Month: February 2021

Am I asking advice from the right person?

 

You need an advice on something and not sure who to ask? Would you ask your parents, your friends, your co-workers, your therapist, your neighbour, a total stranger?

As kids we tend to look up to our parents for answers, they seem to know everything. As we grow older, however, we find out that maybe they don’t have all the answers after all.

So who should you ask advice if you have a medical concern? A doctor.

Who should you ask advice if you have a dental issue? A dentist.

Who should you ask advice if you want to invest your money and want to know how to plan for retirement? A financial coach….Your mom? depends, is she debt-free and have a least a million$ into retirement? then yeah sure.

Who should you ask advice if you need a mortgage? A mortgage broker.

Who should you ask advice about becoming a Scrum Master? A Scrum Master who is still working as a Scrum Master.

As you can see, if looking for a serious advice,  ask a professional in that field. But they aren’t the only ones you could ask based on what you are looking for …

What type of advice are you seeking?

It’s possible you don’t want a serious advice from one professional, it depends what you seek.

Ask yourself: what advice am I looking for?

Why am I asking for advice?

Do I want someone to tell me how they did things so I can copy it?

Do I want the opinion of different types of people to see all possible options? to keep an open mind

Am I just curious to know what other people think?

What am I going to do with the answer they provide me? 

How important is the question I am asking?

Would I ask a total stranger what university program to choose? Would my parents really know the rate of success of the field I am going to and can they predict the future? How can someone else know who can make me happy? Would my best-friend know what pair of shoes would fit my feet? Yeah they look nice but I’m the one who is hurting when I put them on.

How do I find the right professional?

Referrals, referrals, referrals!

Read up on their background. Ask them questions. Check out what online reviews say but take it with a grain of salt (you don’t actually know who wrote it and how long ago it was written).

If you are looking for a financial coach, is that person debt-free? Is that person wealthy? Why would I go with a financial coach if s/he is broke? Ask them.

If you are talking with a mortgage broker or the bank mortgage advisor, has that person ever had a mortgage?

The person who is giving you interview advice, when was the last time they went for a Scrum Master interview? How many of those they applied to did they actually receive an offer?

By the way, you can always get a second opinion. At the end of the day, you ARE the one who will make the final decision.

 

I believe in integrity and honesty. If I refer someone, then that person has the experience, integrity, reliability (they return phone calls pretty fast), professionalism, and doesn’t talk bull-shit . There are only a handful of people (mortgage broker, agile coach, scrum master, product owner) I would recommend without hesitation.

 

Who have you seeked advice from and you would refer?Seeking advice from the right person

Can I be a Scrum Master if I am an introvert?

Introvert Scrum Master

A Scrum Master can be an introvert too

Why not? I am an introvert and I met other Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches who were also introverts. We are doing FINE!

 

Some people won’t believe that I’m an introvert. Just because I am friendly it doesn’t mean I am an extrovert. I don’t go to parties to become the center of attention. I don’t seek attention. By the way, I used to be really shy. Yep! And guess what, many people that I talk to and tell me they used to be shy, I didn’t believe it either. But I do get it, look at me, I worked a lot consciously to overcome my shyness, and I am doing a whole lot better. 

 

If there are things you want to change about yourself, it requires YOU to work constantly on it. You don’t magically change overnight.

 

The thing you have to ask yourself is: what exactly is it that I find difficult in the role of the Scrum Master? 

  • Is it having to deal with conflicts?
  • Is it doing presentations?
  • Is it dealing with people with difficult personalities?

 

Break it down to the most basic statements. Then the fun part starts.

 

When you ask yourself the following questions, close your eyes and imagine that difficulty is gone.

  • If I didn’t have that difficulty, who would I be? 
  • If I had no issue dealing with conflict, would I enjoy the role of a Scrum Master?
  • If I was great at doing presentations, would I want to continue as a Scrum Master?
  • If the difficulty was now easy, what would I do next?
  • How do I feel once this difficulty ceases to exist?

 

Do you feel lighter? The great thing is that you can overcome that difficulty. You can find help, a friend, a mentor, books, youtube videos to help you overcome it. But you and only you can do the work. So get to it! Get rid of that obstacle that’s preventing you to be that great person that is YOU.