Here is our story so far, as shared at Scrum Day 2021 in Germany – thanks Boris for being on this journey with me!
Wanting to give back.
A personal reflection on our journey so far. We use the question “does it spark joy?” to guide our choices.
Is your work sparking joy for you?
Go on a longer journey.
We constantly use agile methods to help us in our own work – like this now, next, later roadmap. We are always considering what needs to be done now, what should come next and what can be put on hold until later.
Which agile methods have you incorporated in your own way of working which you use regularly? Are you clear on what is most relevant now, and what can wait?
Start with your Why?
Spending time to re-discover our why at a time of personal transition into a new role was an inspiring journey. Make sure you understand why you are doing what you are doing. Seek inspiration in other’s work and be clear on your own motivational story.
When did you last think about what drives you personally? Have you got clarity of purpose in what you are doing?
It is easier to go the journey together.
An incredible amount of strength comes from proceeding on a journey with someone you respect and who respects you. A sense of trust enables you to go further than you would be able to go alone.
Who are you collaborating with? What are the strengths each of you bring, so that the results are more than just the sum of the parts?
Get started as soon as possible.
It was important for us to see whether our ideas would flourish in practice. For this reason we made the minimum responsible arrangements in establishing our business setup and processes, before testing if we had a viable business.
What is the minimum setup you need to get started? Are you preparing yourself for a journey of continuous learning, with the knowledge that you can always adapt what you have as you learn by doing?
Know what you stand for.
The why discovery process helped us focus in on what was important to us. How we want to engage with others also fits well with the agile values and principles.
What are the values and principles that you want to use to guide you and your decision making? How can you keep these clear and up in front of yourself so that you keep on the right track?
Involve others you trust.
Extending our network into new areas has been part of the early work. We expect this to intensify more over the coming period. For now it is good to have made new connections, while at the same time preserving relationships that are already valued and well established.
Who else can you engage with? Who else has the same intentions as you? How can we build on each other to create even more impact in our work?
Take time to reflect.
There have been times this year in which we felt unbalanced. The thought that we were not getting to our desired goals as quickly as hoped. Then came a reminder that the whole journey is about staying balanced and that there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It is all about creating pots of gold on the way. In our case every coaching interaction which shows we are making a difference for people is that pot of gold.
How well are things going for you in your journey? Are you maintaining a healthy balance? What rewards you on the way and gives you energy to keep going?
Getting started.
You don’t have to define the need you are trying to fulfill upfront. Instead start with what you have and give more of that. We discovered that as we started to offer more of what we could already do people started listening. Needs then developed as people determined themselves how our coaching services could help them. They brought the need to us.
What is it that can you offer others? Are you sharing what you can offer? How well are you able to identify new needs based on the feedback you are receiving? How can you get closer to the people you can potentially help?
Knowing which direction is right.
Working with people who energize you is important. Think about what it is that gives you energy, and seek the people who have a similar motivation to you. Make your own purpose and what it is you are trying to achieve visible. Ask others what it is that drives them to do what they do every day.
Do you know what purpose other people are following? How can you help them create new intentions? How can you use this to guide you when to say yes and when to say no?
Learning the new terrain.
We have set out with a clear picture for ourselves on how we would like our working lives to develop. We want to give back to help others, and at the same time have a good feeling about what we are doing – egoistic and altruistic at the same time.
How can you make a start? Do you believe it is possible to be egoistic and altruistic at the same time? What are you trying to achieve for yourself and others?
Changing the focus.
Tired of the constant talk about growth we are trying to create a “that’s enough” culture. This is something that we are still personally discovering, as well as trying to help others to create an environment of sharing and an environment of enough. To achieve this we are looking for other forms of satisfaction.
Are you still leading with growth as your goal? How can you become more satisfied with what you already have? How can we work towards a culture of “enough” and “sharing” together? What other intrinsic motivations can you discover for yourself?
Going further.
Later steps are going to be about scaling our impact. We can only do so much as two individual coaches, and we’ll need to consider how we can extend our impact in some form of scaling. Scaling in order to help more people has a much stronger intrinsic energy to it than just scaling for growth and ultimately greed.
How will you scale your efforts? How can you maximize your impact? What inspires you to go further?
Social responsibility starts with you.
Social responsibility plays out at different levels. Right now we are working to fully incorporate social responsibility into all our work. We are not there yet, however this is one of the factors we are using to measure our progress in creating the business world we want to be active in.
How can you make a stronger social response present in your work? What steps have you taken, or do you intend to take?
Reach out and get in touch.
Thanks for taking the time to read through our thoughts if you have got this far. If it has inspired you to think more about your own behavior then we have achieved our aim.
We’d love to hear your feedback and to know how we could engage together to make the business world a better more human place with a greater social responsibility.