Courage - how brave are you? was a goldfish-bowl discussion facilitated by Giovanni Asproni about courage and it's opposite, fear. This was the final session I attended on the second day and I was pretty pooped. There was a reasonable turn-out but understandably it wasn't as energetic as the first goldfish-bowl about simplicity. Nevertheless, it was an interesting discussion about a subject I feel strongly about.
Fear is endemic in the world of software development. People fear taking longer to do something than they estimated. People fear missing deadlines. People fear saying what they really think. There are too many fears in the industry. Giovanni said fear usually leads to inferior results and failure, which causes stress. And guess what that causes ... more fear! It's a vicious cycle.
I like to define courage as your ability to take decisive action in the face of fear. Things get done when people demonstrate courage. Have the courage to show vulnerability. This will help build trust in the team. Have the courage to make small decisions and reverse them if they don't work out. Have the courage to fail fast and learn. Have the courage to make commitments and be held accountable for them. Have the courage to demand fun in work.
Feeling empowered in a trusting environment breeds courage. Command-and-control creates a blame culture and breeds fear. Funny that! Who'd have thought? Things don't get done when people are afraid because, like a rabbit in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, fear causes paralysis. Decisions don't get made, actions aren't taken, and opportunities aren't seized.
If you can find the courage to be courageous you will find a new way of life. A weight will be lifted. So do yourself a favour and be courageous. Free yourself from your fears. Come on, seriously, ask yourself: In the grand scheme of things, what's the worse that could happen? As Jonathan Clarke said: I only regret the things I didn't do.
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