A new practitioner, hungry for knowledge, set out in search of agile certainty.  

After weeks of searching, he came upon the name of a true Agile seeker. Locals called him “the authority”, “wise one” or “scrum sensei”. The single greatest source of wisdom on the subject of doing agile right.  

Approaching his unassuming house, our hero noticed hand-carved signs, dangling from tree branches. Their meanings were cryptic and bizarre.  

“Abandon thought, all ye who enter”  

“If you have come to accumulate knowledge, you shouldn’t have it.”  

 “Only gather that which fits into the palm of your hand”  

“Those who travel a long distance to find wisdom should have been collecting it along the way”  

Upon reaching the sensei, the breathless and anxious student unleashed his first inquiry.  

“Wise one… what is the most important of all the agile principles?”  

To which the wise one answered, “Do”.  

Thinking for a moment, the student contemplated the answer.  

Half-satisfied, he moved on to the next question. Looking to gain as much knowledge from this opportunity as possible.  

“How many people should be on a scrum team?” he asked.  

And again, the sage replied, “Do.”  

Puzzled, the student asked, with a raised eyebrow, “Is that Latin for two, or ten?”.  

The master patiently folded his hands.  

The student then asked, “Should the product owner be part of the retrospective?”  

The wise one replied, “Do.”  

Undaunted, the student asked, “How do I convince a stakeholder to be more available?”  

The reply, again, “Do”.  

Here, the student became frustrated. “Wise One, how am I to become wise as you? How can I become a powerful practitioner when you won’t answer my questions? Please, tell me… what is the best way to agile enlightenment?”  

The refrain – “Do”.  

“Is do an acronym for a SAFe process or ceremony?”, queried the student, puzzled.  

The sage only smiled.  

Exhausted, the student finally commented, “I can see that there is no Agile wisdom here. I see that it was fruitless to come all this way only to find that you have no scripts for me. You have no formula or easy answers to help me reduce risk. You have shown me no ways to make decisions easier. All you’ve done is force me to work harder to get the answers that cannot wait. I must have them now. And without them, I may as well give up my hopes as a scrum master, coach, and leader of the people I serve!”  

To which the master replied, “Please, do.”