Agile Living

01Jul07

I have for some time been interested in Agile development methods and has as Jimmy found that there are some interesting parallels to how we live our lives. More interesting may be what we can learn and what tools we can use from Agile development in our everyday life. Here are a few points that I feel are helpful in my life:

Carpe diem: Don’t waste your time looking into the future – you won’t be able to foresee it anyway. Life is an evalutionary process and the plan you make today will be worthless tomorrow. Also maybe more important, Don’t worry. Instead you should deal with problems as they occur.
Keep it simple: Don’t make your life more complex than it has to be. Choose the simplest solution that supports your needs and enjoy the flexibility this will bring when your priorities change. They will change! I’m not saying you shouldn’t get married and have children, but maybe you should try living together for a while first.
Encourage change: Your priorities will change and life will present new paths. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the opportunities that arise and don’t look at changes as negative but instead as opportunities to improve your life. Keeping your life simple will help you to be able to do that and to adjust to the changes.
Do it: If you are wondering how something will effect your life then go ahead and do it. It may not be what you imagined but at least you won’t regret that you didn’t do it. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Each mistake made is not a loss but a lesson learned which will help you make more informed decisions in the future. Again, keeping your life simple allows you to do stuff!

A good example is some friends of mine who, after living in a city for several years, moved to a new city which they had no prior relation to as they wanted to try something different. After a short period of time it was clear that they did not like living there so they quit their jobs and terminated the lease on the apartment and moved to yet another city. After a while they decided to buy a house in the city they originally lived in. The point of the example is that they were willing to change their lives and actually doing it and at the same time they kept it simple e.g. by renting apartments which again made them able to adjust to the changes. It may seem like a waste to move 3 times within a short period of time only to end up where they started, but in fact the lessons they learned from the experience helped them realize what was the right choice for them and in the end changed their priorities.

“Life happens when you’re busy making other plans” – John Lennon