Quest For Agility - 100 Km Agile run

Hello wonderful folks,

As a part of my ‘Quest for Agility’ series, sharing this case study with you all. These are completely my views and observations , please feel free to agree / disagree / contradict / suggest /guide on the same. Idea is to trigger thought process and improve our cumulative understanding as Thought leaders.

I gave this talk on ‘100 km Agile run ‘ in an Agile and leadership conference in Pune, India.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Just Thought to share some content with you all here.

“Sometimes, you don't tell your dreams …..YOU LIVE THEM INSTEAD !!”

Some time back , I ran my first ever 100 km run on the rolling hills of western Ghats near Pune, India.

Though, I am passionate about running but was never ever got trained for such kind of Ultra run. Before this run, the longest distance ran by me was 42 kms. Let me share my experience about how by applying Agile / Scrum fundamentals, values and principles made it possible for me to finish my first ever 100 Km run.

Requirement User Story:

As a Runner, I want to finish 100 km Run within cut-off timing of 20 hours , so that I will be able to explore new dimensions of Being Human.

Let me start by training some light on how applying three pillars of agility - Transparency , Inspection and Adaptation , helped me in this run event.

1)      Transparency : Transparency is the foundation of Agility. Our degree of accuracy of inspection and adaptation completely depends upon the level of Transparency we have of any given situation.

In this run, it was very important for me to have transparency in monitoring and tracking my internal body conditions. I used Garmin activity tracker wrist watch for this. It helped me bringing transparency to my faculties and listening to responses from my body by transparently monitoring heart rate, blood Sugar levels, calories, cadence, oxygen intake, pace of my run, stride length etc.

Activity tracker gadget also helped me getting Transparency towards external factors like constant watch on humidity, Sensing weather conditions transparently, terrain, elevation gain, distance ran and distance left etc.

In the run I was not alone, I had my entire team along with me. My legs, hands, and other crucial body organs were my team mates during this run. I made sure to establish transparent communication channels and feedback loops with my Team mates. Sensing and listening to them closely and constantly and taking appropriate actions based upon the feedback.

2)      Inspection : Once I got right data about my internal and external situations of parameters mentioned above in transparency section, I could process the information and take the right decision. If transparency is at par, one can inspect in real time internal and external dynamics of ever changing situations in and around.

3)      Adaptation : Once Transparency and Inspection are perfectly tuned into the ecosystem , Thy can Adapt in time and efficiently, to deliver fully functional piece of code which in this case is completion of 100 Km Run. During the run, In case of Any deviation from the safe zone trajectory in terms of Heart rate, sugar levels, calories and other above mentioned parameters in Transparency section, I would take necessary and appropriate measures in terms of water and salts intake in right quantity and at right time, slowing down on my pace if needed, correcting / adjusting my stride length, cadence and body posture, taking in-time help from physio in case of any symptom of muscle pull or cramp etc.

Imbibing these three pillars(Transparency, inspection and adaptation) of Agility into my thought process and right application in this run really made me more efficient that helped me finishing the run in 17 hours.

Once you have these three pillars of Transparency, Inspection and Adaptation well established into your system, there are few more essentials to Agility that we should look into and that helped me to achieve this feat.

When the values of commitment, courage, focus, openness and respect are embodied and lived by the Scrum Team, the Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life and build trust for everyone. 

1)      Focus : It is an established fact that we humans are bad in focusing on too many things at a time and we tend to become error prone and generate waste while multi-tasking and context switching.

Therefore, I translated 100 K distance and cut-off time into Scrum Sprints.

I made One hour long sprints for myself. Every one hour , I would ask to myself, how much distance I need to run in this one hour, based upon the parameters mentioned above in transparency section and based upon which stage of 100 k run I was into.

Once I would decide and set the Sprint Goal , for example - ‘8 kms in next one hour’, then I would focus and orient myself completely into this hour to achieve sprint goal of 8 kms in that hour. Thus, Instead of keeping 100 kms in 20 hours cut-off in my mind, I just kept 8 kms in 1 hour in my mind.

At the end of every hour, I would have self talk retrospective with myself in order to inspect and adapt for the remaining course ahead.

I have seen fit athletes quitting races because of ankle twist or mere cramps. I didn’t want to lie in that category therefore I decided to focus on one step at a time with correct body posture and balance. It helped me remained injury free and It all worked wonders for me.

2)      Courage to undertake greater challenges, courage to express yourself as it is with honesty. Courage to accept situations as they really are. Courage to say ‘NO’ to the expectation that cannot be met.

Courage facilitates empiricism and collaborative teamwork.

It takes courage to ask for help or admit we do not know how to do something.

Transparency takes courage, and transparency helps us build trust. 

3)      Openness : During the run, I was open to express myself to the fellow runners. Some of the conversations during the run turned out to be blessings for me as I got amazing guidance and tips on the fly by some of experienced runners. Openness also came in handy when I was in need of Physio at one or two instances during the run. I learnt to unlearn few things and learn new things right then and there.

We need to express how we're doing, what's in our way, and our concerns so they can be addressed. All stakeholders agree to be open about all the work and the challenges with performing the work.

Openness to feedback, reflection, and changing the way we work.

4)      Commitment : Because we have great control over our own destiny as we believe run is one’s own making and so is life, we are more committed to success.

Commitment is about dedication to doing our best.

Committing to continuous improvement makes it easier to change direction based on new information or empirical data.

I demonstrated commitment by creating an Increment that meets my definition of "Done," – for Example, running 8 km in an hour (committed as Sprint Goal to myself)

5)      Respect : Respect facilitates empiricism and collaborative teamwork.

During the run, I never thought of quitting the race and thus I respected my own decisions and commitment to finish the race.

By having respect for people's diverse backgrounds, experiences, and range of skills, teams (in this case, my body parts) are able to effectively solve complex problems in creative ways.

Sharing successes and failures with fellow runners, we come to respect each other and to help each other become worthy of respect.

Yes, the run was tough, it tested most of the existential aspects of a human being. There were various ups and downs in those seventeen hours . But I just continued focusing on one step at a time. I never thought of giving up the run. I finished this run in 17 hours.

I must tell you that this was the most blissful experience of my life.

I realized that the point of Extreme uncertainty, fear and extreme efforts is also the point of utmost blissfulness, satisfaction and your alignment with the cosmos.

Before starting the run , What I was afraid of was, developing some serious injury, not finishing my run etc. But What actually happened to me was, 

I explored some remote dimensions within me. I looked beyond what I used to see. I earned one skill and Art for lifetime. Something evolved. Something transformed.

That is what happens to any individual, team and organization when they imbibe the essence of Agility in its entirety.

When I crossed the finish line , they gave me a beautiful medal that reads "Only those who have courage to travel far, will know how far they can go " and then in that moment I understood the true meaning of it as well and that became a learning for the lifetime.

Transparency is the foundation for any successful delivery. Being transparent to thyself within your mind, body and soul.

“Agility is a necessary prerequisite for any organism / System to be successful “ - Anonymous

Hope you find this share worthy. I share Coz, sharing is caring and growing together!

Happy Agile Learning !!