How Diversity Drives Agile Teams

John Kinsella
Sep 5, 2018 · 8 min read

Over the past few months there have been a few articles floating past on Flipboard that have a common theme. The articles have pointed out the risk of having everyone around you either thinking the same thoughts, or too afraid or polite to disagree with you or the rest of the group. Software Engineering is a prime example of environments where this comes into play. Teams run on ideas, and on shared goals and direction. In the Agile world, group dynamic becomes even more important as teams are self-directed, share responsibility at a team level and are looking for constant improvement.

I joined an organization years ago that was one of the most talented teams I had ever been a part of. The SVP leading the group was both technically strong, and had a Jedi like set of soft skills that allowed him to lead and motivate others to excel. A few months after joining, he and his directs were asked to take a personality test. The manager and 7 of his 8 direct-reports were all tested as ENTJ on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI) . Eight out of nine, or 89% of this group of tech leadership, shared the same set of personality attributes; significant for a classification that is only 2% of the general population.

ENTJ is known as the commander or field-marshal personality. It is one of the rational types in MBTI and does come with a bit of a dark-side:

ENTJ types tend to be self-driven, motivating, energetic, assertive, confident, and competitive. They generally take a big-picture view and build a long-term strategy. They typically know what they want and may mobilize others to help them attain their goals. ENTJs are often sought out as leaders due to an innate ability to direct groups of people. Unusually influential and organized, they may sometimes judge others by their own tough standards, failing to take personal needs into account.

The above could be a good thing, but in a single group of leaders words like competitive and judging standout. The Jedi master of this group was definitely hiring in his own image, he liked the consistency of approach and directness. He tended to harness the energy of his staff and task them with clear and concise plans. What of course is missing from this is the ability to take a different approach when the situation calls for it. The old adage,” when your only tool is a hammer, all your problems look like nails” comes to mind.

This Jedi master had built a team around himself that was like minded down to their personalities types. But the similarity where more than just personality; white American males, from the same general region, sharing religious backgrounds and even attending overlapping set of liberal arts colleges. If you try you might be able to see the Dockers and Land’s End oxford shirts that were the semi-official dress code. The similarities were comforting, the allowed people to understand each other and come to agreed conclusions very quickly.

This memory echoes from another time. Classic middle management was still considered important and helpful. Negotiation, decision, direction and delivery were the steps in a process rarely doubted or questioned. This group was most comfortable running their own shows, and solving their own problems within their teams, ignoring the rest of the organization along the way. They worked independently if possible, even if the approaches and tasks were similar based on the shared framework.

Today Software Engineering is significantly less top down, or step by step managed. Agile teams work with high levels of independence. Direction comes in the form of goals, and hopefully KPI, but from Product or Business people, not pre-processed by tech managers attending meetings on behalf of the team. The teams learn to build understanding directly and are encouraged to use their team creativity and innovation to accomplish the goals. Managers remain in the flattening organization, coaching and removing blocks to continuous improvement. They no longer set deadlines or are following up on status. They are more concerned with team dynamic and motivation, allowing the process to help drive improvement, rather than believing in directive management.

But this is a large cultural shift that organizations have taken on. Self-directed teams may struggle to find their balance. Teams that work across an international organization, and are made up of a global workforce have levels of difference inconceivable when many of us came to age in comforting isolation of nationalism and shared identity. The diversity of today’s workforce is amazing in retrospect, and presents both challenges and opportunities for teams working to be Agile.

Last week I dropped into a coaching session that was focused on the dynamic of a single Agile team. The development and scrum coaches were talking to the technical lead and scrum master of this team. The TL and SM are both highly respected, and leaders in their own sense, but they were not getting along. The word disrespectful was being used when I walked in, arms were crossed, people were trying to make points and discuss what had happened over the past few weeks. The coaches were trying to tell them why they were disagreeing … which reminded me of baseball coaches coming onto the field after a collision at home plate.

After listening for a bit, I asked what the meeting was trying to accomplish. One of the coaches explained that the TL and SM had communication issues, and they wanted to fix it. I smiled, and said “Honestly, I don’t think you have communication issues. You both communicate really well”. What they did have were stylistic differences. One was highly technical, the other analytical by nature. One was Asian, the other Middle Eastern. One is male, the other is female. One has energy bubbling and urging to come out and the other is quietly contemplative. After a few minutes of conversation, they both admitted they respected each other and appreciated one another for what they accomplished in their roles. Arms uncrossed, tension diminished. They collectively agreed to let the game continue.

Communication was an issue in this meeting, but was not the root issue. The people in the room were talking past or over one another. They may have also been interpreting the situation through cultural lenses which were different across the room. This is a real challenge for teams built with deep diversity.

For the Agile team to work, the team must be free to speak up and share thoughts that might not agree with others on the team. Equally, their team members must be listening without self-imposed blocks. They need to embrace the thoughts of others, and hopefully learn from them, to do this they must be able to understand where a different view comes from. Rather than being upset someone disagrees, they need to grasp the reasons someone disagrees; and possibly appreciate how hard it can be for others to open up and share the opposing views.

In a collaborative environment, the two most challenging reactions for team members are fear and secrecy. These reactions can damage teamwork, and drive wedges to productivity. Fear is easily understood, a staff member may feel uncomfortable to share their ideas because of concerns they are not good enough or might disagree with others. The second and harder reaction to understand is secrecy. Where a team member works behind the scenes and later springs something on the team as a decision, other members will react negatively.

But what if someone comes from a different culture, and working behind the scenes or remaining quiet may be learned cultural behaviors for them. Building a shared space where people are free to express ideas without fear is a process organizations must invest in and actively work towards. The same is true for inclusion and collaboration, the west’s culturally respectful way of working, but in other parts of the world true collaboration is not expected. It needs to be taught and nourished for those resources. The Agile mindset is cultural, and needs to be supported to make it the norm in a diverse world.

If someone feels stress in contributing to the discussion, others may need to actively offer them a chance. Extroverted and decisive members may need to slow themselves down, and allow others the space to talk. Encouraging a quiet team member to share how they feel about the conversation before something is finalized may go a long way to decreasing the stress being felt but kept inside. Talking about an issue and allowing people to ask questions or share concerns is a powerful way to improve teamwork. Once everyone is comfortable, they will pull in the same direction, rather than coast along with lingering fears. The cost of the communication can be well worth it the extra time it takes.

For any of this to work, and for a team to improve over time they must embrace the differences of the teammates. They may have grown up in a communist culture, or a country with an authoritarian regime. They may have studied Art History before becoming the front-end development guru they are today. They may show signs of being neuro-atypical, and not grasp irony. They may be speaking your native language as their third, and need time to collect the words to make their point. But, people who are different than others tend to think differently, they see things differently and they can help a team avoid issues earlier than everyone viewing it in exactly the same way.

The old Jedi master’s world has changed. It has been optimized to a flatter, more efficient and self-directed style of work. To succeed in the new space, you may need to be more self-aware, so you understand your own reactions and the things that trigger you. In getting to this new level of understanding, you may also build your EQ and will begin to see others with a new openness. When you do, you can leverage the differences and support your own weaknesses with other’s natural strengths.

I am now a member of completely different team. We recently took MBTI as a team and shared the results. There were ENTJ, ISFP, ESFP, ENFP, INFP, ESTJ, INFJ, ESTP, ISFJ, ISTJ and ESTJ. There were only two duplicates across the sample. This is a group that is diverse in age, gender, nationality, religion and backgrounds, we are also clearly diverse in personality, but we are a team. We are a modern team that continues to improve driven in part by our diversity.

They say it takes a village, and like a village a team is a group of people who accept each other, show respect for the differences and build trust in the others even if they are different. You can only work openly and with efficiency when you believe you are working towards shared goals. Agile is a process built on people, communication and continuous improvement, diversity is part of today’s teams and that is a positive thing.

Embrace your diversity, listen to your team members and work together to get better, and your agility will increase. The opposite is to stay in disconnected silos of isolation, maybe you remember what it feels like to go over those waterfalls.

John Kinsella

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Focused on Technology, People and Agile success | working with great engineers across the the world.

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