Consistency Creates Confidence but, Unchecked, It Creates Complacency

Consistency leads to confidence; however, given enough time will lead to complacency. To avoid this pitfall, stopping and reflecting will help create visibility and avoid falling victim to this trap.

When working with others, the biggest challenge is creating a sense of confidence in the process. It will likely fall apart if people do not feel the plan will succeed. A great example of this is implementing agile standards within a dev team. To ensure everyone sticks with the process, they need to have something familiar to grasp onto, which is where consistency comes into play. When we have the same weekly meeting to review tickets, it becomes a structure that people can hold onto to make sense of the chaos software development can bring.

This newfound clarity can make development more straightforward and comfortable. However, over time, these agile meetings can become so routine that the meaning behind the actions reduces down to numbers to achieve. As a result, more emphasis is on hitting the best numbers instead of the why behind those numbers. This contorted focus might lead to some of the best metrics your company has ever seen but, in the grand scheme, have little impact on the organization.

Taking the time to reflect should not be reserved for the last month of the year. Rather, it should be a routine you incorporate throughout the year. How often you review should be considered case by case. If you feel complacency can set in quickly, shoot for every other week. Otherwise, monthly or even quarterly reviews would suffice.

Understanding how to create confidence is a great asset, but just like harnessing the power of fire, understanding how to do it safely is vital.