It’s easier to ask for forgiveness then to ask for permission.

Related to “Just do it” is this theme. The title is a quote from Grace Murray Hopper one of the amazing IT women (I added a book about her in the booklist at the end.)

A special case of perfectionism is people waiting for permission . Complaining that their bosses take to long to take decisions, or that they are moron’s that don’t take the right decision. Complaining does not help your situation.
Agilists are professionals. Professionals take decisions for their work.

Most perfectionists look for some kind of recognition. For some of them that locks them from starting anything without permission.
In reality most chefs are very happy when people come with solutions instead of problems.
Even happier when they execute things and report on the progress.

Some managers have not enough experience with this kind of behavior. Maybe you are a manager and this idea makes you afraid. What will people think of me as a manager when my people take decisions?
Will they consider me as a good manager?
Hold this thought for a while.
Let’s first focus what this could mean for your time.
– A lot less boring meetings
– A lot more time to do all the things that you are supposed to do. And you know do in the evening.
– You will finally have time to help your boss be successful.

⇒ Imagine you can focus on helping and making your boss successful.

Now go back to that thought you had before.
How will she think of such a manager?
Right, she will want more managers like you!

Do you see a pattern?
A perfectionist boss, creates perfectionist teams.
This is called team==product.

Agile Techniques Supporting “Ask for forgiveness instead of asking for permission”:

  • Retrospectives
  • Self-Organization
  • Refactoring
  • Visual Management
  • Small Iterations
  • Continuous Integration
  • Unit Tests
  • TDD
  • BDD

Books: