Who's On First

 

robert woods - April 8, 2014

One of the most famous conversations ever to take place went a little something like this:

Costello: Well then who's on first?

Abbott: Yes.

Costello: I mean the fellow's name.

Abbott: Who.

Costello: The guy on first.

Abbott: Who.

Costello: The first baseman.

Abbott: Who.

Costello: The guy playing...

Abbott: Who is on first!

Costello: I'm asking YOU who's on first.

Abbott: That's the man's name.

Costello: That's who's name?

Abbott: Yes.

Costello: Well go ahead and tell me.

Abbott: That's it.

Costello: That's who?

Abbott: Yes.

Was it clever simply because it was funny?

No, it was funny because people have actually found themselves in a conversation exactly like this one at one point or another and understood the absolute frustration!

Abbott made the assumption that what he was saying made absolutely perfect sense. If you watch the video here, you can see the growing frustration by Abbott attempting to comprehend why in the world Mr. Costello doesn’t get this plainly worded explanation.

In my work as a Scrum Master, Team Facilitator and Project Manager I have sat in on more of these exact conversations than I care to remember. I have looked on as our technical guru’s attempt, in what they consider plain English, to explain the reasons for the back end table and code adjustments they need to make while the product owner looks on as if they were listening to someone attempt to describe the theory of relativity in mandarin Chinese. You know, that eyes squinted, mouth half open look of “heh?”

The results?

Everyone walks away with a false sense of productivity and then complains when what was expected was not delivered. Developers insist acceptance criteria were unclear and business ownership insists IT only builds what IT wants to build. So... ‘Who’s on first’ here?

Breaking the Language Barrier

Part of the success in man’s ability to break the sound barrier was recognizing there was one to begin with.

First we need to have everyone in the room recognize that we have different jobs for a reason. That being said, this is no different than having a room full of folks who all simply speak a different language. Imagine that exact scenario, would we walk into a planning meeting assuming everything we were about to say would be even remotely understood by the folks attending?

Of course not!

We would immediately start looking patiently for opportunities to help them gain a better understanding of what we needed to get across. We would in turn, hope they would have the same patience with us as we attempted to understand what it was they needed us to comprehend.

Understand from the outset that there are simply different languages spoken here; different mindsets. Both sides need to have the patience to take the time and explain, to the best of their ability, using simplest means possible, in order to get across their point and then look for absolute signs of confirmation of understanding on the other end. Verifying multiple times if needed.

But I’m Not A Good Self-Explan..a..tioner..

In some cases we may simply have enough self-awareness to understand we sometimes don’t explain ourselves well.

Congrats!

It takes humility to come to that conclusion. Conversely, get some help explaining! This is where some of the Scrum Master, Project Manager and Team Facilitators come into play. This is also why you can’t simply slap that label on anyone with the spare time.

More than once I have found myself in the position of playing translator between someone speaking “IT mandarin” and “business Swahili”. It’s not an easy job and not for the thin skinned. Often, you aren’t merely translating; you are facilitating two sides of a heated debate. Part of the debate having to do with lack of understanding and the other part having to do with actual difference of opinion.

A highly skilled facilitator will assist both sides in three ways:

1)      Both individuals should walk away with a much better understanding of the language spoken by the other person.

2)      A decision based on mutual agreement should be formed because of that improved understanding.

3)      Future discussion should flow much easier now that we have found a common ground to work on.

Slapping someone with a Scrum Master certification (not that there’s anything wrong with having a CSM) does not make them qualified to get those kinds of results. It may only add a different language into the confusion. Whomever takes on this dubious task must understand that this is an extremely important role played for both the team they help and the business they are working for. Appreciation will often be sparing but results will be outstanding when done well!

This person should take the time to know their teams as individuals and as a whole. This will better equip them for the difficult discussions that will inevitably take place and get results faster.

So....who’s on first?

I’m going to procure for myself a brand new tee-shirt that simply says, “Have the conversation.”

If the question involves lack of communication, lack of understanding, lack of information or lack of planning. The answer is, have the conversation.

If retrospective sounds like a broken record of “we didn’t have enough acceptance criteria” or “it didn’t get accepted because we were missing something.” The answer is, have the conversation.

Every time I hear one of the above sentiments I am fully prepared to rip open my button up ‘business casual appropriate’ dress shirt and, in a very Superman-esque way, display my tee with pride.

Does anyone involved NOT want to be successful? No, or course not. We all want the same things; a) to enjoy who we work with, b) who we work for and c) what we work on. Then why are we so averse to taking the time to regularly collaborate on what we consider success?

And I don’t mean just a one-time meeting to create a pseudo checklist (which will probably change before we walk out of the meeting room). What I’m talking about is real, meaningful conversations on a regular basis to ensure we are doing the right thing at the right time.  

It’s not micro-management...its micro-collaboration; the distinct difference being respect, trust, understanding and outcome.

Who’s on first. It’s a statement not a question.

See...that wasn’t so hard now was it?