The Circle of Development

In the book, Scrum for Your Life, I outline the foundational steps for the process. These are 1. Discover and prioritize your values; 2. Write your vision statement, and; 3. Create your Master Backlog (bucket list). This is a nice, orderly way to approach what is necessary before you head off and start achieving your most important goals, but in real life, it’s messier than that.

Some people struggle with listing out their values, especially if it’s something they have never thought about before. But they may have an easy time coming up with a vision statement. Others may have a bucket list eight pages long, but have never assembled it into a coherent vision for their life.

So the prescription to start and follow the order I’ve outlined is admittedly flawed. For this reason, consider approaching the three steps from any direction you feel most comfortable with and extract your values from what you create.

If you have a bucket list full of destinations you want to travel to, then it becomes apparent that travel is something you value. If you can write a vision statement where you see yourself married with three kids sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner, then family is obviously something you value. And no matter where you begin, you may find yourself bouncing back and forth between your values, vision and backlog until you decide it’s complete. Just be aware that this process is never 100% complete. As you go through life, especially using Scrum for Your Life, you will find that your values and desires will change, so you will periodically revisit each of the three steps. And because you are conducting a Review and Retrospective every four weeks, the feedback loop accelerates your adjustment and keeps you from being “stuck.”

I’m offering a free coaching session to three people to virtually walk them through the process from beginning to end, and get you started on achieving your goals. Just send me an email to kevin@scrumforyouflife.com and I’ll respond to arrange a time when we can work together. I look forward to hearing from you.