Achievements Unlocked

I wasn’t going to share this until 2021, but was inspired to do so on Friday. I’ll tell you why, but need to put it in context first.

I don’t remember when I first started working with Scrum. DanceGRiST has been as Agile as I could make it since its inception, so I’d guess at least 5 years. It is only recently that I felt it appropriate to gain formal recognition .

Here are the reasons why;

–         formal recognition of my skills should pave the way for recognition of the teams’ developing skills and make the next phase of our plans easier

–         tests and formal CPD are practical ways to make sure I’m up to date and explicitly aware of best practice

–         it felt unfair to coach others through formal qualifications without having them myself

Coaching DanceGRiST’s creative artists has taught me more in 8 months than I learned in years of program and project management in finance.

Creative peoples’ minds work so differently that nothing can be taken for granted. Nothing at all can be assumed. Some sprints result in solutions of awesomely elegant simplicity. Others demonstrate a sense of fun, or level of collective genius in problem solving that I could never conceive. Then there are occasional sprints where nothing happens. In these, I wonder if my coaching will result in anything at all.

Of course that is as it should be, and part of the process, and I plan to share more next year, when I’ve taken a break. Meanwhile, here is what prompted me to share this heart-warming aspect of one DanceGRiSTer’s achievements.

Last Friday I was invited to a Sharing (when part of a performance, artwork, or creative process is shared for feedback). You could think of it as a kind of Sprint Review, where the person sharing is not obliged to respond to feedback or even continue developing their work based on what they have shared.

I can’t tell you much about the actual creation because I haven’t asked her permission. It is dance related and likely to benefit many communities. It is also a framework in which the Scrum concept of User Stories are an essential part. It was thrilling to see. We are not even finished our first Scrum project, yet the concepts are being creatively applied. In staying true to the spirit of Scrum, and in doing so has created a new kind of Agile dance framework. I feel honoured, humbled and privileged to have been able to contribute (albeit unknowingly) and look forward to watching it evolve.

That’s the thing about working with creatives. There is no knowing what will contribute to their creativity. I love the glimpses of their multifarious artistic processes and my heart warms when I see that what I am doing might; in a tiny way, help.

I look forward to sharing what happens next.