{"id":952,"date":"2011-09-29T22:40:31","date_gmt":"2011-09-29T22:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agilepartnership.com\/?p=741"},"modified":"2011-09-29T22:40:31","modified_gmt":"2011-09-29T22:40:31","slug":"agile-coaching-the-pickle-principle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agilepartnership.com\/fr\/agile-coaching-the-pickle-principle\/","title":{"rendered":"Agile Coaching \u2013The Pickle Principle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Ever heard of Prescott\u2019s Pickle Principle? It states that \u201ccucumbers get more pickled than brine gets cucumbered\u201d As an Agile coach, you are that cucumber bravely diving into a pool saturated with sodium chloride called \u201cThe Corporation\u201d<\/p>\n

In an Agile transformation context, it’s about the challenges the Agile coach faces when trying to be true with the values and principles of the Agile Manifesto. It’s about being bombarded, day in and day out with those \u201cWe can’t do that here!\u201d. It’s that organizational brine that slowly transforms the Agile coach from a change agent into someone who finds great and innovative ways to justify things like ScrumButs and Flacid Scrum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There’s a saying that goes like this : As a friend, I love you just the way you are. As a coach, I love you too much to let you stay that way.\u00a0 I am not saying that an organization can’t move towards Agile with a few (or many) \u201cButs\u201d here and there. As coaches, we’d be quite bored (not to mention useless) if Agile values, principles and practices were fully adopted at a flick of a switch. What I am saying is that the Agile coach is not permitted to accept it \u2013 Fight the brine!<\/p>\n

The symptoms<\/h3>\n

How can you recognize that you are being pickled? The main symptom is accepting concessions too easily. Some of the classics are \u201cwe can’t test this legacy stuff\u201d or \u201cwe’ll create an implementation story and a testing story for the next iteration\u201d At first you challenge the team but after a few iteration of trying, you accept it. You might even find yourself using that infamous “We can’t do that here!” You just might be right but that’s besides the point. We are coaches with a big visible agenda: Agile!<\/p>\n

5 ways to fight the brine<\/h3>\n

\u00a01- Agile Manifesto – Big and Visible<\/h5>\n

That’s our agenda. The 4 values, 12 principles and a full inventory of engineering practices. Keep the manifesto in plain site and it’ll help you go back to basics when things get fuzzy.<\/p>\n

\u00a02- Stay above the clouds<\/h5>\n

You’re not much good if you’re standing in the middle of the storm with everyone else. Stay above of the technical and business specificities. You risk getting tangled up in the details and start sympathizing. Teams don’t need your sympathy; they need to be challenged from day one to day n.<\/p>\n

\u00a03- Put on the Thinking Hat<\/h5>\n

From the get go, inform the teams and management of your stance. Offer them a presentation of the Six Thinking Hats<\/a> and formalize the fact that you’ll be switching from green to black then green again.<\/p>\n

From wikipedia:<\/p>\n

Bad points judgment (Black) – logic applied to identifying flaws or barriers, seeking mismatch<\/p>\n

Creativity (Green) – statements of provocation and investigation, seeing where a thought goes<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a04- Keep a Beginner’s Mind<\/h5>\n

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” – Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi<\/p>\n

When you first walked into XYZ inc. you had no \u201cpreconceptions, pre-conceived ideas or prior judgements<\/a>\u201d Always keep that sense of wonderment and keep asking those basic questions. Almost magically, on a Wednesday at 10:14 am, a team member will say : Hmmm, maybe we could test that. Magical indeed.<\/p>\n

\u00a05- Go to local and international gatherings<\/h5>\n