Lesson 2: You are most successful when those surrounding you succeed

Background

I’d like to share a story about failures I experienced as a software architect which taught me the lesson "you are most successful when those surrounding you succeed."

I was a manager at a consulting company, and one of our client projects was with a fiberglass manufacturing company. One of my colleagues and dear friends was managing the project and the small team at that client. We’ll call my friend "Clay." Clay had worked closely with several people at the client, and he put together a plan that would result in a major rewrite initiative. He reached out to me for assistance in putting together a plan for this rewrite.

Outcomes

The client did not know me, so my involvement was only through Clay. By this time, I had earned a reputation for managing successful projects, and I felt it was my responsibility to make sure every project succeeded. Despite that feeling, I can take absolutely no credit for the success that Clay created. He certainly involved me in several design discussions and planning conversations, but he also spoke with the client stakeholders and development team members constantly to understand their needs and perspectives. Through these conversations, he was able to formulate, and later communicate, a plan which everyone at the client endorsed. The project ended up being one of the most successful in our office’s history.

Mistakes

My main mistake during this time was falling into the IAKTS syndrome. IAKTS stands for I Am Key To Success, and it is the mistaken belief that my involvement is key to the success or failure of work. The truth is, I was not key; Clay was key. That was very difficult for my sensitive ego to bear. I was certainly thrilled for Clay and our company’s involvement in the larger project with our client, but I was feeling the snarl of my inner narcissistic glory hound.

Lessons Learned

I originally thought that my contributions were the ideas I shared with Clay during our design and planning conversations. It turns out that these conversations were crucial for him, but not for the reason I originally thought. It wasn’t the technical ideas that helped Clay find success. Rather, I helped him by encouraging his approach and by being a sounding board so he could refine his ideas and sharpen his presentation skills. My good friend Clay found dramatic success, and my main contribution was being a receptive audience for his draft ideas and thoughts. It wasn’t my technical brilliance he needed, it was being an enthusiastic coach and audience that was helpful to him. How humbling for a Managing Architect!

Agile and SAFe Reinforcement

There is a key Agile Manifesto principle at play here: "Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done." Clay was an incredibly motivated individual, as are most developers whom I’ve met! They don’t need to be motivated; they are already internally motivated! This ties well into a particular Scaled Agile Framework principle: "Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers."

Additionally, Clay relied on a couple of other principles in his own success. First, is the Agile Manifesto principle: "Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project." Clay didn’t create his plan in a vacuum. Instead, he interacted daily with the project stakeholders and development team members to create a plan where everyone was already bought in before he ever gave the presentation. In addition, he relied on the Scaled Agile Framework principle: "Organize around value." He and everyone at the client understood the value associated with building a new and better platform for managing the manufacturing processes, and he knew the importance of having the development team focus on that value. Clay tied this value to the work to be done by the team and surfaced the information in his presentations. In archery parlance, Clay hit the bull’s eye and then split his own arrow.

I hope my struggles and failures can help teach you this important lesson: You are most successful when those surrounding you succeed.