Do you know a good thing when you see it?
I got introduced to Agile while I worked at Siemens Medical Solutions, Malvern, USA. In fact I was one of the few lucky people to attend the Scrum Master training by Ken Schwaber! I could sense from the very outset that I was heading into an exiting new territory! Since then I never looked back. My perspective on Software development was reset for ever!
Recently I got the opportunity to download and listen to the entire audio book Who Moved My Cheese on my iPod. The book is remarkable for its simplicity. I have already started recommending it to my colleagues at work. I think this book can be very useful to people who are habitually sceptical of new ideas and always tend to hold on to past beliefs.
Here is a great quote from the book which I think holds special significance for new Agile parctitioners:
"Movement in a New Direction Helps You Find New Cheese"
I think that most organizations struggle with Agile adoption due to lack of firm commitment from Senior Management. We all know that the greatest impediment to any change is the "fear of change" itself. As human beings we love to hold on to our familiar self and tend to avoid changes as much as possible. The tendency to hold on to our past belief systems increases with biological age. As a consequence, senior organization leaders often feel a lot of discomfort adopting Agile in its true spirit. So we often witness a mishmash of incompatible practices and techniques which only leads to confusion and demotivation to the team members.
Lesson: "Old Beliefs Do Not Lead You to New Cheese"
Some slides from the book are available at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10317227/Who-Moved-My-Cheese. I think this is worth a read.
"Move With The Cheese And Enjoy It!"
