Sometimes I find myself worrying about things I can’t change. They are outside of my circle of influence. When leading an organization or team on their agile journey, focus on what is in your control and how you can influence others to be more agile.
I first read about Circle of Influence in Stephen R. Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
In his book, he talks about understanding what things are in your control (circle of influence) vs. what is outside of your control (circle of concern). Do you find that you or others at your organization have many ideas about change? What can be done to make the organization or team more agile?
Something I have done to help get these ideas out in the open and take a look at what is in a team’s circle of influence vs. what is not, is to have a retrospective using the circle of influence vs. circle of concern (view this activity here). From this activity, there will ideally be a number of items that may be implemented quickly to drive positive change. For example, one that I have faced in my career is that most customers and stakeholders don’t attend an organization’s overall sprint review. As a product owner, I looked at this item and said to myself “that IS in my circle of influence.” Therefore, I set up a sprint review with a specific group of stakeholders and had a much more valuable sprint review by showing the software and discussing/getting feedback directly from the stakeholders.
Have you tried this exercise in a retrospective? What things have you tried to get ideas out in the open and discover what is in your circle of influence?
Please share your ideas in the comments below.
I love Covey’s book and this concept. It’s something that I personally wrestle with a lot, especially as a product manager. Being able to simply identify what falls into and outside of our circle of influence is what I often come back to when trying to identify effective ways to move myself, the team, or the company forward.
Developing our ability to influence is the next crucial step. While I still have a long ways to go, I’ve found Brendon Burchard’s book “High Performance Habits” really insightful on the topic. He says, “To gain influence with others, (1) teach them how to think about themselves, others, and the world; (2) challenge them to develop their character, connections, and contributions; and (3) role model the values you wish to see them embody.” While the first two might come through subtle interactions with your team, I certainly believe we can role model the values, disciplines, or processes that we wish for others to adopt. Your work with the retrospective and sprint review are great examples of this. Thanks for sharing Matt!
Thanks for the comment James and sharing your thoughts. It is something I struggle with a lot as well in any role. I like Brendon’s thoughts and agree that we can be a role model for the values we wish to see others embody. That is in our circle of influence. Thanks for the reference to his book as well. I look forward to reading it. Thanks James!