Proper Technique

Again, I'd like to share some real life experiences and thoughts they have provoked. I learned how to swim at the age of seven. Since then I have been able to float on the water and transfer myself from one place to another. But I have never been very fast. And some of my friends have politely described my swimming style either as resembling a beater or that I'm "trying to crush the water".

This week I attended my first swimming technique course. We were swimming just freestyle and practicing the breathing technique. We were in the pool and the instructor told us what we could improve. I'm not sure the results were tremendous right away, but with every pool length something was improved. Towards the end of the session, I felt like I had learned to swim in a new way. (Interesting fact: only 10 % of the propulsion is produced by legs. And for amateurs not even that much.)

There are some important lessons to draw from this. Coaching, mentoring and teaching are efficient ways to share knowledge. If you don't know the techniques, you could seek guidance from a master. It's not embarrassing, it's wise. The second thing to note is that you will easily become blind to your own performance. An outside observer with a fresh pair of eyes can help you notice new things. And finally: only practice makes perfect. Now, after the teaching, I have a faint idea of what the proper technique is, but without practice I will just regress back to my old style. 

And the same applies also to Agile software development. Get your team a Scrum Master or an Agile Coach. Or if you are such person, consider seeking guidance from a more experienced practitioner. Mastery is an asymptote which you can never reach. But you can always get better. 

Perfect road is always ahead