A cornerstone of the agile community is collaboration. However, I came away from Agile 2008 feeling slightly deflated. Over the past few months one of our teams cited the lack of respect as the root cause for the breakdown in collaboration they were experiencing. A lack of respect is in itself a symptom of something else more fundamental - the absence of humility. Humility is not self-debasement but rather the ability to get over ones own ego and false pride. The humble person genuinely listens with interest and without conceit to other peoples’ points of view. Humility creates context for the open exchange of information and ideas regardless of the difference in experience of the people involved and sets a stage for shared learning.
What happens when humility departs? Collaboration breaks down, communication becomes broadcast, people talk at and past one another. I wonder what the perception of people new to the agile community was of the conference experts and aficionados? I witnessed a number of conversations around the open spaces where some experts demonstrated an outward disinterest. The interactions seemed empty, devoid of meaningful engagement. Is this a side-effect of excessive pride, the feeling that nothing can be learned from people who are not seen as part of the clique? We’re all vulnerable to attacks of pride, myself included. The worst thing was, in that environment, I sometimes found myself demonstrating the same behaviors and it left a bitter taste in my mouth. It would appear the effect is contagious. Is this some kind of competition for kudos?
Perhaps it’s time people took a step back and did some introspection before engaging with the wider community again. Mary Poppendieck pointed out the difference between smart and wise. Smart people provide intellectual horsepower whereas wise people go further, they also ask for and offer help, they demonstrate humility. Maybe the agile community needs a bit more wisdom and a bit less smartness.
2 Comments
Interesting. I couldn't make it to the conference, but I have certainly noticed that the leaders who I look up to in the agile community tend to display remarkable humility. Hopefully, their example will continue to influence the community.
It's easy to think that wise people display humility because, having achieved their wisdom, they realise that humility is the right thing to do. A more interesting hypothesis is the exact opposite: that humility is one of the things that led to their wisdom (since a humble person will learn more quickly).
One of the things I have noticed at the Agile conferences is we all seem to be talking to ourselves - the same speakers go from one conference to another.