I stayed in the south of France, near les Pyrénées, where a part of my family lived. And I re-discovered the nature. This country is purely beautiful. It helps me to take some distance with my work and with my thoughts about XP and agility.
In our society, it seems we have forgotten the real sense of life. What are we working for? For money? To pay this new car we have dreamed of? For our employer? To have this reward our co-worker had last year? For our family? To have its beloved recognition? For ourself? To feel proud and strong?
There is no hint of pretentiousness in this article about what is the real sense of life. Let me present my point of view.
It's a bit like we have reached the transition in the stone age between the Mesolithic, where human had a mobile lifestyle, and the Neolithic, with the settlement.
Nowadays, there is a new transition between those who stay quietly with their job, do what they have to do, sometimes do a little more, and those who have discovered jobs won't fall anymore from the sky. It's a big change about our approach in our work and consequently in our life. It has to come from ourselves. We are working to help others making products and money. We need to discover what they need, listenning to them with compassion, understanding what they want, and decide how we can offer them our knowledge.
I really like the metaphor with the prehistory, because it's a change of the way we see work and life. It reminds me my first coach, Régis Médina, who loves telling stories, with always this desire to share his new thoughts, wishing for this flash of inspiration that will profondly change human minds.
Have a look to this funny book, Who Moved My Cheese?. It aims to help you to see where you are in your life, with your family, your friends, your work. It doesn't tell you how you can change, but gives you ways to enjoy about change. Maybe It's right, our society his changing, we have reached this transition...
In which side will you be? Mesolithic? Neolithic?
In which side will I be?
