From Doing Agile to Being Agile
The pace of technological disruption and innovation is challenging organizations across all industries to become more agile and responsive. While many companies are adopting methodologies like Scrum and Kanban, simply "doing agile" via new processes is not enough. To compete and thrive amid volatility, organizations must go beyond agile techniques to create an agile culture and mindset rooted in continuous improvement, respect for people, and teacher-leaders.
This mindset shift is imperative, particularly for executives overseeing technical teams and digital transformation initiatives. When leaders model agile values and behaviors, it empowers teams to experiment often, pivot as needed, and accelerate key outcomes. Agility moves from buzzword to tangible competitive advantages. This article examines the core principles underpinning the agile mindset, the key benefits of creating an agile culture, and common traps that hinder progress. Executives who model rather than mandate agile adoption will see their teams heighten their innovation, increase their productivity, and improve outcomes.
What Does It Mean to “Be Agile”?
Leaders who “do Agile” implement popular frameworks like Scrum or Kanban, adopting new rituals like sprints and standups. However, leaders who layer these processes on old ways of thinking and working miss out on the immense possibilities dormant in their teams. Leaders (and their teams) who 'do Agile' go through the motions without the underlying mindsets and values that drive true agility.
Conversely, leaders who are agile foster an adaptive, flexible culture focused on delivering continuous value. Agile leaders focus on improving themselves and their teams. Agile leaders respect their people by defining ambitious missions and goals, giving their teams autonomy to determine the best solutions, holding their teams accountable for both their output and their improvement, and insisting their teams work at a sustainable pace.
When organizations are “doing Agile”, their prevailing behaviors are often static: siloed teams, hierarchical decisions, reactive prioritization, and worse. Agile leaders and teams—that is, leaders and teams who possess the trait of agility—challenge assumptions, break down barriers to communication and workflow, are transparent about missteps and difficulties, and quickly respond to ever-changing conditions.
The ceremonies associated with Agile are meant to catalyze this culture. But without the underlying mindset shift amongst leaders and teams, the practices simply hide old habits behind new terminology. This often causes more frustration than progress. Executives must champion the agile values that spawn innovation - not just the processes.
Agility in Practice
Great leaders of software teams embody continuous improvement by relentlessly seeking feedback. They question their own assumptions, welcome criticism (even when it hurts), and find lessons in both successes and failures. Rather than getting defensive, they praise their personnel for suggesting improvements.
Moreover, excellent leaders earn respect by granting respect. They validate others’ perspectives before sharing their own. They customize coaching and support to nurture each person. Leaders build psychological safety by being the first to admit their mistakes and being open about success and failure. Leaders who respect their people meet with them frequently, listen actively, and empower their staff to solve problems.
Teacher-leaders both practice and preach the principles that create agile organizations. They teach their managers how to remove their teams’ roadblocks. Teacher-leaders foster respect in their own meetings, and demand their direct staff do the same when running their own meetings. They grant teams autonomy rather than micromanaging, and they teach their subordinates to do the same. Leaders reinforce psychological safety by teaching managers to admit their mistakes first. During large group meetings, they recognize and praise people who embody agile principles.
Through continuous improvement, respect, and teacher-leadership, agile leaders multiply innovation, engagement, and outcomes for software organizations embracing agility.
Common Traps When “Doing Agile”
The most common trap waiting for leaders is believing that Agile practices create agile teams. The implementation of sprints, or the use of roadmaps, or the creation of burndown charts, or any other combination of Agile/Scrum/Kanban practices do not endow the members of the teams doing those things (“doing Agile”) with agility. Unfortunately, many executives and software leaders discover their teams aren’t actually agile when it matters most: 1) when an amazing opportunity presents itself; or 2) when emergency strikes. Success in “doing Agile” can convince leaders their teams are agile, when in reality they aren’t. An agile mindset coupled with agile practices creates agile teams.
Another subtle trap waiting for some executives is the notion of Waterfall in Scrum Clothing. Some leaders believe they can bend Agile patterns and artifacts in a way that makes their organization appear to be “doing Agile” but actually operate in command-and-control, waterfall development ways. The root concern—whether well-intentioned or ill-intentioned—is one of control. Leaders and executives often harbor concerns about losing control of their teams when they adopt Agile practices. So, those leaders sometimes inject decidedly rigid requirements into their new Agile structure: significant sprint/epic injections, mandatory feature delivery, specific sprint reporting requirements, designated Scrum personnel who aren’t integrated into the team,
and a host of other malpractices that undermine true agility. These actions are more prevalent when leaders fail to adopt (or even believe in) agile principles.
Finally, the last trap is one of inattention, or the belief that Agile practices will manage and lead software teams on their own. Agile leaders—meaning leaders who practice and preach continuous improvement and respect for people—hold their teams accountable, and require their leaders and teams to reflect on and learn from both success and failure. Agile leaders and transparent with their staff about how they perceive the effectiveness of their teams. Agile leaders don’t allow “doing Agile” to be an excuse for repeated mistakes, poor quality, or bad management.
It’s Up to You
Instilling an agile mindset across an organization starts with courageous leadership at the very top. Executives must drive the culture change they wish to see—not through hollow catchphrases but by modeling the desired culture every day.
The responsibility lies with executives and senior leaders to go beyond “doing Agile” by being agile: demanding continuous improvement from themselves and their teams; respecting their teams by giving them autonomy and then holding them accountable for that autonomy; and being agile themselves.
