The Myth of the Cowboy

25-minute Talk

All levels

Timetable

2:45 p.m.-3:30 p.m.

Wednesday 23rd

Room

Room F2 - Track 2: Talks

Audience

Testers, Leaders, Managers, Anyone who works in teams

Key-Learning

- Why being the hero feels validating

- How teams become disempowered

- Root causes of hero culture in teams

- Common hero archetypes

- Tools to help shift away from hero culture

How Being the Hero Hurts and Harms

Have you ever considered that playing the hero can harm both you and your team?

Everyone likes to feel like the hero. Nothing feels better than charging in on your horse and rescuing the town’s folk from danger! But have you ever considered that playing the hero can harm both you and your team? Agile requires us to eliminate silos, share information, and share the load. As an individual you can’t keep the town safe by yourself, the bigger the team, the more people need to be able to be self-sufficient. We need to reframe our mindsets from lone cowboy saving the day, to an agile posse protecting the town from outlaw bugs. And while being the hero can feel good in short doses, saving the day can become exhausting for you and disempower your team.