I have been fortunate enough to be a part of RunJumpDev, a collective of game developers that meet in Lexington, Kentucky to discuss projects and help cultivate a creative atmosphere. As part of this environment, we like to encourage developers to push their boundaries from time to time. As part of this initiative, Tim Knowlton had the idea of creating a sprints program called Hurdles, but he was concerned with committing to running such a program by himself. Tim reached out to me to see if I would be able to help by acting as a coach for the “Hurdlers,” which I was more than happy to do.
Hurdles encourages developers to push the boundaries of their project for a four-week period. At the end of each week, the developers present the results of that week’s sprint to an audience that is prepared to give constructive feedback and alternative perspectives on their works. At the end of all four sprints, developers are given the option to construct a write-up of their sprints to be posted to the RunJumpDev blog.
My responsibility in coaching Hurdlers is to act as a guide to ensure that people are challenging themselves appropriately in a healthy manner. It is important to us that we encourage people to reach for the stars, but also to exercise appropriate self-care.