Your Agile certification is meaningless

Or is it?

A recurring conversation in the Agile community seems to hover around certifications:

Taking a two day course and passing a test doesn’t make you a master.

I tend to agree. Having said that, I don’t think it’s something that can be easily brushed away because there is a lot of nuance there.

I tend to view certifications the same way I view degrees and diplomas at a high level. It represents an institution vouching for your level of knowledge in a given area. Further, it demonstrates your willingness and desire to continue your education in a recordable way (I don’t have a voucher for all the philosophy and social psychology material I’ve read, for example, therefore can’t really put that on a resume in a meaningful way). Finally, there’s a difference between knowledge and wisdom and, in the grand scheme of things, wisdom will tend to trump knowledge for mostly good reasons.

Vouchers! Get your vouchers here!

My high school diploma communicates to the world, “When it comes to Josh’s general knowledge of the world, he’s good.” It’s kinda like being a Goodfella.

You know, we always called each other good fellas. Like you said to, uh, somebody, “You’re gonna like this guy. He’s all right. He’s a good fella. He’s one of us.” ~ Goodfellas (1990)

For some people, being vouched for by an institution is better than being vouched for by an individual…your parents love you and are biased, in theory, your High School is not. To put it another way, meeting new people is hard, especially when there is an expectation of what everyone is trying to get out of the relationship (consider online dating)…a voucher is a good way to enter.

Nuance

Just about anyone can create a voucher — especially if there is no regulatory body trying to ensure some level of continuity and rigor. There was a time (we’re probably still in that time) when for profit online colleges were considered “paper mills,” which is to say they are viewed as not having the same rigor as other institutions; whether that rigor is real or perceived.

Just about anyone can apply for a voucher. There is usually a test or, in some cases, the provider can just say, “I vouch for this person.” This is when we get into the question of, “So, Josh, what was your GPA.” For High School, my GPA was around 1.5 and I graduated third to last in my class for that year. For college, my GPA was around 3.5 and I was on Dean’s List (with a 4.0) for the first 3.5 years. For my unfinished Masters in Education, I believe I’m at a solid 3.0. For most of my certifications, I’m above 80%; however, I did have a certification wherein I passed with a 65% (this is more an indicator of a paper mill in my opinion).

The real or perceived prestige of the institution (who’s vouching for you) can also play a part and be tricky. Graduating from a community college is typically viewed as being “less than” graduating from an Ivy League school. (Is graduating with a 4.0 from a community college better than graduating with a 1.0 from an Ivy League college? Further, what happens if the Ivy League school’s standards begin to slip and no one for whom it’s important gets the memo?)

The real or perceived rigor of the institution can also be factored in. Which is “better,” an institution that doesn’t let you pass without a 90% or more on a test or the one that only requires a 50%?

Considering each institution uses different tests and different questions, I would say I don’t know which is better. Of course, this raises the question: Do you want standardized testing in the Agile community? Because this is how you get standardized testing in the Agile community. Therefore, it’s up to the person reviewing the vouchers to know that some certifications require the agreement of a trainer, while others require 80% or higher on a written/oral exam, while others require a two day training class and 50% or higher on a multiple choice exam.

I’m in it for the learnin’!

I remember having discussions regarding the benefit of college back in the day as I was questioning going university. One of the arguments was that it demonstrates to other people your willingness to commit to something and see it through to the end; that’s fair to a point. One of the arguments was that it’s for personal growth and satisfaction. (One of the arguments was the voucher — see previous.)

So, this is personal value whereas vouchers tend to give value to others. (Like a carnival ticket to ride the Ferris wheel.)

Nuance

Quality of the education and institution is difficult…because we like vouchers (brand equity to a certain extent).

Driving down the road you see a strip mall off to the side. There’s a big block letter sign that says, “Al’s Agile Accreditation Academy.” A neon sign in the window reads, “Open.” A scrolling marquee, “Take a class. Pass a test. Get certified. It’s that easy.” The windows are completely blacked out and you can’t see inside. There are no cars parked out front, which seems odd considering the cars parked in front of the other shops.

What are the chances you’re gonna run over to get an education from Al? Probably not very high.

Why not?

Who’s Al? The office seems more like a pawnshop than something for “professionals” and I’m a professional. Why aren’t other people there? The personal brand, of the office, and apparent lack of friends are not good “vouchers”; therefore, you don’t feel compelled (or possibly safe) to run right over.

Later you’re Agile Coaching mentor tells you, “Oh, Al? Al is a god amongst mortals and she has to hide herself away like Luke Skywalker. I don’t think most people know she has a brick and mortar shop”…next day you’re in that door like you went back in time…possibly even parking around the building to not draw too much attention; don’t wanna give away Al’s secret.

The point being, quality education can come from anywhere and inside any container. (I get educated a lot by movies, music, books, and children.) The question then becomes how do you create value from the education.

You know how to clean a windshield, right?

That line is from a scene in the movie adaptation of Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. The full exchange goes like this:

Dan Millman: I know more than you think.
Socrates: And you think more than you know. But knowledge is not the same as wisdom.
DM: Yeah? What’s the difference?
S: You know how to clean a windshield, right?
DM: Yeah.
S: Wisdom is doing it.

The way most of us achieve certifications does not indicate experience (wisdom; the application of knowledge). (Arguably a college degree does indicate that experience; however, I would submit that I ran more projects as a studio arts major than I did when I was pursuing an MBA with a focus on project management.) This is where getting hired by a company comes into play on your resume.

Again, it’s a voucher. XYZ Corp says I was a Scrum Master — even if XYZ Corp’s daily tasks feel more like the work of a business analyst or they thought I did a horrible job. And that’s the check really. Does the bulleted list match the title? Does the title match what I’m hiring for? Does the bulleted list match what I’m hiring for? And so on.

Nuance

Someone has to be the first to take the risk of hiring (or moving) someone into a position they seem unqualified for. This is the biggest risk being avoided by most businesses (the next would probably be cultural fit) in hiring someone; stranger danger. Which brings up a sort of running joke I’ve seen over the years: You need experience to get a job but you need a job to get experience.

Alternatively, you can always hire yourself or practice in a public forum. The only difference is that you probably don’t have the street cred of some other companies and some people won’t look at that work as “being real”; oh, you had a toy career, that’s cute; we do real business here.

Conclusion

For this discussion certifications seem to be vouchers that help reduce the risk felt by others who want to enter into a value for value exchange with you. Similar to other types of vouchers like degrees and diplomas or a list of references in an application package or the skills section of a LinkedIn profile. It’s mainly about saying, “I’m not dangerous.” Of course, if a lot of dangerous people get the same voucher, then the voucher itself could flip and be viewed as dangerous. Your personal brand gets associated with all the other brands.

Certifications tend to vouch for someone’s knowledge in a given area. Knowledge itself is invisible and can only be visualized through action and the vouching of someone else. Therefore, certifications are probably most important (from a pragmatic perspective) to those who lack experience. Having said that, this is probably the most important component of the exchange. Increased knowledge increases agility.

The application of knowledge makes it tangible. It’s hard for organizations to take a risk on someone who doesn’t have experience. This is why spending some of your own time becomes important. For example, one of the reasons I have my own company is to do things that my employer may not want to; truly self managing and self organizing contributors (no management), for example.

So, while certifications are not the end all be all, they are helpful. It’s up to you to ensure you’re associating yourself with the right people and receiving quality education. It’s also up to hiring organizations to understand what they’re looking at and the baggage that can come with it.