Agile Coach Burnout, part-2

Buckle up Buttercup…again

Original post—

This was one of the points I responded to in the post—

❌ “We’re mostly seen as facilitators for ‘fun’ workshops.”

Well then, STOP delivering “fun” workshops! Get involved in the heavy lifting of solving problems, building products, and delivering value. Get in the game!

Dana Pylayeva made the following comment to my original post—

Thanks for tagging me Mara Svenne. I have a ton of appreciation for everything Bob Galen 🇺🇦 does and somehow missed reading that blog. There was one sentiment that caught my attention there.

Yes, the sadness (and defeat) of “We’re mostly seen as facilitators for ‘fun’ workshops.”

I believe, we need more fun, not less!
We just need to learn how to debrief the fun experiential activities well enough to enable learning (great source of inspiration is this book: https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Games-Simulations-Field-tested-Masters/dp/B0CSJDMV73 by Dennis Wagner and Marc Bless)

I take pride in using playfulness (and fun) in my coaching. It is liberating. It is uplifting. It helps people to lower their guards, to open up, and to increase relatedness. Coming to Agile Games Open reinforced that for me :)
Yes and... as I was flying back from Toronto to NYC, appreciating all the new connections made, and the existing ones refreshed, there was one phrase that popped into my head:

Don't let your World shrink.

This is my new recipe for dealing with burnout as an Agile Coach :)

Clarification

Dana inspired me to clarify my post comments.

First, I agree with Dana. Fun and games can be useful for a highly skilled and experienced Agile Coach. Which Dana is 😉

But it (fun, frivolity, playfulness, gameplay) can also be misused in the hands of—

• Coaches who lack experience,

• Coaches who don’t use them to connect to or drive business/client outcomes and results,

• Coaches who lean too heavily (~ 100%) into fun and games.

Second, my goal in the post was to react directly to each of the comments in an intense way. I wanted to redirect the comments from focusing solely on complaining and finger-pointing to redirecting the fingers inwardly.

Back to fun, I liberally leverage fun (less gameplay and more playfulness) in my agile coaching and facilitation. It compliments my experience and skill by often lightening the message, mood, and reactions. It also lessens defensiveness while increasing learning.

However, I always assess the situational context and use it thoughtfully. And, if my spider sense tells me, I’ll pivot from fun and gaming to another stance or meta-skill.

That’s the key point I wanted to make here.

You need experience, broad skills (think Agile Coaching Growth Wheel competencies), and situational awareness to leverage fun and games effectively for you, your clients, and their perception of you and your value.

Thank you, Dana, for reminding me of the value of play and fun. You make the Agile community a much more enjoyable space for me.

Stay agile, my friends,

Bob.