Agile finishing an Iron Man

Picture this. You’ve been training for seven months for that one dream: to finish a full triathlon in Copenhagen. And then there’s corona. The Danish government reacts decisively and cancels the race well before the starting gun. A transfer to Iron Man Tallinn offers no solace either. So how do you go Agile with your dream? How do you create value in rapidly changing circumstances? Trainer and coach Steije de Lat tells how he dealt with this situation and gives powerful tips to Agile teams.

1. Going back to the ‘why’

Copenhagen was a deliberate location because it was the best to travel to for friends and family. By mentally going back to the “why,” which was to deliver an ultimate athletic performance in front of friends and family, a new option arose: organize your own Iron Man in which friends and family could participate by swimming, biking and/or running with you. The result? A day with a much stronger connection with friends and family than I could have imagined.

2. Express your doubts

Still, I was not initially excited about this option. Why not? I couldn’t really argue that. My friend helped me clarify why I was so reserved about this option: I was heartily afraid of failing in front of everyone I love.

Once I expressed this, the choice was made less than a day later. I’m going to do this and not let fear stop me.

In organizations, I often see the behavior ‘we’ll work a little further before we show it to the stakeholders, because now they probably don’t understand it yet’. To me, radical transparency is the magic word here: if you show your product as well as express your own doubts, you get a person-to-person conversation. Do you just present your product? Then you are likely to get less valuable feedback and a lesser connection with stakeholders.

3. Break it up into small pieces

Looking back, I still find it hard to believe: 3.8 km of swimming, 180 km of cycling AND running a marathon. In a row! And yet I did it. Every athlete will (presumably) recognize that breaking up an athletic event into small pieces is important for motivation. Continuously setting sub-goals. And being able to enjoy them.

I see teams break down work into user stories, but rarely can truly enjoy finishing a piece of work or completing all the tasks in a sprint. Setting a sprint goal can be a great help.

4. Believe in the process (get coached).

In training for the “big day,” triathletes often train for no more than a half triathlon. This also meant uncertainty for me: will I succeed? Guidance from a coach helped me tremendously in this. Someone who coaches you in the process and adjusts where necessary.

The easiest thing to do is to question the process after a lesser sprint. But in the 10 months I trained, lesser workouts were almost always explained by myself: poor sleep, sick or poor planning.

5. Deviate from the process (be your own coach)

My coach taught me an important lesson in the beginning: you remain your own coach. And to be honest, I fell into the trap of blindly following the process several times anyway. I have learned to listen to my own body and made sure that gut feeling has become much more second nature.I believe the Scrum framework can help many teams.

I also believe that the Scrum framework limits many teams because they stick rigidly to it. Use the rhythm to your advantage, but also dare to interrupt it occasionally for a design sprint, for example. Partner with other teams if this creates the most value. Even if this means bending the Scrum “rules.