Welcome Travelers

A few months ago I was driving home after work, and the Indigo Girls song “Closer to Fine” came on the radio. Being of an age to have been the audience when that song came out, I cranked it up and sang along.

There’s more than one answer to these questions pointing me in a crooked line
And the less I seek my source for some definitive
Closer I am to fine

(It’s just not the same if you don’t write it out fi-hi-i-i-ine, is it.)

“It’s a journey, not a destination” is a common description of agility practices as well as of life itself. There is no spot on the board marked “Winner”, no point at which we have learned all there is to learn about even a single methodology. Our paths are necessarily crooked — we try things, learn things, change course, meet other people and bounce off them or travel alongside for a while. Often, the more open we are to the unexpected, the more we find ourselves learning.

This Community Space area on the site is an experiment. It will (I hope) be a place where many of us can share the questions we encounter as humans who also happen to be agile practitioners, as fellows in a journey. A way for us to find support and learn from one another, to make connections. No definitives, but a breadth of personal experience to engage with as we navigate our own paths.

Like many others I have met in the agile sphere, I found my way to it late and through an indirect path. An academic background in medieval literature and history turned into a decades-long career in technical writing for software before I indulged my growing curiosity about this “Scrum” I kept hearing about. Three years later, I am regularly delighted and humbled by how much there is to learn. I’ve met dozens of people who inspire me daily with their creativity and dedication.

I look forward to sharing and learning with you.