AUTHOR: Malene Marie Bendixen Jacobsen, Agile Coach

After returning from London and having caught up on sleep, unpacking, getting to the bottom of an overloaded inbox, and generally just getting back to a normal workday, it is time for me to look back at what happened at the 2018 Scrum Gathering in London.

I had an amazing time meeting a lot of awesome people both new and old faces, getting inspired by so many different inputs, seeing how big and supportive the Scrum community is, and just in general feeling part of the Scrum family.

The first talk that comes to my mind when I think about the gathering is the keynote from Debra Searle – “Choose your attitude”.

Choose your attitude – Debra Searle

Wow, wow, wow! How often have you been to a talk that ends in standing applause, happy/emotional tears in people’s eyes, people being speechless, or just that overwhelming sense that they are not even sure of what feeling it is? That was what happened at the end of Debra Searle’s talk. It was outstanding and without a doubt the best talk I have ever attended.

If you haven’t already Googled Debra Searle, you should do it – even her webpage is inspiring. Debra is the woman who rode solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Her talk was based on the trip using concrete examples of tools that can be used for you to choose your attitude in different scenarios.

But why is it so important to choose your attitude?

As the picture illustrates, the research shows that for top performers 15% of their success can be attributed to their skill level and the rest 85% is down to their attitude!

So if you can choose your attitude, why not do it? Debra Searle’s toolbox for helping her choose her attitude looks like this:

Run The Movie

Picture yourself as a character from a movie that has the skill set you need to get through your task and run the movie in your head until you become this person.

Contagious Passionate Belief

Surround yourself with people with passion, for it is so infectious that it will affect you and you will start believing in it as a result.

‘How bad is it?’ Scale

Create your own scale based on your experience, this episode you are in – how bad is it compared to be eaten by a shark? It can always get worse.

Memory Songs or NO playlist

It is amazing how music can impact us, so make yourself a happy playlist with your favorite music that you know puts you in good mood and play it when needed. Or you maybe have a specific song that makes you feel stronger which you can use in the scenario where that is needed.

Shifting Comfort Zones… Control the controllable

Often things we cannot do anything about take up space in our minds and we waste time worrying – only worry about things we can do something about.

Free words

We know how a kind word from another person can change everything, so get better at impacting people positively by sharing positive words with them, compliment them, or share a good story if it helps the person on their journey, anything that will help another person in a positive way.

Arrival Scene movie

Create the end scene of your movie in your head, how will it look when you finish, and play it over and over again as a reminder of what is waiting for you.

Choose your attitude

But most importantly, stop and think about your attitude, you have the power to change it and make a difference.

Debra Searle is such an inspiring woman that has achieved so much, but still manages to be approachable and down to earth – After her talk, I was left with one strong feeling: I want to be Debra Searle when I grow up!

See the next blog post for more favorite takeaways from the gathering.