Will Recession Slam Us Back Down the Pyramid?
Recession. Downward turn. Job cuts. Everywhere you turn there is a negative report on the economy. Don't get me started on the politics and crookedness behind all of this lunacy. What I'd like to focus on, instead, is the mental havoc this media storm is probably wreaking on your team members.
Maslow, in his five-stage hierarchy of needs, states that an individual must first have his biological, physiological and safety needs met first in order to climb the pyramid toward goals like esteem and self-actualization. It's gosh darn hard enough, even when times are good in an affluent economy, to help folks feel secure as agile team members - folks who are paid as the knowledge workers and technical thought leaders of their respective organizations. Often this is due to a mismatch in reward system vs. 'new' behavior that managers implementing agile are seeking. But now, even compounding the reward system is that person's internal thoughtstream that says "yeah, right. I'm not stepping out on a ledge when I might lose my job, or when someone else can be hired for half my salary. Guess I'm playin' it safe these days."
With the "R" word (and in some cases - even the "D" word) being thrown around every .002 seconds, it probably wouldn't surprise you if your teams shrink back into the corners, play it 'safe' by the rules and not take risks. Concern over the rising unemployment rate and deflation of the dollar's value is enough to make anybody wilt into a pile of goo.
Managers and leaders: reiterate the safety and security message to your team members . At a time when government regulation of business increases every day and stifles us, we have to remain steadfast in our ability to deliver on ideas that will take us into the next economic wave. Promote thinking of new ideas to continue to sell products in a weakened market; open up new opportunities for other segments and audiences, think small and rapid. See the previous blog for some other ideas.
It's difficult to pick up the newspaper these days, but to get through this, we have to stay creative. Press on.
Stacia
2 Comments
Reader Comments (2)
Hi Stacia, very encouraging post. What I see so far - the economic pressure will help all of us to rethink the way we work so far. You mentioned Maslow - consider also Viginia Satir. She describe the fact that the first reaction in a crisis is always fear and denying reality. The Chinese say every crisis is also a chance. This is what we MUST tell as ScrumMasters and Leaders, as coaches and teachers to the people we are responsible for. Leaders will help their teams to see the end and to see that there is always a light after the dark.
You did a great job with your encouraging words.
Stacia, thanks for the post.
In your session at Agile 2007, you stressed the importance of soft skills for teams going towards Agile. Right you are!
It is one particular soft skill that will help us all travel up the pyramid: make a difference between what you see/read/hear and what is *real* for you.
Know this difference! It is your brain that interprets a wealth of electrical signals coming in through your senses. It is your mind that constructs a story from all these signals. It is your mind that turns that story into a meaning for your life. It is this meaning that you interpret as your 'reality'.
Each such step is possibly error-prone. The most interesting step is the construction of the inner story about what you think is happening outside yourself.
'I am going to lose my job because of R.' - is that true? How do you know? In fact, you don't know, so why build that story from some information about R. in the newspapers? Why scare your subconscious mind with this story as it cannot make a difference between a real thing and a story?
The particular soft skill you need to go Agile is: Know that reality is in you, not outside you. If your life is a movie, you write the storybook, you hold the camera, you act and direct this movie, all in the same person.
Knowing this fact and getting used to it is a soft skill. It puts you back behind the steering wheel - newspapers lose very much (if not all) of their scaryness. :-)
Keep up this good work!
Matthias