It’s Really All About the People

Last week at Integrum, as part of our ongoing effort to be the best, we had a retrospective/company-wide expectation meeting. We discussed our current processes, and outlined some new things we wanted to do going forward that would help improve everything we do. Even though we talked a lot about project boards and velocities, when it comes down to it, it’s really all about the people.

How to Earn a Gold Card

When I was in elementary school they had an ongoing school-wide program where students could earn “Gold Cards” and be recognized in the monthly assemblies. To earn a Gold Card, one had to be doing something benefiting others, without being asked. It could be something as simple as going out of your way to pickup some trash.

To be sure, a lot of students went around doing very insignificant, but still beneficial, activities all day in hopes of being seen by a teacher. The real takeaway however was the idea that the best type of deed is done where no one is watching. This is a difficult concept for a 4th grader, but the life lesson is outstanding.

Focus on the People

We talk a lot at Integrum about our process, our engineering principles, our goals, plans and expectations. But for every project board, velocity graph, client stand-up and piece of acceptance criteria, there is an underlying foundation of high quality people working together to achieve a common goal. Finding trustworthy, forgiving, understanding, motivating, helpful, challenging and comforting people to work with removes so many of the problems that these project management tools aim to solve.

When people live their lives being accountable to themselves and those around them, when they strive to do what’s right, even when it’s hard, and when they go above and beyond without the expectation of being praised, they can achieve great things.