Operation Get Things Done: Imagine Big, Plan Smart

Ever felt like a group project to create something was as about satisfying and fun as "herding cats and dogs not willing to play nice" (I literally just made that up).

Back in late January, I took a day long workshop to formally learn all about this Agile/SCRUM process that software developers and manufacturers . (Operative phrase: Get Things Done.) I had tried reading Getting Things Done by David Allen but never bought into the methodology or perhaps it was that I needed to read the whole book and got sidetracked too often...yeah that was it.

So I took this workshop instead and got it all in one day. We were asked what our goals were at 9 a.m. in the morning. Then we were asked what was to be the group goal.

I determined I wanted to learn what Agile was and how SCRUM could be applied to all areas of my life to enhance my productivity and general sense of contentment.

And I had real live examples I wanted to apply my learning to.

I literally had two book production projects in process...which became my test projects:

If I were to: 

• Consider the other team members needed to make a project happen right.
• Determine if the idea being implemented was big enough and solved a problem for a lot of people.
• Identify some "user stories" for the sake of marketing.
• Scope out the backlog aka the big wishlist of features for these "users."
• Organize the creation of these features based on who needs what and why and when.
• Then prioritize what is most important to basically start, launch and monetize as quickly as possible.
• Then "accessorize" and add levels of details as it makes sense (and more money).

If I could do this, I would be happy and make a few other people happy too!

It all makes such sense doesn’t it? In a nutshell I left that workshop with this short list of ideas and concepts:

Imagine Big.

Plan Smart.

Break down into manageable stages of required work in the right order.

Respect team members and their roles.

Don’t try to do it all.

Stay in communication.

Monitor and evaluate and refine progressively in manageable sprints.

Stay focused on the Goal.

So what happened to my two live guinea pigs?

Burn Your Resume. You Need a Professional Profile TM was a manuscript in need of a cover and an interior formatting. Week by week we made progress and even though dates for completing the cover and the interior slipped, the team stayed connected, generally calm, and March 14 at 1 a.m. we published a high quality read we think looks great. And meanwhile in another corner of the Universe, the companion website was being spiffed up in preparation for our newborn book we hope helps A LOT of people.

And the bonus: We, the co-authors, remained friends in the process and look forward to the next project in the series.

Message in a Bottle goes to press later this week with even more ease and as much beauty inside and out. I’m thinking I learned something from the previous experience and applied the best wisdom.

So last month I attended this workshop offered on a pay what you can basis and gained the missing piece in how to PRIORITIZE was found and used and IT WORKED!

There may still be room or follow Conscires to be advised in advance when this Agile/SCRUM workshop returns.

Our fearless leader, Lisa Montano is a fine facilitator. Her journey from one professional role to the facilitator/trainer she is (so elegantly) does not have technical roots BUT she is tech-savvy and "multi-lingual" in a sense. She reminds me of a dear friend of mine who studied art and fashion in college and wound up in technical sales, started her own venture before eventually joining a start-up and became a Senior VP of Product Solutions for an enterprise software company.

Left brain meet right brain and see a start-up grow to a success!

The venue Friends, Philosophy & Tea is perfect for the topic of "thinking outside the box/cubicle/corporate structure" in the name of creating systems and products and offerings that work well—for the people they are intended.

In fact, the first three participants to arrive literally said to me as I helped them make name tags, "What a great place for this workshop." 

Why you wonder? The environment is so unexpected. So open and receptive is the literal environment it becomes an easy place to think beyond the normal and accepted ways of doing things. It became easier to think Agile and consider Alternative Approaches.

May I say again:

Left brain meet right brain and see a start-up grow to a success!

Have you ever considered using Agile Principles and SCRUM workflow in how you do anything or for that matter everything? I would encourage it.