The Pitch

Friday.

And more importantly...

The Friday before a three-day weekend.

There was just one rather large thing standing between me and logging out.

A pitch.

Over the last few weeks, I've had conversations with 22 leaders across our organization about Agile.

Not surveys.

Not checkboxes.

Conversations.

Long ones.

Honest ones.

We talked about what's working.

What isn't.

Where teams are struggling.

Where we're getting better.

And what might need to change.

Today, I brought what I heard back to leadership.

Along with an idea.

A pretty big one.

I've believed for a while that we need to rethink how our Scrum Masters are organized.

Right now, they're spread throughout the organization.

What I put forward today was the possibility of bringing them together.

One team.

One structure.

One place to build consistent practices, mentoring, expectations, and accountability.

And potentially...

Reporting to me.

No pressure.

The interesting part is that this idea existed in my head before I started those 22 conversations.

That made me nervous.

Because there's always a danger in hearing what you want to hear.

So I listened.

And listened some more.

The conversations didn't create the idea.

But they kept pointing toward many of the same problems that made me believe in it in the first place.

At some point, believing something might work means being willing to put it on the table and let other people challenge it.

Today was that day.

I don't know exactly where it goes from here.

That's okay.

My job today wasn't to have every answer.

It was to bring forward what I heard, offer a possible path, and start the conversation.

I did that.

Before that, I also got one of my favorite parts of the week.

Time with my own staff.

Talking about what we have going on.

What's coming.

What needs attention.

Where we're headed.

Always one of my favorite meetings.

But now?

I'm done.

Three days.

No work.

Family.

Friends.

Rest.

Maybe some games.

Hopefully some laughter.

And absolutely no desire to solve an organizational structure problem until Tuesday.

There will be plenty waiting when I get back.

There always is.

But I put the idea on the table.

The conversation has started.

That's enough for Friday.

There comes a point when thinking about an idea stops being useful unless you're willing to say it out loud. That doesn't mean you're right. It doesn't mean the idea survives contact with everyone else. It simply means you believe in it enough to let other people question it, challenge it, and perhaps make it better. I did that today. Whatever comes next can wait until after the weekend.

Much love.

Stay safe.

Wash your damn hands.

And I will see you, next time.