The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness. Niels Bohr
Openness is synonymous with transparency, and this requires candid and frank communication. The most important word in the previous sentence is communication – if this isn’t happening then openness is simply impossible. This can be a challenging value to hold dear and is particularly difficult to achieve if respect and courage are not yet instilled, and even more difficult it trust is yet to be established – this is probably why Commitment is the first value! Anyone affected by conversations and decisions must be made aware as soon as possible – and without disrupting their current focus. Openness needs to be considered at the highest levels of the organisation. Consider distributed, multiple teams facing a common impediment. There is little opportunity for passive communication and it’s probably something that is not within a single team’s control – in this situation openness becomes essential to everyone. Continue reading »Jul 312011
Today I was self-respecting – as I often do towards the end of an engagement – and found myself looking for inspirational quotes around opportunity..of which plenty abounds in India. As I considered everything I happened upon in the last six months, both professional and personal, I realise that I have been lacking in something. Courage.
As I tried to focus on when and where and how to improve I began to correlate with Scrum values. Over the last several years these ideals became so embedded in my way of working that I simply forgot about them..and recent exploration has confirmed my fears – that most people who are actively pursuing or practicing Scrum are also lacking in conscious knowledge of these core ideals. I only recall ever seeing these in black and white in the very first Scrum book I read by Ken Schwaber Continue reading »
