change a requirement is happening too often within a sprint and ends up becoming a norm in the team, the product managers or sponsors need to jump in to determine what needs to be built. Otherwise, team members tend not to focus on the work because they know no matter what they do today, everything will change tomorrow. 

3. Agile doesn’t use data. The idea that data isn’t tracked is wrong. In fact, there are many ways to look at data. However, we also have to be mindful so data isn’t just being used for the sake of data, leading teams to start bluffing around it.  

4. Agile doesn’t offer predictability. You’ll often hear that there was better predictability before—and now nothing works. Sponsors always need to know the timeline. And yes, this can be done in agile. In fact, using and tracking the right data can bring in the predictability your team needs. The velocity metric will let you know how much a team can handle in a sprint. So, whether it’s a burndown chart, sprint or release planning, there are multiple ways to get the required predictability and commit accordingly.   

5. Agile doesn’t offer time to think. I recently was in a session about thought leadership and someone mentioned agile being the greatest blocker because there was no time to think. Interpretation, I believe, is the biggest problem of all. You can still block a certain percentage of your team’s capacity or yours to try out new ideas, participate in hackathons or learn a new skill that adds advantage to your product or service. If you are not speaking up about the problems, you should. And if flexibility isn’t allowed, that’s because of the team culture, not the process. 

6. Agile is all about micromanagement. One of the funniest misconceptions I’ve heard is that an organization moved to agile because leadership wanted everything to be micromanaged. Individuals didn’t understand that team capacity and complexity (as measured in story points) aren’t ways to track team members. Instead, they are tools to help team members make the right commitments during their sprints, commitments they can actually keep and deliver. In this case, a lack of explanation about why the organization moved toward agile triggered multiple miscommunications. So, the responsibility lies with management and the agile coach to take the time to explain the move to agile. Because instead of micromanagement, agile is really about the opposite. It, in fact, allows teams to be empowered, to be able to self organize, to be vocal and to get the work done. 

These are six misconceptions I’ve seen about agile. What are the common ones you’ve encountered?

(Pic Courtesy: Google Images)

How to Write your New Years resolution (And ways to keep them)

First things first- Happy new Year to You:)]

The path you choose to take this year is yours and should be yours. 

Hence writing your new years resolution is important. In 2019 you wouldn’t want to start with the mindset where failing is an option. 

So, what do you do? You simply re-write the resolutions. 

1. Don't keep resolutions open ended statements- Open statements are optional. If the resolutions are optional thats what you want to keep doing. Otherwise, you need to make sure, the resolutions are detailed, with actionable items and tied to timelines. Why....because then you can track your progress along the timelines. So, what do I mean by that- lets say my resolution for 2019 is to travel more. I just don’t write I would like to travel more, I write:
1. I will be travelling in June, 2019 for 15 days- action items will be planning my leave from work and getting them approved before I buy the tickets or book hotels.
2. I need to put aside x amount of every month for the next 6 months
3. I need to start looking for accommodation by march/april and want it near available public transport
4. I need to get my tickets done by May, so I get a good deal and its not a last minute buy.
5. Ensure work wise everything is wrapped up by May 20, so I can enjoy the vacation (10 days are my buffer incase something needs my attention)
2. Resolutions should mean something to you- You really commit when it means something to you. Otherwise its just a list of words and sentences that probably wont see the light of day.  And thats how most people write resolutions. When it means to us, we are more likely to follow it. So rephrase or find the deeper meaning in writing resolutions. you have to connect to your resolution, something thats alive, something that you feel when you write your resolutions.
3. Should resolutions be kept private or shared- Thats a very common controversy surrounding resolutions or for any change for that matter. I believe whats important is how you handle change. Do you thrive with peoples expectations and get the energy from being around people OR do you value the change so much that you want to keep it private. That sharing looses the sanctity of the change. Find out what your triggers are and may be look back and see why you have failed (if) keeping the resolutions over the years and then see what can you do to change it- that should tell you how you should write your resolution this year.

Bottomline, resolutions should be by you and for you and definitely the one you deeply care about.

Incase, you are not much of a reader you can also find the video on the same topic below:

July | Article Round Up

What you read, is what your interests are and I can clearly see from my reading list. 

I have tried to categorise them better this time around, so let me know if this is something that you guys are enjoying as well. 

Career:

1. All about Goal Setting
2. 10 Steps to Achieve any Goal
3. 4 Tips to achieve your goals (Ted talks)
4. Your career best effort ( again from one of my newly found blogger James Clear)

 Books:

1. Brene Brown's Digital Library
2. Books to read if you are suffering from Imposter Syndrome

Overcoming Challenges:

1. To know that you can actually do what you put your mind to, the writer tells it all how he photographed the Royal wedding.

Agile:

1. Spotify's health check model
2. Levels of Agile Maturity 
3. Success by being Agile

Working Moms:

1. Kids of working moms turn into happy adults
2. 6 Women share their return to work stories after maternity leave

Others:

I couldn't really find a category for it and I am generally interested in a lot of stuff when I read, here are some of the selected reads I thought might be interesting to this blogs audience.

1. Why you can focus more in coffee shops than open plan offices
2.  What the experiment of employees working 4 days a week found out
3. open plan offices reduce face to face communications
4. why liberal arts and humanities is as important as engineering
5. New York Stock Exchange gets it first women chief 
6. Only 25% of workforce is female in India 
7. Lauren Powell and her story of inventing her brand
8. 6 Pillars of Creativity
9. When a stress expert and author battles mental illness 
10. Surprising facts of why Women CEO's don't expect much support at home or work.

My favourite tweet for this month:

If you enjoyed this, you might want to look at the Article Round up for June.

Decision Making: Why its so difficult?

“You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits,” he said. “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”   – Obama 


The term Decision Making itself sounds complex: you have to choose one over another. This seems to be about people who are rational and not impulsive, who gather data and analyses them without being impulsive and who have taken calculated risks and have eventually won.

But get ready for a surprise, decisions are supposedly taken more emotionally than rationally

So, how do you really decide?

Here's what Ruth Chang thinks......

A study suggests that it relies on two separate networks to do so: one that determines the overall value — the risk versus reward — of individual choices and another that guides how you ultimately behave. Perhaps that’s why we mostly choose the one that’s safe.

Some decisions are easier than others, like I decided to move countries much more easily with of course some amount of fear than the fact that I have been postponing driving in Hyderabad, India.
So, what allows me to make some decisions easily but others not… I am not sure. May be it’s the analysis of the reward and the threat. Moving countries seemed rewarding to me- new culture, better career, travelling and trying out cuisines which I all enjoy.

While driving for me mostly means fighting thoughts of crazy traffic, lack of strict rules or being stuck in traffic for hours and the eventual loss of freedom because  I can’t read or listen to anything while I drive.

So, I evaluate and decide, driving doesn’t seem like a very good idea even though rationally I should be driving to save me loads of money and flexibility of time.

Have you ever made a decision than turned into a bad one?

Growth Mindset- Why you should have it?

If you have ever wondered why some people continue growing in their job/business and some stagnate- this is perhaps the post for you.

The concept of Growth Mindset was first introduced in the book Mindset: The new Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck .

The Stanford professor in an article in HBR talks about what the Growth Mindset shouldn’t be confused with:

• People confuse it with being flexible or open minded
• Is about praising and rewarding the effort
• Good things will happen if you have a growth mindset

So, what is a Growth mindset?

“Growth Mindset thrives on challenges and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening spring board for growth and for stretching existing abilities.”

Read more here . 

The questions is- how can a simple belief have the power to transform your psychology and as a result your life? The Growth mindset creates a passion for learning rather than a hunger for approval.

So, how can you implement the growth mindset in your life?

Being aware of the two mindsets and knowing that the Growth Mindset requires taking risks and wandering off into unknown territories where you might not succeed but that is okay- because you will learn out of it.

Don’t get motivated because you don’t know much about a job profile/interest/hobby and you are terrified of failing. Not everyone fails and you have to take the first step.

This leads to believing in yourself :
1.Create a positive environment
2.Affirm your beliefs
3.Don’t hangout with naysayers- take their perspectives and improve on it
4.Celebrate learning’s

 So, if you are a newbie the mindset will be a game changer for you. Now you can go back at think about your mentor and realize why they have been doing so well- am sure they have a growth mindset too.

You can read more about Growth Mindset here:

• What having a growth mindset means?
• Do you have a growth mindset?

(Pic courtesy: Google Images)

Mind Mapping: What are you good at?

If you belong to a certain domain or hold a fancy job title- does it mean that’s the only thing you are good at? Or that's your life calling for the next thirty years?

Did you know that more than 70 % of the workforce is disengaged from the job they hold- this cannot be true if you are truly inspired by your profession. So, may be the job you have isn’t what you are interested in anymore because you figured they are other things you are better at.

Meet Anisha, who has a comfortable job and has been in it for a while till she woke up one day and felt she wasn’t being recognized for her loyalty and the long hours of work. she isn't drawn to her job anymore. She’s looking for something that excites her ...  So, what does she do- she joins the disengaged workforce.

So, how can you figure out what you want to do or better: what you are really good at?

Close your eyes and imagine yourself as a toddler and think of what you wanted to be when you grow up. I wanted to be a teacher. To me that was the power figure- in control of a class of 60 students. That seemed a coveted position to hold for me.

Over the years as we grow and environment shifts and changes happen, our interest changes, skillsets take shape and we find a job.

Ten years later- is that what you still want? How can you navigate your career to ensure that its synced with your interests?

So, let’s try mind mapping- no fancy tool or budget required.

• In the center place yourself ...  think of anything you like to do or makes you happy and start writing/sketching. Write as many as you can. Against each idea, see if you are still doing it (example- poetry- I published a coffee table book or I have a diary full of poems written and hidden because I think my friends will laugh at me and call me sappy). Rupi Kaur self-published her first book of poems in Amazon and it went to become a NYT best seller.
  
• When you have sketched everything you can think of, add 5 more. Once you start thinking, it becomes easy.. Now see how you can take each of these ideas and keep thinking deeper- what does it mean to you. For example if you mentioned “creating” – you can mention writing blogs, clicking pics, creating travel vlogs, writing articles for magazines, becoming an author. Once all are done, take a different color pen and look for patterns. Common things that have surfaced- it could be similarity in the main ideas/categories or it could be sub categories within the categories- mark them.
• Can you see the trend now- what you really like to do- in most cases you can also see a profession shaping up? Against the profession/interest you found- try adding ways on how you can achieve it or make money from it. That can lead to clarity- if this is something you want to take up as a profession, or you want to prepare for it (like take certifications) or talk to friends or references who are already in the profession of your choice.
• That’s your calling. You don’t have to give up your job and go for it but if it does make sense- think about it. Think how you can try out this opportunity. 
  
  

This can be a wonderful way to find yourself back and be inspired again. So, did you find what you are good at?

(Pic courtesy: google images)

Destress and Focus with Jazz

Work is fulfilling for a lot of us, however with it comes the stress and the burn out.

Consider this: Jazz music can lower blood pressure by causing blood vessels to expand by 30% (This change in blood pressure is like loosing 30 lbs).

It incidentally helps you to get better sleep.  Studies shows that just 45 min of soft, slow music (60-80 BPM) like jazz, before bedtime results in better and longer night-time sleep as well as less dysfunction during the day:
• After 1 week, 26% were sleeping better.
• After 3 weeks, 35% were sleeping better.

After finding out about Jazz, I decided to implement it in my own life and see the results. My work is sometimes stressful and while I enjoy it... working parallel in a lot of things sometimes leaves me burned out. I realize that I am not being as effective in getting things done, because I am worried about how much is left to be done.

So, I tried 2 things at work:

1. When I start to worry/stress/get irritated I immediately walk out to refill my water bottle, or get a coffee. read the newspaper or sometimes just walk around. That momentarily relief and taking me out of that zone seems to work positively on the mind. 
2. I also played jazz over the web via ear phones and I did work better partially because I felt more relaxed. It helped me to the extent that I now use it almost regularly specially when I have things to deliver in a tight timeline. 

You wont know what works for you, till you try it out yourself. So, my suggestion is to give it a go and see whether this is something that will work for you.

All I can say is, its definitely worth a try.

(pic courtesy: Google Images)

Top 3 Books for 2016

If you have been with me reading the blog or checking tweets and watching the occasional pop ups in Instagram, you will know that I read for work and pleasure. This year has seen me get back to it more than the last two years. 

So, if you like to red or looking for a last minute gift idea, you can check out these 3 books which I think have had the most impact on me. 

The Checklist Manifesto (by Atul Gawande)

·    The 193 pg book focuses on the benefits of maintaining a checklist through various industries. 

·      A surgeon from NY, the book The Checklist is not about just to do lists. It’s a brief list that helps critical decision making in sensitive situations like the operating room by saving lives or during investment decisions or in aeronautical situation (mid air crisis).

·        

The reason I liked the book is because:

§  It’s a simple idea that’s so well researched that it makes you think that we should all implement more checklists in our work places and homes to save ourselves from complications.

§  He talks about how the checklist that was created in John Hopkins hospital that raised a possibility that people talking to each other  a minute before starting the operation was a strategy to foster team work which lead to higher success rates. 

§  It made me think that the basics of any project management should be about certain checklist like its focused a lot in Agile with the ceremonies and DOD (definition of done) and exit criteria’s all set to actually ensure that everything is in its place and chances to miss it is reduced thereby ensuring the quality of the potentially shippable product.

§  It’s a book that will make you think and has take away's that you can actually implement in your work. It also provides you with enough case studies that will allow you to make a strong case with the right set of data that you will need to get buy in from your team or management to get the checklists implemented. 

The Code of the Extraordinary Mind (by Vishen Lakhiani)

If you need an awakening of your mind and soul, if you want to grow more, need a way to organize your thoughts and dreams, want to be happier....this is what you should be reading. It shook me up literally. ·It’s a must read and will be my staple on the bedside table for the next few month definitely.          

• 223 pages excluding the glossary and others, this book will help you understand your expectation from life and how to get them. Book talks a lot about the realities that the author faced as he tried to build his own business that thrives successfully now.
• He gives example from his own life and multitude of other people like Dalai Lama, Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington and Tony Robbins on how they look at success.
• My favorite in the book is chapter 5- where he talks about the structure that’s split into 8 sets of qualities that we need from life and for me thinking the way he has laid it down was life changing. I really knew the actions I had to take to grow more personally and professionally.
• This is a book that helps you look inside you, fix it... so you can fulfill your dreams outside.

The Sleep Revolution (by Arianna Huffington) 

·         This was an impulsive buy in airport because I was looking to read something while I was on vacation for my son’s 2 birthday this August. I don’t think I have ever thought of sleep so much in my life till I started reading this book. I will be honest, I am not much of a sleeper, I like to stay awake more than I like sleeping. I have in the recent years also been very sleep deprived; I call it the Rio Effect. The book surprised me with the health benefits and the link to better decision making and yes now that I try to sleep more I do see the payback myself.  

• ·We all know sleeps important, but the author breaks the modern myth of going sleepless and how cool it is especially for youngsters and showing why and how it’s important to achieve our goals.
• It talks about medications, health issues, and extra cost to government dealing with health crisis that can all be reduced just by sleeping.
•  It also talks about how from Warren Buffet to Satya Nadella all emphasize about sleeping and its bond to good decision making and the effectiveness and efficiency.
• If you like informative and well researched book like I do and the topic is something you can relate to- it’s a good read.

For me I can connect the dots of the take away of the 3 books- I think resting the mind to work and function better in a structured way through checklists will make me happier and give me better value for the time invested in doing it. And happiness will ensure I work through my challenges better and have the capacity to fulfill the dreams.

Pic courtesy: Google and Soma Bhattacharya
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The Art of Failing

I have failed a lot. That made me afraid of being a failure

.

And there have been quite a few times when I have been called one. I have recently realized that my journey in life have been paved through my failures and because I have failed I am doing what I do now.

 Suddenly I have realized that failure shouldn’t be negative and depressing. It’s part of rethinking and making better decision. 

Like I started this blog when I wasn’t sure what to do career wise, I had a difficult time finding a job and I just wanted a space where I could journal all my learning’s. I honestly never thought anyone other than me would be reading it. I turned the blog into a routine which means I was writing even during my worst of struggles and that kept me sane. It was a positive energy for me when a lot of things weren’t.

If you have read about the Lizard brain, you will know we refrain ourselves from doing things that make us a success. I am not a psychologist, however I can tell you that for me sometimes it’s true. I feel the things I should be doing and then I don’t. I don’t know why. For example, I have been thinking of writing about this for more than a week and I haven’t written. I am not sure why.

 I have been trying to get back to reading and the last few purchases (of books) have been really life changing and I wanted to share it with you. But then I thought, hey why not be more satisfied with my work and try out another medium- vlogs. I would love to bring you in my life and have a face to face conversation once in a while and do I did vlog. It was an epic failure, the video was too long (around 15 minutes) and I wasn’t sure how to edit. By the way if you are curious I vlogged about my 3 top favourite books in 2016.  Anyways, I don’t think I will be putting up that video which means I will have to re-record it.

So, why this post? Its almost end of the year and I wanted to check in with you and tell you that its okay to be where you are. I hope you are happy with life, however just in case if you are struggling think what you can do to get off the struggle. What will help you get there? Don’t get too bogged down with bad days or failures. And always help someone whenever you can. 

And don’t get scared even when you fail, try to keep up with your plan and keep at it! Everyone fails.

Here’s how Mary Higgin’s turned hers and what Macolm Gladwell thinks of the art of failure 

(Pic courtesy: Pinterest)

What I have been reading and why it matters to you

I wanted to share with you some random links that makes sense when you look at it from your personal development point of view.

For success, life not only has to be organized, you have to be in a very stable mental space and none of them just happen to happen. I hope you find something in these stories that helps you find that zone. 

• Does it matter where you sit in office, find out here.   
• Being comfortable and confident is important, find out why 
• Books on Behavioral changes 
• Ways to style your work desk as you progress through the years.
• Minimal distraction writing tool 
• Ways to declutter, here's how 

And looking for a real pick me up, don't miss this. Malcolm Gladwell being interviewed by Tim Ferris.

"For one hour of writing, there's three hours of thinking". 

Decision Making: what you should know about it.

Long ago when I was in school in US, I remember one of my professors talking about how he was teaching his toddler about choices and decision making.  He said, today we decided to have both milk and orange juice at the table during breakfast. And we asked Josh- Milk or juice? Josh said- milk juice. He wanted both. They finally couldn’t get Josh, the toddler to decide but he said perhaps tomorrow.

I sat in the class thinking, wow ... I wouldn’t even have thought of that. Growing up in India, decisions were mostly made for you, especially about food.

While options are great, sometimes having too many aren’t as easy to decide....

•  Like when you have couple of job offers in hand
•  Wardrobe decions every morning
• Too many goals
• Multiple decisions to make in a very short period of time

Here are 5 ways to make better decisions: 

1. Make your decisions in the morning\
2. Eat first
3. Cut down your choices
4. Open the windows
5. Use a foreign language

And  if you worry too much about making the right decision, click here 

(Pic courtesy: Google images)

 The winner of the Giveaway is Sudharshan from Hyderabad.