Datasheet

Finally, despite my personal dislike for the term user – which has too
many negative overtones – there’s no more suitable term in widespread
use to describe the people who make use of our software. The term customer
can sometimes substitute, but customers and users aren’t always the same.
1.9 Begin with Yourself
The primary objective of this book is to give you, the reader, an understanding
of how you can help software development teams improve their ability to learn,
allow them to change the way in which they work and adopt a more Agile
approach to development. During the course of the book, we will look at
various theories of learning and change, we will discuss examples of learning
and change and we will suggest some actions that you can take to help teams
learn and change.
Naturally, this leads to the following questions: Where do I begin? What do I do
first?
The answer is: Begin with yourself. First seek to improve your own learning
and understanding of the situation in which you find yourself.
We will return to this theme again and again, because if you can’t improve
yourself, then you can’t improve your team. Conversely, if you can improve
yourself, then you’re in a better position to help others and act as a role model
and mentor.
Rather than wait until you’ve finished reading this book, I suggest that you
start now. As you read the book, think about the ideas and suggestions
presented and how they apply to you and your team.
In order to do this, you’ll need to take some time to think about this book, your
team, your organization and your current environment. You might like to
schedule some time during the week when you can do this. You might also like
to undertake your thinking with a partner – in which case the thinking becomes
a discussion. It isn’t essential that your partner also reads this book, but he or
she should share your interest.
If you don’t have a partner to work with, you can still do this by yourself.
Keeping a personal journal, or diary, can be an effective mechanism for ordering
and recording your thinking. You could use an online Blog for the same
purposes, but if you do be aware that others – including your team-mates –
might read your thoughts. You may not have anything to hide, but knowing that
your thoughts are private allows you to express yourself in different ways and to
speculate. Alternatively, you could try drawing mind-maps, talking to the dog
or just taking long thoughtful baths. Whatever you do, try to think!
Try to think about your organization and environment. Do you understand
what the organization is trying to achieve? Or what’s happening around you?
Or why recent decisions have been made?
Introduction 13