From Whimsical to Athletic Agile.

Don’t leave performance up to chance.

There’s something magical about a team experiencing a flow state. The synergy of individuals coalescing to achieve something extraordinary is nothing short of mesmerizing.

“Team flow is considered to be a function of shared experiences of flow during the execution of interdependent personal tasks in the interest of the team and comprises three core aspects: (1) individual team members together share the experience of flow by executing their interdependent tasks; (2) the team members deriving flow from the team dynamic, which is structured by seven team flow prerequisites: a collective ambition, a common goal, aligned personal goals, high skill integration, open communication, safety, and mutual commitment; and (3) team members sharing a dynamic that reflects a collective experience of flow defined by four specific characteristics: a sense of unity, a sense of joint progress, mutual trust, and holistic focus” - (Van den Hout & Davis, 2019)

We’ve all been captivated by the sheer brilliance of high-performing teams. You may imagine a team engaged in emergency response, Formula 1, Michelin Restaurant, athletic sports, the Navy Seals, or professional dance choreography. But you may also experience it close to home and office.

Stop parenting. Start empowering!

Throwing individuals in a bowl does not make a team. An oft-heard lament from leaders who struggle with team performance is, ‘They are not mature enough!’ — which makes me wonder: ‘Why then did you hire children?’

I believe maturity models are the nemesis of true mastery and performance — as they only solidify the parental paradigm. In this frame, the professional is a child. It always presumes a system involving one or more parents governs the children's development. Treat them like children, and they will act like it.

I think maturity models risk turning developing professionals into apathetic amateurs. Maturity models can be really suffocating and disruptive to team flow. This approach undermines the team’s own accountability for its growth as it is imposed, prescribed, and not self-managed. This results in members doing the minimum in meeting prescribed standards for the wrong incentives while distracting them from pursuing their natural strengths and areas of growth. As a result, team members may only facade what is required and no more than that.

Managers who introduce maturity models often end up anchoring their parental position as mommies and daddies, parenting individuals while they are growing up.

No professional gets excited when subjected to the frame of ‘maturity’ because, in that frame, they are the children. And the model is a tool weaponized by ‘parents’.

Don’t get me wrong. Maturity models do provide benefits. And I don’t question the good intentions aimed at stimulating personal and team growth and development.

‘Maturity’ is a DE-motivating frame in the context of self-management and team performance.

I think frames like ‘Athletic Development’ and ‘Learning Journey’ are more motivating and empowering. It’s not just about changing the metaphor. It’s the behavior that emerges from it. Individuals and teams should be in charge of creating pathways with support from the organization.

“Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.” — Agile’s 5th principle.

In athletics, the focus is on developing skills, optimizing performance, and achieving goals through rigorous practice, feedback, and continuous improvement. Athletes are not treated as children but as capable individuals responsible for their development and success. They are then coached to live up to their accountability in expanding their potential.

In a business context, leaders should adopt a coaching mentality similar to that of sports coaches. Coaches believe in their athletes’ potential and guide them to excellence. They provide the necessary tools, guidance, and support, but they also expect athletes to take ownership of their training and performance. This approach empowers employees, builds trust, and encourages a sense of ownership and accountability.

Whimsical Agility

“Agile” — an often misunderstood mantra. In many organizations, Agile has become synonymous with aimless wandering, searching for the path of least resistance to nowhere. This almost always results in agile terminology hacking. After all, it's easier to change our words than our behavior.

Richard Pascale once wrote: “People are more likely to act their way into a new way of thinking, than think their way into a new way of acting”.

Monumental exhaustive frameworks are raised as shrines to Pascale’s argument.

What we need is not just ‘whimsical’ agility but ‘athletic’ agility — a bold commitment to tackle challenges head-on and unlock high-yield gains. It’s about instilling qualities such as self-determination, purpose, and accountability. It’s about nurturing individuals who respect the game, their teammates, and the ultimate goal. Remember, it’s not about just playing the game; it’s about playing it well.

Scrum with a Capital ‘S’

I have something to say about Scrum. Not the version where teams pretend at it. Scrum requires respect for the game and a commitment to its principles and values. Who wants to be in a professional sports team with members who have no respect or feel for the game? You certainly won’t win the championship with them. It really is the same with Scrum.

There is no such thing as perfect play in Scrum. That’s not me saying there is ‘no true Scotsman’ — but we really have to differentiate between various degrees of professionalism in Scrum to make a statement about its effectiveness.

Scrum requires more than just following mechanics; it’s about embracing the ethos. Professional Scrum teams exhibit a seamless flow, with established empiricism resulting in high-yield gains. This is where the magic happens — where interpersonal flow transforms ordinary tasks into extraordinary achievements.

‘Dogmatism’ is often used as a negative frame to mischaracterize professional Scrum — and it is almost always used to endorse whimsical practice to escape the hard work and pains involved with Scrum. If one practices Scrum professionally, there will be real work to do and core organizational problems to address. While dogmatism demands blind obedience, professionalism is about earning respect through diligent practice and commitment to the game and developing skill and integrity. It is about doing the hard work until the mirror shows you what you want to see — instead of removing it because you don’t like what it reveals.

“The phrase, ‘That can’t be done here’ really means that it will be very difficult to do so. The gap between current practices and target practices is a measure of incompetence and competitive risk.” — Ken Schwaber, Scrum is Hard.

The Allure of Athleticism

In a world dominated by VUCA — Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity — business is becoming increasingly akin to sports. And like athletic teams, business teams must thrive in these conditions. It’s about being resilient, facing pressure as a privilege, and viewing adversity as an opportunity for greatness.

“The roots of the word “compete” are the Latin con petire, which meant “to seek together”. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

So, how do you attract and retain top talent in this dynamic landscape? Forget the promises of cushy office perks. You won’t lure top performers with free snacks and nap pods. Instead, create an environment that celebrates high-stakes challenges and meaningful achievements. Make your corporate court a playground for fast learning and impactful moves. Rally those who crave meaningful work, not comfort.

Coaches and Trainers

Aristotle once said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” It’s through a routine that athletes become what they are.

When teams start to work in cadence, providence happens. The world around it starts responding to its drumbeat and energy will be gravitated towards it. To a team, this will feel like the universe is suddenly aligning itself — presenting them with opportunities and (what feels like) a bundle of luck.

Providing opportunities for skill development and continuous learning as routine is crucial. This investment demonstrates that the organization values its employees’ growth and is committed to helping them reach their full potential.

Athletes train continuously. It is simply part of their routine.

Professional athletic teams have coaches and trainers. No surprise there. They constantly hold up the mirror to a team. They foster an environment where athletes can focus and improve continuously. They also keep stakeholders from interfering with the game and internal development of the team.

In business, team members and stakeholders are often confused about how to address coaches and trainers. This is due to ingrained habits of working with (middle-) managers. Managerial expectations are projected upon coaches. Misaligned expectations result in confusion and conflict.

Torchbearers

Scrum, in essence, harnesses the power of frequency or resonance to focus energy and shape a product. In a Scrum team, the regular rhythm of sprints, reviews, and retrospectives creates a kind of resonance that helps to focus the team’s energy and efforts. This ‘resonance’ can help the team to overcome obstacles, adapt to changes, and shape the product in a way that would be difficult without this regular, synchronized rhythm.”
— Jeff Sutherland, First Principles in Scrum.

Some may dismiss this quote by the founder of Scrum as being vague or spiritual. We are divided between those who experienced this ‘resonance’ and those who have not. Unfortunately, those who have never experienced it often get in the way of those who have.

Let’s call those who have experienced team resonance and flow ‘torchbearers’ who light the way. These are the ambassadors, knowledge-sharers, the standard-bearers of professional agility. They encourage a culture where each member strives for collective excellence.

These torchbearers are the catalysts of continuous growth and improvement. They create an environment where the light of innovation never goes out, ensuring that even in the face of challenges, a team’s flame burns brighter than ever.

“Leaders create leaders by passing on responsibility, creating ownership, accountability and trust.” — James Kerr, Legacy

Torchbearers are a primary target of the whimsical ‘apathetic’ counter-culture: the mediocre mid-management office dwellers hopping back-to-back from meetings to PowerPoint lectures - whose ineffectiveness is being exposed and their comfort zone put at risk. These stonewalling saboteurs will be happy to chip away at developers and their coaches in favor of exercising away the actual ‘fat’ that they themselves are often part of.

At the same time I will also say that this divide and frame is not helpful.
I use it to (bluntly) expose our current paradigm— if we want to achieve anything meaningful, we must be open about where we are.\

We must work together, not set each other apart. Yet clear boundaries and expectations help to bridge the two opposing worlds and prevent internal competition. All so we can focus on winning the market together.

Whitepaper

In this article, I touch upon just a few of the themes, keys, and secrets involved with building high-performing teams. If you want to become a torchbearer, check out the whitepaper and get in touch. In this paper, you can find the themes and strategies involved with developing Athletic performance.

https://xebia.com/academy/nl/whitepaper/building-high-performing-teams/