It was September, 2020 – the middle (at least of this writing) the global pandemic. My partner was at a loss for most of the pandemic as bike race after bike race cancelled. However, the Lotaja race was on. We drove a long way from Minnesota to Logan Utah where the start line for the race was located.
For us to make it there – we needed a bit more planning that the typical non-pandemic world afforded us. We had to plan out and book hotels for where we wanted to stay overnight along our journey there and back. We had to do some research on restaurant or other food options along the way.
When I first read the agile manifesto principles – and sustainable pace was included – I was happy. Work-Life balance I thought to myself. Then – in various training classes where this principle was shared – I would often see a bike race image with a pace-line of bikers. In that – you just assume that the group is going at a good rate for the whole group. Ta-da! Sustainable Pace Achieved.
It’s not that simple. This race for my partner and the 300 some other racers was 207 miles long – ending in the Grand Teton Village. The elevation gain on the race is about 9800 feet. The views – amazing! This is not a race for your average bike rider to say the least. You are fighting against wind, calorie burn, joint pain, weather conditions, timing of your breaks, knowing when to go slow down the mountain so you don’t hit over 50 MPH and possibly crash and loose most of your skin versus try use your brakes a bit but not too much that they’ll burn out and you’ll have no brakes. This was my partner’s first high altitude race – so add in the oxygen problems. You get the idea – a lot of things to deal with. And of course – all while trying to draft off of the person in front of you in that pace line.
So – just like for most Scrum Teams I’ve worked with – there are so many things that can help or hinder this idea of a sustainable pace. There are things built into the Scrum Framework to help team – i.e. the Developers take in the product backlog items into Sprint Planning – no one else can push these upon them.
But – let’s take sustainable pace beyond those things built into Scrum. What will really help the team? Is it some forms of automation? Is it creating more cross-functional skills so that the team is prepared for all sorts and types of work that may come with the PBIs chosen? Is it taking care of some technical debt so that the mere drudgery of maintaining that debt isn’t creating stress on the team? Is it investing in newer or additional tools that will help the team in its craft and quality?
How will we know what will help a team achieve their sustainable pace? Ask them. They’ve been thinking about it for a while. They’ll likely have many ideas.