86 1/2 Nissan Pickup

Everyone wants a new car, right?

When I was just a few years out of school, young and near broke I eyed what I thought was the deal of the day.  A new 1986 1/2 Nissan Hard Body Pickup truck.

These things were selling stripped for like $4,900 NEW.  Stick shift, no a/c, no floor mats, manual windows, nothing.  So, with a bit of financial finagling I drove this beauty home.  ( well, not THIS beauty, as I just pulled this random image from the interweb)

After a few months of driving it developed this annoying squeak. Every bump in the road SQUEAK, a turn around a corner SQUEAK, and God forbid I go over a speed bump. So I decided since it was still under warranty I would take it back to the dealership and have them fix this squeak. ( after all, this was NEW vehicle)

At the dealership the mechanic came out to hear about the issues and then told me he needed to take it for a test drive. 15-20 minutes later he returned and told me he found the issue and would have it fixed right away.  With this news I found myself excited about finally being able to turn a corner in silence.  I pondered if he would be lubing something, or replacing some rubber cushiony type thing that magically would stop this noise intrusion.

Later, the mechanic came into the waiting room to tell me he fixed the issue, and for me to come into the back to get my truck.  I asked him what was the issue? What did he do? He looked me square in the face, and said in a calm, direct voice. " I installed you an old radio we had laying around the shop. Your problem is you bought a $4,900 truck and had nothing better to listen to. When you start hearing the squeak, just turn the radio up"


<Pause>


Here I sit, 30 yrs later and I can still hear his words. This mechanic understood me as his customer, and what my real needs might be.  He worked as my advocate, yet told me some direct news I needed to understand. ( you bought a really cheap truck buddy, suck it up, it's not a cadillac  ) He also found a solution that I could not possibly imagine.

Many times I find myself, as a consultant, having to play a similar role.  Clients think they know the problem, and think they know the solution. They approach the issue with you asking for a known solution to their known problem.  Often, it's my role to help them see what the real problem might be, and help them see a far different/creative solution.  Clients appreciate respectful honesty and integrity in work. Trust is built with each interaction.  Make no mistake, this is hard work.  The easy road is simply giving them what they are asking to buy.

It's not always this way, sometimes the client has a pretty clear image of the issues, and is on target for the solution-they just need your help in executing.  But often they are too close to the issue.  Like me with the truck all I could hear was the squeak, and all I could picture was some anti-squeak repair. I was myopically focused on only one thing, and only one solution.

Marshall ( the mechanic) became my go-to mechanic for the next 15 yrs until he retired.  He was right in looking at the whole system, the issue was really it was far too quiet in that small tin can of a truck.  It was never designed for silence in driving. It was built for economy and utility, and my mindset had it something far different.

Squeaks and all, my new truck grew to be be just at I wanted, once I saw it more clearly for what it was ( and could crank up the tunes)

More please

On a recent dive trip to Cozumel Mexico we spent our last day driving around the island in rented Jeeps. Crappy, broken, backfiring jeeps that were most likely barely rescued from a scrap yard.  At the far southeastern tip of Cozumel is a small rasta bar sitting in the middle of the sand.

Cool breezes, nice waves, hammocks, fish tacos and ice cold cervezas. This, was my view:

Yet, somehow I found myself searching for more.  And by more, I mean WIFI.





I found this sign tucked around
the corner of the bar that basically sums it up:




Why, After 6 days being at the beach, unlimited diving with great family and friends was I still not satisfied to just "be still" in paradise?



It's a crazy making part of myself that can't seem to unplug and relax.  Even unplugged I seem to always want to "do" and not just simply "be".  I've yet to be comfortable with myself enough to be content and bored.


I need more places like this in my life. Off the grid, and on a slower schedule where time is measured by the sun - not the second.   I know I don't need to travel all the way around the world to find those places, yet I seem to lack the discipline to disconnect.  

One day I may be content...

The Space Between

Recently I was at a conference and a presenter spoke briefly about the concept of "Liminal Space"


According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liminality:

"In anthropology, liminality (from the Latin word līmen, meaning "a threshold"^[1]) is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of rituals, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the ritual is complete. During a ritual's liminal stage, participants "stand at the threshold"^{[citation needed]} between their previous way of structuring their identity, time, or community, and a new way, which the ritual establishes."

The visual of standing on the threshold in a doorway is a powerful mental image for me.  Stuck in the in-between, comfortable with the safety and familiarity of what is behind, yet yearning for what is in front of you.  Without adequate inertia, the pull of past gravity makes stepping back such an easy decision, and makes the boldness of stepping forward into what's next even more difficult.  Many times, one can try to be in both places at once. 

In the agile space, we see this played out on a grand scale and in the granular. A few might be:

• Organizations moving from a traditional waterfall environment can lean on past planning a reporting structures while trying to release products incrementally and iteratively.  

• Individuals within teams want to believe what's to come, yet somehow don't fully trust the system in which they work to support a open and collaborative way of work. Therefore they do the motions of agility, while still holding back. 

• Leadership falls back to command and control style of leading, not yet trusting the empowerment that an agile leader must enable. 

As agile consultants, it becomes important to empathetically identify those items, practices, people in a liminal space, and to encourage them to step forward into what is to come.  We can be that inspiration for the inertia that can help people and companies work through the ambiguity and step across the threshold.  Our role becomes more than simply introducing the paradigm, but to assist in moving our clients from the space between. 

Does this concept resonate with you?  How can you see this in your work, your family, and you personally?

( Special thanks to Rebecca Yanez @bec4chen for seeding this idea at Keep Austin 2015)