Wednesday, Wednesday, Friday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Friday. It is my rhythm at Integral Vision. Today is a demo day. I arrive in the office and greet the others in the blue room. Ken Wilber, Edward de Bono, Seth Godin, and Csikszentmihalyi welcome back from the posters on the wall as I am walking along the corridor.
Kulcsi and Zsuzsi already stand at the whiteboard in front of the kitchen, and they are trying to figure out in which teams we should attend the retrospectives and plan the upcoming sprints. Small portraits with even smaller magnets on today's schedule. I also appear in one of the rows. Today I am going to join the blue team in the blue room.
While we're standing there in front of the board, Tamas and Asrob arrive from the countryside. Although they also spend just one day per week in the Budapest office, unlike me, they are permanently together with the others. I am with the company only on Wednesdays and sometimes on Fridays. If I imagine IV as a human, everyone except me would be an active part of the body. At the same time, I would be the personal attention, which contemplates the behavior, thoughts, and emotions.
At 9:30, we start with the retros. We sit around on the beanbags and wait until everyone has ordered lunch. We also arrive in our minds. We are close enough to each other, so I don't need to ask too many further questions. I use to ask how they feel here and now, how many points they reached, and whether they are satisfied or not. I use to ask the reason or the obstacle of satisfaction. We also discuss who is thankful to somebody and why. Today I recall these aspects, and I let everyone tell their past two weeks as they wish to.
I realize I am listening to stories: personal episodes, which weave together to a team-story. It would be rude to interrupt with questions. I see the smile on Tamas' face as he recalls how the others supported him. I hear David's smooth voice as he says thanks for the substantial planning. I feel that BT is relaxed and confident when he's talking about his performance in the sprint.
It is an extraordinarily strong retro. A successful project has made this team converging. I feel the harmony, and I can almost touch the trust. I am not sure how much the team members detect from this, but I see they speak quickly and honestly. Their looks roam either in the past or the eyes meet. There were no long expositions, defensive talks, aloofness, or boredom. Each story almost tells itself. We proceed smoothly.
It comes up that Istvan, who is mostly working on other cases, also worked on this project, and Tamas had difficulties in finding a familiar voice with him. Istvan is sitting on a different retro, so I need to listen to how we talk about someone who is not present. It was also smooth. Tamas only talked about himself. About his emotions, from his point of view. In the end, he says he will discuss this with Istvan in person.
Around a year ago, problems and stress got to focus on our retrospectives. As a facilitator, I was active in helping the concerned participants to understand each other. Compared to that, today, I did not have much to do. It is uncomfortable to imagine that if it went so smoothly, maybe there was no need for me today. Of course, I know this is learning progress, and what happened today was a result of a one-year-long common practice and much more.
We finished. We give feedback to each other about the retro. Asrob asks me to talk a bit, just the two of us. It is beautiful weather; the sun is shining, the air is fresh, so I suggest going for a walk near the Ujpest market. It is easier to speak and get closer while walking. A few questions and thoughts are said. Later we agree that we'll see what this will do and continue in a week. Let's say, on next Wednesday.
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