Treat people like people instead of resources.

Being a scrum master is hard.  It is not a dirty job like being a trash collector.  It does not have the danger associated with being a firefighter or an electrical lineman.  It lacks the prestige and respect of being a member of the armed forces or the toughness of being a lumberjack.  Scrum masters make the world a little better, one sprint at a time. 

Forbes magazine categorized four types of toxic professionals: the power-hungry, the absent, the incompetent, and the micromanaging. I have encountered these individuals throughout my career and have spoken about how they can spoil an organization. Each of these people is awful in their unique way, but I think one trait unites them: they see others as resources instead of people.

I blame this state of affairs on contemporary project training.  A modern corporation is deeply concerned about profit.  A company is so worried about the profit that it will do everything in its power to ensure each employee runs as efficiently as possible.  A software developer with downtime is wasting money.  This is why people expect them to work on multiple projects.  A business leader who can meet and mentor junior employees does not have enough to do or is not generating revenue.  Being busy is more important than being productive.  The agile community calls this putting outputs above outcomes. 

Treating the individuals doing the work like people requires downtime, training, and mentoring to provide value to customers.  If individuals are resources, they are office supplies that can be used up and discarded when they are no longer helpful.  Treating people like resources is exploitative and antithetical to an agile mindset.  

I joined the agile reformation ten years ago because I felt there was a better way to deliver software. People deserve to work in environments that are satisfying, sustainable, and sane. When you treat people as people instead of resources to be used and discarded, this will not happen. I have a simple vocation: to help businesses manage people like people. I suppose that is why it is so hard being a scrum master.

Until next time.