Scrum (for those who are not aware) is an iterative and incremental agile software development framework for managing product development. Borrowed from the game of Rugby it is a process where team members come together before restarting the game. There is way too much similarity between Life and work and I thought it would be interesting to discuss the Agile Scrum Methodology in examples of Life

Our Life comes with its own set of impediments that need to be removed on a regular basis. There is no life without impediments and hurdles. In a Scrum Team the Scrum Master does it, In life you got to do it.

The impediments or hurdles that we have in Life; some are our making while some are other people’s making and some are because of the uncertainties life presents us with. Again some are just as the way life is; You got to be of certain age to start driving a car for example :).

The success of any life is in our ability to remove impediments that we can, plan for the uncertainties, mitigate the risks you can anticipate and finally building your life around the hurdles that you have no control over.

This is pretty much how it works in Agile Development as well. Firstly and the Scrum Master is the guy who ensures the team is following the process and as a ‘Servant Leader’ (more on this on another post) he works to remove the hurdles. You need to start being that guy in your life. Many people do this but knowing you got to do it helps you realize you are the one on whose shoulder the responsibility lies when it comes to you life.

Just like software in an Agile environment; Life is also about continuous improvement. Be it your professional, personal or social life, you need to continuously improve. This improvement could be on a lot of development areas like skills, communication, interaction, finance, and so on. You need a planned approach and review to see if you are improving continuously.

Breaking things into small pieces. You need to set up long term and short term goals and you need to make your goals into small chunks so you can focus, achieve and build may be on a weekly or bi weekly cycle.

Scrum in Life required individuals to sharpen their skills helping them to create result oriented Goal based plan that can take them to the next level.

You might be stuck in a Job, Putting off a passion of yours or not finding time to learn something that you always wanted you. I believe it is all in us and our ability to be our own Scrum Master.

Our approaches are driven by our commitment to the concept of iteration and continuous improvement. The process of breaking down goals into small pieces and working on iterations to make it happen. The process of evaluating your achievement and making changes to your next steps and ensuring you reach where you are heading for.

There is no magic trick here except for planning and working out the plan so you can analyze and evaluate both your success and failures as both of them add to your Journey.

Categories: Blog, Enjoying Life and Work