Beginner’s Mind

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.
Shunryu Suzuki

For a number of reasons, the world of Agile borrows thinking from the world of Martial Arts. An example is Shu-Ha-Ri, the phases of learning called copy, adapt and master. While this is an approach to learning, there is a more fundamental concept called ShoShin, or as it was explained to me “Always recall your beginners mind” and to approach learning as an infant would.

In the beginning…

When we first start learning about agile and lean, everything is new and exciting. We marvel at the simplicity of the ideas and the simple common sense that seems to be at the heart of it. We start to learn, and even more importantly we start to practice. Improving all the time bit by bit and step by step. Over time these steps can get smaller and more difficult. The ideas can seem more mundane and less exciting. We are becoming more knowledgeable. We are growing up and are forgetting our beginners mind. Sometimes we look for more complicated ways to be amazing.

A beginner’s mind so powerful! Do you recall when you first staring learning about the way scrum works, and how is resonated with you? When you explain agile to someone, do you still talk about the initial thoughts that came to your mind? Remember they do not have the benefit of your experience, and they need to experience the joy of discovery.

Start at the beginning

Keep it simple and start at the beginning.

We can become wrapped up in the latest and most cutting edge thinking in agile. How long did it take us to get here and do we think we can short circuit the path for others? Do we share in the joy of people as they discover basic ideas and thoughts? Do we still feel exhilaration when we learn? If you don’t, that is truly sad. Agile is about having fun and every now and then basking in achievement.

Learning is key in agile, but learning isn’t always a path from simple to complicated. In fact, when we finally see simplicity in something, we have learned more than we think. But in most things, you don’t understand the simplicity, yet. But practice is how you learn. You keep building your experience, you move from Shu to Ha as you learn to adapt the lessons to your environment.

I have heard people talk about Ha and Ri level practices and techniques. I have no idea what they mean, and I doubt they do either. People saying that some agile technique is Ri, are effectively saying I am better than you because you are not Ri. It is nonsense.

Everything we learn is a process from Shu to Ha and rarely to Ri. Ri is the master practitioner, it is the skill level that is Shu, Ha or Ri. In the martial artist there is no such thing as a Ri technique, but there is such a thing as a Ri level of understanding. As the artist moves up through the grades from 1st to 6th Dan, for example each new idea or technique they encounter they do so at Shu level. Each time using their beginners mind to experience the new ideas.

In agile we start with a beginner’s mind and at Shu. We use retrospectives to adjust this to our needs, eventually achieving Ha skill. In the martial arts this takes years, and it does so in agile as well. But we are still practicing the techniques and they are recognisable.

Trying to move to Ha levels without the humility of the beginner’s mind is running before you can walk. So why do people do it? You go into a business that has yet to practice agile and you find the “agile experts”. Agile will not work here as written, I know better. So, remove retrospectives and have standups once a week. I will size stories because the team is not able to. But this is our agile and I love it. Over time they usually find it does not work, and therefore agile is a bad technique and it wasn’t my fault.

The martial arts do have an advantage here in that a person who skips the shu stage and doesn’t have the humility of a beginner’s mind tends to experience a very short feedback loop. Businesses that take this approach also have a feedback loop, but it tends to be longer, and cost more than their good looks.