Going Back to the Basics: Agile Values
Key takeaways from Ágiles Colombia 2019
Last month I had the opportunity of attending “Ágiles Colombia”, the Colombian Conference on Agile frameworks that draws in attendees from all over Latin America. Typical of the Agile world, the conference had an open space format, one in which anyone can propose a talk and the schedule is self-organized.
After hearing all the proposals and elevator-pitches, I was more drawn to the talks that were related to soft skills and Agile values rather than the technical ones. Maybe it was because I was going through some changes in my personal life and I also needed to reconnect with my inner Agile values. So I ended up attending some talks that aimed at the “Being” instead of the “Doing”. I think that the ideas and perspectives are worth sharing, so that is what I’ll share with you in this post.
The importance of psychological safety
Psychological safety is the belief that one won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up with one’s ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes. We are definitely in the era of the future of work where we’re dealing with less operative tasks and more artificially intelligent tasks that require more intellect, more purpose, and more collaboration. And to collaborate effectively, everyone should feel encouraged and motivated to chip in with ideas and take risks without the fear of having their heads cut-off. Mckinsey has also released some articles that backup the idea that the safer the work environment, the better the employee performance.