If you work with me, you know this is a mantra that I repeat often. But it’s not just a clever saying to me, it’s really been my way of life for DECADES now.
For a large portion of my childhood, I was homeschooled and that laid the foundation for my “cut the fat” way of doing things. While my friends were in school all day long, moving in and out of classes, recess, and lunch, I was at home waking up around 9 AM starting the day with breakfast and a little educational TV. Then finishing my schoolwork by noon, I’d eat lunch, and play the rest of the day away. Instead of listening to teachers lecturing all day, going through activities in a classroom and waiting for other students to finish before I could continue, I was largely self-taught and blew through my work every day because I was working at my own pace.
The couple grades that I did spend in public schools were always so boring to me. Why do I have to listen to a teacher drone on about something that I already read in the lesson anyway? Why do I have to sit here and wait for other students to catch up when I’ve already completed the test? A lot of time spent in school for me was wasted time.
For high school because I was gifted, I was chosen to be a part of a pilot program of hybrid online schooling that would be at your own pace. You could work through your work as fast or as slow as you needed to, and then come to school a couple hours a week for labs. I was on the faster end, but on in-class days I was still bored because I worked ahead so the teachers were talking about work that I completed weeks ago. Again, wasted time.
As I became an adult, I excelled in production-based work environments because not only did I learn quickly, but I worked even faster. I was even able to convince an employer to cut my work hours in half since I would complete the same 8-hour workday in just 4 hours.
Since this was a constant pattern that followed me all throughout my life, once I learned the Scrum Framework, I latched onto it because I felt like I finally found my calling in life. I could use this Framework to teach others how to succeed in working as I have been all along.
I established Scrum As You Are as a digital business solutions agency to help small businesses to learn to speed up their production in the way Fortune 500 companies do without compromising their budgets and employee or customer satisfaction.
My dream is for everyone to learn to work smarter, not harder within the realm of what they do best, which is why I named my company Scrum As You Are. You don’t have to change who you are as a business, but you will find that small changes to the way you execute your day-to-day business can make big differences in your bottom line, employee, and customer satisfaction.
In this blog I will be sharing stories, helpful hints, and tips & tricks I’ve learned along the way. If ever you have questions or comments, feel free to contact me directly at bethany@scrumasyouare.com.
Happy reading!