2020 Make Interactions Intentional

At the beginning of 2019, I was in India. I decided with my team that I wanted to begin the year, taking my followers and social groups back to the Agile Manifesto value by value, Principle by Principle. I said I was going to start talking about the basics, taking us right back to the very basics of everything that has to do with being agile and doing Scrum. That had been my thought. I have to be totally transparent; I began but got busy with implementation with our clients and I wasn't able to do it justice. I made lots of notes and started several articles, but they were all floating in thin air incomplete. 

I did many retrospectives and came to the truth that at the time, my value focus was elsewhere. I am a firm believer that everything that happens on an individual's journey is a stepping stone to their next level. You may ask what next level Lizzy? Last year I may have articulated my thoughts around an individual's career and business ambitions, this year I’m making a change.. 

2020 I am going to articulate to you from the focus point of intention. As I journeyed through 2019, I experienced moments of monotonous existence where the passion and peace that I usually experienced wasn't present.

I used some of my life coaching techniques on myself and spent much time in coaching to help me inspect and find better ways to get to what is my passion for tomorrow.  

When I realized it was not about taking us back to basics. Instead, it was more valuable aligning us with our individual why. It is our why, that purpose that provides the focus for our personal intention.

There is a paragraph in the Agile Manifesto that we overlook. Let me bring it to your attention and share what it inspired in me. It is my hope that it will inspire something new in you to align you to your 2020 purpose. 

The Statement:

"We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.

Through this work, we have come to value."

We - had you ever noticed that this is the first paragraph that asks us to look beyond ourselves. In taking that first step to look beyond ourselves, we are doing it to make our commitment to uncovering better ways of doing our assignments. Assignments could be software development, experience innovation, process mapping or even organizational change or strategic engineering.

We and Doing - leapt off the page at me. Helping others was the crescendo. I found I had my greatest passion when I was assisting others in discovering what they were able to do as an individual and then helping them uncover how they contribute to helping others do the same.

Then the collaborating of our talents “Doing” together with a strong commitment to always uncovering the next best way becomes our focus. It creates an intention that supersedes motivation. Intention becomes the focus engine to take us to the most valuable destination point. 

In conclusion, for now, the first Agile Value: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools. It provides the first step. 

2020 I challenge us to be intentional individuals committed to developing collaboration that drives value today and tomorrow. To teach and demonstrate willful Agility that evolves with time. Are you ready?