Maybe It Will Go Away on Its Own

Photo Credit: Brian Hackerson, August 2014, Cooperstown, NY

A few years ago, I walked into someone’s office and noticed the following quote:

“When nothing happens, nothing happens.”

I don’t know who this quotation should be attributed to with any certainty. Maybe someone will tell me someday. At the time, I didn’t think too much about it. A sort of “Deep Thoughts” by Jack Handey moment if you remember that reference from Saturday Night Live. At some point later, it dawned on me that there was actually some profound truth here.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, during a discussion around the context of COVID-19, and dealing with our current VUCA environment:

“Famous last words: maybe it will go away on its own.”

In thinking about these two quotes, I realized that while there is a lot that is going on right now that is certainly uncontrollable, there is much we can do to continue to drive our own Agile Best Self journeys. Many, or maybe all, of the 12 Agile Best Self Principles can guide us here. I was taken by something interesting, though, as I looked at Principles 5 and 6.

Agile Best Self Principle #5: Create a best self environment of motivation, trust, and support for yourself and others.

Agile Best Self Principle #6: The most effective way to be your best self is to be mindful and intentional.

Looking at these two principles together for a moment: it looks like we have a chicken and egg problem. Which do we need first in order to move our own journeys forward? Do we need a supportive environment before we can be mindful and intentional about moving our journey forward? Or, is it the other way around?

According to Martin Fowler’s recollection of the Snowbird meeting where the Agile Manifesto was created, the focus of the sessions were primarily on the manifesto itself, and the principles were largely finalized after the meeting. It is believed that the only principle that the attendees all agreed upon was the first principle — our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software. So, it is often implied that the first principle is the cornerstone principle and the other 11 follow it, in no particular order. Notice they are not numbered on the Agile Manifesto site. They are often numbered when they are documented elsewhere to make it easier to reference in conversation.

It was our intent that the 12 Agile Best Self Principles should be thought about in the same way when we drafted them for the first time. Principle 1 is the cornerstone, and the other eleven get their energy from it. Numbering the principles does not put a relative priority of one over the other. We don’t have to have a sequential checklist mentality about them. They are meant to be applied, and combined, as the user sees fit.

After that short detour, let’s get back to the chicken and egg problem I uncovered as I was trying to apply Principles 5 and 6. The answer to which one comes first is, of course, it depends!

What works for me may not resonate for you, or anyone else. When I think about my Agile Best Self journey, it is really important to have intention. Intention flows from my North Star (“Be a Light”), and sounds something like:

I can “Be a Light” by…

or

I can be most authentically me in this situation by…

To further pick this apart, Principle 6 also talks about mindfulness, which we know is a skill that allows us to develop awareness of our thoughts or our internal narrative from an outside-in perspective. This then creates the opportunity to process that thought through one of the statements above. This sets an intention that reflects the most authentic version of you (your best self!) in that situation. One story about this thought process is found in one of my previous posts. In that post, I detect the inner critic at work, and quickly reset the narrative through mindfulness. All of the time spent doing mindfulness exercises paid off in that story, and continues to pay me back every day.

Building the habit of routinely and mindfully applying intention will create the foundation you need. Building that meditation foundation is an example of what we mean in Principle 5, which is the best self support environment for yourself. Add Principles 4 and 11, and you suddenly find that you have a strong support structure to help you pursue your best self.

Agile Best Self Principle #4: Engage your trusted circle daily.

Agile Best Self Principle #12: At regular intervals, reflect on how to become your best self, then tune and adjust.

It’s my sense that everything comes together and you get maximum traction once your North Star is established. If have built a habit of intentionally applying your North Star, you will naturally be drawn to those who will support and energize you — loved ones, close colleagues and friends. The Agile Best Self community of like-hearted people has become that support system for me over the past year. With Michaele as my partner, I have had the good fortune to share the Agile Best Self journey to people all over the world.

Remember the quotes about around inaction above? Regularly applying Principle 6 also means that being mindful and intentional is an action — a choice to show up authentically as your best self.

Last week, I was informed that I was going on furlough at work, in the midst of everything that was going on, this provoked a lot of fears and uncertainty. One of the conditions of the furlough was that I had to completely detach from work, and not access systems or do company work at any time. When I shared this story with Michaele, the conversation quickly turned to how this time could be used. The thought process was the same as I described – applying Principle 6 to set an intention, then applying my North Star in the current reality to craft a path forward. What came out of it was a commitment I made to myself and Michaele to do a significant amount of writing — 10,000 words in ten working days. I’ll get back to you to tell you how I did. Given the current reality, this was probably the best thing I could do to move my own journey forward, which sharing insights about Agile Best Self to the world. Something good will happen, and I am not just wishing my reality would just go away. It starts with intention.

Applying this narrative to the current COVID-19 reality means you are taking action on your controllable reality. You are becoming a better version of you than you were before. Although not immediately apparent, lots of things are happening, and you have control of many of those “things”. Hoping things “go away on their own” is not an option when intentionally building a best self life. Follow your North Star to make something good happen. We all need this in a world where there is so much uncertainty.

Copyright © 2018 – 2026 Michaele Gardner and Brian Hackerson

Living in a VUCA World

It is March 2020. The first case of COVID-19 was discovered in Minnesota (where I live). What’s next? Everyone on the planet is being forced to live in times of VUCA: volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.

It should be no surprise the co-founder Brian and I use the Agile Best Self principles to structure our thought processes and actions. Why? We’ve found that the best way to learn the framework is to practice and apply it to current situations. And right now, that current situation is COVID-19. By now, I hope you have seen the graph on how we can “Flatten the Curve” and help slow down the spread of COVID-19. I love this data visualization because it shows WHY entire communities should change habits and interaction patterns. Protective measures can: a) potentially mitigate overwhelming our already burdened health care system and b) give us some time to figure out more about COVID-19.

Why we should all practice protective measures.

Agile Best Self Principle #1: Our highest priority is to be our best self and enable others to be their best selves.

Concrete examples of how I’m living principle #1 right now.

  1. Texting my 97 year old grandma. She is in an assisted living facility. Although she has no underlying health concerns, she is 97! Texting is a quick easy way to let her know we have not forgotten about her. Interestingly enough, she has adopted the younger generations’ habit of not picking up the phone when I call, so although texting sounds impersonal, it is the best way to connect with her.
  2. I walked my 72 year old father through setting up a free Zoom account. He is savvy enough to know that a URL is the equivalent of phone number, but was (naturally) frustrated at having to up his tech stack. Changing his browser, integrating his gmail, etc.

In regards to the next Agile Best Self principle, “welcome change with curiosity” – we have no choice about living in the VUCA world, but we do have a choice on whether we are curious, limit our self-imposed stress levels and take a fact based approach.

Agile Best Self Principle #2: Welcome change with curiosity.

On March 7th, one day after a “presumptive” case of COVID-19 was documented in my state, I was on a regular Costco run. It was not a major event, and I did not buy a pallet of toilet paper. The most concerning thing of the day was one side of a phone conversation I overhead in the checkout line. “Yes, I heard someone in Minnesota has died from coronavirus.” Misinformation like that helps no one. No one has died from COVID-19 and the test still hasn’t been confirmed by the CDC.

Let’s all be curious and as proactive as possible. Some things are in our control, some things are not. Personally, I’m looking for science, not opinion. I’m also intentionally “rolling with it” more. To welcome change with curiosity, I’ve changed my mindset. I’ve:

  1. Realized that the numbers are going to go up for a while. I’ve stopped looking at the John Hopkins graph because it scares me and demotivates me.
  2. Upped my meditation practice. I’d rather spend 30 minutes meditating than reading the news. If I read the news for 30 minutes, I have to spend another 30 minutes doing fact checking.
  3. Learned new online tools for my day job and my job as adjunct faculty at a university. Teaching a Saturday, 8 hour online class requires a ton of curiosity! Especially since I had about an hour to prepare. Luckily my students actively engaged in defining the day’s problem statement “How do we create as rich of learning environment as possible?” and were patient as I said things like: “I wonder how this functionality works?” BTW: Zoom breakout rooms are pretty cool. A side benefit is that my students are going to be online meeting rock stars.

The purpose of this post is to show how I can apply the first 4 Agile Best Self principles to specific situations. So, let’s go on to the next principle:

Agile Best Self Principle #3: Build daily self-care habits.

Self-care practices are already a focal point for most in our Agile Best Self community. There are so many blogs and messages out there to WASH YOUR HANDS and up your hygiene practices at home, that I don’t need to reiterate those message here. I would suggest making sure you have a good hand lotion (buy it before stores are out). I also need to wear cotton gloves over my thick slather of hand lotion at night. This habit keeps my hands from developing a lizard like texture. Overall, I’m focusing right now on the following things that help reduce stress and increase resiliency.

  1. Unplugging at 8 pm. As mentioned before, we are living in a VUCA world. However, many people can inject some control into their lives by actively determining where to put mental time and energy.
  2. Taking more Vitamin D. There are plenty of studies to support this. I have read several. Living in Minnesota in March, it almost guaranteed that my Vitamin D levels are low. This article gives a good overview and recommends 1,000 – 4,000 IU daily supplement to get levels up.
  3. Focusing on good sleep habits.

On to principle #4 – engaging my trusted circle daily. This is crucial to help keep some sense of connection. When I think of the difference between my trusted circle and my like-hearted community, the glaring difference is that I can show up exactly as I am for the day with my trusted circle. You can’t cry on someone’s shoulder via Zoom, but that would be the bar to differentiate between a like-hearted community and a trusted circle. I want to show up balanced for a like-hearted community, so that I can give back and support others. The rules of engagement are different for my trusted circle: I’m certainly willing to break down with my trusted circle – or be there to help someone through a tough time. There is a different type of vulnerability in trusted circle conversations.

  1. There are many people in my trusted circle that live less than a 30 minute drive from my house. Oddly enough, we rarely meet up because our days are a blur of working, parenting and caring for others. A trend has popped up for local friends to go online. I’m scheduling online happy hours with friends who live less than 10 miles away. I’ve never considered this as an option before – uhhh, duh. And this from someone whose go to quote is: “Expectation trumps reality.” Now that being online is a necessity, I’m applying the online approach to all social situations.
  2. Using online tools has allowed me to engage more with my trusted circle in non-work or volunteer related events. Prior to now, suggesting a Zoom call with a friend seemed kind of weird.
  3. My trusted circle tends to be driven by data and science, not hype. I’m thankful for that.

There are upsides to this strange new world we are all living in. It has given everyone ways to show up in a more positive manner and be more intentional, if we so choose to behave in that way. Personally, I’ve upped my game and learned some things that hopefully stay with me. These range from simple habits like better hand washing techniques to an important mindset shift of embracing a VUCA world while also maintaining focus on science.

The main takeaways are paradoxically simple: We are in unprecedented times, surrounded by misinformation, unknowns and have little control over a pandemic. We do have control over our daily actions and our choices. Do what you can to stay safe, engage you trusted circle, stay healthy and flatten the curve.

*Source: Like many things that have been incrementally improved, it was difficult to track down the original source. The important thing to note is that this Here is a quote from FastCompany – To read the full story, please go to the original article.

Copyright © 2018 – 2026 Michaele Gardner and Brian Hackerson