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Beta testing (The Wrong State of Mind)

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I attended my first GOTO Scrum night, organised by Trifork Switzerland, on how to become a good Product Owner in Scrum, with John Styffe and Jeff Sutherland (a co-creator of the Scrum Model). I am not a PO, but the concept interests me, and I am considering attending a course to become a PO. John Styffe, who has a background in brain-mapping and all sorts of other fascinating things, spoke first about the importance of state of mind; in general and of course in relation to the Scrum framework and in the context of the role of the Product Owner in Scrum. John talked about the scale of brain wave frequencies, from Delta to Theta; the calm, meditative state through Alpha and Beta and onto High Beta; the frenetic, narrowly focused state. As much as there are benefits of being conscious of the processes you’re working with and constantly trying to improve them, there is enormous benefit to realising what state of mind you’re functioning in too.

John argued that the incredibly common High Beta state; where you’re flitting between tasks without focus, anxious and therefore unable to keep an open perspective, is self destructive (he talks about the idea of self-sustainability as being essential to the success & productivity of a team).  His model of self-sustainability (periods of working on a task in the Beta state of mind, followed by a period of rest and retrospection in the Alpha state of mind), focuses too on the importance of the rest period, fitting in nicely with the concept of sprints and retrospectives in Scrum.

The ability and discipline to stop and think is sadly lacking in today’s business world (and I think in society in general). John listed the benefits of retrospectives (where you switch state of mind to the calmer, more reflective Alpha; you step down a gear) as:

  • You give yourself (and the team) time to rest and heal
  • You’re more capable of an objective perspective
  • You’re more aware of your responsibilities and the role you played (in the success or failure) in a sprint/project or situation
  • You gain an increased understanding of the situation as a result of having a wider and more open perspective
  • You have more ability to respond appropriately and to communicate more effectively

 

Being aware of your state of mind in work (and naturally in life in general), and allowing time to switch state of mind and reflect,  allows you, in my opinion to be more productive and opens you up to more learning and improvement. The challenge is prioritising it.

Read more about the evening here.

John Styffe’s self-sustainability website is here.

Read about Jeff Sutherland and Scrum here.

(And that should be enough to keep you busy until next time)



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