The Grindstone of Agility - A Positive View of the Agile Community and the Future

What is it that makes the members of the Agile community so close? We come from different walks of life, yet at conferences and meetups, we greet each other with warmth, as friends. Perhaps it is because as trainers and coaches, we see the world through a lens that gives us a uniquely positive view of the future: in our work we are fostering collaborative and uplifting workplaces for humans, the individuals behind the shiny impenetrable face of corporations. We are working to help the humans of the workforce AND we believe that Agile actually has a wider potential reach than just the workforce.

Grindstone: a stone disk used for polishing, grinding or sharpening tools.

The toil of corporate coaching has both marked our souls and produced an everlasting bond. We dare to imagine an Agile society, Agile schools, Agile governments: based on the Agile Manifesto’s principles. We believe in trust, respect, face-to-face interactions, people over process, motivation and self-organization. We are walking the talk: upholding these values and principles gives us a sense of purpose and a strong belief that the future will be a better place. Together we swim upstream daily (right into the waterfall you could even say).  In classrooms, corporate offices where we coach, and the blogosphere the environment is peppered with naysayers and pessimists. Instead one can have a more positive view of the future.

This is where learning and co-creating happens: the grindstone of Agility.

The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal, and that goal applies the same in the workplace as it does everywhere else. It goes beyond just the Agile community. Together we can make a huge impact on the world of work and society as a whole, with positive attitude as our vehicle. Considering many of us spend over 100,000 hours at work over a lifetime, why not improve that experience? As we all know, aiming high is a good character trait, and supporting each other, a valiant aim.

Let’s create more willingness to accept that lofty goal, and recognize that the grindstone is a long-term polishing process that requires positivity.

by Nima Honarmandan and Katie Weston

Check out the recent article by Valerie along the same topic: Build Positive Relationships with Trust in Your (Work) Life.

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