I’m Ukrainian 🇺🇦. It says it all. It should be enough, but I’ll dive a bit deeper into practical implementations. I was using these rules for some time but now decided to put them here.
In the Agile world (so should be familiar to the majority of my readers) there is an old saying that as a Scrum Master, you either change the organization or change the organization (meaning you are fixing what is not working or, if you can not do that, you go to other organization, where you do can help). The same now applies to russians and belarusians – you either change your country (already not happened, we should fix your shit) or you leave your country. Because otherwise by staying there, you are part of the system, and by paying taxes you are contributing to the economy that is used to support killing machine.
For the time being, I will refrain from doing business with russia or belarus.
To do any business with me:
- if you are a company, you (or your subsidiaries) should not be present in russia or belarus and! should not be doing business with any company in russia or belarus. You might be on your way out as I know it might be a long process (let’s talk then).
I know this is strict (considering the latter part), but if you don’t comply, I’m sure there are plenty of russian providers who could help you… - if you are an individual, you should not be a resident of russia or belarus!
If you recently left and technically are not yet a resident of the new country, that might be ok – let’s talk.
But I expect you’ve already made a public statement somewhere I can verify condemning this invasion and war crimes in clear, unambiguous terms. I understand that there are many reasons why I have no right to demand that of you, and many reasons why you may want to keep your feelings about this war private. That’s fine – I’m sure there are plenty of russian providers who could help you instead of me in that case… - Regardless of your physical and legal residence, if you support russia’s position – please, help yourself, I’m not willing and not going to serve you.
If you thought I’m crazy and unfair to russia and/or belarus, I’m fine with that. You are free to choose whom you got your services from.
Just to illustrate I’m not alone in this, here are links to statements from Worldwide organizations in my area of work:
- Flight Levels Academy refrains from doing business with Russia and Belarus
- Kanban University Ukraine statement
- Update on policies from ICAgile
- Statement from scrum.org
- Statement from Management 3.0
- Statement from Project Management Institute
Ukraine needs your continuous help!
Help as a Service (HaaS) or Donation as a Service (DaaS) – don’t know which one sounds better, works the same way. Please, subscribe to the KOLO fund to help Ukraine! I know them personally, you can take my word that the money you are donating there won’t be wasted or misused! They help bring hi-tech for army needs!
- Become KOLOssus (subscription to victory for brave companies)
- Become an army patron (help as an individual)
We are Ukrainians. Regardless of the way we contribute (serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, volunteering work to buy and bring needed supplies and help people in need, or making money to serve people around and donate to the needs of the Armed Forces), we all work for the same goal. We will not stop halfway through. “We shall never surrender.”