Ten years ain't what it used to be.

Yogi Berra, the beloved manager of the New York Yankees, was a great baseball player and had a reputation with the press for providing entertaining quotations.  Reflecting on previous Yankee teams, Berra observed, "Nostalgia ain't what it used to be." Once the joke sank in, everyone at the press conference had a good chuckle and moved on with their lives.  The quotation survived to be recycled in commencement speeches and by numerous writers, including me.  I have been thinking deeply about the past, and it occurred to me I have been blogging for the last ten years.  Along the way, I have learned a few things.  Today, I think it is good to examine this blog's long, strange trip, and I have traveled.  

I started this blog in response to some sad events in my personal life.  I was going through a divorce with my spouse.  Confronted with career frustration and my personal life imploding, I decided to found a software-as-a-service company , E3 Systems.   The blog would promote the company, and in a few years of struggle, I would become a full-time entrepreneur and big shot.  I wrote some great software, and people liked it. The downside is that not everyone would pay me for my services.  

If an entrepreneur cannot get paid for their efforts, they are behaving like an amateur.  My business would become another example of the over 90% of the startups who fail.  Along with the title of software developer and scrum master, I would distinguish myself as a failed entrepreneur.  The social media presence I created was promoting a company that had no paying customers.  The company still exists, but I now use it for personal consulting rather than as a vehicle to become an internet unicorn.  

I have mentioned that failure is the best educational process a person can experience.  The adventures of the last ten years have exposed me to plenty of failures and allowed me to share the wisdom I have gathered along the way.  As I see it, I have battle scars so that you can avoid injury.  The blog became a pivot where I shared information about agile, coaching, and technology.  It was a natural reaction to disappointment.  

I migrated from promoting my business to fostering more participation in the agile reformation. I highlighted controversies and discussed my journey to become a better scrum master and agile coach. If you pay attention to trends over the last ten years, you discover a few things.  

• Agile is not a fad:  It is becoming the dominant way to manage an IT business, but it suffers from bad agile implementations.
• Corporate environments are overwhelmed with fear.  Fear of failure and fear of change are the dominant emotions in corporate cultures. Only business leaders' creation of psychological safety will change these situations.  
• Technology is eating the world:  We lack workers to feed the beast.  Something will have to give.  
• Microsoft has evolved from an evil empire to your cool uncle:  I am glad I witnessed this change.  
• Talented jerks still linger in this business:  If we want a better and more diverse technology sector, we need to expose these individuals to sunlight.  
• Finally, dedicated professionals will continue to lead change:  I have met plenty of great folks in the last ten years.  All of us committed to making work less awful. 

Failure and tragedy happen.  In business and technology, when a failure occurs, it costs people their careers.  The days of a straightforward career path up the corporate ladder are gone.  For people who live in this unforgiving world, we must share our experiences and help others learn from our wisdom.  It makes this blog a travel log of the emotional and technical labor it takes to keep the global economy spinning.  I hope you have learned a few things along the way.  I know that I have.  

Yogi Berra was right; nostalgia is not what it used to be.  Looking back at the past, we should be clear-eyed and honest about our failures and ensure we strive not to repeat those failures.  I have attempted to do that during the last ten years on this blog, and I am deeply grateful for everyone who has joined me along the way.

Until next time.