Nudge, nudge, the Agile way
So, the ‘Nudge Theory’ concept has been around for several years now.
Governments have used it successfully to influence positive behaviors in its citizens, employers have used it to influence employees, parents have used it with kids for centuries and quite recently, this interesting behavioral science concept has been mentioned increasingly at various exec MBA courses, start-up pitches, conferences and meetups.
So what is ‘nudge theory’ you ask ?
Apart from being one of the coolest inventions in chat room history (yep I did use MSN Messenger), the nudge (theory) describes how to use subtle and positive reinforcements to achieve desired outcomes, over direct enforcement.
A variety of studies have been performed on the efficacy of this theory and it has been found that in certain situations, the ‘success rates’ of applying this method, far outweighs the results achieved by traditional direct enforcement.
Let me give you an example.
Richard Scarpa created headlines when he announced plans to bury his Bentley worth $450,000 in his backyard, so that he could move in style in his afterlife. Inspired by Egyptian pharaoh kings, he attracted huge public outcry for his flamboyance. Richard kept publishing details of how he would do it, in full technicolor, complete with regular photo updates to the media.
Once the media storm had gathered enough momentum, he finally announced his true motive behind the stunt.
To quote Scarpa,
“People have condemned me for trying to bury a million dollar Bentley. The fact is, most people bury something a lot more valuable than my car. People bury hearts, livers, lungs, eyes, and kidneys. This is absurd. There are so many people out there waiting for a transplant and you will bury healthy organs that can save so many lives. This is the biggest waste in the world. My Bentley is worthless in comparison to life giving organs. There is no wealth more valuable than an organ, because there is nothing more valuable than life.
I officially announce I am an organ donor this week. I’m an organ donor, are you? Tell your family.”
What do you think the effect of this statement was ? By doing what he did, Scarpa was ‘nudging’ people to donate their organs.
The UK government has what they call a ‘Nudge Unit’ or behavioral insights team, that specializes in using the nudge theory to influence the behavior of its citizens to reduce theft, increase charitable giving, positively affect immunization rates and a lot of other things.
So, what is the connection with the Agile way of working you ask ? Well everything I’d say!
The agile way of working, is largely based upon guidelines and behavior, that is intended to subtly nudge the team, towards a mindset of continuous improvement or Kaizen.
The Agile Manifesto’ (http://agilemanifesto.org/), is nudging in its very description. Pay special attention to the line at the end,
“That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.”
This encourages teams to continuously improve and strive to be on the left, without enforcing it strictly.
The ScrumMaster and Agile coach are by the very nature of their roles, master ‘nudgers’.
Teams in organizations these days are complex, multitasking entities, comprising of people from various backgrounds and experience levels, all working to achieve a common goal. It is in such a setting, the idea of a nudge is becoming increasingly important.
I have witnessed very successful Agile practitioners, ScrumMasters, Agile coaches and Product managers, practice this art with great finesse. This has led to happy teams, that are constantly able to deliver value. I have also observed others that ran Agile adoption programs like they were military drills, often resorting to team-wide emails outlining consequences, should any member choose not to attend that day’s Sprint planning meeting!
If you observe that the team is not turning up to standups, retros or planning meetings when the ScrumMaster is ‘away’, then you can be sure that the team haven’t been nudged in the right way.
Often, I have observed teams and organizations getting so absorbed by the idiosyncrancies of adopting Agile, they forget the whole reason they are doing it in the first place, to increase value delivery to customers by transforming their organizations. Should we use JIRA or Rally? Should we have physical boards or electronic ones? Should we have scaled Agile or not? Should we have a double diamond ideation, release trains, discovery sprints, pre-discovery sprints, PI planning, lite RFPs etc etc…. ? Sure, these may be valid questions at some stage of the process, but it is important to change mindsets before we get there or the effort is destined to stall, even with the coolest toys.
The Agile way of working ensures that we are delivering highest value to our customers, in the most effective way. The start of this value creation begins with the team seeing things differently. This involves a change in mindsets.
Often uncomfortable, this change is best achieved by nudging.