The Agile Gym Never Closes

To my mind, there’s little that we can more readily compare Agile to, as a mindset, than working out. So if you don’t and never have, never will, -hats off for that resolute stance bedazzling as it may be- the following will make no sense, so you may want to skip it and come back next week to read a story about the CTOWhoWantedToLandscape. 

So yes, Agile is like physical performance. I mean true WoTnotWoW Agile not the one where you go through the motions - the real lounge not the curtsy. It’s easiest to compare it to the smarter training methods out there. HiiT. CrossFit. Going hard, intensely. Grit. Determination. Resilience. Optimised endurance. All that good stuff. 

The main reason why these methods have come about has been to fit with our modern-day demands on time and efficiency and incorporate our new understanding of the way our bodies work. Just like Agile has come about, because we needed the speed and the collaboration that fit VUCA demands. 

One of the main things that are better about these methods as compared to traditional exercise, is the “afterburn” (how long your body continues to burn calories post-workout). Equally, I think the beauty of having a truly Agile mindset is that it lasts far after the stand-up, and far after the workday is done and often changes how we view the world so profoundly, that we start seeing ways to deconstruct problems into backlog tickets to be worked on collaboratively and “un-sequentially” anywhere around us, including in our everyday personal lives. 

If doing Agile work-wise is our HiiT or CrossFit (preferably the latter as the goal is more often about strength and ability, not quick fat loss) then its afterburn is when the way we think has altered so deeply, that it translates to life in every other instance. And when life is a series of projects that suddenly always appear “tackable” it’s hard not to have a “can-do attitude”. You’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who works out seriously who’s a die-hard pessimist. It’s hard to believe everything is futile and life is one giant immutable dark cloud with all those endorphins flying around. 

It’s hard to believe that our team is never going to make it, or our project is doomed when we have Agile-endorphins flooding the bloodstream. Those times in the middle of a retro when we look around (…the zoom video boxes) and we have a little jolt of pleasure realising we’re enjoying it. The work. The impact. The effects. The dynamic of it. That we’re fortunate to work with this “family”. That there’s some magic in the tickets we moved to the “Done” column. Or that amazing feeling we get when we -so rarely- see the end consumers love something we delivered in the last few sprints. Agile endorphins we would never even dream to experience in an eternal waterfall project. 

And realistically, Agile is like neither of these specific types of exercise but like all of them put together. The things it is resolutely nothing like, are inaction, inflexibility, laziness and dejection. Irrespective of method and incarnation, it stays constantly bettering irrespective how things change and they do. Some sprints it’s a savage Body Attack HiiT class. Others, it’s a CrossFit competition we simply must ace or a new BodyPump release. Some others still, it’s a long slog of high repetition with low weights. Or even low repetition with high weights and perfect form. Or the obsessive and head-clearing marathon training. Combined with the boxing. Or the Pilates, dancing or swimming. Or even the Ironman Triathlon. 

At times results just obstinately don’t show in any mirror and on any of the boards, so we may stop measuring and hoping altogether but we catch ourselves and continue. All of these have introspection, determination, dedication and a sense of incremental improvement in common so realistically, we ought to be proud, that is if we’re willing to set modesty aside for long enough to admit it.

Unfortunately, the many things we do and the oscillation between the methods above are not part of some PT-extraordinaire’s master plan on how to guarantee transformation or betterment but a lot more unpredictable, dictated by business and life imperatives or sheer circumstance, so it does feel a lot more unnerving. 

Earlier this year, for all of us, it was none of the above but instead, a lockdown-closed gym replaced with the struggle to believe our long walks and workouts in the back of the garden will ever measure up when we knew they wouldn’t. But even when it’s all closed and the path ahead seems impossible to make out, we still always know the better way, the effective way, the way that makes us get the best results the fastest and have the resilience to get back to it as soon as we can. 

Working-out consistently is never second nature or eternally joyful and the most elite of athletes will still have days when they need every ounce of self-motivation they can muster to get in the gym. Most will tell you those are the days that count. That you have to win that battle in your head and still get through it if you want performance. 

Thankfully Agile is never a lonesome athlete sport as it’s only the team’s overall score that counts. Team sports are easier than individual athleticism - the shared accountability, motivation and ultimately the joint growth make for a far more fun proposition. So it’s more probable that it will work. It’s more pleasurable. It’s more likely to turn into a “lifestyle” in lieu of a lapsed gym membership. 

So whether your choices are aerobic or anaerobic, just your keep your team score high and your Agile endorphins flowing so we can all share the afterburn. 

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Don't send your teams home with a laptop, a Jira and Slack account and a prayer!

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