My keynote at Lean Agile Scotland - my last at any UK agile conference. Marking the end of my active involvement with agile communities, this keynote talks of my battle with focus and my journey to say 'Yes' to as many things as I can - to help me learn, share and grow. I discuss the why and how of saying 'Yes', tools I use to manage the madness and the benefits to my life thus far.

1. The linky art
and joy of
saying yes to
almost
everything
Mike Sutton @lascot 2018

2. What about
Mike?
I thrive in
collaboration
I’m addicted to ideas
and I love seeing them
turn to something
I’m quite fond
of people
I get bored easily
I’d quite like to be
really wealthy
What’s ‘Linky’?
A developer
for 25 years
an agile coach
for 12 years
An international
human rights lawyer
Ask what this is, win a
thing.
a Dad of four
a startup
founder
a husband to one
diagnosed with Frustrating
Sequentialism ok - that’s not a thing,
but it should be
I practice “getting what I want by
helping others get what they want”

3. What do you do when
every path before you is
uncertain?
Photo by Robin Leltz on Unsplash

4. I choose to explore all
of them as efficiently as
I can,using data to guide
me.
Go Fishing
Decide on what counts
as a ‘catch’ - what is
valuable to me
Make it as cheap
as possible to fish
Be open to the
possibilities
Explore within my means
Find creative ways to
increase my ‘means’

5. there is
method to the
madness
Make the
mental shift
redefine value
for me (WIIFM)
4 x no shows
3 x task dodgers
3 x committers
start here
network
friendship
growth
fun opportunity to
be wealthy
opportunity
to be useful
make a tree
shake
hint: it is usually saying ‘Yes’
identify the
minimum to be
done and do it.
be open to whatever
happens.
things are going to get busy,
make it visible.
See what you are doing
A little
discipline goes
a long way
I measure my working
day in pomodoros
decide how much
time you are willing to
invest (and when)
manage the flow
still say ‘Yes’ all the time,
create fewer instances
when is that
value greatest?
de-couple ‘Yes, to
what’s next’ from what
might happen 10 steps
down the linedelink
your chain
make it easy
to say ‘Yes’

6. Tools I use
to manage the flow
I use https://calendly.com to
publish my contact hours
a trello board for the things
I’m working on and what
stages they are / tasks
to see what I’m
doing
storiesonboard.com - a user story mapping
app to visualise everything at every level
and shared with my collaborators, so we are
all in sync
to maintain tactical
focus /discipline
pomodoneapp.com - really cool/simple but
feature-fun pomodoro app that integrates with
Trello.
LinkedIn for engagement
and finding / be found for
interesting things to say
‘Yes’ to.
to find
interesting
things
mostly I’m found

7. sshh,here
comes the
science-ish bit
Optimise your
context & brain
side switching
it is just chemistry
make the exciting work
subsidise the boring work
rest / sleep is context too
Get new contexts to switch to - I knit.
Balance Left/Logic with Right/
Creativity
boring/tedious work needs more
endorphins to ‘power’ through
the eternal DOSE dance (super simplified)
Dopamine - major role in rewards/motivation,
Oxytocin - modulates fear/anxiety, helps feelings of love, trust, empathy
Serotonin - regulates happiness
Endorphin - handles your fear/flight and pushing through
Get some sleep
…and exercise
put more of the good
stuff into your System 1
make things that make you happy
become habitual - fill up your
System 1. e.g. I use humour
Know thyself
what gets you excited?
what gets you zombified?
what helps you disconnect?
what helps you laugh?
What are you prone to?
laugh a lot more and
with more people
helps keep serotonin and oxytocin
topped up. Regularly doing this
becomes habit
sleep lets things System
1 get updates
major source of
endorphins generation
eat better
a balanced diet low in highly
processed food seems to be the
best advice

8. for me now,it is
Joyful Hardship
I’m happier
variety, industries, communities
more often
founder in 4
startups
people I actually
engage with
regularly
When I get tired, I
get exhausted
comprehensively depleted!
I’m more confident in
my ability to be useful
my curated network
has grown 40% in 6
months
doing more things &
more things that are
diverse & interesting
3 x co-founders
1 x with funding
adviser to 3
startups
1x behavioural economics
1x ethical finance
co-writing
children’s stories
adventures of Doug, the
Linkybrain Kid
reinventing education
#XSchools
Progress
can be slow
especially those that I’m
actively collaborating on
I’m scared /anxious
more often
but for less time each time.

9. what is it for you?
questions
frustrations
hopes dreams
nightmares
your story

10. thank you
I’ll say yes
to you
book a time to chat on
mhsutton.me/office-hours
connect to the madness
on LinkedIn
Say Hello
mike+lascot2018@wizewerx.com
what are you going to say
‘Yes’ to?