Being your own roadblock

We’re all somewhat biased and like to believe we know what is best for a given scenario. One of the reasons I was interested in taking a job as a Scrum Master is because I wanted the opportunity of being a part of a culture shift. Every company has a slightly different ‘flavor’ of Scrum and that’s exactly what it means to be Agile. Sometimes I think we get too stuck on the technicalities of how something should work and oftentimes it creates a (somewhat) toxic environment. 

When you’re a part of a culture change, you have to understand that it isn’t going to happen overnight and you have to accept your shortcomings in order to take a step in the right direction. Sometimes you can even be working against your own mission and not even know it. Just because I might feel that we are ready to change part of a process, does not mean that everyone else might be, thus creating more resistance to the change. Don’t get me wrong, I believe you should always be pushing the boundaries if you ever plan to move forward, but finding a way to tastefully evolve and transition will make people more open to accepting the change until it becomes a habit. 

From my perspective, trying to understand the people you work with to some degree, not only helps you find that nice balance of how and when to push for change, but it also builds trust with your team. The ability to step back to gain perspective on a situation is an extremely valuable trait because as right as it might feel to you, you might secretly be your own worst enemy.