## Introduction

Today I would like to write a little bit about a subject that we all know about, but it’s been always difficult to deal with - **failure**. It is part of your life, it’s part of my life and no matter how much we try, we are not able to prevent it. Actually, we can prevent it, by not doing anything, but… Wait, isn’t it a failure too?

In my last post I quoted **Brené Brown** and I would like to do it again, because I strongly believe in her words: > There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.

Failure will always be part of our lives, but we can experience it and learn from it or struggle with moving forward. **What do you choose?**

![Failure](img/failure_scrum_blog.png)

## Scrum & Failure

You could wonder - "Why is she talking about failure, if this blog is about Scrum, Agile etc?". The answer is simple - failure is an inevitable part of the Scrum framework and Agile way of working. 

As you may remember, Scrum is founded on empiricism and following the [Scrum Guide](https://scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html):

> Empiricism asserts that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is observed.

If knowledge comes from experience, it means that we learn based on events that occur in our lives - either positive or negative like failure.  Following this conclusion, failure is an important part of the Scrum, because we can learn from it and adapt our behaviour. 

## Failure & Agile mindset 

Nowadays there are many ways of interpreting **Agile**, but I will keep repeating like a broken record that it is not a methodology, it is a **mindset**.  I wanted to highlight it, because to be able to deal with failure, we need to have the right mindset.  Being open for changes, even if they potentially can bring failure is important. 

With that mindset it is easier to find better solutions when you experience failure or any issues in your life. 

I keep learning every day to stay focused on the positive impact of every situation in my life, even if it’s not easy for me. That’s how you can not only **"do Agile"**, but **"be Agile"** in your daily life. 

![Mindset](img/mindset.jpg)

## Failure and environment

There is one crucial aspect in dealing with failure that can change everything - **environment**, conditions in which you operate. 

It is easy to say "I cannot understand how she/he didn’t deal with that failure and what they did with their lives. If I were she/he in this place, I would overcome it easily or solve it differently."

The thing is - **you are not in her/his place**, because you probably have a totally different environment that would help you to deal with failure. Not everyone is so lucky e.g. losing a job for someone who has a supporting partner, family will be a totally different experience than losing a job for someone who has depression and is fighting with their family everyday. 

One of the Agile principles in the [Agile Manifesto](https://agilemanifesto.org/) is saying:

> Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done

I would like to highlight two parts of this principle **"environment"** and **"support they need"**. To be able to learn from your failures require the right environment and support that you need. 

In the business context it is not as easy as it sounds, because in many organizations there is no space for any failure or mistake. 

What does it mean for people? They will not even try, they will not be creative, because they will be afraid of making mistakes and being punished for that.  That’s definitely an environment that we would like to avoid.  Employees are the most creative when they have space to try new things and they have support from the organization.
![Support](img/support.jpg)

## Failure and Perfectionism

I am one of the people who are struggling with **perfectionism** in their life. Sometimes it is a blessing for me, because I aim to do everything the best I can.  Unfortunately, it is also an issue, because I am struggling if I don’t achieve 100% and I don’t deliver something perfect. You can imagine what happens in my mind when I fail. 
For a long period of time in my life, I was blaming myself for every mistake, even small. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and it was impacting my next actions. 

I learned how to stop doing it through Ultimate Frisbee - a sport that I play. I noticed that every time when I was blaming myself for mistakes on the field, I was making even more mistakes and it was stopping me from enjoying the game.  At some point I decided to focus only on my next move, instead of thinking about the past mistakes. 

![Perfectionism](img/perfectionism.jpg)

It is easier in sports than in daily life, but I try to apply it to my work & other personal activities as well. I am sure that I am not the only person who is struggling with perfectionism, because I’ve met many people like me in my career. 

If you are one of these people and you are struggling with thinking about your mistakes, failures, **don’t be harsh on yourself**. I know how difficult it can be, but I also know how important it is for mental health to focus on your current or next steps instead of blaming yourself for mistakes.  Whatever you think, ask yourself if you would say the same words to your close friend if they would make the same mistake. Most of the time, the answer would be "no", so analyse if you want to talk to yourself that way. 

Understanding that nothing is perfect is an important part of the Agile way of working. It allows people to fail and try new solutions or discover why the action didn’t bring any value. 

## Summary

To summarize, failure is an important part of Agile/Scrum, but what is more important - it is inevitable part of our lives!  Think about it as an experience that you can learn from. Don’t forget about support for people around you who are struggling with failure in their lives. **Your few empowering words can change someone's day and help them to move forward**. 

Last, but not least, **don’t be harsh on yourself** when you experience failure in your life. Treat yourself the same way as you would treat your friend. 

Let me know what you think about failure. Do you agree with my opinion that it is part of Agile & Scrum? Feel free to comment here or start discussion on LinkedIn/Instagram.

Have you ever thought about failure in regards to Scrum, Agile? How do you deal with failure? In this post you will have a look at a failure from a different angle and discover its value.

Scrum, Agile and failure 

## Introduction

It’s been a while since I wrote the last post here. I’ve started thinking about it - how did it happen that I stopped writing?  There are many reasons, but today I would like to focus on one that was the most important: **change**. 

People frequently underestimate how even small changes can affect their lives. In my case I changed a job, so it was a significant disruption of my life. I had to get out of my comfort zone and face the new environment, people & standards again. 

I have a love-hate relationship with change. I am always super excited before it comes. When it really happens, I get stressed and overwhelmed. Then I experience new things, learn and at the end I am really happy that I welcomed change in my life. 

I strongly believe that one of the **Agile values**: 

>Responding to change over following a plan

can be applied not only in a business, but also in a personal life context.  Nowadays, no matter how much we try, we will not be able to avoid changes. They will be happening even if we will have wonderful fully-detailed plans. The question is not if they happen, but how we will respond when they do. 

![Change](img/change_2.png)

## How to adapt to change? 

There are few things that I believe can help when we try to adapt to change in both scenarios - business & personal life.

## 1. Don’t be too hard on yourself - failure is inevitable 

Being hard on myself - that’s a mistake that I still make, but I try to minimize it every time when change comes.  No matter how much we try, we will fail and we will be making mistakes. Blaming ourselves or anyone else doesn’t bring any value but makes the process even more difficult. 

Accepting that issues will appear can help to change the focus from mistakes to small achievements during the process of change.  That on the other hand will boost up your energy level and help you to deal with difficult parts.

Whenever you try to adapt to change and make mistake, keep the words of Brene Brown in your mind:

>There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.

## 2. Start from small steps & be consistent

I started this blog by developing a simple habit - writing a minimum 15 minutes daily. That was back when I was working from home every day and I was always writing at the same time.  When changes came into my life (e.g. working partially in the office) I had to start development of my habits again. I must admit - it is hard!  I know that what really helps me adapt to change are small steps. These 15 minutes of writing were no longer easy for me due to different circumstances in my life. I had to approve it and figure out my starting point - the smallest steps possible like writing even a few words or thinking about what I would like to write about. 

In the business it’s exactly the same. When change comes, not everything will be working as we planned, but we need to slowly adapt - step by step.  There is one sentence that I saw so many times in Scrum/Agile materials and I believe it is really important: 

> consistency reduces complexity

Even the smallest steps can help to develop habits if we will be taking them consistently at the same time and place. 

![Steps](img/steps.jpg)

## 3. Feel the fear & take action anyway

It is OK to be afraid of change and it’s OK when you feel overwhelmed. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about your personal life here or about change in your company. We are humans and feeling fear is our natural and primitive human emotion. It is a survival mechanism that alerts us to the present of danger. 

When we experience change, it is quite possible that we will feel fear. It is normal, but it is important to not be frozen in fear.  You need to take action anyway! That is the only way to adapt to change - by taking action. Fear will be still present in your life, so get used to it and learn how to live with it and do not let it stop you from action.

![Fear](img/fear.jpg)

## Summary

I know that there are many more ideas that can help you adapt to change, but I believe that these 3 points are the most important.  

Remember: 
* You will fail, but that’s part of the process. Don’t be too hard on yourself. 

* Adapt to change by doing small steps and be consistent. 

* Get used to feeling fear and take action anyway.
Let me know what you find the most helpful in adapting to change. Feel free to add comments here or start a discussion on LinkedIn/ Twitter. 

People frequently underestimate how even small changes can affect their lives. Changes are unavoidable, so that we need to be ready for them. In this post you can find few things that can help you in the adaptation process.

2 posts tagged with #personal development