The force of habit

Tom Breur

25 October 2015

The “force of habit” can be strong. Very strong, indeed. Scrum taught us to dramatically improve productivity, by focusing on blockers, and relentlessly removing them. We all “know” how powerful that mindset can be.

If someone questions a change I want to propose by pointing out “we don’t do things like that over here”, I tend to reply: “Why not?” Genuine curiosity, and a bit of stubbornness can go a long way to reconsider the existing status quo. After all, there’s a reason we are trying Agile to improve productivity: we’re unsatisfied with the existing status quo. So doing more of the same cannot be the solution.

My own habits, however, I find much harder to challenge. Guess what? I “just” have gotten used to doing things that way! Duh. It often takes an unreasonable demand, imposed from the outside, to make me deeply question how to do something. To drive change.

When a request cannot reasonably be met (…), I “have” to try something radically new. Scrum is “the art of the possible” Schwaber and Beedle assert, and I find that this “can do” mindset helps me overcome limitations in my own mind. These are impediments (!) that prevent me (all of my own doing) from stepping outside of my comfort zone. If only I knew how I could reinvent myself on my own, without having to rely on unreasonable demands…