Today, my wife and I went to our daughter’s future Middle School this coming school year. As we walked along the school’s long hall, four posters caught my attention. My first thought was this: this school is fostering an environment in which students can flourish into strong self-aware and socially-aware individuals.
The principal and her staff are like gardeners. A gardener creates an environment in which the plants can flourish: prepping up the soil, followed by constant and vigilant maintenance. “This school is well prepped“, so I thought as I saw those four posters. The principal spoke about the school: what to expect from them, the curriculum, activities, safety, joining and creating school clubs, dress code, social media, phones, what to expect from us parents…etc. We liked what we’ve heard; we left with great feeling of confidence that our daughter will blossom and flourish in this school’s kind of environment.
How about you? What can you say about your environment at work? Are you flourishing or are you languishing? Is your leadership like gardeners — creating and maintaining the teamwork conditions needed to deliver value? Do they have the Lean Agile mindset and are they doing it and leading with it? Lean Agile Leadership is one of the five core competencies that is being espoused by SAFe 4.6; it is foundational; without it, nothing will flourish.
