gru and css

But CSS is my least concern for this blog… I said in the title the blog is changing inside-out; as I am the one writing the posts here, it means that I am changing! And with “changing” I mean taking actions!

Retrospectives

Of all the agile processes, I have to admit that respospectives is by far my favourite. I have been part of them, but I have mostly moderated them and they have changed a big part of how I treat other. They have helped me take my mind off the problem and think about solutions (via action items). For years, I was the person that was going with the flow and retros have taken me many times out of my comfort zone - I perceived team work in another way, got calmer and took a more active role in my projects. Still there is so much room for personal improvement, but the journey has already begun ;)

There is always this prime directive in mind:

“Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.”
–Norm Kerth, Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Review

When I was asking people, to read this out loud at the beginning of the sessions, they never got it at first. My response then was:
“Nobody in this room is an a@@hole, it is just happens because of the circumstances given.”
Everyone would agree with me and participants would change their angry attitude immediately. Because it happens, that people see the retros as an opportunity to complain and get rid of responsibilities, when the real purpose is to reflect and get better.

Today of course, the retro was not part of a usual sprint; in this apprenticeship program, we fight together to grow and become professional. We individually go through the different stages, but at the same time we can collaborate and learn from each other’s mistakes. My life so far has been putting me next to people that always knew more. For a long time I had been missing opportunities to learn, because I felt that when people see I cannot follow what they do, I would be considered lame or even get humiliated.

It is a complex that I tried hard to take off my back and now I have reduced it to the point that “I just accept it and try hard to get better”…and I got better :) So yeah, the most important tool in the apprentice's toolbox turns out to be not only passion for the craft, but also confidence.

When you have confidence and you accept your weaknesses, all is left to do, is expose yourself and ask questions. I feel that this retrospective will bring more collaboration between us here; we will stop hiding behind our books in order to get ready for pairings or projects.

What’s worse than people realizing that you don’t know stuff?
Well, missing a great opportunity to get better at it faster! Missing details that will never come with theory and of course AMAZING discussions.

can't do it

Song of the day