Let there be Space..

I used to tell bed time story to my kid. Tonight, for a change, my kid started to tell a story. As a father, i was so excited..So, mindfuly listened the story.

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The Story:

Anna and Bianca..both were studying in same class and enjoying their summer holidays.As they were fond of pets, especially birds, they asked their parents to buy birds. The parents bought the birds and the two friends were in great excitement. Suddenly, Anna told Bianca..Oh..these birds have wings and they can fly anytime and leave us..So..We will build a big cage in our garden so that we can go inside the cage and feed them.They built a big cage and put the birds inside.Whenever they wanted to feed the birds, they went inside the cage, locked the door, fed the birds and played with them.

The summer holidays were over and both went to school. Their new teacher came and started to take the classes. The teacher was so strict and expected a strict discipline in the classroom.She taught lessons sincerely but never allowed any kid to express their questions in the class room.Anna and Bianca were really disappointed with the teacher and started to hate going to school. One day,the teacher wrote a problem in the blackboard and asked the students to give the solution. Without giving ample time to the students, she immediately solved the problem.

When the class was about to over,she gave assignments and asked them to complete by tomorrow. Students became clueless and afraid to ask their doubts. The teacher became the subject of her class students lunchtime gossip.Anna and Bianca were seriously upset with their class teacher. They got struck when they were trying to solve their school assignment problem. Anna's grandfather came to the rescue and asked reason for their worrisome faces. They narrated the whole story to the him. He helped them to solve their assignement problems and gave an idea to teach a strong lesson to their class teacher.

Next day, before leaving to home, they invited the teacher to home for Anna's birthday party. Initially, the teacher hesitated to go there but later she agreed their invite. The party started and teacher was so excited to go inside the cage and play with birds. Grandpa also went inside the cage. The teacher questioned him why you built a big cage instead of small one.He laughed and told the size of the cage does not matter to the birds!! She stunned and realized her mistake.They freed the birds from the cage and saw them happily flying on the sky. 

Next day morning, they started to hear many bird tweets in their garden. They eagerly went to garden.. There they saw a wonderful sight. The birds came back but along with many new birds. The kids happily fed the birds and played with them. This time,there was sense of safety and joy in that atmosphere..!!

Usually, I end my story with some moral values and thrilled to hear that from my kid. The golden words came 

The cage is still a cage whether it is big or small..!!

The birds have wings and they are born to fly..!! Let us give them space..!!

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After telling these words, my kid wished me good night and slept peacefully. But.. it opened my inner eye..!!

Let us give them space..

How beautiful the word Space is..!! Space is a fascinating thing.. Our universe exists in space and still it is expanding..!! How big the space?Nobody knows..!! It acts as a substratum for every objects to thrive..!! Personal space is very vital for any healthy relationship to grow!! Even all the true seekers are keen to focus on the space between the thoughts.. Space.. Stillness..brings mindfulness and helps to see the thing as is and live the art of the possible..!!

Any team to succeed, there should be enough space to experiment and grow..That is the essence of Empiricism too..In this complex world, creative space is essential to fail fast, learn and grow..Any true conversation needs a brave space..It destroys the wall and constructs a bridge between the two souls..!! The Brave space nurtures the psychological safety among the team members and removes all the 5 dysfunctions (Lack of trust, Fear of conflict, Lack of commitment,Avoidance of accountability, Inattention to results) of team mentioned by Patrick Lencioni in his book.

When people started to complain that the Scrum guide is not prescriptive, and that is the reason for its failure,clearly shows how ignorant they are..!! The creators of Scrum guide knows the importance of creative space and how essential it is for the agility.Too much prescription is a mockery to intelligence..!! The prescription for the Business agility is not to be too prescriptive..!! The Scrum guide gave enough space for its practitioners to experiment and learn.

The Chaotic mind never creates space because it does not know about what the space means..!!

In order to understand the deeper essence of scrum, it is vital for the Scrum master to master his inner space..!! To become a great scrum master, he should first trust the team by creating a space for the team to experiment and learn..That will nurture the self organization of the team..!!

Without mastering the inner space, the scrum master cannot help the oragnization to embrace the change and get ahead.!!

Let there be Space..

The Scrum Master Journey continues...