Hey Reader,

I’ve been delving into so many tools lately, and I really hope that this is something that you really enjoy at least 20% as much as I do. I guess I’m just showing my little obsession to you.

I’ve always been interested in all new tools, tech, and software. And that interest in the long term helped me get a hang of pretty much any tool imaginable I had to work with in Scrum teams.

Like, 6-7 years ago I’ve seen Jira for the first time in my life, and a couple of months later, I knew it as if I was the company's Jira admin.

I didn't take any classes to help me. And if I had an issue that I couldn't solve, I would just Google an answer.

Do you know how many devs use Stackoverflow to help with code?

I think that's the best way to learn is to figure it out on your own.

And once you get used to that learning approach, it becomes easier to apply it to pretty much anything.

Why is that so important for us? (Scrum Masters, I mean... well, actually, for anyone even remotely working with IT)

I think that this whole idea of learning new tools and practices with ease is a skill.

It's that learning skill that I often refer to as one of the bare-minimum skills a Scrum Master needs (alongside teaching, and Scrum knowledge)

You need to develop this learning skill if you want to achieve long-term success.

In short, you need to have the ability to quickly understand the key elements of the new concept presented to you based on your prior experiences. The more you know, the easier it becomes to get to know something new.

Like programmers. Once they know one programming language, it's much easier for them to learn a new language. The reason for that is that by knowing one language you start connecting the dots and discern patterns from similar things.

This reminds me of the people who play video games. Like me, I mean (yes, I’m a total gamer).

If a person regularly plays video games or has experience with this entertainment medium, when they pick up a new game, they don’t need an instruction manual to understand how to play.

They’ll just figure it out. They’ll use their knowledge from the past to see how this new game works through trial and error. And they’ll do it quickly.

So this is the same quick learning ability you need to develop by trying out new tools and practices. Because it is now just part of our work life.

If you don’t have that skill, start working on it by taking on some challenging new tools you’ve never used before!

And that brings me to my last week's video about a popular AI tool - ChatGPT. I’m sharing some very practical use cases with you of how you can use it to save yourself some time and learn new things!

Check it out on my blog or YouTube channel.

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Learning is one of the skills that I find essential for a Scrum Master.

In my free download Action Plan I added this as number 2 under “what the Scrum Master works on daily”:

“A LOT of researching This is the biggest part of your Scrum Master role. You need to be ready and willing to do it. Look up what the Scrum Guide gives as one of examples: “Helping find techniques for effective Product Goal definition and Product Backlog management”. It applies to many more areas apart from the Product Backlog.”

I wasn’t kidding - it is that important!

Where do you start, though?

If you jump immediately into Jira without having that ability to discern patterns, you'll quickly get discouraged.

Like if I give an Xbox controller to my mom and ask her to play a game without giving her any guidance, I think my controller will end up in the trash bin in under 10 minutes.

So, don't pick up an Xbox controller if you've never played a single video game. And don't start developing your software tools learning skill with Jira.

Instead try out simpler and more straightworward tools.

Like, Trello for Kanban boards and project management. Or instead of Miro, which is a sophisticated all-in-one platform, start with Google Jamboard or some retrospective specific tools.

Try out one new software tool per week. And over time it will help you develop that learning skill that will make everything else much easier (yes, including Jira).

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Ok, this email wasn't necessarily supposed to be dedicated to Jira, but somehow I keep talking about it.

This email is dedicated to the learning skill because of how important it is.

If you develop your learning skill and your learning method early enough, it will be easier for you to continuously become better and better as a Scrum Master (and not only).

So what are you doing still reading my email? Go find a new tool to try out, maybe create a ChatGPT account and research something 😉

(btw, if you are going to try out ChatGPT beware of suspicios websites!!! The correct one is from OpenAI)

Cheers,
Daria

P.S.: Can we please talk about the stigma against video games and gamers in general, especially when it comes to the workplace? It’s seen as childish and unprofessional. We gotta stop it. Bring video games to the office! A study from the National Institute of Health says: Functional MRI brain imaging analyses found that children who played video games for three or more hours per day showed higher brain activity in regions of the brain associated with attention and memory than did those who never played. At the same time, those children who played at least three hours of video games per day showed more brain activity in frontal brain regions that are associated with more cognitively demanding tasks. And did you know that video games have been shown to help people with dementia?!

P.P.S.: Did you know that you can earn gummy bears in the store and redeem them for some awesome rewards? You can get a FREE Retrospective Poker cards set or a FREE 1:1 coaching session with me! Start earning gummy bear​