Personal Thoughts
Robert Galen
We've Moved
We've Moved
Walking Their Talk, Sustainability, Inspiration
Robert Galen
Sustainability

I saw this wonderfully courageous and informative post by Sabine Canditt the other day where she wrote about Sustainable Scrum. 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sustainable-scrum-responsible-choice-sabine-canditt-x0gef

After just completing a The Week program facilitated by the amazing Ann-Marie Kong, it touched my heart.

That said, I wanted to highlight one comment reaction/interaction between Sabine and Erich Bühler 

Erich said—

Thank you for bringing this approach into the world! Scrum does provide an iterative approach for teams to create value, but its scope is limited to the product level and struggles with dynamics across the whole organization for several reasons.
Without updating the underlying business and financial model at a strategic level, Scrum alone cannot transform organization-wide sustainability.

Sustainability
Short-takes, Inspiration
Robert Galen
Sandy’s Take
Sandy’s Take
Short-takes, Personal Thoughts
Robert Galen
The Human Aspects of Agile Coaching
The Human Aspects of Agile Coaching
Coaching, ACGW, Personal Thoughts
Robert Galen
Keys to Building your Coaching Relationships

I talk a lot about the first step in coaching any client (individual, system, team, etc.) is to build a relationship, gain empathy and understanding, and then gain an idea of where/how to help initially. So, do NOT start to coach until you’ve done some relationship-building. 

But what does a coaching relationship, or a professional relationship in general, look like? What are aspects of that? Here are a few things that come to my mind—

  • Making + taking the time.

  • Explaining what you do—what is Agile Coaching.

  • Building some empathy; walking in their shoes; understanding where they are coming from.

  • Meeting them where they are.

  • Listening; reflective listening; building metaphors together.

  • Connecting with their language, not yours.

Keys to Building your Coaching Relationships

Grateful

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Goodbye 2023...Hello 2024

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I’m seeing lots of end-of-year posts about how great a year 2023 was for folks and how much they accomplished. In my agile community, seeing posts about—

  • How many classes I run or how many students I taught;

  • How many events/groups I’ve spoken at/to;

  • How many articles or books I’ve written, or podcasts and videos I’ve recorded;

  • How much money I made;

  • How this was the best year…ever!

and I’m happy these folks had a good year.

But I have a different sort of end-of-year wrap-up to share. Some good and some not-so-good news. In 2023— 

  • My wife Diane was diagnosed with Stage 3 Parkinson’s Disease. She’s bravely navigating PD, and I’m navigating what it means to be a caregiver.

  • For the first time in more than two decades, I attended very few in-person agile events; depending on how I count them, it was three, and I missed my tribe. Thank goodness I made it to Agile 2023 in Orlando!

  • I had a very challenging business year and I experienced an 82% YoY revenue drop.

  • My frequent flyer status on Delta dropped from Diamond to Silver; I know, but 😉

  • On a positive note, I did more pro-bono work than ever before—to help others and to keep myself sharp.

  • The 2023 Badass Agile Coaching Day event contributed $11,000 to Africa Agility and Ukraine charities.

  • My DEI discounts to classes amounted to more than $20,000.

2023 was perhaps the most challenging year for me, professionally and personally. It’s tested my energy, resilience, mental health, and faith.

I can’t tell you how grateful I am for my friends, colleagues, and acquaintances in the Agile community. The heart and spirit of this community have been an anchor for me during the year. There are some, you know who you are, who have played a special role in checking in with me and supporting me. To all of you, I humbly say—Thank you.

I’m writing to share a “not so beautiful” view of the year with others who may have been challenged in 2023 like I have been. And share my hopes for a better 2024.

My sincere wish to all of you is for a far better 2024. One where you find whatever you need to realize how special and unique you are. Where you find your “community of support,” as I have, and you lean into it.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Stay agile, my friends,

Bob.

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Practicing Gratitude

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Do you have a gratitude ritual that you’ve developed in your professional and personal lives? 

If not, then I’d encourage you to consider one. And if you do, then please consider commenting on this post and sharing what you’re doing.

I’ve been trying to couple my gratitude focus to my morning journaling. Sometimes I’ll write down my thoughts in my journal. Other times, I’ll just let some of the prompts in my journal inspire my thinking and reflection. But my ritual surrounds my mindfulness, reflection, and daily journaling activities.

Journal Prompts

I thought I’d share some of my gratitude-centric journaling prompts—

What was the best part of your day yesterday?

What are you looking forward to today?

What is the one thing you can do to make tomorrow even better?

What are three things you are grateful for right now? How do they bring joy to your life?

Who are three people you are grateful for right now? How do they bring joy to your life?

What is one ritual you currently use to practice gratitude?

What is one ritual that you will add to your practice?

Wrapping Up

There’s nothing magical about being grateful. It won’t solve the climate crisis or improve D&I across corporate America. But I’ve found that centering on being grateful on a day-to-day basis has made me a better agile coach and an even better person.

PS: I want to thank Saralyn Hodgkin and her Practice Your Leadership newsletter for inspiring me to write this.

Stay agile my friends,

Bob.

Additional articles with more ideas for gratitude rituals…