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Writer's pictureMerve Köseoğlu

Have We Transformed Now?

For the last 5 years, before the pandemic, you must have seen a lot of people taking and publishing photos in front of a lot of post-it notes on professional social network channels, you may even be one of them like me :) Later, when I saw these photos with the taste of "Daily is very nice, come over" The question that always came to my mind was, "Have we transformed now?"

Was Agile transformation really about creating boards in physical or online tools like today and entering certain "meetings" fixed in our calendar and leaving as soon as the time is up?






How would we know if the transformation went beyond physical transformation?

I graduated from Computer Engineering. In my first year, I studied the courses in the upper grades, bought a programming language book, and wrote a Mario application by following the instructions there. Mariom was jumping up and down and overcoming obstacles. That day, I said, "I know this job now." In second and third grade, this feeling of mine was reinforced with everything I learned, saying, "This time I really know." I was able to read, research and complete every assignment given. When I got to the fourth grade and started doing my graduation project, I discovered that there was a sea to learn. Because I was writing a complex automation application and what I was taught before allowed me to establish a structure, but no matter how many different methods I tried, it did not help me solve my problems, I had to come up with my own solutions where even Microsoft remained unanswered. At that time I had a slight intimidation about the size of the Computer Engineering world, there was so much to learn, apply, discover and improve. As we see people and technologies changing the whole world with a single new idea, we see that there are even more different dimensions.

When I first started this transformation journey, I gradually experienced similar feelings :)

When we look at Shu-Ha-Ri, a Japanese martial art concept that defines the stages of learning mastery, we observe that there are similar stages in transformation.









Shu:

At the Shu level, you can get an output by taking a frame and applying the same thing, just like I managed to look at a book and write a program - at this point you take photos with post-it notes - but at this level, you can say 'we have transformed, now we know this job', unlike my mistake in the first grade. I liken it - I won't deny that with every new thing I learn, as I did in the second and third grades, I say 'I really know this time' :) - As you can see, we apply it at the "Shu" level and read as we read. We find answers to questions such as what is the Agile manifesto and its 12 principles, what are team metrics, etc. In short, we can summarize it as the level at which we say we are doing "Shu" and understand "What" we are doing.

So is it enough to apply a framework as is or just read new things and know what we are doing? Of course not, more is needed to move on to the next stage, so if you say these, let's take a look at the next stage.

Ha:

Of course, we may not yet be able to adopt and own everything we read at the Shu level. I guess we can look at it at the "huh" level as where we actually say "huh, I understand". The journey here will not be as short as in “Shu”. Everything you read will start to fall into place and you will understand that everything is actually interconnected :) In addition to knowing the 4 values and 12 principles of the Agile manifesto, we will also understand the "Why" , we will know what causes the deficiencies and we will internalize these values at this level. Besides, if you have been in a team that implements Scrum, like me, you will realize how much you love the 5 values of Scrum. If you have started keeping metrics, you will understand "Why" you started keeping those metrics. The importance of offering a usable product to the customer and the concepts of “MVP” will be really valuable for you here. While I am doing my graduation project in the fourth grade, an awareness will arise that will make me understand why I took the courses I took in the first, second and third grades. You will discover that all of these are a means to reach the main goal and you will say that there is a whole different world that I need to learn :)

Well, we learned, we applied, we assimilated, whatever you say, I still have a long way to go there, but let me explain the next level that I envision in my dreams.

Ri:

At this level, you now know What and Why, from now on you can start looking for answers to "How" to do better and even find the answer. You can see people who changed the whole world with a brand new idea here :)

“Have we transformed now?” Coming to the question, we are still at "Shu" level, maybe we are close to "Ha", but we have a long way to go to "Ri". I hope you never give up trying, making mistakes and learning :)

Merve Ergenç

22.02.2021

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