“Agile with ‘Idiots’”

Repost from this Twitter Thread

I’m going to use the word “Agile” as a shortcut for “methodologies and activities consistent with, or designed to work with, the agile mindset.” So when I say “implement agile” I know you don’t “implement agile” but I have a character limit to be aware of.

I’ve just watched this fantastic video from @kkirk where she talks about dealing with “Idiots” in the context of agile coaching: (infoq.com/presentations/…)

I want to distill my thoughts based on this, and from long wonderful conversations with @shirleytricker

As IT coaches and consultants, we often have to deal with “idiots” when trying to implement agile in some organisations.

“Embrace change!” we say, “For disruption is good”
“Talk with each other more!” we say, “For collaboration is good”
“Visualise your work!” we say, “For exposure is good”

And the idiots won’t.

“Let’s try a game!” we say.

And the idiots scoff.

And we say “these people are idiots” and we declare that they “aren’t agile”, and we pack up our post-its and sharpies and find an easier gig somewhere else.
Let’s look at Rogers’ Bell Curve:

I contend that in terms of agile adoption, we’re in the tail end of the “Late Majority” stage, getting into the “Laggard” stage. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion…)

I also contend that our coaching strategies, and their associated assumptions and activities, are based on things we’ve learnt from implementing agile with the “innovators” and “early adopters”.

And when they don’t work, we say “they just aren’t agile”.

If the contention that we’re in the later stages of Rogers bell curve , then the easier gigs are disappearing. The landscape has changed. We need to take our own advice and embrace change, inspect, and adapt.

Here is what I think is happening: People are products of their environments. Idiots are people who act in idiotic ways. But it’s often the case that idiotic behaviour is perfectly rational when you’re in an ‘idiotic’ environment

Back to Roger’s Bell Curve, here are the characteristics of “late majority” and “laggards”:

Being the liberal, modern rebels and disrupters we are, we describe these people (mistakenly as a proxy for their environments) as “idiotic”

We are now trying to implement agile in places that are more conservative, possibly have an older workforce, and are more hierarchical.

Add change (us), and we have a place that’s also now more fearful.

OK, we need to work out ways to implement agile (remember earlier disclaimer) in environments of fear.

@kkirk introduces us to the Second Noble Truth from Buddhism, which are the three causes of suffering:
1) Craving
2) Clinging
3) Ignorance

People working in environments like those described above need to
1) Crave power and influence
2) Cling onto power and influence (maintain status quo)
3) Be careful with information lest it be used against them or against meeting some measure of success.

Agile Coaches tell people to:
1) Empower everyone
2) Be disruptive (challenge the status quo)
3) Visualise and share information

See the problem here?

Change represents a threat to my existence. I have put many years of hard work to build my status & value only to then get the message that I’m ‘old’, ‘wrong’, ‘not doing it right’ or that I need to ‘fit in or leave’. My family’s income and my lifestyle are dependent on my status and power. You as a change agent literally represent a threat to my livelihood and sense of self worth.

So I will fight you for my survival.

We need to learn new ways to operate with compassion and understanding in these increasingly common environments we find ourselves in. We need to be skeptical of the dogma passed down to us based on teachings of the past, and find alternative ways of working.

After all, aren’t we the ‘idiots’ for not ‘getting agile’ if we aren’t embracing change, or looking at “individuals and interactions” over “processes and tools”?

Aren’t we the idiots for not adapting agile to the people we work with?

(ps: I’m completely one of those idiots, but I’m on a journey of trying to be less idiotic (it’s going to be a long journey), and I wanted to share some thoughts I have on it).

tl;dr Coaching is going to get harder because the kinds of environments that are left for transformation are different than the ones that are already transformed.
The lessons we learnt from earlier adoptions might not work with the later adoptions, so we need to adapt.